Effects of environmental design on patient outcome: a systematic review.

PubMed

Laursen, Jannie; Danielsen, Anne; Rosenberg, Jacob

2014-01-01

The aim of this systematic review was to assess how inpatients were affected by the built environment design during their hospitalization. Over the last decade, the healthcare system has become increasingly aware of how focus on healthcare environment might affect patient satisfaction. The focus on environmental design has become a field with great potential because of its possible impact on cost control while improving quality of care. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify current and past studies about evidence-based healthcare design. The following databases were searched: Medline/PubMed, Cinahl, and Embase. Inclusion criteria were randomized clinical trials (RCTs) investigating the effect of built environment design interventions such as music, natural murals, and plants in relation to patients' health outcome. Built environment design aspects such as audio environment and visual environment had a positive influence on patients' health outcomes. Specifically the studies indicated a decrease in patients' anxiety, pain, and stress levels when exposed to certain built environment design interventions. The built environment, especially specific audio and visual aspects, seems to play an important role in patients' outcomes, making hospitals a better healing environment for patients. Built environment, evidence-based design, healing environments, hospitals, literature review.

The Design Log: A New Informational Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spivak, Mayer

1978-01-01

The design log is a record of observations, diagnoses, prescriptions, and performance specifications for each space in a structure. It is a systematic approach to design that integrates information about user needs with traditional architectural programming and design. (Author/MLF)

ROBIS: A new tool to assess risk of bias in systematic reviews was developed

PubMed Central

Whiting, Penny; Savović, Jelena; Higgins, Julian P.T.; Caldwell, Deborah M.; Reeves, Barnaby C.; Shea, Beverley; Davies, Philippa; Kleijnen, Jos; Churchill, Rachel

2016-01-01

Objective To develop ROBIS, a new tool for assessing the risk of bias in systematic reviews (rather than in primary studies). Study Design and Setting We used four-stage approach to develop ROBIS: define the scope, review the evidence base, hold a face-to-face meeting, and refine the tool through piloting. Results ROBIS is currently aimed at four broad categories of reviews mainly within health care settings: interventions, diagnosis, prognosis, and etiology. The target audience of ROBIS is primarily guideline developers, authors of overviews of systematic reviews (“reviews of reviews”), and review authors who might want to assess or avoid risk of bias in their reviews. The tool is completed in three phases: (1) assess relevance (optional), (2) identify concerns with the review process, and (3) judge risk of bias. Phase 2 covers four domains through which bias may be introduced into a systematic review: study eligibility criteria; identification and selection of studies; data collection and study appraisal; and synthesis and findings. Phase 3 assesses the overall risk of bias in the interpretation of review findings and whether this considered limitations identified in any of the phase 2 domains. Signaling questions are included to help judge concerns with the review process (phase 2) and the overall risk of bias in the review (phase 3); these questions flag aspects of review design related to the potential for bias and aim to help assessors judge risk of bias in the review process, results, and conclusions. Conclusions ROBIS is the first rigorously developed tool designed specifically to assess the risk of bias in systematic reviews. PMID:26092286

Coach design for the Korean high-speed train: a systematic approach to passenger seat design and layout.

PubMed

Jung, E S; Han, S H; Jung, M; Choe, J

1998-12-01

Proper ergonomic design of a passenger seat and coach layout for a high-speed train is an essential component that is directly related to passenger comfort. In this research, a systematic approach to the design of passenger seats was described and the coach layout which reflected the tradeoff between transportation capacity and passenger comfort was investigated for the Korean high-speed train. As a result, design recommendations and specifications of the passenger seat and its layout were suggested. The whole design process is composed of four stages. A survey and analysis of design requirement was first conducted, which formed the base for designing the first and second class passenger seats. Prototypes were made and evaluated iteratively, and seat arrangement and coach layout were finally obtained. The systematic approach and recommendations suggested in this study are expected to be applicable to the seat design for public transportations and to help modify and redesign existing vehicular seats.

Twelve recommendations for integrating existing systematic reviews into new reviews: EPC guidance.

PubMed

Robinson, Karen A; Chou, Roger; Berkman, Nancy D; Newberry, Sydne J; Fu, Rongwei; Hartling, Lisa; Dryden, Donna; Butler, Mary; Foisy, Michelle; Anderson, Johanna; Motu'apuaka, Makalapua; Relevo, Rose; Guise, Jeanne-Marie; Chang, Stephanie

2016-02-01

As time and cost constraints in the conduct of systematic reviews increase, the need to consider the use of existing systematic reviews also increases. We developed guidance on the integration of systematic reviews into new reviews. A workgroup of methodologists from Evidence-based Practice Centers developed consensus-based recommendations. Discussions were informed by a literature scan and by interviews with organizations that conduct systematic reviews. Twelve recommendations were developed addressing selecting reviews, assessing risk of bias, qualitative and quantitative synthesis, and summarizing and assessing body of evidence. We provide preliminary guidance for an efficient and unbiased approach to integrating existing systematic reviews with primary studies in a new review. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SYSTEMATIC PROCEDURE FOR DESIGNING PROCESSES WITH MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES

EPA Science Inventory

Evaluation of multiple objectives is very important in designing environmentally benign processes. It requires a systematic procedure for solving multiobjective decision-making problems, due to the complex nature of the problems, the need for complex assessments, and complicated ...

New Vistas in Chemical Product and Process Design.

PubMed

Zhang, Lei; Babi, Deenesh K; Gani, Rafiqul

2016-06-07

Design of chemicals-based products is broadly classified into those that are process centered and those that are product centered. In this article, the designs of both classes of products are reviewed from a process systems point of view; developments related to the design of the chemical product, its corresponding process, and its integration are highlighted. Although significant advances have been made in the development of systematic model-based techniques for process design (also for optimization, operation, and control), much work is needed to reach the same level for product design. Timeline diagrams illustrating key contributions in product design, process design, and integrated product-process design are presented. The search for novel, innovative, and sustainable solutions must be matched by consideration of issues related to the multidisciplinary nature of problems, the lack of data needed for model development, solution strategies that incorporate multiscale options, and reliability versus predictive power. The need for an integrated model-experiment-based design approach is discussed together with benefits of employing a systematic computer-aided framework with built-in design templates.

ROBIS: A new tool to assess risk of bias in systematic reviews was developed.

PubMed

Whiting, Penny; Savović, Jelena; Higgins, Julian P T; Caldwell, Deborah M; Reeves, Barnaby C; Shea, Beverley; Davies, Philippa; Kleijnen, Jos; Churchill, Rachel

2016-01-01

To develop ROBIS, a new tool for assessing the risk of bias in systematic reviews (rather than in primary studies). We used four-stage approach to develop ROBIS: define the scope, review the evidence base, hold a face-to-face meeting, and refine the tool through piloting. ROBIS is currently aimed at four broad categories of reviews mainly within health care settings: interventions, diagnosis, prognosis, and etiology. The target audience of ROBIS is primarily guideline developers, authors of overviews of systematic reviews ("reviews of reviews"), and review authors who might want to assess or avoid risk of bias in their reviews. The tool is completed in three phases: (1) assess relevance (optional), (2) identify concerns with the review process, and (3) judge risk of bias. Phase 2 covers four domains through which bias may be introduced into a systematic review: study eligibility criteria; identification and selection of studies; data collection and study appraisal; and synthesis and findings. Phase 3 assesses the overall risk of bias in the interpretation of review findings and whether this considered limitations identified in any of the phase 2 domains. Signaling questions are included to help judge concerns with the review process (phase 2) and the overall risk of bias in the review (phase 3); these questions flag aspects of review design related to the potential for bias and aim to help assessors judge risk of bias in the review process, results, and conclusions. ROBIS is the first rigorously developed tool designed specifically to assess the risk of bias in systematic reviews. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A SYSTEMATIC PROCEDURE FOR DESIGNING PROCESSES WITH MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES

EPA Science Inventory

Evaluation and analysis of multiple objectives are very important in designing environmentally benign processes. They require a systematic procedure for solving multi-objective decision-making problems due to the complex nature of the problems and the need for complex assessment....

Design and Simulation Plant Layout Using Systematic Layout Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suhardini, D.; Septiani, W.; Fauziah, S.

2017-12-01

This research aims to design the factory layout of PT. Gunaprima Budiwijaya in order to increase production capacity. The problem faced by this company is inappropriate layout causes cross traffic on the production floor. The re-layout procedure consist of these three steps: analysing the existing layout, designing plant layout based on SLP and evaluation and selection of alternative layout using Simulation Pro model version 6. Systematic layout planning is used to re-layout not based on the initial layout. This SLP produces four layout alternatives, and each alternative will be evaluated based on two criteria, namely cost of material handling using Material Handling Evaluation Sheet (MHES) and processing time by simulation. The results showed that production capacity is increasing as much as 37.5% with the addition of the machine and the operator, while material handling cost was reduced by improvement of the layout. The use of systematic layout planning method reduces material handling cost of 10,98% from initial layout or amounting to Rp1.229.813,34.

Single-Case Experimental Designs: A Systematic Review of Published Research and Current Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Justin D.

2012-01-01

This article systematically reviews the research design and methodological characteristics of single-case experimental design (SCED) research published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2010. SCEDs provide researchers with a flexible and viable alternative to group designs with large sample sizes. However, methodological challenges have…

Systematic approach to optimal design of induction heating installations for aluminum extrusion process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimin, L. S.; Sorokin, A. G.; Egiazaryan, A. S.; Filimonova, O. V.

2018-03-01

An induction heating system has a number of inherent benefits compared to traditional heating systems due to a non-contact heating process. It is widely used in vehicle manufacture, cast-rolling, forging, preheating before rolling, heat treatment, galvanizing and so on. Compared to other heating technologies, induction heating has the advantages of high efficiency, fast heating rate and easy control. The paper presents a new systematic approach to the design and operation of induction heating installations (IHI) in aluminum alloys production. The heating temperature in industrial complexes “induction heating - deformation” is not fixed in advance, but is determined in accordance with the maximization or minimization of the total economic performance during the process of metal heating and deformation. It is indicated that the energy efficient technological complex “IHI – Metal Forming (MF)” can be designed only with regard to its power supply system (PSS). So the task of designing systems of induction heating is to provide, together with the power supply system and forming equipment, the minimum energy costs for the metal retreating.

New knowledge network evaluation method for design rationale management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jing, Shikai; Zhan, Hongfei; Liu, Jihong; Wang, Kuan; Jiang, Hao; Zhou, Jingtao

2015-01-01

Current design rationale (DR) systems have not demonstrated the value of the approach in practice since little attention is put to the evaluation method of DR knowledge. To systematize knowledge management process for future computer-aided DR applications, a prerequisite is to provide the measure for the DR knowledge. In this paper, a new knowledge network evaluation method for DR management is presented. The method characterizes the DR knowledge value from four perspectives, namely, the design rationale structure scale, association knowledge and reasoning ability, degree of design justification support and degree of knowledge representation conciseness. The DR knowledge comprehensive value is also measured by the proposed method. To validate the proposed method, different style of DR knowledge network and the performance of the proposed measure are discussed. The evaluation method has been applied in two realistic design cases and compared with the structural measures. The research proposes the DR knowledge evaluation method which can provide object metric and selection basis for the DR knowledge reuse during the product design process. In addition, the method is proved to be more effective guidance and support for the application and management of DR knowledge.

Designs and Methods in School Improvement Research: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldhoff, Tobias; Radisch, Falk; Bischof, Linda Marie

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on challenges faced by longitudinal quantitative analyses of school improvement processes and offers a systematic literature review of current papers that use longitudinal analyses. In this context, the authors assessed designs and methods that are used to analyze the relation between school…

Toothbrushing Systematics Index (TSI) – A new tool for quantifying systematics in toothbrushing behaviour

PubMed Central

Winterfeld, Katrin; Quera, Vicenç; Winterfeld, Tobias; Ganss, Carolina

2018-01-01

Systematics is considered important for effective toothbrushing. A theoretical concept of systematics in toothbrushing and a validated index to quantify it using observational data is suggested. The index consists of three components: completeness (all areas of the dentition reached), isochronicity (all areas brushed equally long) and consistency (avoiding frequent alternations between areas). Toothbrushing should take a sufficient length of time; therefore, this parameter is part of the index value calculation. Quantitative data from video observations were used including the number of changes between areas, number of areas reached, absolute brushing time and brushing time per area. These data were fed into two algorithms that converted the behaviour into two index values (each with values between 0 and 1) and were summed as the Toothbrushing Systematics Index (TSI) value; 0 indicates completely unsystematic and 2 indicates perfectly systematic brushing. The index was developed using theoretical data. The data matrices revealed the highest values when all areas are reached and brushed equally long. Few changes occurred between the areas when the brushing duration was ≥90 s; the lowest values occurred under opposite conditions. Clinical applicability was tested with data from re-analysed videos from an earlier intervention study aiming to establish a pre-defined toothbrushing sequence. Subjects who fully adopted this sequence had a baseline TSI of 1.30±0.26, which increased to 1.74±0.09 after the intervention (p≤0.001). When the participants who only partially adopted the sequence were included, the respective values were 1.25±0.27 and 1.69±0.14 (p≤0.001). The suggested new TS-index can cover a variety of clinically meaningful variations of systematic brushing, validly quantifies the changes in toothbrushing systematics and has discriminative power. PMID:29708989

Systematic, Cooperative Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nassif, Paula M.

Evaluation procedures based on a systematic evaluation methodology, decision-maker validity, new measurement and design techniques, low cost, and a high level of cooperation on the part of the school staff were used in the assessment of a public school mathematics program for grades 3-8. The mathematics curriculum was organized into Spirals which…

A systematic approach for introducing innovative product design in courses with engineering and nonengineering students.

PubMed

Patterson, P E

2007-01-01

In our new global economy, biomedical product development teams need to be even more innovative in an environment constrained by fewer resources with less time from concept to market. Teams are often comprised of individuals spread around the world. To simulate this setting, we revised an existing course to incorporate teams of on-campus and distance students, with each team including both engineers and other specialties. Through interactive lectures and projects, we presented a systematic approach to innovation that should be useful to engineers and non-engineers alike. Students found the course challenging and exciting, displaying an improved ability to work in distributed teams and in developing innovative design solutions.

Shared decision making in designing new healthcare environments-time to begin improving quality.

PubMed

Elf, Marie; Fröst, Peter; Lindahl, Göran; Wijk, Helle

2015-03-21

Successful implementation of new methods and models of healthcare to achieve better patient outcomes and safe, person-centered care is dependent on the physical environment of the healthcare architecture in which the healthcare is provided. Thus, decisions concerning healthcare architecture are critical because it affects people and work processes for many years and requires a long-term financial commitment from society. In this paper, we describe and suggest several strategies (critical factors) to promote shared-decision making when planning and designing new healthcare environments. This paper discusses challenges and hindrances observed in the literature and from the authors extensive experiences in the field of planning and designing healthcare environments. An overview is presented of the challenges and new approaches for a process that involves the mutual exchange of knowledge among various stakeholders. Additionally, design approaches that balance the influence of specific and local requirements with general knowledge and evidence that should be encouraged are discussed. We suggest a shared-decision making and collaborative planning and design process between representatives from healthcare, construction sector and architecture based on evidence and end-users' perspectives. If carefully and systematically applied, this approach will support and develop a framework for creating high quality healthcare environments.

Ultrasound-assisted facile synthesis of a new tantalum(V) metal-organic framework nanostructure: Design, characterization, systematic study, and CO2 adsorption performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargazi, Ghasem; Afzali, Daryoush; Mostafavi, Ali; Ebrahimipour, S. Yousef

2017-06-01

This work presents a fast route for the preparation of a new Ta(V) metal-organic framework nanostructure with high surface area, significant porosity, and small size distribution. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transition electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), CHNS/O elemental analyser, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis were applied to characterize the synthesized product. Moreover, the influences of ultrasonic irradiation including temperature, time, and power on different features of the final products were systematically studied using 2k-1 factorial design experiments, and the response surface optimization was used for determining the best welding parameter combination. The results obtained from analyses of variances showed that ultrasonic parameters affected the size distribution, thermal behaviour, and surface area of Ta-MOF samples. Based on response surface methodology, Ta-MOF could be obtained with mean diameter of 55 nm, thermal stability of 228 °C, and high surface area of 2100 m2/g. The results revealed that the synthesized products could be utilized in various applications such as a novel candidate for CO2 adsorption.

Digital Games, Design, and Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Douglas B.; Tanner-Smith, Emily E.; Killingsworth, Stephen S.

2016-01-01

In this meta-analysis, we systematically reviewed research on digital games and learning for K-16 students. We synthesized comparisons of game versus nongame conditions (i.e., media comparisons) and comparisons of augmented games versus standard game designs (i.e., value-added comparisons). We used random-effects meta-regression models with robust…

Systematic review of innovation design contests for health: spurring innovation and mass engagement

PubMed Central

Pan, Stephen W; Stein, Gabriella; Bayus, Barry; Tang, Weiming; Mathews, Allison; Wang, Cheng; Wei, Chongyi; Tucker, Joseph D

2018-01-01

We undertook a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness and cost of health-focused innovation design contests. We followed Cochrane guidance and systematically searched eight databases. Articles were included if they reported an open contest focused on improving health, required participants submit finished design solutions and contained a prize structure. We searched 3579 citations, identifying 29 health-focused innovation design contests which collectively received 15494 contest submissions. Contests solicited submissions worldwide (7) and exclusively from North America (13), Asia (4), Africa (2), Australia (2) and Europe (1). Submissions per contest ranged from 3 to 11354 (median of 73). Contest entrants were tasked with helping develop health promotion messages (HPM) (25) and improve predictive clinical models, protocols and/or algorithms (4). Two types of contests emerged—those focused on high-quality, innovative outcomes and those focused on the process of mass community engagement. All outcome-oriented contests had innovation design contest solutions equivalent or superior to the comparator (100%; 7/7). Two of two studies found that innovation design contests saved money (100%; 2/2). Five of seven process-oriented contests concluded the contest improved at least one health indicator (71%; 5/7). Innovation design contests are an effective way to solicit innovative solutions to health problems and spur mass community engagement. PMID:29576873

Systematic review of innovation design contests for health: spurring innovation and mass engagement.

PubMed

Pan, Stephen W; Stein, Gabriella; Bayus, Barry; Tang, Weiming; Mathews, Allison; Wang, Cheng; Wei, Chongyi; Tucker, Joseph D

2017-01-01

We undertook a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness and cost of health-focused innovation design contests. We followed Cochrane guidance and systematically searched eight databases. Articles were included if they reported an open contest focused on improving health, required participants submit finished design solutions and contained a prize structure. We searched 3579 citations, identifying 29 health-focused innovation design contests which collectively received 15494 contest submissions. Contests solicited submissions worldwide (7) and exclusively from North America (13), Asia (4), Africa (2), Australia (2) and Europe (1). Submissions per contest ranged from 3 to 11354 (median of 73). Contest entrants were tasked with helping develop health promotion messages (HPM) (25) and improve predictive clinical models, protocols and/or algorithms (4). Two types of contests emerged-those focused on high-quality, innovative outcomes and those focused on the process of mass community engagement. All outcome-oriented contests had innovation design contest solutions equivalent or superior to the comparator (100%; 7/7). Two of two studies found that innovation design contests saved money (100%; 2/2). Five of seven process-oriented contests concluded the contest improved at least one health indicator (71%; 5/7). Innovation design contests are an effective way to solicit innovative solutions to health problems and spur mass community engagement.

Learning Objects: A User-Centered Design Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Branon, Rovy F., III

2011-01-01

Design research systematically creates or improves processes, products, and programs through an iterative progression connecting practice and theory (Reinking, 2008; van den Akker, 2006). Developing a new instructional systems design (ISD) processes through design research is necessary when new technologies emerge that challenge existing practices…

Systematic design of membership functions for fuzzy-logic control: A case study on one-stage partial nitritation/anammox treatment systems.

PubMed

Boiocchi, Riccardo; Gernaey, Krist V; Sin, Gürkan

2016-10-01

A methodology is developed to systematically design the membership functions of fuzzy-logic controllers for multivariable systems. The methodology consists of a systematic derivation of the critical points of the membership functions as a function of predefined control objectives. Several constrained optimization problems corresponding to different qualitative operation states of the system are defined and solved to identify, in a consistent manner, the critical points of the membership functions for the input variables. The consistently identified critical points, together with the linguistic rules, determine the long term reachability of the control objectives by the fuzzy logic controller. The methodology is highlighted using a single-stage side-stream partial nitritation/Anammox reactor as a case study. As a result, a new fuzzy-logic controller for high and stable total nitrogen removal efficiency is designed. Rigorous simulations are carried out to evaluate and benchmark the performance of the controller. The results demonstrate that the novel control strategy is capable of rejecting the long-term influent disturbances, and can achieve a stable and high TN removal efficiency. Additionally, the controller was tested, and showed robustness, against measurement noise levels typical for wastewater sensors. A feedforward-feedback configuration using the present controller would give even better performance. In comparison, a previously developed fuzzy-logic controller using merely expert and intuitive knowledge performed worse. This proved the importance of using a systematic methodology for the derivation of the membership functions for multivariable systems. These results are promising for future applications of the controller in real full-scale plants. Furthermore, the methodology can be used as a tool to help systematically design fuzzy logic control applications for other biological processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effects of nursing preceptorship on new nurses' competence, professional socialization, job satisfaction and retention: A systematic review.

PubMed

Ke, Ya-Ting; Kuo, Chia-Chi; Hung, Chich-Hsiu

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of nursing preceptorship on the competence, job satisfaction, professional socialization and retention of new nurses. Although studies have focused on the effects of nursing preceptorship on new nurses' competence and retention, a systematic review of the overall effects is lacking. A quantitative systematic review. Five English/Chinese databases were searched for original articles published before June 2015 and only six articles published between 2001-2014 were included in the final analysis. Joanna Briggs Methodology was used to process one randomization control trial, one quasi-experimental study and four observational studies. Two appraisers independently reviewed each study using the standardized critical appraisal tools from the Joanna Briggs Institute. The most adopted preceptorship was a fixed preceptor/preceptee model and one-on-one for 1-3-month duration. It showed that new nurses' overall competence increased significantly due to preceptorship. Only a few studies explored the effects of preceptorship on the job satisfaction and professional socialization of new nurses. Clear conclusions regarding the effect of preceptorship on nurses' retention rate could not be made because of inconsistent time points for calculation and a lack of control groups in the study design. Preceptorship can improve new nurses' nursing competence; however, more studies are needed to ascertain its effects on new nurses' retention rates, job satisfaction and professional socialization to promote nursing care quality and resolve nursing shortages. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

"New drug" designations for new therapeutic entities: new active substance, new chemical entity, new biological entity, new molecular entity.

PubMed

Branch, Sarah K; Agranat, Israel

2014-11-13

This Perspective addresses ambiguities in designations of "new drugs" intended as new therapeutic entities (NTEs). Designation of an NTE as a new drug is significant, as it may confer regulatory exclusivity, an important incentive for development of novel compounds. Such designations differ between jurisdictions according to their drug laws and drug regulations. Chemical, biological, and innovative drugs are addressed in turn. The terms new chemical entity (NCE), new molecular entity (NME), new active substance (NAS), and new biological entity (NBE) as applied in worldwide jurisdictions are clarified. Differences between them are explored through case studies showing why new drugs have different periods of exclusivity in different jurisdictions or none at all. Finally, this Perspective recommends that in future, for the purpose of new drug compilations, NME is used for a new chemical drug, NBE for a new biological drug, and the combined designation NTE should refer to either an NME or an NBE.

New graduate nurses, new graduate nurse transition programs, and clinical leadership skill: a systematic review.

PubMed

Chappell, Kathy B; Richards, Kathy C

2015-01-01

This systematic review evaluated the relationship between new graduate nurses and clinical leadership skill, and between new graduate nurse transition programs and clinical leadership skill. New graduate nurse transition programs have been cited as one strategy to improve clinical leadership skill, but to our knowledge, no one has synthesized the evidence on new graduate nurse transition programs and clinical leadership skill. Results of this review showed that new graduate nurse transition programs that were at least 24 weeks in length had a positive impact on clinical leadership skill. New graduate nurse transition programs using the University HealthSystem Consortium/American Association of Colleges of Nursing Nurse Residency curriculum had the greatest impact, followed by curriculum developed by the Versant New Graduate RN Residency, an important finding for nursing professional development specialists.

Task Analysis: A Systematic Approach to Designing New Careers Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Vivian C.

This guide presents the primary approaches, tools, and techniques utilized by the New Careers Training Laboratory (NCTL) staff to provide skills in training and to conduct agency task analyses. Much of the technical information has been taken from an earlier NCTL publication by Tita Beal, "A New Careers Guide for Career Development…

The Usefulness of Systematic Reviews of Animal Experiments for the Design of Preclinical and Clinical Studies

PubMed Central

de Vries, Rob B. M.; Wever, Kimberley E.; Avey, Marc T.; Stephens, Martin L.; Sena, Emily S.; Leenaars, Marlies

2014-01-01

The question of how animal studies should be designed, conducted, and analyzed remains underexposed in societal debates on animal experimentation. This is not only a scientific but also a moral question. After all, if animal experiments are not appropriately designed, conducted, and analyzed, the results produced are unlikely to be reliable and the animals have in effect been wasted. In this article, we focus on one particular method to address this moral question, namely systematic reviews of previously performed animal experiments. We discuss how the design, conduct, and analysis of future (animal and human) experiments may be optimized through such systematic reviews. In particular, we illustrate how these reviews can help improve the methodological quality of animal experiments, make the choice of an animal model and the translation of animal data to the clinic more evidence-based, and implement the 3Rs. Moreover, we discuss which measures are being taken and which need to be taken in the future to ensure that systematic reviews will actually contribute to optimizing experimental design and thereby to meeting a necessary condition for making the use of animals in these experiments justified. PMID:25541545

The usefulness of systematic reviews of animal experiments for the design of preclinical and clinical studies.

PubMed

de Vries, Rob B M; Wever, Kimberley E; Avey, Marc T; Stephens, Martin L; Sena, Emily S; Leenaars, Marlies

2014-01-01

The question of how animal studies should be designed, conducted, and analyzed remains underexposed in societal debates on animal experimentation. This is not only a scientific but also a moral question. After all, if animal experiments are not appropriately designed, conducted, and analyzed, the results produced are unlikely to be reliable and the animals have in effect been wasted. In this article, we focus on one particular method to address this moral question, namely systematic reviews of previously performed animal experiments. We discuss how the design, conduct, and analysis of future (animal and human) experiments may be optimized through such systematic reviews. In particular, we illustrate how these reviews can help improve the methodological quality of animal experiments, make the choice of an animal model and the translation of animal data to the clinic more evidence-based, and implement the 3Rs. Moreover, we discuss which measures are being taken and which need to be taken in the future to ensure that systematic reviews will actually contribute to optimizing experimental design and thereby to meeting a necessary condition for making the use of animals in these experiments justified. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Ultrasound-assisted facile synthesis of a new tantalum(V) metal-organic framework nanostructure: Design, characterization, systematic study, and CO{sub 2} adsorption performance

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

Sargazi, Ghasem, E-mail: g.sargazi@gmail.com; Young Researchers Society, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran; Afzali, Daryoush, E-mail: daryoush_afzali@yahoo.com

2017-06-15

This work presents a fast route for the preparation of a new Ta(V) metal-organic framework nanostructure with high surface area, significant porosity, and small size distribution. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transition electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), CHNS/O elemental analyser, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis were applied to characterize the synthesized product. Moreover, the influences of ultrasonic irradiation including temperature, time, and power on different features of the final products were systematically studied using 2{sup k-1} factorial design experiments, and the response surfacemore » optimization was used for determining the best welding parameter combination. The results obtained from analyses of variances showed that ultrasonic parameters affected the size distribution, thermal behaviour, and surface area of Ta-MOF samples. Based on response surface methodology, Ta-MOF could be obtained with mean diameter of 55 nm, thermal stability of 228 °C, and high surface area of 2100 m{sup 2}/g. The results revealed that the synthesized products could be utilized in various applications such as a novel candidate for CO{sub 2} adsorption. - Graphical abstract: A facile route was used for fabrication of a new metal -organic framework based on tantalum nanostructures that have high surface area, considerable porosity, homogenous morphology, and small size distribution.« less

A new method for designing dual foil electron beam forming systems. I. Introduction, concept of the method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adrich, Przemysław

2016-05-01

In Part I of this work existing methods and problems in dual foil electron beam forming system design are presented. On this basis, a new method of designing these systems is introduced. The motivation behind this work is to eliminate the shortcomings of the existing design methods and improve overall efficiency of the dual foil design process. The existing methods are based on approximate analytical models applied in an unrealistically simplified geometry. Designing a dual foil system with these methods is a rather labor intensive task as corrections to account for the effects not included in the analytical models have to be calculated separately and accounted for in an iterative procedure. To eliminate these drawbacks, the new design method is based entirely on Monte Carlo modeling in a realistic geometry and using physics models that include all relevant processes. In our approach, an optimal configuration of the dual foil system is found by means of a systematic, automatized scan of the system performance in function of parameters of the foils. The new method, while being computationally intensive, minimizes the involvement of the designer and considerably shortens the overall design time. The results are of high quality as all the relevant physics and geometry details are naturally accounted for. To demonstrate the feasibility of practical implementation of the new method, specialized software tools were developed and applied to solve a real life design problem, as described in Part II of this work.

The Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Online Credit Nutrition Courses: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Nancy L.; Carbone, Elena T.; Beffa-Negrini, Patricia A.

2011-01-01

Objective: To assess how postsecondary online nutrition education courses (ONEC) are delivered, determine ONEC effectiveness, identify theoretical models used, and identify future research needs. Design: Systematic search of database literature. Setting: Postsecondary education. Participants: Nine research articles evaluating postsecondary ONEC.…

From MIMO-OFDM Algorithms to a Real-Time Wireless Prototype: A Systematic Matlab-to-Hardware Design Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weijers, Jan-Willem; Derudder, Veerle; Janssens, Sven; Petré, Frederik; Bourdoux, André

2006-12-01

To assess the performance of forthcoming 4th generation wireless local area networks, the algorithmic functionality is usually modelled using a high-level mathematical software package, for instance, Matlab. In order to validate the modelling assumptions against the real physical world, the high-level functional model needs to be translated into a prototype. A systematic system design methodology proves very valuable, since it avoids, or, at least reduces, numerous design iterations. In this paper, we propose a novel Matlab-to-hardware design flow, which allows to map the algorithmic functionality onto the target prototyping platform in a systematic and reproducible way. The proposed design flow is partly manual and partly tool assisted. It is shown that the proposed design flow allows to use the same testbench throughout the whole design flow and avoids time-consuming and error-prone intermediate translation steps.

Single-Case Experimental Designs: A Systematic Review of Published Research and Current Standards

PubMed Central

Smith, Justin D.

2013-01-01

This article systematically reviews the research design and methodological characteristics of single-case experimental design (SCED) research published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2010. SCEDs provide researchers with a flexible and viable alternative to group designs with large sample sizes. However, methodological challenges have precluded widespread implementation and acceptance of the SCED as a viable complementary methodology to the predominant group design. This article includes a description of the research design, measurement, and analysis domains distinctive to the SCED; a discussion of the results within the framework of contemporary standards and guidelines in the field; and a presentation of updated benchmarks for key characteristics (e.g., baseline sampling, method of analysis), and overall, it provides researchers and reviewers with a resource for conducting and evaluating SCED research. The results of the systematic review of 409 studies suggest that recently published SCED research is largely in accordance with contemporary criteria for experimental quality. Analytic method emerged as an area of discord. Comparison of the findings of this review with historical estimates of the use of statistical analysis indicates an upward trend, but visual analysis remains the most common analytic method and also garners the most support amongst those entities providing SCED standards. Although consensus exists along key dimensions of single-case research design and researchers appear to be practicing within these parameters, there remains a need for further evaluation of assessment and sampling techniques and data analytic methods. PMID:22845874

Toward a systematic design theory for silicon solar cells using optimization techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Misiakos, K.; Lindholm, F. A.

1986-01-01

This work is a first detailed attempt to systematize the design of silicon solar cells. Design principles follow from three theorems. Although the results hold only under low injection conditions in base and emitter regions, they hold for arbitrary doping profiles and include the effects of drift fields, high/low junctions and heavy doping concentrations of donor or acceptor atoms. Several optimal designs are derived from the theorems, one of which involves a three-dimensional morphology in the emitter region. The theorems are derived from a nonlinear differential equation of the Riccati form, the dependent variable of which is a normalized recombination particle current.

Matched Comparison Group Design Standards in Systematic Reviews of Early Childhood Interventions.

PubMed

Thomas, Jaime; Avellar, Sarah A; Deke, John; Gleason, Philip

2017-06-01

Systematic reviews assess the quality of research on program effectiveness to help decision makers faced with many intervention options. Study quality standards specify criteria that studies must meet, including accounting for baseline differences between intervention and comparison groups. We explore two issues related to systematic review standards: covariate choice and choice of estimation method. To help systematic reviews develop/refine quality standards and support researchers in using nonexperimental designs to estimate program effects, we address two questions: (1) How well do variables that systematic reviews typically require studies to account for explain variation in key child and family outcomes? (2) What methods should studies use to account for preexisting differences between intervention and comparison groups? We examined correlations between baseline characteristics and key outcomes using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data to address Question 1. For Question 2, we used simulations to compare two methods-matching and regression adjustment-to account for preexisting differences between intervention and comparison groups. A broad range of potential baseline variables explained relatively little of the variation in child and family outcomes. This suggests the potential for bias even after accounting for these variables, highlighting the need for systematic reviews to provide appropriate cautions about interpreting the results of moderately rated, nonexperimental studies. Our simulations showed that regression adjustment can yield unbiased estimates if all relevant covariates are used, even when the model is misspecified, and preexisting differences between the intervention and the comparison groups exist.

Convergent and sequential synthesis designs: implications for conducting and reporting systematic reviews of qualitative and quantitative evidence.

PubMed

Hong, Quan Nha; Pluye, Pierre; Bujold, Mathieu; Wassef, Maggy

2017-03-23

Systematic reviews of qualitative and quantitative evidence can provide a rich understanding of complex phenomena. This type of review is increasingly popular, has been used to provide a landscape of existing knowledge, and addresses the types of questions not usually covered in reviews relying solely on either quantitative or qualitative evidence. Although several typologies of synthesis designs have been developed, none have been tested on a large sample of reviews. The aim of this review of reviews was to identify and develop a typology of synthesis designs and methods that have been used and to propose strategies for synthesizing qualitative and quantitative evidence. A review of systematic reviews combining qualitative and quantitative evidence was performed. Six databases were searched from inception to December 2014. Reviews were included if they were systematic reviews combining qualitative and quantitative evidence. The included reviews were analyzed according to three concepts of synthesis processes: (a) synthesis methods, (b) sequence of data synthesis, and (c) integration of data and synthesis results. A total of 459 reviews were included. The analysis of this literature highlighted a lack of transparency in reporting how evidence was synthesized and a lack of consistency in the terminology used. Two main types of synthesis designs were identified: convergent and sequential synthesis designs. Within the convergent synthesis design, three subtypes were found: (a) data-based convergent synthesis design, where qualitative and quantitative evidence is analyzed together using the same synthesis method, (b) results-based convergent synthesis design, where qualitative and quantitative evidence is analyzed separately using different synthesis methods and results of both syntheses are integrated during a final synthesis, and (c) parallel-results convergent synthesis design consisting of independent syntheses of qualitative and quantitative evidence and an

Diabetes in pregnancy among indigenous women in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States: a method for systematic review of studies with different designs

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Diabetes in pregnancy, which includes gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), is associated with poor outcomes for both mother and infant during pregnancy, at birth and in the longer term. Recent international guidelines recommend changes to the current GDM screening criteria. While some controversy remains, there appears to be consensus that women at high risk of T2DM, including indigenous women, should be offered screening for GDM early in pregnancy, rather than waiting until 24-28 weeks as is current practice. A range of criteria should be considered before changing screening practice in a population sub-group, including: prevalence, current practice, acceptability and whether adequate treatment pathways and follow-up systems are available. There are also specific issues related to screening in pregnancy and indigenous populations. The evidence that these criteria are met for indigenous populations is yet to be reported. A range of study designs can be considered to generate relevant evidence for these issues, including epidemiological, observational, qualitative, and intervention studies, which are not usually included within a single systematic review. The aim of this paper is to describe the methods we used to systematically review studies of different designs and present the evidence in a pragmatic format for policy discussion. Methods/Design The inclusion criteria will be broad to ensure inclusion of the critical perspectives of indigenous women. Abstracts of the search results will be reviewed by two persons; the full texts of all potentially eligible papers will be reviewed by one person, and 10% will be checked by a second person for validation. Data extraction will be standardised, using existing tools to identify risks for bias in intervention, measurement, qualitative studies and reviews; and adapting criteria for appraising risk for bias in descriptive studies. External validity (generalisability) will also

A Systematic Method of Integrating BIM and Sensor Technology for Sustainable Construction Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhen; Deng, Zhiyu

2017-10-01

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has received lots of attention of construction field, and sensor technology was applied in construction data collection. This paper developed a method to integrate BIM and sensor technology for sustainable construction design. A brief literature review was conducted to clarify the current development of BIM and sensor technology; then a systematic method for integrating BIM and sensor technology to realize sustainable construction design was put forward; finally a brief discussion and conclusion was given.

Designing a New Urban Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Lauren

2002-01-01

Discusses Web site design and information architecture in light of principles of New Urbanism that are being applied in urban planning situations. Topics include networked electronic environment design; user-centered network design; multidisciplinary approaches; knowledge access and collaboration; and the Global Information Infrastructure…

Using systematic reviews to inform NIHR HTA trial planning and design: a retrospective cohort.

PubMed

Bhurke, Sheetal; Cook, Andrew; Tallant, Anna; Young, Amanda; Williams, Elaine; Raftery, James

2015-12-29

Chalmers and Glasziou's paper published in 2014 recommends research funding bodies should mandate that proposals for additional primary research are built on systematic reviews of existing evidence showing what is already known. Jones et al. identified 11 (23%) of 48 trials funded during 2006-8 by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) Programme did not reference a systematic review. This study did not explore the reasons for trials not referencing a systematic review or consider trials using any other evidence in the absence of a systematic review. Referencing a systematic review may not be possible in certain circumstances, for instance if the systematic review does not address the question being proposed in the trial. The current study extended Jones' study by exploring the reasons for why trials did not reference a systematic review and included a more recent cohort of trials funded in 2013 to determine if there were any changes in the referencing or use of systematic reviews. Two cohorts of NIHR HTA randomised controlled trials were included. Cohort I included the same trials as Jones et al. (with the exception of one trial which was discontinued). Cohort II included NIHR HTA trials funded in 2013. Data extraction was undertaken independently by two reviewers using full applications and trial protocols. Descriptive statistics was used and no formal statistical analyses were conducted. Five (11%) trials of the 47 funded during 2006-2008 did not reference a systematic review. These 5 trials had warranted reasons for not referencing systematic reviews. All trials from Cohort II referenced a systematic review. A quarter of all those trials with a preceding systematic review used a different primary outcome than those stated in the reviews. The NIHR requires that proposals for new primary research are justified by existing evidence and the findings of this study confirm the adherence to this requirement with a high rate

Designing systematic conservation assessments that promote effective implementation: best practice from South Africa.

PubMed

Knight, Andrew T; Driver, Amanda; Cowling, Richard M; Maze, Kristal; Desmet, Philip G; Lombard, Amanda T; Rouget, Mathieu; Botha, Mark A; Boshoff, Andre F; Castley, J Guy; Goodman, Peter S; Mackinnon, Kathy; Pierce, Shirley M; Sims-Castley, Rebecca; Stewart, Warrick I; von Hase, Amrei

2006-06-01

Systematic conservation assessment and conservation planning are two distinct fields of conservation science often confused as one and the same. Systematic conservation assessment is the technical, often computer-based, identification of priority areas for conservation. Conservation planning is composed of a systematic conservation assessment coupled with processes for development of an implementation strategy and stakeholder collaboration. The peer-reviewed conservation biology literature abounds with studies analyzing the performance of assessments (e.g., area-selection techniques). This information alone, however can never deliver effective conservation action; it informs conservation planning. Examples of how to translate systematic assessment outputs into knowledge and then use them for "doing" conservation are rare. South Africa has received generous international and domestic funding for regional conservation planning since the mid-1990s. We reviewed eight South African conservation planning processes and identified key ingredients of best practice for undertaking systematic conservation assessments in a way that facilitates implementing conservation action. These key ingredients include the design of conservation planning processes, skills for conservation assessment teams, collaboration with stakeholders, and interpretation and mainstreaming of products (e.g., maps) for stakeholders. Social learning institutions are critical to the successful operationalization of assessments within broader conservation planning processes and should include not only conservation planners but also diverse interest groups, including rural landowners, politicians, and government employees.

A simple and efficient alternative to implementing systematic random sampling in stereological designs without a motorized microscope stage.

PubMed

Melvin, Neal R; Poda, Daniel; Sutherland, Robert J

2007-10-01

When properly applied, stereology is a very robust and efficient method to quantify a variety of parameters from biological material. A common sampling strategy in stereology is systematic random sampling, which involves choosing a random sampling [corrected] start point outside the structure of interest, and sampling relevant objects at [corrected] sites that are placed at pre-determined, equidistant intervals. This has proven to be a very efficient sampling strategy, and is used widely in stereological designs. At the microscopic level, this is most often achieved through the use of a motorized stage that facilitates the systematic random stepping across the structure of interest. Here, we report a simple, precise and cost-effective software-based alternative to accomplishing systematic random sampling under the microscope. We believe that this approach will facilitate the use of stereological designs that employ systematic random sampling in laboratories that lack the resources to acquire costly, fully automated systems.

How new graduate nurses experience patient death: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis.

PubMed

Zheng, Ruishuang; Lee, Susan Fiona; Bloomer, Melissa Jane

2016-01-01

Patient death is an emotional and demanding experience for nurses, especially for new graduate nurses who are unprepared to deliver end-of-life care. Understanding new graduate nurses' experience of death and dying will inform the design of training programs and interventions for improvements in the quality of care and support of new graduates. To summarize new graduate nurses' experience with patient death by examining the findings of existing qualitative studies. Systematic review methods incorporating meta-synthesis were used. A comprehensive search was conducted in 12 databases from January 1990 to December 2014. All qualitative and mixed-method studies in English and Chinese that explored new graduate nurses' experience of patient death were included. Two independent reviewers selected the studies for inclusion and assessed each study quality. Meta-aggregation was performed to synthesize the findings of the included studies. Five primary qualitative studies and one mix-method study met inclusion and quality criteria. Six key themes were identified from the original findings: emotional experiences, facilitating a good death, support for family, inadequacy on end-of-life care issues, personal and professional growth and coping strategies. New graduate nurses expressed a variety of feelings when faced with patient death, but still they tried to facilitate a good death for dying patients and provide support for their families. The nurses benefited from this challenging encounter though they lacked of coping strategies. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Systematic review of effects of current transtibial prosthetic socket designs--Part 2: Quantitative outcomes.

PubMed

Safari, Mohammad Reza; Meier, Margrit Regula

2015-01-01

This review is an attempt to untangle the complexity of transtibial prosthetic socket fit and perhaps find some indication of whether a particular prosthetic socket type might be best for a given situation. In addition, we identified knowledge gaps, thus providing direction for possible future research. We followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, using medical subject headings and standard key words to search for articles in relevant databases. No restrictions were made on study design and type of outcome measure used. From the obtained search results (n = 1,863), 35 articles were included. The relevant data were entered into a predefined data form that included the Downs and Black risk of bias assessment checklist. This article presents the results from the systematic review of the quantitative outcomes (n = 27 articles). Trends indicate that vacuum-assisted suction sockets improve gait symmetry, volume control, and residual limb health more than other socket designs. Hydrostatic sockets seem to create less inconsistent socket fittings, reducing a problem that greatly influences outcome measures. Knowledge gaps exist in the understanding of clinically meaningful changes in socket fit and its effect on biomechanical outcomes. Further, safe and comfortable pressure thresholds under various conditions should be determined through a systematic approach.

A Systematic Framework of Virtual Laboratories Using Mobile Agent and Design Pattern Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Yi-Hsung; Dow, Chyi-Ren; Lin, Cheng-Min; Chen, Sheng-Chang; Hsu, Fu-Wei

2009-01-01

Innovations in network and information technology have transformed traditional classroom lectures into new approaches that have given universities the opportunity to create a virtual laboratory. However, there is no systematic framework in existing approaches for the development of virtual laboratories. Further, developing a virtual laboratory…

Indigenous Youth Peer-Led Health Promotion in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States: A Systematic Review of the Approaches, Study Designs, and Effectiveness.

PubMed

Vujcich, Daniel; Thomas, Jessica; Crawford, Katy; Ward, James

2018-01-01

Youth peer-led interventions have become a popular way of sharing health information with young people and appear well suited to Indigenous community contexts. However, no systematic reviews focusing on Indigenous youth have been published. We conducted a systematic review to understand the range and characteristics of Indigenous youth-led health promotion projects implemented and their effectiveness. A systematic search of Medline, Embase, and ProQuest Social Sciences databases was conducted, supplemented by gray literature searches. Included studies focused on interventions where young Indigenous people delivered health information to age-matched peers. Twenty-four studies were identified for inclusion, based on 20 interventions (9 Australian, 4 Canadian, and 7 from the United States of America). Only one intervention was evaluated using a randomized controlled study design. The majority of evaluations took the form of pre-post studies. Methodological limitations were identified in a majority of studies. Study outcomes included improved knowledge, attitude, and behaviors. Currently, there is limited high quality evidence for the effectiveness of peer-led health interventions with Indigenous young people, and the literature is dominated by Australian-based sexual health interventions. More systematic research investigating the effectiveness of peer-led inventions is required, specifically with Indigenous populations. To improve health outcomes for Indigenous youth, greater knowledge of the mechanisms and context under which peer-delivered health promotion is effective in comparison to other methods of health promotion is needed.

Design without Make--A New Design Pedagogy for STEM Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Brandon; Vernado, Terri; Matthews, Brian

2009-01-01

This paper describes the first part of a new three-part study of STEM and engineering design research termed Design-Without-Make to be conducted by NC [North Carolina] State University in 2009-10 in an NC high school. The hybrid quantitative, qualitative case study is being developed with the purpose of capturing what new technological learning…

E-cigarette use in New Zealand-a systematic review and narrative synthesis.

PubMed

Merry, Sarah; Bullen, Christopher R

2018-02-23

This study aimed to systematically review the literature on e-cigarette use in New Zealand, focusing on prevalence, rationale for use, perceptions and exposure to the devices. Six databases were systematically searched for articles regarding e-cigarette use in New Zealand, supplemented with a grey literature search. Seven hundred and eighteen abstracts were identified and full text of 100 articles reviewed. Studies addressing prevalence of and rationale for use, perceptions of and exposure to e-cigarettes were included. Relevant data were synthesised in a narrative summary. Fourteen studies addressed aspects of e-cigarette use in New Zealand, published between 2010 and 2017. Ever-use of e-cigarettes among adults and adolescents has increased, although current use remains low. Smoking strongly predicts use, and ever-use may decrease with age. Investigation of other predictors has been hindered by low prevalence and small samples. While curiosity is commonly cited for sampling e-cigarettes, many smokers are drawn by harm reduction or cessation. More complex motivators are becoming evident. Although exposure to e-cigarettes is common, many remain uncertain about their harm relative to tobacco. While the available evidence provides an overview of current use, exposure and acceptance of e-cigarettes in New Zealand, it highlights knowledge deficits and informs future monitoring.

36 CFR 910.15 - New development design.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... GENERAL GUIDELINES AND UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN OF DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE DEVELOPMENT AREA Urban Planning and Design Concerns § 910.15 New development design. (a) All new development shall represent the best contemporary architectural and urban planning concepts...

36 CFR 910.15 - New development design.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... GENERAL GUIDELINES AND UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN OF DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE DEVELOPMENT AREA Urban Planning and Design Concerns § 910.15 New development design. (a) All new development shall represent the best contemporary architectural and urban planning concepts...

Using a Systematic Approach and Theoretical Framework to Design a Curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program.

PubMed

Linnell, Jessica D; Zidenberg-Cherr, Sheri; Briggs, Marilyn; Scherr, Rachel E; Brian, Kelley M; Hillhouse, Carol; Smith, Martin H

2016-01-01

To examine the use of a systematic approach and theoretical framework to develop an inquiry-based, garden-enhanced nutrition curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program. Curriculum development occurred in 3 steps: identification of learning objectives, determination of evidence of learning, and activity development. Curriculum activities were further refined through pilot-testing, which was conducted in 2 phases. Formative data collected during pilot-testing resulted in improvements to activities. Using a systematic, iterative process resulted in a curriculum called Discovering Healthy Choices, which has a strong foundation in Social Cognitive Theory and constructivist learning theory. Furthermore, the Backward Design method provided the design team with a systematic approach to ensure activities addressed targeted learning objectives and overall Shaping Healthy Choices Program goals. The process by which a nutrition curriculum is developed may have a direct effect on student outcomes. Processes by which nutrition curricula are designed and learning objectives are selected, and how theory and pedagogy are applied should be further investigated so that effective approaches to developing garden-enhanced nutrition interventions can be determined and replicated. Copyright © 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of an algorithm to provide awareness in choosing study designs for inclusion in systematic reviews of healthcare interventions: a method study

PubMed Central

Peinemann, Frank; Kleijnen, Jos

2015-01-01

Objectives To develop an algorithm that aims to provide guidance and awareness for choosing multiple study designs in systematic reviews of healthcare interventions. Design Method study: (1) To summarise the literature base on the topic. (2) To apply the integration of various study types in systematic reviews. (3) To devise decision points and outline a pragmatic decision tree. (4) To check the plausibility of the algorithm by backtracking its pathways in four systematic reviews. Results (1) The results of our systematic review of the published literature have already been published. (2) We recaptured the experience from our four previously conducted systematic reviews that required the integration of various study types. (3) We chose length of follow-up (long, short), frequency of events (rare, frequent) and types of outcome as decision points (death, disease, discomfort, disability, dissatisfaction) and aligned the study design labels according to the Cochrane Handbook. We also considered practical or ethical concerns, and the problem of unavailable high-quality evidence. While applying the algorithm, disease-specific circumstances and aims of interventions should be considered. (4) We confirmed the plausibility of the pathways of the algorithm. Conclusions We propose that the algorithm can assist to bring seminal features of a systematic review with multiple study designs to the attention of anyone who is planning to conduct a systematic review. It aims to increase awareness and we think that it may reduce the time burden on review authors and may contribute to the production of a higher quality review. PMID:26289450

Application of New Materials in the Household Appliances Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Ren, Y.

The widespread use of new materials in household appliances industry, not only help those products to get rid of the appearance shackles caused by original materials, but also gave the designers the freedom to open up the world of product design. This paper aims to analyze the impact of new materials for home appliances design through relevant research, to explore the application of new material in household appliances functional design, shape design, color design and emotional design, etc., so as to reveal the impact and promoting effects of new material in household appliances world, as well as the prospects of new material in future household appliances design.

A systematic review of educational interventions to change behaviour of prescribers in hospital settings, with a particular emphasis on new prescribers

PubMed Central

Brennan, Nicola; Mattick, Karen

2013-01-01

Aims Prescribing is a complex task and a high risk area of clinical practice. Poor prescribing occurs across staff grades and settings but new prescribers are attributed much of the blame. New prescribers may not be confident or even competent to prescribe and probably have different support and development needs than their more experienced colleagues. Unfortunately, little is known about what interventions are effective in this group. Previous systematic reviews have not distinguished between different grades of staff, have been narrow in scope and are now out of date. Therefore, to inform the design of educational interventions to change prescribing behaviour, particularly that of new prescibers, we conducted a systematic review of existing hospital-based interventions. Methods Embase, Medline, SIGLE, Cinahl and PsychINFO were searched for relevant studies published 1994–2010. Studies describing interventions to change the behaviour of prescribers in hospital settings were included, with an emphasis on new prescibers. The bibliographies of included papers were also searched for relevant studies. Interventions and effectiveness were classified using existing frameworks and the quality of studies was assessed using a validated instrument. Results Sixty-four studies were included in the review. Only 13% of interventions specifically targeted new prescribers. Most interventions (72%) were deemed effective in changing behaviour but no particular type stood out as most effective. Conclusion Very few studies have tailored educational interventions to meet needs of new prescribers, or distinguished between new and experienced prescribers. Educational development and research will be required to improve this important aspect of early clinical practice. PMID:22831632

Wings: A New Paradigm in Human-Centered Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schutte, Paul C.

1997-01-01

Many aircraft accidents/incidents investigations cite crew error as a causal factor (Boeing Commercial Airplane Group 1996). Human factors experts suggest that crew error has many underlying causes and should be the start of an accident investigation and not the end. One of those causes, the flight deck design, is correctable. If a flight deck design does not accommodate the human's unique abilities and deficits, crew error may simply be the manifestation of this mismatch. Pilots repeatedly report that they are "behind the aircraft" , i.e., they do not know what the automated aircraft is doing or how the aircraft is doing it until after the fact. Billings (1991) promotes the concept of "human-centered automation"; calling on designers to allocate appropriate control and information to the human. However, there is much ambiguity regarding what it mean's to be human-centered. What often are labeled as "human-centered designs" are actually designs where a human factors expert has been involved in the design process or designs where tests have shown that humans can operate them. While such designs may be excellent, they do not represent designs that are systematically produced according to some set of prescribed methods and procedures. This paper describes a design concept, called Wings, that offers a clearer definition for human-centered design. This new design concept is radically different from current design processes in that the design begins with the human and uses the human body as a metaphor for designing the aircraft. This is not because the human is the most important part of the aircraft (certainly the aircraft would be useless without lift and thrust), but because he is the least understood, the least programmable, and one of the more critical elements. The Wings design concept has three properties: a reversal in the design process, from aerodynamics-, structures-, and propulsion-centered to truly human-centered; a design metaphor that guides function

A new approach to systematization of the management of paper-based clinical pathways.

PubMed

Wakamiya, Shunji; Yamauchi, Kazunobu

2006-05-01

The present study was performed to explore a new approach to systematization of the management of paper-based clinical pathways by developing a new system requiring little capital investment. A new system was developed and incorporated into an existing network at a hospital with a paper-based clinical pathway management system. The effectiveness of this new system was examined by comparing the management efficiency of clinical pathways before and after its introduction, and by comparison of the new system with other such systems currently in place at other medical institutions with regard to efficiency. In addition, the acceptability of the system for other medical institutions was examined by providing free access to the software on the Internet. The development costs of the new system were low. Although the new system has been in place for more than 3 years, no problems have yet been encountered in either the existing network system or in the management system itself. The new system allows the processing of statistics and analysis of circulation or variance automatically, neither of which were possible in the original paper-based system. We provided open access to the system as free software on the Internet, and it has since been downloaded by many medical institutions and enterprises in Japan. This system is very useful for institutions where it is difficult to introduce expensive new systems for systematic management of clinical pathways, such as electronic medical records, because of problems regarding capital or system management, and it may also be useful in other countries.

Digital Games, Design, and Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Clark, Douglas B; Tanner-Smith, Emily E; Killingsworth, Stephen S

2016-03-01

In this meta-analysis, we systematically reviewed research on digital games and learning for K-16 students. We synthesized comparisons of game versus nongame conditions (i.e., media comparisons) and comparisons of augmented games versus standard game designs (i.e., value-added comparisons). We used random-effects meta-regression models with robust variance estimates to summarize overall effects and explore potential moderator effects. Results from media comparisons indicated that digital games significantly enhanced student learning relative to nongame conditions ([Formula: see text] = 0.33, 95% confidence interval [0.19, 0.48], k = 57, n = 209). Results from value-added comparisons indicated significant learning benefits associated with augmented game designs ([Formula: see text] = 0.34, 95% confidence interval [0.17, 0.51], k = 20, n = 40). Moderator analyses demonstrated that effects varied across various game mechanics characteristics, visual and narrative characteristics, and research quality characteristics. Taken together, the results highlight the affordances of games for learning as well as the key role of design beyond medium.

Systematic study of high-frequency ultrasonic transducer design for laser-scanning photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy

PubMed Central

Ma, Teng; Zhang, Xiangyang; Chiu, Chi Tat; Chen, Ruimin; Kirk Shung, K.; Zhou, Qifa; Jiao, Shuliang

2014-01-01

Abstract. Photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy (PAOM) is a high-resolution in vivo imaging modality that is capable of providing specific optical absorption information for the retina. A high-frequency ultrasonic transducer is one of the key components in PAOM, which is in contact with the eyelid through coupling gel during imaging. The ultrasonic transducer plays a crucial role in determining the image quality affected by parameters such as spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and field of view. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic study on a high-frequency ultrasonic transducer design for PAOM. The design includes piezoelectric material selection, frequency selection, and the fabrication process. Transducers of various designs were successfully applied for capturing images of biological samples in vivo. The performances of these designs are compared and evaluated. PMID:24441942

Systematic study of high-frequency ultrasonic transducer design for laser-scanning photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy.

PubMed

Ma, Teng; Zhang, Xiangyang; Chiu, Chi Tat; Chen, Ruimin; Kirk Shung, K; Zhou, Qifa; Jiao, Shuliang

2014-01-01

Photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy (PAOM) is a high-resolution in vivo imaging modality that is capable of providing specific optical absorption information for the retina. A high-frequency ultrasonic transducer is one of the key components in PAOM, which is in contact with the eyelid through coupling gel during imaging. The ultrasonic transducer plays a crucial role in determining the image quality affected by parameters such as spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and field of view. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic study on a high-frequency ultrasonic transducer design for PAOM. The design includes piezoelectric material selection, frequency selection, and the fabrication process. Transducers of various designs were successfully applied for capturing images of biological samples in vivo. The performances of these designs are compared and evaluated.

Zolotopia: A New Classic for Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Payne, Janet

2007-01-01

While working on a graphic design job at FAO Schwartz, entrepreneurs Sandra Higashi and Byron Glaser recognized a need for something new in toys. The result was the birth of Zolo, an innovative, interactive toy, designed and produced by Higashi and Glaser and distributed by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The initial idea for Zolo…

Active-comparator design and new-user design in observational studies

PubMed Central

Yoshida, Kazuki; Solomon, Daniel H.; Kim, Seoyoung C.

2015-01-01

SUMMARY Over the past decade, an increasing number of observational studies have examined the effectiveness or safety of rheumatoid arthritis treatments. However, unlike randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies of drug effects face methodological challenges including confounding by indication. Two design principles - active comparator design and new user design can help mitigate such challenges in observational studies. To improve validity of study findings, observational studies should be designed in such a way that makes them more closely approximate RCTs. The active comparator design compares the drug of interest to another commonly used agent for the same indication, rather than a ‘non-user’ group. This principle helps select treatment groups similar in treatment indications (both measured and unmeasured characteristics). The new user design includes a cohort of patients from the time of treatment initiation, so that it can assess patients’ pretreatment characteristics and capture all events occurring anytime during follow-up. PMID:25800216

What Evidence Underlies Clinical Practice in Paediatric Surgery? A Systematic Review Assessing Choice of Study Design.

PubMed

Allin, Benjamin; Aveyard, Nicholas; Campion-Smith, Timothy; Floyd, Eleanor; Kimpton, James; Swarbrick, Kate; Williams, Emma; Knight, Marian

2016-01-01

Identify every paediatric surgical article published in 1998 and every paediatric surgical article published in 2013, and determine which study designs were used and whether they were appropriate for robustly assessing interventions in surgical conditions. A systematic review was conducted according to a pre-specified protocol (CRD42014007629), using EMBASE and Medline. Non-English language studies were excluded. Studies were included if meeting population criteria and either condition or intervention criteria. Children under the age of 18, or adults who underwent intervention for a condition managed by paediatric surgeons when they were under 18 years of age. One managed by general paediatric surgeons. Used for treatment of a condition managed by general paediatric surgeons. Studies were classified according to whether the IDEAL collaboration recommended their design for assessing surgical interventions or not. Change in proportions between 1998 and 2013 was calculated. 1581 paediatric surgical articles were published in 1998, and 3453 in 2013. The most commonly used design, accounting for 45% of studies in 1998 and 46.8% in 2013, was the retrospective case series. Only 1.8% of studies were RCTs in 1998, and 1.9% in 2013. Overall, in 1998, 9.8% of studies used a recommended design. In 2013, 11.9% used a recommended design (proportion increase 2.3%, 95% confidence interval 0.5% increase to 4% increase, p = 0.017). A low proportion of published paediatric surgical manuscripts utilise a design that is recommended for assessing surgical interventions. RCTs represent fewer than 1 in 50 studies. In 2013, 88.1% of studies used a less robust design, suggesting the need for a new way of approaching paediatric surgical research.

The impact of residency programs on new nurse graduates' clinical decision-making and leadership skills: a systematic review.

PubMed

AL-Dossary, Reem; Kitsantas, Panagiota; Maddox, P J

2014-06-01

Health care institutions have adapted residency programs to help new graduate nurses to become fully competent and transition from a student nurse to an independent practicing nurse and a bedside leader. The study's aim is to review the literature on the impact of residency programs on new graduate nurses' clinical decision-making and leadership skills. An electronic search was conducted between 1980 and 2013 using databases of the scientific literature in Medline, PubMed, Cochrane EPOC, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature database guide (CINAHL), and PsychInfo using a range of keywords. Information gathered was evaluated for relevance. Thirteen studies that met the inclusion criteria were used in this systematic review. In several studies considered in this review, residency programs were developed to improve new graduates skills and promote their transition into the nursing workforce. In fact, the transition programs reduced turnover in that first year of practice and promoted professional growth of the new graduate such as hand-on nursing skills, clinical decision-making and leadership skills, satisfaction, and retention. There is a need for effective residency programs that are designed to prepare new graduate nurses in providing safe, competent and effective patient care. © 2013.

Systematic documentation of new vaccine introduction in selected countries of the Latin American Region.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Lúcia H; Toscano, Cristiana M; Sanwogou, N Jennifer; Ruiz-Matus, Cuauhtémoc; Tambini, Gina; Roses-Periago, Mirta; Andrus, Jon K

2013-07-02

Countries in Latin America were among the first developing countries to introduce new vaccines, particularly rotavirus (RV) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs), into their national immunization schedules. Experiences and lessons learned from these countries are valuable to donors, immunization partners, and policy makers in other countries wishing to make informed decisions on vaccine introduction. In order to enhance knowledge and promote understanding of the process of new vaccine introduction in the Latin American Region, with particular focus on RV and PCV, we conducted a systematic qualitative assessment. We evaluated the decision-making process, documented the structure in place, and reviewed key factors pertaining to new vaccine introduction. These include country morbidity and mortality data available prior to vaccine introduction, funding sources and mechanisms for vaccine introduction, challenges of implementation, and assessment of vaccine impact. From March 2010 to April 2011, we evaluated a subset of countries that had introduced RV and/or PCV in the past five years through interviews with key informants at the country level and through a systematic review of published data, gray literature, official technical documents, and country-specific health indicators. Countries evaluated were Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela. In all countries, the potential of new vaccines to reduce mortality, as established by Millennium Development Goal 4, was an important consideration leading to vaccine introduction. Several factors-the availability of funds, the existence of sufficient evidence for vaccine introduction, and the feasibility of sustainable financing-were identified as crucial components of the decision-making process in the countries evaluated. The decision making process regarding new vaccine introduction in the countries evaluated does not follow a systematic approach. Nonetheless, existing evidence on efficacy, potential impact, and

The Impact of Environmental Design on Teamwork and Communication in Healthcare Facilities: A Systematic Literature Review.

PubMed

Gharaveis, Arsalan; Hamilton, D Kirk; Pati, Debajyoti

2018-01-01

The purpose of this systematic review is to investigate the current knowledge about the impact of healthcare facility design on teamwork and communication by exploring the relevant literature. Teamwork and communication are behavioral factors that are impacted by physical design. However, the effects of environmental factors on teamwork and communication have not been investigated extensively in healthcare design literature. There are no published systematic reviews on the current topic. Searches were conducted in PubMed and Google Scholar databases in addition to targeted design journals including Health Environmental Research & Design, Environment and Behavior, Environmental Psychology, and Applied Ergonomics. Inclusion criteria were (a) full-text English language articles related to teamwork and communication and (b) involving any healthcare built environment and space design published in peer-reviewed journals between 1984 and 2017. Studies were extracted using defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. In the first phase, 26 of the 195 articles most relevant to teamwork and 19 studies of the 147 were identified and reviewed to understand the impact of communication in healthcare facilities. The literature regarding the impact of built environment on teamwork and communication were reviewed and explored in detail. Eighteen studies were selected and succinctly summarized as the final product of this review. Environmental design, which involves nurses, support staff, and physicians, is one of the critical factors that promotes the efficiency of teamwork and collaborative communication. Layout design, visibility, and accessibility levels are the most cited aspects of design which can affect the level of communication and teamwork in healthcare facilities.

A systematic review of suicide prevention interventions targeting indigenous peoples in Australia, United States, Canada and New Zealand

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Indigenous peoples of Australia, Canada, United States and New Zealand experience disproportionately high rates of suicide. As such, the methodological quality of evaluations of suicide prevention interventions targeting these Indigenous populations should be rigorously examined, in order to determine the extent to which they are effective for reducing rates of Indigenous suicide and suicidal behaviours. This systematic review aims to: 1) identify published evaluations of suicide prevention interventions targeting Indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada, United States and New Zealand; 2) critique their methodological quality; and 3) describe their main characteristics. Methods A systematic search of 17 electronic databases and 13 websites for the period 1981–2012 (inclusive) was undertaken. The reference lists of reviews of suicide prevention interventions were hand-searched for additional relevant studies not identified by the electronic and web search. The methodological quality of evaluations of suicide prevention interventions was assessed using a standardised assessment tool. Results Nine evaluations of suicide prevention interventions were identified: five targeting Native Americans; three targeting Aboriginal Australians; and one First Nation Canadians. The main intervention strategies employed included: Community Prevention, Gatekeeper Training, and Education. Only three of the nine evaluations measured changes in rates of suicide or suicidal behaviour, all of which reported significant improvements. The methodological quality of evaluations was variable. Particular problems included weak study designs, reliance on self-report measures, highly variable consent and follow-up rates, and the absence of economic or cost analyses. Conclusions There is an urgent need for an increase in the number of evaluations of preventive interventions targeting reductions in Indigenous suicide using methodologically rigorous study designs across geographically

A systematic review of suicide prevention interventions targeting indigenous peoples in Australia, United States, Canada and New Zealand.

PubMed

Clifford, Anton C; Doran, Christopher M; Tsey, Komla

2013-05-13

Indigenous peoples of Australia, Canada, United States and New Zealand experience disproportionately high rates of suicide. As such, the methodological quality of evaluations of suicide prevention interventions targeting these Indigenous populations should be rigorously examined, in order to determine the extent to which they are effective for reducing rates of Indigenous suicide and suicidal behaviours. This systematic review aims to: 1) identify published evaluations of suicide prevention interventions targeting Indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada, United States and New Zealand; 2) critique their methodological quality; and 3) describe their main characteristics. A systematic search of 17 electronic databases and 13 websites for the period 1981-2012 (inclusive) was undertaken. The reference lists of reviews of suicide prevention interventions were hand-searched for additional relevant studies not identified by the electronic and web search. The methodological quality of evaluations of suicide prevention interventions was assessed using a standardised assessment tool. Nine evaluations of suicide prevention interventions were identified: five targeting Native Americans; three targeting Aboriginal Australians; and one First Nation Canadians. The main intervention strategies employed included: Community Prevention, Gatekeeper Training, and Education. Only three of the nine evaluations measured changes in rates of suicide or suicidal behaviour, all of which reported significant improvements. The methodological quality of evaluations was variable. Particular problems included weak study designs, reliance on self-report measures, highly variable consent and follow-up rates, and the absence of economic or cost analyses. There is an urgent need for an increase in the number of evaluations of preventive interventions targeting reductions in Indigenous suicide using methodologically rigorous study designs across geographically and culturally diverse Indigenous

New activities and changing roles of health sciences librarians: a systematic review, 1990-2012.

PubMed

Cooper, I Diane; Crum, Janet A

2013-10-01

The paper identifies and documents new health sciences librarian activities and roles during the period from 1990-2012. A systematic review of the literature was conducted using MEDLINE, Library and Information Abstracts, Library Literature, Scopus, and Web of Science. To find new roles that might not yet have been described in the literature, job announcements published in the Medical Library Association email discussion list archives from 2008-2012 were searched. For inclusion, an article needed to contain a substantive description of a new role and/or activity performed by librarians and be in the field of medical or health sciences librarianship. Papers that did not describe an actual (rather than proposed) librarian role were excluded. NEW ROLES IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE LITERATURE SEARCH WERE: embedded librarians (such as clinical informationist, bioinformationist, public health informationist, disaster information specialist); systematic review librarian; emerging technologies librarian; continuing medical education librarian; grants development librarian; and data management librarian. New roles identified through job announcements were digital librarian, metadata librarian, scholarly communication librarian, and translational research librarian. New twists to old roles were also identified: clinical medical librarian, instruction librarian, outreach librarian, and consumer health librarian. While the main purposes of health sciences librarianship remain the same, the new roles represent major new activities so that, for many librarians, daily on-the-job work is completely different. This list of new activities should inform students contemplating medical librarianship careers, guide formal and continuing education programs, and encourage other librarians to consider these new services.

Systematic modelling and design evaluation of unperturbed tumour dynamics in xenografts.

PubMed

Parra Guillen, Zinnia P Patricia; Mangas Sanjuan, Victor; Garcia-Cremades, Maria; Troconiz, Inaki F; Mo, Gary; Pitou, Celine; Iversen, Philip W; Wallin, Johan E

2018-04-24

Xenograft mice are largely used to evaluate the efficacy of oncological drugs during preclinical phases of drug discovery and development. Mathematical models provide a useful tool to quantitatively characterise tumour growth dynamics and also optimise upcoming experiments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report where unperturbed growth of a large set of tumour cell lines (n=28) has been systematically analysed using the model proposed by Simeoni in the context of non-linear mixed effect (NLME). Exponential growth was identified as the governing mechanism in the majority of the cell lines, with constant rate values ranging from 0.0204 to 0.203 day -1 No common patterns could be observed across tumour types, highlighting the importance of combining information from different cell lines when evaluating drug activity. Overall, typical model parameters were precisely estimated using designs where tumour size measurements were taken every two days. Moreover, reducing the number of measurement to twice per week, or even once per week for cell lines with low growth rates, showed little impact on parameter precision. However, in order to accurately characterise parameter variability (i.e. relative standard errors below 50%), a sample size of at least 50 mice is needed. This work illustrates the feasibility to systematically apply NLME models to characterise tumour growth in drug discovery and development, and constitutes a valuable source of data to optimise experimental designs by providing an a priori sampling window and minimising the number of samples required. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

"Filming in Progress": New Spaces for Multimodal Designing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Kathy A.

2010-01-01

Global trends call for new research to investigate multimodal designing mediated by new technologies and the implications for classroom spaces. This article addresses the relationship between new technologies, students' multimodal designing, and the social production of classroom spaces. Multimodal semiotics and sociological principles are applied…

A new method for designing dual foil electron beam forming systems. II. Feasibility of practical implementation of the method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adrich, Przemysław

2016-05-01

In Part I of this work a new method for designing dual foil electron beam forming systems was introduced. In this method, an optimal configuration of the dual foil system is found by means of a systematic, automatized scan of system performance in function of its parameters. At each point of the scan, Monte Carlo method is used to calculate the off-axis dose profile in water taking into account detailed and complete geometry of the system. The new method, while being computationally intensive, minimizes the involvement of the designer. In this Part II paper, feasibility of practical implementation of the new method is demonstrated. For this, a prototype software tools were developed and applied to solve a real life design problem. It is demonstrated that system optimization can be completed within few hours time using rather moderate computing resources. It is also demonstrated that, perhaps for the first time, the designer can gain deep insight into system behavior, such that the construction can be simultaneously optimized in respect to a number of functional characteristics besides the flatness of the off-axis dose profile. In the presented example, the system is optimized in respect to both, flatness of the off-axis dose profile and the beam transmission. A number of practical issues related to application of the new method as well as its possible extensions are discussed.

A systematic reactor design approach for the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

PubMed

Emenike, Victor N; Schenkendorf, René; Krewer, Ulrike

2018-05-01

Today's highly competitive pharmaceutical industry is in dire need of an accelerated transition from the drug development phase to the drug production phase. At the heart of this transition are chemical reactors that facilitate the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and whose design can affect subsequent processing steps. Inspired by this challenge, we present a model-based approach for systematic reactor design. The proposed concept is based on the elementary process functions (EPF) methodology to select an optimal reactor configuration from existing state-of-the-art reactor types or can possibly lead to the design of novel reactors. As a conceptual study, this work summarizes the essential steps in adapting the EPF approach to optimal reactor design problems in the field of API syntheses. Practically, the nucleophilic aromatic substitution of 2,4-difluoronitrobenzene was analyzed as a case study of pharmaceutical relevance. Here, a small-scale tubular coil reactor with controlled heating was identified as the optimal set-up reducing the residence time by 33% in comparison to literature values. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Health implications of new-age technologies: a systematic review.

PubMed

Bilgrami, Zaid; McLAUGHLIN, Laura; Milanaik, Ruth; Adesman, Andrew

2017-08-01

New-age technologies are ubiquitous in the lives of adolescents. Recent trends in media use suggest that adolescents are spending more time than ever engaging with technologies, and are able to do so in virtually all settings at any time. Given that new-age technologies are so heavily integrated within the daily life of adolescents, the health risks and benefits they offer must be closely examined. In this systematic review, we present recent literature related to the implications of new-age technologies on adolescent health. A total of 94 articles published since 2006 were collected using PubMed and Google Scholar on the most popular new-age technologies among adolescents: the internet, television, cell phones, and video games. The current body of research highlights several health risks related to these technologies. Nearly all have the potential for addiction, which can result in other symptoms and impair one's daily life. Excessive use can affect several components of health, such as quality of sleep, body composition, and mental well-being, and certain practices (viewing pornography, sexting) can lead to risky sexual behaviors. However, the technologies discussed in the present review also have tremendous potential to promote adolescent health. Pediatricians must educate parents and patients on how to safely use technology to minimize the potentially harmful outcomes.

Systematic design methodology for robust genetic transistors based on I/O specifications via promoter-RBS libraries.

PubMed

Lee, Yi-Ying; Hsu, Chih-Yuan; Lin, Ling-Jiun; Chang, Chih-Chun; Cheng, Hsiao-Chun; Yeh, Tsung-Hsien; Hu, Rei-Hsing; Lin, Che; Xie, Zhen; Chen, Bor-Sen

2013-10-27

Synthetic genetic transistors are vital for signal amplification and switching in genetic circuits. However, it is still problematic to efficiently select the adequate promoters, Ribosome Binding Sides (RBSs) and inducer concentrations to construct a genetic transistor with the desired linear amplification or switching in the Input/Output (I/O) characteristics for practical applications. Three kinds of promoter-RBS libraries, i.e., a constitutive promoter-RBS library, a repressor-regulated promoter-RBS library and an activator-regulated promoter-RBS library, are constructed for systematic genetic circuit design using the identified kinetic strengths of their promoter-RBS components.According to the dynamic model of genetic transistors, a design methodology for genetic transistors via a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based searching algorithm is developed to search for a set of promoter-RBS components and adequate concentrations of inducers to achieve the prescribed I/O characteristics of a genetic transistor. Furthermore, according to design specifications for different types of genetic transistors, a look-up table is built for genetic transistor design, from which we could easily select an adequate set of promoter-RBS components and adequate concentrations of external inducers for a specific genetic transistor. This systematic design method will reduce the time spent using trial-and-error methods in the experimental procedure for a genetic transistor with a desired I/O characteristic. We demonstrate the applicability of our design methodology to genetic transistors that have desirable linear amplification or switching by employing promoter-RBS library searching.

Systematic design methodology for robust genetic transistors based on I/O specifications via promoter-RBS libraries

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Synthetic genetic transistors are vital for signal amplification and switching in genetic circuits. However, it is still problematic to efficiently select the adequate promoters, Ribosome Binding Sides (RBSs) and inducer concentrations to construct a genetic transistor with the desired linear amplification or switching in the Input/Output (I/O) characteristics for practical applications. Results Three kinds of promoter-RBS libraries, i.e., a constitutive promoter-RBS library, a repressor-regulated promoter-RBS library and an activator-regulated promoter-RBS library, are constructed for systematic genetic circuit design using the identified kinetic strengths of their promoter-RBS components. According to the dynamic model of genetic transistors, a design methodology for genetic transistors via a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based searching algorithm is developed to search for a set of promoter-RBS components and adequate concentrations of inducers to achieve the prescribed I/O characteristics of a genetic transistor. Furthermore, according to design specifications for different types of genetic transistors, a look-up table is built for genetic transistor design, from which we could easily select an adequate set of promoter-RBS components and adequate concentrations of external inducers for a specific genetic transistor. Conclusion This systematic design method will reduce the time spent using trial-and-error methods in the experimental procedure for a genetic transistor with a desired I/O characteristic. We demonstrate the applicability of our design methodology to genetic transistors that have desirable linear amplification or switching by employing promoter-RBS library searching. PMID:24160305

New reversing design method for LED uniform illumination.

PubMed

Wang, Kai; Wu, Dan; Qin, Zong; Chen, Fei; Luo, Xiaobing; Liu, Sheng

2011-07-04

In light-emitting diode (LED) applications, it is becoming a big issue that how to optimize light intensity distribution curve (LIDC) and design corresponding optical component to achieve uniform illumination when distance-height ratio (DHR) is given. A new reversing design method is proposed to solve this problem, including design and optimization of LIDC to achieve high uniform illumination and a new algorithm of freeform lens to generate the required LIDC by LED light source. According to this method, two new LED modules integrated with freeform lenses are successfully designed for slim direct-lit LED backlighting with thickness of 10mm, and uniformities of illuminance increase from 0.446 to 0.915 and from 0.155 to 0.887 when DHRs are 2 and 3 respectively. Moreover, the number of new LED modules dramatically decreases to 1/9 of the traditional LED modules while achieving similar uniform illumination in backlighting. Therefore, this new method provides a practical and simple way for optical design of LED uniform illumination when DHR is much larger than 1.

Aerospace engineering design by systematic decomposition and multilevel optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, J.; Barthelemy, J. F. M.; Giles, G. L.

1984-01-01

A method for systematic analysis and optimization of large engineering systems, by decomposition of a large task into a set of smaller subtasks that is solved concurrently is described. The subtasks may be arranged in hierarchical levels. Analyses are carried out in each subtask using inputs received from other subtasks, and are followed by optimizations carried out from the bottom up. Each optimization at the lower levels is augmented by analysis of its sensitivity to the inputs received from other subtasks to account for the couplings among the subtasks in a formal manner. The analysis and optimization operations alternate iteratively until they converge to a system design whose performance is maximized with all constraints satisfied. The method, which is still under development, is tentatively validated by test cases in structural applications and an aircraft configuration optimization.

User-centered design and the development of patient decision aids: protocol for a systematic review.

PubMed

Witteman, Holly O; Dansokho, Selma Chipenda; Colquhoun, Heather; Coulter, Angela; Dugas, Michèle; Fagerlin, Angela; Giguere, Anik Mc; Glouberman, Sholom; Haslett, Lynne; Hoffman, Aubri; Ivers, Noah; Légaré, France; Légaré, Jean; Levin, Carrie; Lopez, Karli; Montori, Victor M; Provencher, Thierry; Renaud, Jean-Sébastien; Sparling, Kerri; Stacey, Dawn; Vaisson, Gratianne; Volk, Robert J; Witteman, William

2015-01-26

Providing patient-centered care requires that patients partner in their personal health-care decisions to the full extent desired. Patient decision aids facilitate processes of shared decision-making between patients and their clinicians by presenting relevant scientific information in balanced, understandable ways, helping clarify patients' goals, and guiding decision-making processes. Although international standards stipulate that patients and clinicians should be involved in decision aid development, little is known about how such involvement currently occurs, let alone best practices. This systematic review consisting of three interlinked subreviews seeks to describe current practices of user involvement in the development of patient decision aids, compare these to practices of user-centered design, and identify promising strategies. A research team that includes patient and clinician representatives, decision aid developers, and systematic review method experts will guide this review according to the Cochrane Handbook and PRISMA reporting guidelines. A medical librarian will hand search key references and use a peer-reviewed search strategy to search MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, the ACM library, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar. We will identify articles across all languages and years describing the development or evaluation of a patient decision aid, or the application of user-centered design or human-centered design to tools intended for patient use. Two independent reviewers will assess article eligibility and extract data into a matrix using a structured pilot-tested form based on a conceptual framework of user-centered design. We will synthesize evidence to describe how research teams have included users in their development process and compare these practices to user-centered design methods. If data permit, we will develop a measure of the user-centeredness of development processes and identify practices that are likely

New Tools for Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halliburton, Cal; Roza, Victoria

2006-01-01

Technology educators are constantly in search of new tools and methods to enhance the education of their students. This article is an excerpt from a longer article published in "The Technology Teacher" that introduced the technology education community to a research- and knowledge-based methodology for design--invention and innovation. This…

Teaching User-Centered Design in New Product Marketing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Love, Edwin; Stone, Donn E.; Wilton, Taine

2011-01-01

Thanks in part to groundbreaking work by companies such as Apple and IDEO, there has been growing interest in design as a way to improve the odds of new product success. This paper describes a user-centered design workshop developed for a new product marketing course. The workshop included exercises designed to explain and illustrate the…

Experimental validation of systematically designed acoustic hyperbolic meta material slab exhibiting negative refraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christiansen, Rasmus E.; Sigmund, Ole

2016-09-01

This Letter reports on the experimental validation of a two-dimensional acoustic hyperbolic metamaterial slab optimized to exhibit negative refractive behavior. The slab was designed using a topology optimization based systematic design method allowing for tailoring the refractive behavior. The experimental results confirm the predicted refractive capability as well as the predicted transmission at an interface. The study simultaneously provides an estimate of the attenuation inside the slab stemming from the boundary layer effects—insight which can be utilized in the further design of the metamaterial slabs. The capability of tailoring the refractive behavior opens possibilities for different applications. For instance, a slab exhibiting zero refraction across a wide angular range is capable of funneling acoustic energy through it, while a material exhibiting the negative refractive behavior across a wide angular range provides lensing and collimating capabilities.

Materials design for new superconductors

DOE PAGES

Norman, M. R.

2016-05-23

Since the announcement in 2011 of the Materials Genome Initiative by the Obama administration, much attention has been given to the subject of materials design to accelerate the discovery of new materials that could have technological implications. Although having its biggest impact for more applied materials like batteries, there is increasing interest in applying these ideas to predict new superconductors. This is obviously a challenge, given that superconductivity is a many body phenomenon, with whole classes of known superconductors lacking a quantitative theory. Given this caveat, various efforts to formulate materials design principles for superconductors are reviewed in this paper,more » with a focus on surveying the periodic table in an attempt to identify cuprate analogues.« less

Mass determination with the magnetic levitation method—proposal for a new design of electromechanical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kajastie, H.; Riski, K.; Satrapinski, A.

2009-06-01

The method for realization of the kilogram using 'superconducting magnetic levitation' was re-evaluated at MIKES. The realization of the kilogram based on the traditional levitation method is limited by the imperfections of the superconducting materials and the indefinable dependence between supplied electrical energy and the gravitational potential energy of the superconducting mass. This indefiniteness is proportional to the applied magnetic field and is caused by increasing losses and trapped magnetic fluxes. A new design of an electromechanical system for the levitation method is proposed. In the proposed system the required magnetic field and the corresponding force are reduced, as the mass of the body (hanging from a mass comparator) is compensated by the reference weight on the mass comparator. The direction of the magnetic force can be upward (levitation force, when the body is over the coil) or downward (repulsive force, when the body is under the coil). The initial force to move the body from the coil is not needed and magnetic field sensitivity is increased, providing linearization of displacement versus applied current. This new construction allows a lower magnetic induction, reduces energy losses compared with previous designs of electromechanical system and reduces the corresponding systematic error.

[Jurisdictions on the reimbursement of new medical technologies by public health insurance: A systematic review].

PubMed

Ex, Patricia; Felgner, Susanne; Henschke, Cornelia

2018-04-01

In Germany reimbursement for new medical technologies is often enforced before a social court. It is likely that these judicial decisions also affect the sickness funds' decisions on requests for reimbursement and thus patient access to new technologies in general. The aim of this study was to identify the technologies that have repeatedly generated court actions and whether these actions have been successful. The focus was on differences between sectors, technology groups and indications. Based on this, we analysed in a case study whether judicial decisions on the reimbursement of the same technologies vary across the years. Based on a systematic review, we identified judicial decisions of German social courts on new technologies for the years 2011 to 2016. The analysis included social court decisions on reimbursements for technologies used in the treatment of individual patients. 284 judicial decisions on new technologies were considered in the analysis. In one third of the cases, the sickness funds were required to reimburse the costs, with a higher percentage in inpatient than in outpatient care. Technologies used in treatment of diseases of the eyes and the ears were granted most frequently. In cases involving similar circumstances the social courts sometimes came to conflicting decisions; these decisions are, in part, contradictory to subsequent assessments by the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA). Decisions as to whether reimbursement for new technologies is granted or not do not appear to follow a systematic approach. In the context of the seemingly innovation-friendly policy in inpatient care, there is uncertainty with regard to the "generally accepted state of medical knowledge." It is problematic for both patients and their treating physicians that over a number of years legal proceedings are being initiated for technologies that have not been subjected to a systematic assessment of their benefit. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Using Multiple Types of Studies in Systematic Reviews of Health Care Interventions – A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Peinemann, Frank; Tushabe, Doreen Allen; Kleijnen, Jos

2013-01-01

Background A systematic review may evaluate different aspects of a health care intervention. To accommodate the evaluation of various research questions, the inclusion of more than one study design may be necessary. One aim of this study is to find and describe articles on methodological issues concerning the incorporation of multiple types of study designs in systematic reviews on health care interventions. Another aim is to evaluate methods studies that have assessed whether reported effects differ by study types. Methods and Findings We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Cochrane Methodology Register on 31 March 2012 and identified 42 articles that reported on the integration of single or multiple study designs in systematic reviews. We summarized the contents of the articles qualitatively and assessed theoretical and empirical evidence. We found that many examples of reviews incorporating multiple types of studies exist and that every study design can serve a specific purpose. The clinical questions of a systematic review determine the types of design that are necessary or sufficient to provide the best possible answers. In a second independent search, we identified 49 studies, 31 systematic reviews and 18 trials that compared the effect sizes between randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials, which were statistically different in 35%, and not different in 53%. Twelve percent of studies reported both, different and non-different effect sizes. Conclusions Different study designs addressing the same question yielded varying results, with differences in about half of all examples. The risk of presenting uncertain results without knowing for sure the direction and magnitude of the effect holds true for both nonrandomized and randomized controlled trials. The integration of multiple study designs in systematic reviews is required if patients should be informed on the many facets of patient relevant issues of health care

[The methods within the evaluation of disease management programmes in control-group designs using the example of diabetes mellitus - a systematic literature review].

PubMed

Drabik, A; Sawicki, P T; Müller, D; Passon, A; Stock, S

2012-08-01

Disease management programmes (DMPs) were implemented in Germany in 2002. Their evaluation is required by law. Beyond the mandatory evaluation, a growing number of published studies evaluate the DMP for diabetes mellitus type 2 in a control-group design. As patients opt into the programme on a voluntary basis it is necessary to adjust the inherent selection bias between groups. The aim of this study is to review published studies which evaluate the diabetes DMP using a control-group design with respect to the methods used. A systematic literature review of electronic databases (PUBMED, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDPILOT) and a hand search of reference lists of the relevant publications was conducted to identify studies evaluating the DMP diabetes mellitus in a control-group design. 8 studies were included in the systematic literature review. 4 studies gathered retrospective claims data from sickness funds, one from physician's records, one study used prospective data from ambulatory care, and 2 studies were based on one patient survey. Methods used for adjustment of selection bias included exact matching, matching using propensity score methods, age-adjusted and sex-separated analysis, and adjustment in a regression model/analysis of covariance. One study did not apply adjustment methods. The intervention period ranged from 1 day to 4 years. Considered outcomes of studies (surrogate parameter, diabetes complications, mortality, quality of life, and claim data) depended on the database. In the evaluation of the DMP diabetes mellitus based on a control-group design neither the database nor the methods used for selection bias adjustment were consistent in the available studies. Effectiveness of DMPs cannot be judged based on this review due to heterogeneity of study designs. To allow for a comprehensive programme evaluation standardised minimum requirements for the evaluation of DMPs in the control group design are required. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New

Health Co-Benefits of Green Building Design Strategies and Community Resilience to Urban Flooding: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

PubMed Central

Castillo-Salgado, Carlos

2017-01-01

Climate change is increasingly exacerbating existing population health hazards, as well as resulting in new negative health effects. Flooding is one particularly deadly example of its amplifying and expanding effect on public health. This systematic review considered evidence linking green building strategies in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED) Rating System with the potential to reduce negative health outcomes following exposure to urban flooding events. Queries evaluated links between LEED credit requirements and risk of exposure to urban flooding, environmental determinants of health, co-benefits to public health outcomes, and co-benefits to built environment outcomes. Public health co-benefits to leveraging green building design to enhance flooding resilience included: improving the interface between humans and wildlife and reducing the risk of waterborne disease, flood-related morbidity and mortality, and psychological harm. We conclude that collaborations among the public health, climate change, civil society, and green building sectors to enhance community resilience to urban flooding could benefit population health. PMID:29210981

Health Co-Benefits of Green Building Design Strategies and Community Resilience to Urban Flooding: A Systematic Review of the Evidence.

PubMed

Houghton, Adele; Castillo-Salgado, Carlos

2017-12-06

Climate change is increasingly exacerbating existing population health hazards, as well as resulting in new negative health effects. Flooding is one particularly deadly example of its amplifying and expanding effect on public health. This systematic review considered evidence linking green building strategies in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ® (LEED) Rating System with the potential to reduce negative health outcomes following exposure to urban flooding events. Queries evaluated links between LEED credit requirements and risk of exposure to urban flooding, environmental determinants of health, co-benefits to public health outcomes, and co-benefits to built environment outcomes. Public health co-benefits to leveraging green building design to enhance flooding resilience included: improving the interface between humans and wildlife and reducing the risk of waterborne disease, flood-related morbidity and mortality, and psychological harm. We conclude that collaborations among the public health, climate change, civil society, and green building sectors to enhance community resilience to urban flooding could benefit population health.

A Systematic Review on the Designs of Clinical Technology: Findings and Recommendations for Future Research

PubMed Central

PhD, Greg Alexander; Staggers, Nancy

2010-01-01

Human factors (HF) studies are increasingly important as technology infuses into clinical settings. No nursing research reviews exist in this area. The authors conducted a systematic review on designs of clinical technology, 34 articles with 50 studies met inclusion criteria. Findings were classified into three categories based on HF research goals. The majority of studies evaluated effectiveness of clinical design; efficiency was fewest. Current research ranges across many interface types examined with no apparent pattern or obvious rationale. Future research should expand types, settings, participants; integrate displays; and expand outcome variables. PMID:19707093

New activities and changing roles of health sciences librarians: a systematic review, 1990–2012

PubMed Central

Cooper, I. Diane; Crum, Janet A

2013-01-01

Objective: The paper identifies and documents new health sciences librarian activities and roles during the period from 1990–2012. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted using MEDLINE, Library and Information Abstracts, Library Literature, Scopus, and Web of Science. To find new roles that might not yet have been described in the literature, job announcements published in the Medical Library Association email discussion list archives from 2008–2012 were searched. For inclusion, an article needed to contain a substantive description of a new role and/or activity performed by librarians and be in the field of medical or health sciences librarianship. Papers that did not describe an actual (rather than proposed) librarian role were excluded. Results: New roles identified through the literature search were: embedded librarians (such as clinical informationist, bioinformationist, public health informationist, disaster information specialist); systematic review librarian; emerging technologies librarian; continuing medical education librarian; grants development librarian; and data management librarian. New roles identified through job announcements were digital librarian, metadata librarian, scholarly communication librarian, and translational research librarian. New twists to old roles were also identified: clinical medical librarian, instruction librarian, outreach librarian, and consumer health librarian. Conclusions: While the main purposes of health sciences librarianship remain the same, the new roles represent major new activities so that, for many librarians, daily on-the-job work is completely different. Implications: This list of new activities should inform students contemplating medical librarianship careers, guide formal and continuing education programs, and encourage other librarians to consider these new services. PMID:24163598

CEREC Chairside System to Register and Design the Occlusion in Restorative Dentistry: A Systematic Literature Review.

PubMed

Bohner, Lauren Oliveira Lima; Neto, Pedro Tortamano; Ahmed, Ahad Shahid; Mori, Matsuyoshi; Laganá, Dalva Cruz; Sesma, Newton

2016-07-01

The aim of this review was to update the literature with regard to the digital methods available by CEREC Chairside system to register and design the occlusion, to report their efficacy and technical innovations in the field of Restorative Dentistry. A search strategy was performed using the key-words: "virtual articulator," or "CAD-CAM and occlusal recording," or "CAD-CAM and occlusion register," or "CAD-CAM and occlusal contacts," or "CAD-CAM and prosthesis." Inclusion criteria comprised studies evaluating the use of digital methods available by CEREC System for occlusal registration and design during prosthodontics treatment. PubMed and Cochrane library and reference lists were searched up to January 2016. The search resulted in 280 articles after removing duplicates. Subsequently, 233 records were excluded and 49 studies were selected for reading in full. Eleven articles were considered eligible for the systematic review (4 in vitro and 7 clinical studies). Scientific evidence suggests that digital methods were accurate to register and design the occlusion of dental prostheses. Nevertheless, further clinical studies are required to establish a conclusion with regard to its accuracy in prosthodontics treatment. Digital technologies allow the design of occlusal surfaces of CAD-CAM fabricated prostheses using innovative approaches. This systematic review aimed to update the literature to help dentists determine the most appropriate digital method to register and design the occlusal surface of CAD-CAM crowns. (J Esthet Restor Dent 28:208-220, 2016). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Primer on Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

PubMed

Nguyen, Nghia H; Singh, Siddharth

2018-05-01

With the rapid growth of biomedical literature, there is increasing need to make meaningful inferences from a comprehensive and complex body of evidence. Systematic reviews with or without meta-analyses offer an objective and summative approach to synthesize knowledge and critically appraise evidence to inform clinical practice. Systematic reviews also help identify key knowledge gaps for future investigation. In this review, the authors provide a step-by-step approach to conducting a systematic review. These include: (1) formulating a focused and clinically-relevant question; (2) designing a detailed review protocol with explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria; (3) performing a systematic literature search of multiple databases and unpublished data, in consultation with a medical librarian, to identify relevant studies; (4) meticulous data abstraction by at least two sets of investigators independently; (5) assessing risk of bias in individual studies; (6) quantitative synthesis with meta-analysis; and (7) critically and transparently ascertaining quality of evidence. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

The design, implementation, and evaluation of online credit nutrition courses: a systematic review.

PubMed

Cohen, Nancy L; Carbone, Elena T; Beffa-Negrini, Patricia A

2011-01-01

To assess how postsecondary online nutrition education courses (ONEC) are delivered, determine ONEC effectiveness, identify theoretical models used, and identify future research needs. Systematic search of database literature. Postsecondary education. Nine research articles evaluating postsecondary ONEC. Knowledge/performance outcomes and student satisfaction, motivation, or perceptions. Systematic search of 922 articles and review of 9 articles meeting search criteria. Little research regarding ONEC marketing/management existed. Studies primarily evaluated introductory courses using email/websites (before 2000), or course management systems (after 2002). None used true experimental designs; just 3 addressed validity or reliability of measures or pilot-tested instruments. Three articles used theoretical models in course design; few used theories to guide evaluations. Four quasi-experimental studies indicated no differences in nutrition knowledge/performance between online and face-to-face learners. Results were inconclusive regarding student satisfaction, motivation, or perceptions. Students can gain knowledge in online as well as in face-to-face nutrition courses, but satisfaction was mixed. More up-to-date investigations on effective practices are warranted, using theories to identify factors that enhance student outcomes, addressing emerging technologies, and documenting ONEC marketing, management, and delivery. Adequate training/support for faculty is needed to improve student experiences and faculty time management. Copyright © 2011 Society for Nutrition Education. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Storytelling to Enhance Teaching and Learning: The Systematic Design, Development, and Testing of Two Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirumi, Atsusi; Sivo, Stephen; Pounds, Kelly

2012-01-01

Storytelling may be a powerful instructional approach for engaging learners and facilitating e-learning. However, relatively little is known about how to apply story within the context of systematic instructional design processes and claims for the effectiveness of storytelling in training and education have been primarily anecdotal and…

New Baseline Design of the ILC RTML System

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

Seletskiy, S.; Kapin, V. V.; Solyak, N.

2012-05-01

The new ILC baseline was proposed in 2009 (Strawman baseline - SB2009) to minimize cost of the machine and accommodate many changes made in the design of the accelerator systems. The biggest changes are made in the central area, where BDS, RTM L, DR, electron and positron sources are sharing the tunnels. A new layout of the compact DR and re-location of the electron and positron sources to the main tunnel requires a new lattice design for all beamlines in this area. The lattice design was coord inated between accelerator systems and Convention Facility and Siting (CFS) group to eliminatemore » conflicts between beamlines and satisfy construction requirements. In this paper we present a new design of the RTML electron and positron lattices in the centr al area and other modifications made in the RTML line to accommodate changes to the beamline layouts.« less

New Design and Improvement of Planetary Gear Trains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Handschuh, Robert (Technical Monitor); Litvin, Faydor L.; Fuentes, Alfonso; Vecchiato, Daniele; Gonzalez-Perez, Ignacio

2004-01-01

The development of new types of planetary and planetary face-gear drives is proposed. The new designs are based on regulating backlash between the gears and modifying the tooth surfaces to improve the design. The goal of this work is to obtain a nearly uniform distribution of load between the planet gears. In addition, a new type of planetary face-gear drive was developed in this project.

Comparative effectiveness of instructional design features in simulation-based education: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Cook, David A; Hamstra, Stanley J; Brydges, Ryan; Zendejas, Benjamin; Szostek, Jason H; Wang, Amy T; Erwin, Patricia J; Hatala, Rose

2013-01-01

Although technology-enhanced simulation is increasingly used in health professions education, features of effective simulation-based instructional design remain uncertain. Evaluate the effectiveness of instructional design features through a systematic review of studies comparing different simulation-based interventions. We systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus, key journals, and previous review bibliographies through May 2011. We included original research studies that compared one simulation intervention with another and involved health professions learners. Working in duplicate, we evaluated study quality and abstracted information on learners, outcomes, and instructional design features. We pooled results using random effects meta-analysis. From a pool of 10,903 articles we identified 289 eligible studies enrolling 18,971 trainees, including 208 randomized trials. Inconsistency was usually large (I2 > 50%). For skills outcomes, pooled effect sizes (positive numbers favoring the instructional design feature) were 0.68 for range of difficulty (20 studies; p < 0.001), 0.68 for repetitive practice (7 studies; p = 0.06), 0.66 for distributed practice (6 studies; p = 0.03), 0.65 for interactivity (89 studies; p < 0.001), 0.62 for multiple learning strategies (70 studies; p < 0.001), 0.52 for individualized learning (59 studies; p < 0.001), 0.45 for mastery learning (3 studies; p = 0.57), 0.44 for feedback (80 studies; p < 0.001), 0.34 for longer time (23 studies; p = 0.005), 0.20 for clinical variation (16 studies; p = 0.24), and -0.22 for group training (8 studies; p = 0.09). These results confirm quantitatively the effectiveness of several instructional design features in simulation-based education.

Self-compensating design for reduction of timing and leakage sensitivity to systematic pattern dependent variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Puneet; Kahng, Andrew B.; Kim, Youngmin; Sylvester, Dennis

2006-03-01

Focus is one of the major sources of linewidth variation. CD variation caused by defocus is largely systematic after the layout is finished. In particular, dense lines "smile" through focus while isolated lines "frown" in typical Bossung plots. This well-defined systematic behavior of focus-dependent CD variation allows us to develop a self-compensating design methodology. In this work, we propose a novel design methodology that allows explicit compensation of focus-dependent CD variation, either within a cell (self-compensated cells) or across cells in a critical path (self-compensated design). By creating iso and dense variants for each library cell, we can achieve designs that are more robust to focus variation. Optimization with a mixture of iso and dense cell variants is possible both for area and leakage power, with the latter providing an interesting complement to existing leakage reduction techniques such as dual-Vth. We implement both heuristic and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) solution methods to address this optimization, and experimentally compare their results. Our results indicate that designing with a self-compensated cell library incurs ~12% area penalty and ~6% leakage increase over original layouts while compensating for focus-dependent CD variation (i.e., the design meets timing constraints across a large range of focus variation). We observe ~27% area penalty and ~7% leakage increase at the worst-case defocus condition using only single-pitch cells. The area penalty of circuits after using either the heuristic or MILP optimization approach is reduced to ~3% while maintaining timing. We also apply our optimizations to leakage, which traditionally shows very large variability due to its exponential relationship with gate CD. We conclude that a mixed iso/dense library combined with a sensitivity-based optimization approach yields much better area/timing/leakage tradeoffs than using a self-compensated cell library alone. Self

Systematic inquiry for design of health care information systems: an example of elicitation of the patient stakeholder perspective

PubMed Central

Eschler, Jordan; O’Leary, Katie; Kendall, Logan; Ralston, James D.; Pratt, Wanda

2017-01-01

The electronic health record (EHR) has evolved as a tool primarily dictated by the needs of health care clinicians and organizations, providing important functions supporting day to day work in health care. However, the EHR and supporting information systems contain the potential to incorporate patient workflows and tasks as well. Integrating patient needs into existing EHR and health management systems will require understanding of patients as direct stakeholders, necessitating observation and exploration of in situ EHR use by patients to envision new opportunities for future systems. In this paper, we describe the application of a theoretical framework (Vicente, 1999) to organize qualitative data during a multi-stage research study into patient engagement with EHRs. By using this method of systematic inquiry, we have more effectively elicited patient stakeholder needs and goals to inform the design of future health care information systems. PMID:29056874

Designing an orientation program for new faculty.

PubMed

Holyfield, Lavern J; Berry, Charles W

2008-12-01

The Faculty Development Committee (FDC) at Baylor College of Dentistry (BCD) is charged with providing programs and activities that facilitate the success of existing faculty in the constantly changing environment of academia. In response to concerns regarding the challenges wrought by current and projected shortages of dental faculty across the nation, the FDC was prompted to assess development opportunities available to BCD faculty. A professional development resource that we found deficient was a formal, comprehensive orientation program for newly hired faculty. To guide the efforts of the committee in developing this program, a survey was designed and administered during an annual faculty retreat. Respondents were new and junior faculty, senior faculty, and some administrators. The results of the survey to determine requirements for new faculty orientation became the basis for formalizing BCD's new faculty orientation program. This article provides an overview of the new faculty orientation process from design to program implementation and describes the development and use of a faculty survey to determine the fundamental elements of a faculty development program, identification of essential individuals for designing/implementing the program, and implementation of a new faculty orientation program at BCD.

Interventions to Reduce Adult Nursing Turnover: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.

PubMed

Halter, Mary; Pelone, Ferruccio; Boiko, Olga; Beighton, Carole; Harris, Ruth; Gale, Julia; Gourlay, Stephen; Drennan, Vari

2017-01-01

Nurse turnover is an issue of concern in health care systems internationally. Understanding which interventions are effective to reduce turnover rates is important to managers and health care organisations. Despite a plethora of reviews of such interventions, strength of evidence is hard to determine. We aimed to review literature on interventions to reduce turnover in nurses working in the adult health care services in developed economies. We conducted an overview (systematic review of systematic reviews) using the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, CINAHL plus and SCOPUS and forward searching. We included reviews published between 1990 and January 2015 in English. We carried out parallel blinded selection, extraction of data and assessment of bias, using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews. We carried out a narrative synthesis. Despite the large body of published reviews, only seven reviews met the inclusion criteria. These provide moderate quality review evidence, albeit from poorly controlled primary studies. They provide evidence of effect of a small number of interventions which decrease turnover or increase retention of nurses, these being preceptorship of new graduates and leadership for group cohesion. We highlight that a large body of reviews does not equate with a large body of high quality evidence. Agreement as to the measures and terminology to be used together with well-designed, funded primary research to provide robust evidence for nurse and human resource managers to base their nurse retention strategies on is urgently required.

Installation Restoration Program. Phase II. Confirmation/Quantification. Stage 1 for Air Force Plant 6, Cobb County, Georgia. Volume 2.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-08-09

FL UNLSSIFIED C R NEFF ET AL 99 AUG 95 F33615-84-D-4491 F/O 13/2 NLEmhANNE.mmmmhhhhl smhmhhhhmmhhls mhmmhmmhhhhhl...Occupational and Environmental Gainesville, FL 32602-3052 Health Laboratory I Brookq -kir ForrA R"Pn ’’y 1:;~ Sa. NAME OF FUNOINGiSPONSORING 8b. OFFICE...z ul N z~ I. * 4 11 z z 41 ( z a FL - pJ 0 :, w I.. 0 I z. z w \\, Cl) - u zzw JJ 4,..- 4.0 .J.. a A7 0 z I .4-i~ I _ _ __ _ _ C4.. % 0- .1 z IH~ID3M A

Ergonomic design and evaluation of new surgical scissors.

PubMed

Shimomura, Yoshihiro; Shirakawa, Hironori; Sekine, Masashi; Katsuura, Tetsuo; Igarashi, Tatsuo

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to design a new surgical scissors handle and determine its effectiveness with various usability indices. A new scissors handle was designed that retains the professional grip but has the shapes of the eye rings modified to fit the thumb and ring finger and finger rests for the index and little finger. The newly designed scissors and traditional scissors were compared by electromyography, subjective evaluation and task performance in experiments using cutting and peeling tasks. The newly designed scissors reduced muscle load in both hand during cutting by the closing action, and reduced the muscle load in the left hand during peeling by the opening action through active use of the right hand. In evaluation by surgeons, task performance improved in addition to the decrease in muscle load. The newly designed scissors used in this study demonstrated high usability. A new scissors handle was designed that has the eye rings modified to fit the thumb and ring finger. The newly designed scissors reduced muscle load and enabled active use of the right hand. In evaluation by surgeons, task performance improved in addition to the decrease in muscle load.

Galactic binary science with the new LISA design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cornish, Neil; Robson, Travis

2017-05-01

Building on the great success of the LISA Pathfinder mission, the outlines of a new LISA mission design were laid out at the 11th International LISA Symposium in Zurich. The revised design calls for three identical spacecraft forming an equilateral triangle with 2.5 million kilometer sides, and two laser links per side delivering full polarization sensitivity. With the demonstrated Pathfinder performance for the disturbance reduction system, and a well studied design for the laser metrology, it is anticipated that the new mission will have a sensitivity very close to the original LISA design. This implies that the mid-band performance, between 0.5 mHz and 3 mHz, will be limited by unresolved signals from compact binaries in our galaxy. Here we use the new LISA design to compute updated estimates for the galactic confusion noise, the number of resolvable galactic binaries, and the accuracy to which key parameters of these systems can be measured.

The dietary impact of introducing new retailers of fruits and vegetables into a community: results from a systematic review.

PubMed

Woodruff, Rebecca C; Raskind, Ilana G; Harris, Diane M; Gazmararian, Julie A; Kramer, Michael; Haardörfer, Regine; Kegler, Michelle C

2018-04-01

To investigate the potential dietary impact of the opening of new retailers of healthy foods. Systematic review of the peer-reviewed research literature. References published before November 2015 were retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases using keyword searches. The outcome of the review was change in fruit and vegetable consumption among adults. Of 3514 references retrieved, ninety-two articles were reviewed in full text, and twenty-three articles representing fifteen studies were included. Studies used post-test only (n 4), repeated cross-sectional (n 4) and repeated measures designs (n 7) to evaluate the dietary impact of supermarket (n 7), farmers' market (n 4), produce stand (n 2) or mobile market (n 2) openings. Evidence of increased fruit and vegetable consumption was most consistent among adults who began shopping at the new retailer. Three of four repeated measures studies found modest, albeit not always statistically significant, increases in fruit and vegetable consumption (range 0·23-0·54 servings/d) at 6-12 months after baseline. Dietary change among residents of the broader community where the new retailer opened was less consistent. The methodological quality of studies, including research designs, sampling methods, follow-up intervals and outcome measures, ranged widely. Future research should align methodologically with previous work to facilitate meta-analytic synthesis of results. Opening a new retailer may result in modest short-term increases in fruit and vegetable consumption among adults who choose to shop there, but the potential longer-term dietary impact on customers and its impact on the broader community remain unclear.

Design by Analogy: Achieving More Patentable Ideas from One Creative Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Li-Zhen; Wu, Chun-Long; Zhu, Xue-Hong; Tan, Run-Hua

2018-12-01

A patent is a kind of technical document to protect intellectual property for individuals or enterprises. Patentable idea generation is a crucial step for patent application and analogy is confirmed to be an effective technique to inspire creative ideas. Analogy-based design usually starts from representation of an analogy source and is followed by the retrieval of appropriate analogs, mapping of design knowledge and adaptation of target solution. To diffuse one core idea into other new contexts and achieve more patentable ideas, this paper mainly centered on the first two stages of analogy-based design and proposed a patentable ideation framework. The analogical information of the source system, including source design problems and solution, was mined comprehensively through International Patent Classification analysis and represented in the form of function, behavior and structure. Three heuristics were suggested for searching the set of candidate target systems with a similar design problem, where the source design could be transferred. To systematize the process of source representation, analogs retrieval, idea transfer, and solution generation, an ideation model was put forward. Finally, the bladeless fan was selected as a source design to illustrate the application of this work. The design output shows that the representation and heuristics are beneficial, and this systematic ideation method can help the engineer or designer enhance creativity and discover more patentable opportunities.

A New Framework for Systematic Reviews: Application to Social Skills Interventions for Preschoolers with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldstein, Howard; Lackey, Kimberly C.; Schneider, Naomi J. B.

2014-01-01

This review presents a novel framework for evaluating evidence based on a set of parallel criteria that can be applied to both group and single-subject experimental design (SSED) studies. The authors illustrate use of this evaluation system in a systematic review of 67 articles investigating social skills interventions for preschoolers with autism…

Does design matter? Systematic evaluation of the impact of analytical choices on effect estimates in observational studies

PubMed Central

Ryan, Patrick B.; Schuemie, Martijn

2013-01-01

Background: Clinical studies that use observational databases, such as administrative claims and electronic health records, to evaluate the effects of medical products have become commonplace. These studies begin by selecting a particular study design, such as a case control, cohort, or self-controlled design, and different authors can and do choose different designs for the same clinical question. Furthermore, published papers invariably report the study design but do not discuss the rationale for the specific choice. Studies of the same clinical question with different designs, however, can generate different results, sometimes with strikingly different implications. Even within a specific study design, authors make many different analytic choices and these too can profoundly impact results. In this paper, we systematically study heterogeneity due to the type of study design and due to analytic choices within study design. Methods and findings: We conducted our analysis in 10 observational healthcare databases but mostly present our results in the context of the GE Centricity EMR database, an electronic health record database containing data for 11.2 million lives. We considered the impact of three different study design choices on estimates of associations between bisphosphonates and four particular health outcomes for which there is no evidence of an association. We show that applying alternative study designs can yield discrepant results, in terms of direction and significance of association. We also highlight that while traditional univariate sensitivity analysis may not show substantial variation, systematic assessment of all analytical choices within a study design can yield inconsistent results ranging from statistically significant decreased risk to statistically significant increased risk. Our findings show that clinical studies using observational databases can be sensitive both to study design choices and to specific analytic choices within study

American Modern Design for a New Age.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Mark M.

2000-01-01

Focuses on the exhibition titled "American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New Age" that documents the efforts and achievements of the United States in the area of design arts. States that the exhibition features more than 150 objects, including furniture, posters, and radios, by leading designers of the early and mid century. (CMK)

A Systematic Approach for Quantitative Analysis of Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sangho; Park, Jungkeun; Lee, Jeong-Oog; Lee, Jae-Woo

An efficient Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization (MDO) framework for an aerospace engineering system should use and integrate distributed resources such as various analysis codes, optimization codes, Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools, Data Base Management Systems (DBMS), etc. in a heterogeneous environment, and need to provide user-friendly graphical user interfaces. In this paper, we propose a systematic approach for determining a reference MDO framework and for evaluating MDO frameworks. The proposed approach incorporates two well-known methods, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD), in order to provide a quantitative analysis of the qualitative criteria of MDO frameworks. Identification and hierarchy of the framework requirements and the corresponding solutions for the reference MDO frameworks, the general one and the aircraft oriented one were carefully investigated. The reference frameworks were also quantitatively identified using AHP and QFD. An assessment of three in-house frameworks was then performed. The results produced clear and useful guidelines for improvement of the in-house MDO frameworks and showed the feasibility of the proposed approach for evaluating an MDO framework without a human interference.

What's new in atopic eczema? An analysis of systematic reviews published in 2010-11.

PubMed

Torley, D; Futamura, M; Williams, H C; Thomas, K S

2013-07-01

This review provides a summary of key findings from 24 systematic reviews of atopic eczema (AE) published or indexed between 1 August 2010 and 31 December 2011, updating published summaries from previous years. Epidemiological evidence points to the protective effects of early daycare, endotoxin exposure, consumption of unpasteurized milk, and early exposure to dogs, but antibiotic use in early life may increase the risk for AE. With regard to prevention of AE, there is currently no strong evidence of benefit for exclusive breastfeeding, hydrolysed protein formulas, soy formulas, maternal antigen avoidance, omega-3 or omega-6 fatty-acid supplementation, or use of prebiotics or probiotics. With respect to AE treatments, the most compelling new systematic review evidence was for proactive treatment with topical anti-inflammatory agents (topical corticosteroids and topical calcineurin inhibitors) for the prevention of AE flares in patients with moderate to severe AE. A meta-analysis of 4 trials confirmed the superiority of tacrolimus 0.1% over pimecrolimus for the treatment of AE, and a review of 17 trials found that tacrolimus (0.1% or 0.03%) was broadly similar in efficacy to mild/moderate topical corticosteroids. Evidence for the role of education in the management of AE was less conclusive, with evidence from randomized controlled trials showing mixed results. Further work is needed in this area to conduct high-quality trials of educational interventions that are clearly described and reproducible. There is no clear evidence for the efficacy of homeopathy, botanical extracts or Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of AE, as large well-designed trials are lacking in these areas. © 2013 British Association of Dermatologists.

Designing Visual Aids That Promote Risk Literacy: A Systematic Review of Health Research and Evidence-Based Design Heuristics.

PubMed

Garcia-Retamero, Rocio; Cokely, Edward T

2017-06-01

Background Effective risk communication is essential for informed decision making. Unfortunately, many people struggle to understand typical risk communications because they lack essential decision-making skills. Objective The aim of this study was to review the literature on the effect of numeracy on risk literacy, decision making, and health outcomes, and to evaluate the benefits of visual aids in risk communication. Method We present a conceptual framework describing the influence of numeracy on risk literacy, decision making, and health outcomes, followed by a systematic review of the benefits of visual aids in risk communication for people with different levels of numeracy and graph literacy. The systematic review covers scientific research published between January 1995 and April 2016, drawn from the following databases: Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, Medline, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were investigation of the effect of numeracy and/or graph literacy, and investigation of the effect of visual aids or comparison of their effect with that of numerical information. Thirty-six publications met the criteria, providing data on 27,885 diverse participants from 60 countries. Results Transparent visual aids robustly improved risk understanding in diverse individuals by encouraging thorough deliberation, enhancing cognitive self-assessment, and reducing conceptual biases in memory. Improvements in risk understanding consistently produced beneficial changes in attitudes, behavioral intentions, trust, and healthy behaviors. Visual aids were found to be particularly beneficial for vulnerable and less skilled individuals. Conclusion Well-designed visual aids tend to be highly effective tools for improving informed decision making among diverse decision makers. We identify five categories of practical, evidence-based guidelines for heuristic evaluation and design of effective visual aids.

Interventions Used by Nurse Preceptors to Develop Critical Thinking of New Graduate Nurses: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Schuelke, Sue; Barnason, Susan

Healthcare complexity and patient acuity necessitate competent nurses with critical thinking abilities. However, these skill sets are less developed among newly hired graduate nurses. The overall purpose of this systematic review was to examine interventions/strategies implemented by preceptors in healthcare organizations to promote critical thinking of new graduate nurses. A systematic search of the literature resulted in 602 citations, with nine studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Educational interventions were varied and will be described in this article. Preceptor education was a key component in the studies reviewed.

A new design approach to innovative spectrometers. Case study: TROPOLITE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volatier, Jean-Baptiste; Baümer, Stefan; Kruizinga, Bob; Vink, Rob

2014-05-01

Designing a novel optical system is a nested iterative process. The optimization loop, from a starting point to final system is already mostly automated. However this loop is part of a wider loop which is not. This wider loop starts with an optical specification and ends with a manufacturability assessment. When designing a new spectrometer with emphasis on weight and cost, numerous iterations between the optical- and mechanical designer are inevitable. The optical designer must then be able to reliably produce optical designs based on new input gained from multidisciplinary studies. This paper presents a procedure that can automatically generate new starting points based on any kind of input or new constraint that might arise. These starting points can then be handed over to a generic optimization routine to make the design tasks extremely efficient. The optical designer job is then not to design optical systems, but to meta-design a procedure that produces optical systems paving the way for system level optimization. We present here this procedure and its application to the design of TROPOLITE a lightweight push broom imaging spectrometer.

Economic Evaluation of Quality Improvement Interventions Designed to Prevent Hospital Readmission: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Nuckols, Teryl K; Keeler, Emmett; Morton, Sally; Anderson, Laura; Doyle, Brian J; Pevnick, Joshua; Booth, Marika; Shanman, Roberta; Arifkhanova, Aziza; Shekelle, Paul

2017-07-01

Quality improvement (QI) interventions can reduce hospital readmission, but little is known about their economic value. To systematically review economic evaluations of QI interventions designed to reduce readmissions. Databases searched included PubMed, Econlit, the Centre for Reviews & Dissemination Economic Evaluations, New York Academy of Medicine's Grey Literature Report, and Worldcat (January 2004 to July 2016). Dual reviewers selected English-language studies from high-income countries that evaluated organizational or structural changes to reduce hospital readmission, and that reported program and readmission-related costs. Dual reviewers extracted intervention characteristics, study design, clinical effectiveness, study quality, economic perspective, and costs. We calculated the risk difference and net costs to the health system in 2015 US dollars. Weighted least-squares regression analyses tested predictors of the risk difference and net costs. Main outcomes measures included the risk difference in readmission rates and incremental net cost. This systematic review and data analysis is reported in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Of 5205 articles, 50 unique studies were eligible, including 25 studies in populations limited to heart failure (HF) that included 5768 patients, 21 in general populations that included 10 445 patients, and 4 in unique populations. Fifteen studies lasted up to 30 days while most others lasted 6 to 24 months. Based on regression analyses, readmissions declined by an average of 12.1% among patients with HF (95% CI, 8.3%-15.9%; P < .001; based on 22 studies with complete data) and by 6.3% among general populations (95% CI, 4.0%-8.7%; P < .001; 18 studies). The mean net savings to the health system per patient was $972 among patients with HF (95% CI, -$642 to $2586; P = .23; 24 studies), and the mean net loss was $169 among general populations (95% CI

Systematic Prediction of Scaffold Proteins Reveals New Design Principles in Scaffold-Mediated Signal Transduction

PubMed Central

Hu, Jianfei; Neiswinger, Johnathan; Zhang, Jin; Zhu, Heng; Qian, Jiang

2015-01-01

Scaffold proteins play a crucial role in facilitating signal transduction in eukaryotes by bringing together multiple signaling components. In this study, we performed a systematic analysis of scaffold proteins in signal transduction by integrating protein-protein interaction and kinase-substrate relationship networks. We predicted 212 scaffold proteins that are involved in 605 distinct signaling pathways. The computational prediction was validated using a protein microarray-based approach. The predicted scaffold proteins showed several interesting characteristics, as we expected from the functionality of scaffold proteins. We found that the scaffold proteins are likely to interact with each other, which is consistent with previous finding that scaffold proteins tend to form homodimers and heterodimers. Interestingly, a single scaffold protein can be involved in multiple signaling pathways by interacting with other scaffold protein partners. Furthermore, we propose two possible regulatory mechanisms by which the activity of scaffold proteins is coordinated with their associated pathways through phosphorylation process. PMID:26393507

Resonance Energy Transfer-Based Molecular Switch Designed Using a Systematic Design Process Based on Monte Carlo Methods and Markov Chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rallapalli, Arjun

A RET network consists of a network of photo-active molecules called chromophores that can participate in inter-molecular energy transfer called resonance energy transfer (RET). RET networks are used in a variety of applications including cryptographic devices, storage systems, light harvesting complexes, biological sensors, and molecular rulers. In this dissertation, we focus on creating a RET device called closed-diffusive exciton valve (C-DEV) in which the input to output transfer function is controlled by an external energy source, similar to a semiconductor transistor like the MOSFET. Due to their biocompatibility, molecular devices like the C-DEVs can be used to introduce computing power in biological, organic, and aqueous environments such as living cells. Furthermore, the underlying physics in RET devices are stochastic in nature, making them suitable for stochastic computing in which true random distribution generation is critical. In order to determine a valid configuration of chromophores for the C-DEV, we developed a systematic process based on user-guided design space pruning techniques and built-in simulation tools. We show that our C-DEV is 15x better than C-DEVs designed using ad hoc methods that rely on limited data from prior experiments. We also show ways in which the C-DEV can be improved further and how different varieties of C-DEVs can be combined to form more complex logic circuits. Moreover, the systematic design process can be used to search for valid chromophore network configurations for a variety of RET applications. We also describe a feasibility study for a technique used to control the orientation of chromophores attached to DNA. Being able to control the orientation can expand the design space for RET networks because it provides another parameter to tune their collective behavior. While results showed limited control over orientation, the analysis required the development of a mathematical model that can be used to determine the

Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm in Systematic and E-Mail Samples of College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rideout, Bruce E.; Hushen, Katherine; McGinty, Dawn; Perkins, Stephanie; Tate, Jennifer

2005-01-01

As the initial phase of a longitudinal study of environmental perspective in college students, resident student opinion was sampled using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale administered through systematic alphabetical sampling. Sampling was also carried out by a blanket e-mail distribution of surveys for voluntary response. Results showed…

Design Guidance for New Windows | Efficient Windows Collaborative

Science.gov Websites

Foundry Foundry New Construction Windows Window Selection Tool Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Replacement Windows Window Selection Tool Assessing Options Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Understanding Windows Benefits Design Considerations Measuring Performance Performance Standards

The study design elements employed by researchers in preclinical animal experiments from two research domains and implications for automation of systematic reviews.

PubMed

O'Connor, Annette M; Totton, Sarah C; Cullen, Jonah N; Ramezani, Mahmood; Kalivarapu, Vijay; Yuan, Chaohui; Gilbert, Stephen B

2018-01-01

Systematic reviews are increasingly using data from preclinical animal experiments in evidence networks. Further, there are ever-increasing efforts to automate aspects of the systematic review process. When assessing systematic bias and unit-of-analysis errors in preclinical experiments, it is critical to understand the study design elements employed by investigators. Such information can also inform prioritization of automation efforts that allow the identification of the most common issues. The aim of this study was to identify the design elements used by investigators in preclinical research in order to inform unique aspects of assessment of bias and error in preclinical research. Using 100 preclinical experiments each related to brain trauma and toxicology, we assessed design elements described by the investigators. We evaluated Methods and Materials sections of reports for descriptions of the following design elements: 1) use of comparison group, 2) unit of allocation of the interventions to study units, 3) arrangement of factors, 4) method of factor allocation to study units, 5) concealment of the factors during allocation and outcome assessment, 6) independence of study units, and 7) nature of factors. Many investigators reported using design elements that suggested the potential for unit-of-analysis errors, i.e., descriptions of repeated measurements of the outcome (94/200) and descriptions of potential for pseudo-replication (99/200). Use of complex factor arrangements was common, with 112 experiments using some form of factorial design (complete, incomplete or split-plot-like). In the toxicology dataset, 20 of the 100 experiments appeared to use a split-plot-like design, although no investigators used this term. The common use of repeated measures and factorial designs means understanding bias and error in preclinical experimental design might require greater expertise than simple parallel designs. Similarly, use of complex factor arrangements creates

New single-copy nuclear genes for scale insect systematics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Despite the advent of next-generation sequencing, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing remain useful tools for molecular identification and systematics. To date, molecular systematics of scale insects has been constrained by the paucity of loci that researchers have been able to...

Aerospace engineering design by systematic decomposition and multilevel optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, J.; Giles, G. L.; Barthelemy, J.-F. M.

1984-01-01

This paper describes a method for systematic analysis and optimization of large engineering systems, e.g., aircraft, by decomposition of a large task into a set of smaller, self-contained subtasks that can be solved concurrently. The subtasks may be arranged in many hierarchical levels with the assembled system at the top level. Analyses are carried out in each subtask using inputs received from other subtasks, and are followed by optimizations carried out from the bottom up. Each optimization at the lower levels is augmented by analysis of its sensitivity to the inputs received from other subtasks to account for the couplings among the subtasks in a formal manner. The analysis and optimization operations alternate iteratively until they converge to a system design whose performance is maximized with all constraints satisfied. The method, which is still under development, is tentatively validated by test cases in structural applications and an aircraft configuration optimization. It is pointed out that the method is intended to be compatible with the typical engineering organization and the modern technology of distributed computing.

New-onset diabetes after pancreatoduodenectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Scholten, Lianne; Mungroop, Timothy H; Haijtink, Simone A L; Issa, Yama; van Rijssen, L Bengt; Koerkamp, Bas Groot; van Eijck, Casper H; Busch, Olivier R; DeVries, J Hans; Besselink, Marc G

2018-05-17

Pancreatoduodenectomy may lead to new-onset diabetes mellitus, also known as type 3c diabetes, but the exact risk of this complication is unknown. The aim of this review was to assess the risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus after pancreatoduodenectomy. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase (Ovid), and the Cochrane Library for English articles published from March 1993 until March 2017 (PROSPERO registry number: CRD42016039784). Studies reporting on the risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus after pancreatoduodenectomy were included. For meta-analysis, studies were pooled using the random-effects model. All studies were appraised according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. After screening 1,523 studies, 22 studies involving 1,121 patients were eligible. The mean weighted overall proportion of new-onset diabetes mellitus after pancreatoduodenectomy was 16% (95% confidence interval, 12%-20%). We found no significant difference in risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus when pancreatoduodenectomy was performed for nonmalignant disease after excluding patients with chronic pancreatitis (19% risk; 95% confidence interval, 7%-43%; 6 studies) or for malignant disease (22% risk; 95% confidence interval, 14%-32%; 11 studies), P = .71. Among all patients, 6% (95% confidence interval, 4%-10%) developed insulin-dependent new-onset diabetes mellitus. This systematic review identified a clinically relevant risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus after pancreatoduodenectomy of which patients should be informed preoperatively. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An overview of systematic review.

PubMed

Baker, Kathy A; Weeks, Susan Mace

2014-12-01

Systematic review is an invaluable tool for the practicing clinician. A well-designed systematic review represents the latest and most complete information available on a particular topic or intervention. This article highlights the key elements of systematic review, what it is and is not, and provides an overview of several reputable organizations supporting the methodological development and conduct of systematic review. Important aspects for evaluating the quality of a systematic review are also included. Copyright © 2014 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Linked shoulder replacement: current design problems and a new design proposal.

PubMed

Mohammed, Ali Abdullah; Frostick, Simon Peter

2016-04-01

Totally constrained shoulder replacement with linked components is one of the surgical options in post-tumor resection shoulder reconstruction or in complex shoulder revision operations. In this paper, we intend to shed light on such an implant design, which provides a linked constrained connection between the humeral head and the glenoid, and to show some immediate postoperative complications, implant progression to decrease the chances of implant mechanical postinsertion failure, and a new design proposal. In our center, we use the linked prosthesis in complex revision situations; however, there have been some complications, which could be attributed mainly to the engineering and the implant design, and hence potentially avoidable by making a different design to cover for those mechanical issues. Two such complications are described in this paper. Early revisions after linked shoulder replacement implantation were needed in two occasions due to implant disconnection: one of them was due to dislodgement from the native glenoid, and the second one was due to the disengagement of the ringlet which secures the linkage mechanism between the humeral head and the implanted glenoid shell. There is a need for a more stable design construct to avoid the reported complications that needed early revision surgeries. The new design proposed is an attempt to help providing a better and more stable implant to decrease the chances of revision in those complex situations where the patient already had many major operations, and working to increase the durability of the implant is crucial.

Pacemaker implantation rate after transcatheter aortic valve implantation with early and new-generation devices: a systematic review.

PubMed

van Rosendael, Philippe J; Delgado, Victoria; Bax, Jeroen J

2018-06-01

The incidence of new-onset conduction abnormalities requiring permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with new-generation prostheses remains debated. This systematic review analyses the incidence of PPI after TAVI with new-generation devices and evaluates the electrical, anatomical, and procedural factors associated with PPI. In addition, the incidence of PPI after TAVI with early generation prostheses was reviewed for comparison. According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist, this systematic review screened original articles published between October 2010 and October 2017, reporting on the incidence of PPI after implantation of early and new-generation TAVI prostheses. Of the 1406 original articles identified in the first search for new-generation TAVI devices, 348 articles were examined for full text, and finally, 40 studies (n = 17 139) were included. The incidence of a PPI after the use of a new-generation TAVI prosthesis ranged between 2.3% and 36.1%. For balloon-expandable prostheses, the PPI rate remained low when using an early generation SAPIEN device (ranging between 2.3% and 28.2%), and with the new-generation SAPIEN 3 device, the PPI rate was between 4.0% and 24.0%. For self-expandable prostheses, the PPI rates were higher with the early generation CoreValve device (16.3-37.7%), and despite a reduction in PPI rates with the new Evolut R, the rates remained relatively higher (14.7-26.7%). When dividing the studies according to the highest (>26.0%) and the lowest (<12.1%) quintile of PPI rate, patients within the highest quintile were more frequently women when compared with the lowest quintile group (50.9% vs. 46.3%, P < 0.001). Pre-existent conduction abnormalities (electrical factor), calcification of the left ventricular outflow tract (anatomical factor), and balloon valvuloplasty and depth of implantation (procedural factors) were associated

Systematic review of sensory integration therapy for individuals with disabilities: Single case design studies.

PubMed

Leong, H M; Carter, Mark; Stephenson, Jennifer

2015-12-01

Sensory integration therapy (SIT) is a controversial intervention that is widely used for people with disabilities. Systematic analysis was conducted on the outcomes of 17 single case design studies on sensory integration therapy for people with, or at-risk of, a developmental or learning disability, disorder or delay. An assessment of the quality of methodology of the studies found most used weak designs and poor methodology, with a tendency for higher quality studies to produce negative results. Based on limited comparative evidence, functional analysis-based interventions for challenging behavior were more effective that SIT. Overall the studies do not provide convincing evidence for the efficacy of sensory integration therapy. Given the findings of the present review and other recent analyses it is advised that the use of SIT be limited to experimental contexts. Issues with the studies and possible improvements for future research are discussed including the need to employ designs that allow for adequate demonstration of experimental control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conducting systematic reviews of economic evaluations.

PubMed

Gomersall, Judith Streak; Jadotte, Yuri Tertilus; Xue, Yifan; Lockwood, Suzi; Riddle, Dru; Preda, Alin

2015-09-01

In 2012, a working group was established to review and enhance the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidance for conducting systematic review of evidence from economic evaluations addressing a question(s) about health intervention cost-effectiveness. The objective is to present the outcomes of the working group. The group conducted three activities to inform the new guidance: review of literature on the utility/futility of systematic reviews of economic evaluations and consideration of its implications for updating the existing methodology; assessment of the critical appraisal tool in the existing guidance against criteria that promotes validity in economic evaluation research and two other commonly used tools; and a workshop. The debate in the literature on the limitations/value of systematic review of economic evidence cautions that systematic reviews of economic evaluation evidence are unlikely to generate one size fits all answers to questions about the cost-effectiveness of interventions and their comparators. Informed by this finding, the working group adjusted the framing of the objectives definition in the existing JBI methodology. The shift is away from defining the objective as to determine one cost-effectiveness measure toward summarizing study estimates of cost-effectiveness and informed by consideration of the included study characteristics (patient, setting, intervention component, etc.), identifying conditions conducive to lowering costs and maximizing health benefits. The existing critical appraisal tool was included in the new guidance. The new guidance includes the recommendation that a tool designed specifically for the purpose of appraising model-based studies be used together with the generic appraisal tool for economic evaluations assessment to evaluate model-based evaluations. The guidance produced by the group offers reviewers guidance for each step of the systematic review process, which are the same steps followed in JBI reviews of other

75 FR 24571 - Designation of New Grantee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-05

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Order No. 1676] Designation of New Grantee Foreign-Trade Zone 243, Victorville, California Resolution and Order Pursuant to its authority under the... recognizes the City of Victorville as the new grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 243, subject to the FTZ Act and...

75 FR 24571 - Designation of New Grantee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-05

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Order No. 1677] Designation of New Grantee Foreign-Trade Zone 185, Culpeper, Virginia Resolution and Order Pursuant to its authority under the... recognizes the County of Culpeper as the new grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 185, subject to the FTZ Act and...

Using Instructional Design, Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate, to Develop e-Learning Modules to Disseminate Supported Employment for Community Behavioral Health Treatment Programs in New York State.

PubMed

Patel, Sapana R; Margolies, Paul J; Covell, Nancy H; Lipscomb, Cristine; Dixon, Lisa B

2018-01-01

Implementation science lacks a systematic approach to the development of learning strategies for online training in evidence-based practices (EBPs) that takes the context of real-world practice into account. The field of instructional design offers ecologically valid and systematic processes to develop learning strategies for workforce development and performance support. This report describes the application of an instructional design framework-Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate (ADDIE) model-in the development and evaluation of e-learning modules as one strategy among a multifaceted approach to the implementation of individual placement and support (IPS), a model of supported employment for community behavioral health treatment programs, in New York State. We applied quantitative and qualitative methods to develop and evaluate three IPS e-learning modules. Throughout the ADDIE process, we conducted formative and summative evaluations and identified determinants of implementation using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Formative evaluations consisted of qualitative feedback received from recipients and providers during early pilot work. The summative evaluation consisted of levels 1 and 2 (reaction to the training, self-reported knowledge, and practice change) quantitative and qualitative data and was guided by the Kirkpatrick model for training evaluation. Formative evaluation with key stakeholders identified a range of learning needs that informed the development of a pilot training program in IPS. Feedback on this pilot training program informed the design document of three e-learning modules on IPS: Introduction to IPS, IPS Job development, and Using the IPS Employment Resource Book . Each module was developed iteratively and provided an assessment of learning needs that informed successive modules. All modules were disseminated and evaluated through a learning management system. Summative evaluation revealed that

14 CFR 1260.58 - Designation of new technology representative and patent representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Designation of new technology... of new technology representative and patent representative. Designation of New Technology... of this grant entitled “New Technology,” the following named representatives are hereby designated by...

New robotics: design principles for intelligent systems.

PubMed

Pfeifer, Rolf; Iida, Fumiya; Bongard, Josh

2005-01-01

New robotics is an approach to robotics that, in contrast to traditional robotics, employs ideas and principles from biology. While in the traditional approach there are generally accepted methods (e. g., from control theory), designing agents in the new robotics approach is still largely considered an art. In recent years, we have been developing a set of heuristics, or design principles, that on the one hand capture theoretical insights about intelligent (adaptive) behavior, and on the other provide guidance in actually designing and building systems. In this article we provide an overview of all the principles but focus on the principles of ecological balance, which concerns the relation between environment, morphology, materials, and control, and sensory-motor coordination, which concerns self-generated sensory stimulation as the agent interacts with the environment and which is a key to the development of high-level intelligence. As we argue, artificial evolution together with morphogenesis is not only "nice to have" but is in fact a necessary tool for designing embodied agents.

Evaluating public awareness of new currency design features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiNunzio, Lisa; Church, Sara E.

2002-04-01

One of the goals of the 1996 series design was to integrate highly recognizable features that enable the general public to more easily distinguish counterfeit from genuine notes, thereby reducing the chance of counterfeit notes being passed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how knowledgeable the public is concerning the new currency, to identify the channels through which the public learns about new currency design, and to assess the usefulness of the new currency's authentication features. Also, the study will serve as a baseline measurement for future design studies and in comparative analysis with other countries. The results of the qualitative research will be described in the following sections of this paper. The quantitative research is scheduled to begin in February 2002, at the same time as the Netherlands' opinion poll of the Euro and NLG-notes in an effort to compare results.

14 CFR 1260.58 - Designation of new technology representative and patent representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Designation of new technology representative... of new technology representative and patent representative. Designation of New Technology... of this grant entitled “New Technology,” the following named representatives are hereby designated by...

Studies of Solar Flares and Coronal Loops.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-07-10

i( Tipo + T pl) and equations (5) and (8), we get P (D - w t P = + 0 (9j where 0 = o ’-, +T (k" -B,)- (o fTQ 10R B0 . G!) = ( - 1 ) R p + T ( k...andStegun. 1 . eds. 1970. HandhoolMathemarical Davis. J. M., and Webb. D F 1981. Bull • 4.4S. 13. -21 F!,n,; .ns INew York Do’er). p. 17 Einaudi. G...Sakanaka. P H 19-4. Ph s fIhids. 17, SIX 1951. Proc Ros Sit London. 1. 244. 17. Harsey. K. L. 1981. Bull . 44S. 13. ,90 tiider. C. Einaudi. G. and

Design Principles for New Systems of Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepard, Lorrie A.; Penuel, William R.; Davidson, Kristen L.

2017-01-01

The Every Student Succeeds Act grants states new flexibility to create more balanced assessment systems with a greater role for formative assessment. Drawing on lessons learned over three decades of research and reform, we argue that state and local leaders should take the lead in designing new assessments guided by two core principles: First,…

Adapting New Space System Designs into Existing Ground Infrastructure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delgado, Hector N.; McCleskey, Carey M.

2008-01-01

As routine space operations extend beyond earth orbit, the ability for ground infrastructures to take on new launch vehicle systems and a more complex suite of spacecraft and payloads has become a new challenge. The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration and its Constellation Program provides opportunities for our space operations community to meet this challenge. Presently, as new flight and ground systems add to the overall groundbased and space-based capabilities for NASA and its international partners, specific choices are being made as to what to abandon, what to retain, as well as what to build new. The total ground and space-based infrastructure must support a long-term, sustainable operation after it is all constructed, deployed, and activated. This paper addresses key areas of engineering concern during conceptual design, development, and routine operations, with a particular focus on: (1) legacy system reusability, (2) system supportability attributes and operations characteristics, (3) ground systems design trades and criteria, and (4) technology application survey. Each key area explored weighs the merits of reusability of the infrastructure in terms of: engineering analysis methods and techniques; top-level facility, systems, and equipment design criteria; and some suggested methods for making the operational system attributes (the "-ilities") highly visible to the design teams and decisionmakers throughout the design process.

On the engineering design for systematic integration of agent-orientation in industrial automation.

PubMed

Yu, Liyong; Schüller, Andreas; Epple, Ulrich

2014-09-01

In today's automation industry, agent-oriented development of system functionalities appears to have a great potential for increasing autonomy and flexibility of complex operations, while lowering the workload of users. In this paper, we present a reference model for the harmonious and systematical integration of agent-orientation in industrial automation. Considering compatibility with existing automation systems and best practice, this model combines advantages of function block technology, service orientation and native description methods from the automation standard IEC 61131-3. This approach can be applied as a guideline for the engineering design of future agent-oriented automation systems. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification and correction of systematic error in high-throughput sequence data

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background A feature common to all DNA sequencing technologies is the presence of base-call errors in the sequenced reads. The implications of such errors are application specific, ranging from minor informatics nuisances to major problems affecting biological inferences. Recently developed "next-gen" sequencing technologies have greatly reduced the cost of sequencing, but have been shown to be more error prone than previous technologies. Both position specific (depending on the location in the read) and sequence specific (depending on the sequence in the read) errors have been identified in Illumina and Life Technology sequencing platforms. We describe a new type of systematic error that manifests as statistically unlikely accumulations of errors at specific genome (or transcriptome) locations. Results We characterize and describe systematic errors using overlapping paired reads from high-coverage data. We show that such errors occur in approximately 1 in 1000 base pairs, and that they are highly replicable across experiments. We identify motifs that are frequent at systematic error sites, and describe a classifier that distinguishes heterozygous sites from systematic error. Our classifier is designed to accommodate data from experiments in which the allele frequencies at heterozygous sites are not necessarily 0.5 (such as in the case of RNA-Seq), and can be used with single-end datasets. Conclusions Systematic errors can easily be mistaken for heterozygous sites in individuals, or for SNPs in population analyses. Systematic errors are particularly problematic in low coverage experiments, or in estimates of allele-specific expression from RNA-Seq data. Our characterization of systematic error has allowed us to develop a program, called SysCall, for identifying and correcting such errors. We conclude that correction of systematic errors is important to consider in the design and interpretation of high-throughput sequencing experiments. PMID:22099972

Radiation shielding design of a new tomotherapy facility.

PubMed

Zacarias, Albert; Balog, John; Mills, Michael

2006-10-01

It is expected that intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) will replace a large portion of radiation therapy treatments currently performed with conventional MLC-based 3D conformal techniques. IGRT may become the standard of treatment in the future for prostate and head and neck cancer. Many established facilities may convert existing vaults to perform this treatment method using new or upgraded equipment. In the future, more facilities undoubtedly will be considering de novo designs for their treatment vaults. A reevaluation of the design principles used in conventional vault design is of benefit to those considering this approach with a new tomotherapy facility. This is made more imperative as the design of the TomoTherapy system is unique in several aspects and does not fit well into the formalism of NCRP 49 for a conventional linear accelerator.

Impact of New large Aircraft on Airport Design

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-03-01

The object of this project is to assess the impact of the introduction of proposed new large aircraft (NLA) on current airport design standards and administered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This report identifies several key design a...

Unintended Consequences of Sensor, Signal, and Imaging Informatics: New Problems and New Solutions.

PubMed

Hughes, C; Voros, S; Moreau-Gaudry, A

2016-11-10

This synopsis presents a selection for the IMIA (International Medical Informatics Association) Yearbook 2016 of excellent research in the broad field of Sensor, Signal and Imaging Informatics published in the year 2015, with a focus on Unintended consequences: new problems and new solutions. We performed a systematic initial selection and a double blind peer review process to find the best papers in this domain published in 2015, from the PubMed and Web of Science databases. The set of MesH keywords used was provided by experts. The constant advances in medical technology allow ever more relevant diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to be designed. Nevertheless, there is a need to acquire expert knowledge of these innovations in order to identify precociously new associated problems for which new solutions need to be designed and developed.

Systematic Biological Filter Design with a Desired I/O Filtering Response Based on Promoter-RBS Libraries.

PubMed

Hsu, Chih-Yuan; Pan, Zhen-Ming; Hu, Rei-Hsing; Chang, Chih-Chun; Cheng, Hsiao-Chun; Lin, Che; Chen, Bor-Sen

2015-01-01

In this study, robust biological filters with an external control to match a desired input/output (I/O) filtering response are engineered based on the well-characterized promoter-RBS libraries and a cascade gene circuit topology. In the field of synthetic biology, the biological filter system serves as a powerful detector or sensor to sense different molecular signals and produces a specific output response only if the concentration of the input molecular signal is higher or lower than a specified threshold. The proposed systematic design method of robust biological filters is summarized into three steps. Firstly, several well-characterized promoter-RBS libraries are established for biological filter design by identifying and collecting the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of their promoter-RBS components via nonlinear parameter estimation method. Then, the topology of synthetic biological filter is decomposed into three cascade gene regulatory modules, and an appropriate promoter-RBS library is selected for each module to achieve the desired I/O specification of a biological filter. Finally, based on the proposed systematic method, a robust externally tunable biological filter is engineered by searching the promoter-RBS component libraries and a control inducer concentration library to achieve the optimal reference match for the specified I/O filtering response.

Systematic model researches on the stability limits of the DVL series of float designs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sottorf, W.

1949-01-01

To determine the trim range in which a seaplane can take off without porpoising, stability tests were made of a Plexiglas model, composed of float, wing, and tailplane, which corresponded to a full-size research airplane. The model and full-size stability limits are in good agreement. After all structural parts pertaining to the air frame were removed gradually, the aerodynamic forces replaced by weight forces, and the moment of inertia and position of the center of gravity changed, no marked change of limits of the stable zone was noticeable. The latter, therefore, is for practical purposes affected only by hydrodynamic phenomena. The stability limits of the DVL family of floats were determined by a systematic investigation independent of any particular sea-plane design, thus a seaplane may be designed to give a run free from porpoising.

Multidisciplinary design optimization: An emerging new engineering discipline

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, Jaroslaw

1993-01-01

This paper defines the Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) as a new field of research endeavor and as an aid in the design of engineering systems. It examines the MDO conceptual components in relation to each other and defines their functions.

A New Theory of Trajectory Design and NASA's Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Folta, David

2006-01-01

This new theory is defined as the use of chaos to design trajectories and orbits that can be used to meet complex mission goals. The benefits are; a) minimizes fuel costs; b) optimizes trajectory profiles; c) provides non-standard and new orbit designs; and d) mitigates operational risks. Other synonymous terms include dynamical systems, invariant manifolds, capture orbits and ballistic orbits.

Questionnaire design and the recall of pharmacological treatments: a systematic review.

PubMed

Gama, Helena; Correia, Sofia; Lunet, Nuno

2009-03-01

We aimed to review systematically the published evidence regarding the effect of questionnaire design on the recall of pharmacological treatments. The electronic databases Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to October 2007, using the following search terms: drug utilization, pharmaceutical preparations, pharmacoepidemiology, validation studies, methods, epidemiologic methods, interviews, data collection, and questionnaires. Drug utilization studies comparing different types of questionnaire or methods of questionnaire administration were included. Backward and forward citation tracking were also conducted. Eight studies were included in the systematic review, comparing questions asking for specific drugs or indications with open-ended questions (n = 5), evaluating the use of memory aids (n = 1), or studying the influence of response order on recall (n = 2). The studies were heterogeneous, namely regarding the populations evaluated (e.g., pregnant women, hypertensive patients, general population), mode of questionnaire administration (e.g., personal or telephone interview, self-administered), recall period (e.g., current use, 1 week, previous episode of a disease), or drugs evaluated (e.g., analgesics, antimalarials, all medicines). Despite the lack of standardization in presentation of results, the prevalence of drug use may vary between 5 and 40% when drug names and indications or pictures are used as memory aids, or as a result of primacy effects in self-administered questionnaires. The yielding of the questionnaires depended on the pharmacological groups evaluated. Scientific work regarding methods for drug utilization data collection is scarce. The available evidence highlights the importance of knowing the questionnaire characteristics for a proper interpretation of results from drug utilization studies. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Design optimization for cost and quality: The robust design approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Unal, Resit

1990-01-01

Designing reliable, low cost, and operable space systems has become the key to future space operations. Designing high quality space systems at low cost is an economic and technological challenge to the designer. A systematic and efficient way to meet this challenge is a new method of design optimization for performance, quality, and cost, called Robust Design. Robust Design is an approach for design optimization. It consists of: making system performance insensitive to material and subsystem variation, thus allowing the use of less costly materials and components; making designs less sensitive to the variations in the operating environment, thus improving reliability and reducing operating costs; and using a new structured development process so that engineering time is used most productively. The objective in Robust Design is to select the best combination of controllable design parameters so that the system is most robust to uncontrollable noise factors. The robust design methodology uses a mathematical tool called an orthogonal array, from design of experiments theory, to study a large number of decision variables with a significantly small number of experiments. Robust design also uses a statistical measure of performance, called a signal-to-noise ratio, from electrical control theory, to evaluate the level of performance and the effect of noise factors. The purpose is to investigate the Robust Design methodology for improving quality and cost, demonstrate its application by the use of an example, and suggest its use as an integral part of space system design process.

Methods for designing interventions to change healthcare professionals' behaviour: a systematic review.

PubMed

Colquhoun, Heather L; Squires, Janet E; Kolehmainen, Niina; Fraser, Cynthia; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

2017-03-04

Systematic reviews consistently indicate that interventions to change healthcare professional (HCP) behaviour are haphazardly designed and poorly specified. Clarity about methods for designing and specifying interventions is needed. The objective of this review was to identify published methods for designing interventions to change HCP behaviour. A search of MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO was conducted from 1996 to April 2015. Using inclusion/exclusion criteria, a broad screen of abstracts by one rater was followed by a strict screen of full text for all potentially relevant papers by three raters. An inductive approach was first applied to the included studies to identify commonalities and differences between the descriptions of methods across the papers. Based on this process and knowledge of related literatures, we developed a data extraction framework that included, e.g. level of change (e.g. individual versus organization); context of development; a brief description of the method; tasks included in the method (e.g. barrier identification, component selection, use of theory). 3966 titles and abstracts and 64 full-text papers were screened to yield 15 papers included in the review, each outlining one design method. All of the papers reported methods developed within a specific context. Thirteen papers included barrier identification and 13 included linking barriers to intervention components; although not the same 13 papers. Thirteen papers targeted individual HCPs with only one paper targeting change across individual, organization, and system levels. The use of theory and user engagement were included in 13/15 and 13/15 papers, respectively. There is an agreement across methods of four tasks that need to be completed when designing individual-level interventions: identifying barriers, selecting intervention components, using theory, and engaging end-users. Methods also consist of further additional tasks. Examples of methods for designing the organisation and

Molecular design of new aggrecanases-2 inhibitors.

PubMed

Shan, Zhi Jie; Zhai, Hong Lin; Huang, Xiao Yan; Li, Li Na; Zhang, Xiao Yun

2013-10-01

Aggrecanases-2 is a very important potential drug target for the treatment of osteoarthritis. In this study, a series of known aggrecanases-2 inhibitors was analyzed by the technologies of three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationships (3D-QSAR) and molecular docking. Two 3D-QSAR models, which based on comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity analysis (CoMSIA) methods, were established. Molecular docking was employed to explore the details of the interaction between inhibitors and aggrecanases-2 protein. According to the analyses for these models, several new potential inhibitors with higher activity predicted were designed, and were supported by the simulation of molecular docking. This work propose the fast and effective approach to design and prediction for new potential inhibitors, and the study of the interaction mechanism provide a better understanding for the inhibitors binding into the target protein, which will be useful for the structure-based drug design and modifications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Future design of perpetual pavements for New Mexico.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-12-29

This study provides guidance for future designs of perpetual pavements in New Mexico. The perpetual pavement in this study refers to only hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavement sections designed for a useful life of 50 years or more without having major dist...

14 CFR 1274.906 - Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Designation of New Technology... Conditions § 1274.906 Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative. Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative July 2002 (a) For purposes of administration...

14 CFR 1274.906 - Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Designation of New Technology Representative... Conditions § 1274.906 Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative. Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative July 2002 (a) For purposes of administration...

Blood concentrations of new designer benzodiazepines in forensic cases.

PubMed

Høiseth, Gudrun; Tuv, Silja Skogstad; Karinen, Ritva

2016-11-01

A number of new designer benzodiazepines have reached the illegal drug market over the past years. Toxicological interpretation of concentrations of these drugs in blood is quite challenging as very limited human data have previously been published. The aim of this study was to report blood concentrations of new designer benzodiazepines in a population of drugged drivers as well as some other criminal offenders, and to relate this to clinical impairment. The present material represents cases involving new designer benzodiazepines (clonazolam, diclazepam, flubromazepam, flubromazolam and pyrazolam) and etizolam, submitted for analyses during the period July 1, 2013-May 31, 2016. Analyses were performed using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. Blood concentrations and results from the clinical test of impairment are reported. New designer benzodiazepines were detected in 77 cases during the study period. The median (range) concentrations were 0.012mg/L (0.00048-0.10) for flubromazolam (n=25), 0.055mg/L (0.0047-1.2) for flubromazepam (n=24), 0.013mg/L (0.0021-0.057) for diclazepam (n=15), 0.050mg/L (0.019-0.17) for etizolam (n=14), 0.0053mg/L (0.0019-0.011) for clonazolam (n=7) and 0.074mg/L for pyrazolam (n=1). In six cases, designer benzodiazepines were the only drugs detected in blood, and in two of those cases, the physician had given the conclusion of "considerably impaired" upon performing the clinical test for impairment. Given the lack of previously published data on human concentrations, results presented in this study could be helpful in interpretation of blood concentrations of new designer benzodiazepines. This is crucial for the assessment of the importance of toxicological results in suspected drugged drivers, rape victims, etc. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systematic cavity design approach for a multi-frequency gyrotron for DEMO and study of its RF behavior

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

Kalaria, P. C., E-mail: parth.kalaria@partner.kit.edu; Avramidis, K. A.; Franck, J.

High frequency (>230 GHz) megawatt-class gyrotrons are planned as RF sources for electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive in DEMOnstration fusion power plants (DEMOs). In this paper, for the first time, a feasibility study of a 236 GHz DEMO gyrotron is presented by considering all relevant design goals and the possible technical limitations. A mode-selection procedure is proposed in order to satisfy the multi-frequency and frequency-step tunability requirements. An effective systematic design approach for the optimal design of a gradually tapered cavity is presented. The RF-behavior of the proposed cavity is verified rigorously, supporting 920 kW of stable output power withmore » an interaction efficiency of 36% including the considerations of realistic beam parameters.« less

New Sociotechnical Insights in Interaction Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelnour-Nocera, José; Mørch, Anders I.

New challenges are facing interaction design. On one hand because of advances in technology - pervasive, ubiquitous, multimodal and adaptive computing - are changing the nature of interaction. On the other, web 2.0, massive multiplayer games and collaboration software extends the boundaries of HCI to deal with interaction in settings of remote communication and collaboration. The aim of this workshop is to provide a forum for HCI practitioners and researchers interested in knowledge from the social sciences to discuss how sociotechnical insights can be used to inform interaction design, and more generally how social science methods and theories can help to enrich the conceptual framework of systems development and participatory design. Position papers submissions are invited to address key aspects of current research and practical case studies.

Incorporating climate change into systematic conservation planning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Groves, Craig R.; Game, Edward T.; Anderson, Mark G.; Cross, Molly; Enquist, Carolyn; Ferdana, Zach; Girvetz, Evan; Gondor, Anne; Hall, Kimberly R.; Higgins, Jonathan; Marshall, Rob; Popper, Ken; Schill, Steve; Shafer, Sarah L.

2012-01-01

The principles of systematic conservation planning are now widely used by governments and non-government organizations alike to develop biodiversity conservation plans for countries, states, regions, and ecoregions. Many of the species and ecosystems these plans were designed to conserve are now being affected by climate change, and there is a critical need to incorporate new and complementary approaches into these plans that will aid species and ecosystems in adjusting to potential climate change impacts. We propose five approaches to climate change adaptation that can be integrated into existing or new biodiversity conservation plans: (1) conserving the geophysical stage, (2) protecting climatic refugia, (3) enhancing regional connectivity, (4) sustaining ecosystem process and function, and (5) capitalizing on opportunities emerging in response to climate change. We discuss both key assumptions behind each approach and the trade-offs involved in using the approach for conservation planning. We also summarize additional data beyond those typically used in systematic conservation plans required to implement these approaches. A major strength of these approaches is that they are largely robust to the uncertainty in how climate impacts may manifest in any given region.

A Model of School Change for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in New Zealand: A Summary and Evidence from Systematic Replication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNaughton, Stuart; Lai, Mei Kuin

2009-01-01

A model of school change has been designed and implemented in a systematic replication series. Key principles are: that teachers need to be able to act as adaptive experts; that local evidence about teaching and learning is necessary to inform instructional design; that school professional learning communities are vehicles for changing teaching…

Outstanding Research Issues in Systematic Technology Prioritization for New Space Missions: Workshop Proceedings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weisbin, C. R. (Editor)

2004-01-01

A workshop entitled, "Outstanding Research Issues in Systematic Technology Prioritization for New Space Missions," was convened on April 21-22, 2004 in San Diego, California to review the status of methods for objective resource allocation, to discuss the research barriers remaining, and to formulate recommendations for future development and application. The workshop explored the state-of-the-art in decision analysis in the context of being able to objectively allocate constrained technical resources to enable future space missions and optimize science return. This article summarizes the highlights of the meeting results.

Efficiently estimating salmon escapement uncertainty using systematically sampled data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reynolds, Joel H.; Woody, Carol Ann; Gove, Nancy E.; Fair, Lowell F.

2007-01-01

Fish escapement is generally monitored using nonreplicated systematic sampling designs (e.g., via visual counts from towers or hydroacoustic counts). These sampling designs support a variety of methods for estimating the variance of the total escapement. Unfortunately, all the methods give biased results, with the magnitude of the bias being determined by the underlying process patterns. Fish escapement commonly exhibits positive autocorrelation and nonlinear patterns, such as diurnal and seasonal patterns. For these patterns, poor choice of variance estimator can needlessly increase the uncertainty managers have to deal with in sustaining fish populations. We illustrate the effect of sampling design and variance estimator choice on variance estimates of total escapement for anadromous salmonids from systematic samples of fish passage. Using simulated tower counts of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka escapement on the Kvichak River, Alaska, five variance estimators for nonreplicated systematic samples were compared to determine the least biased. Using the least biased variance estimator, four confidence interval estimators were compared for expected coverage and mean interval width. Finally, five systematic sampling designs were compared to determine the design giving the smallest average variance estimate for total annual escapement. For nonreplicated systematic samples of fish escapement, all variance estimators were positively biased. Compared to the other estimators, the least biased estimator reduced bias by, on average, from 12% to 98%. All confidence intervals gave effectively identical results. Replicated systematic sampling designs consistently provided the smallest average estimated variance among those compared.

Information Design: A New Approach to Teaching Technical Writing Service Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKee, Candie DeLane

2012-01-01

This study used a needs assessment, process analysis, process design, and textbook design to develop a new process and new textbook, based on Cargile-Cook's layered literacies, Quesenbery's five qualities of usability, and Carliner's information design theories, for use in technical writing service learning courses. The needs assessment was based…

The extent and effects of patient involvement in pictogram design for written drug information: a short systematic review.

PubMed

Beusekom, Mara M van; Kerkhoven, Anne H; Bos, Mark J W; Guchelaar, Henk-Jan; Broek, Jos M van den

2018-05-07

This short review provides insight into the extent and effectiveness of patient involvement in the design and evaluation of pictograms to support patient drug information. Pubmed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, Academic Search Premier and Web of Science were searched systematically; the 73 included articles were evaluated with the MMAT. We see that, usually, non-patient end-users are involved in the design of pharmaceutical pictograms - patients are more commonly involved in the final evaluation of pictogram success. Repeated involvement of (non-)patients aids the design of effective pharmaceutical pictograms, although there is limited evidence for such effects on patient perception of drug information or health behaviour. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

New design deforming controlling system of the active stressed lap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ying, Li; Wang, Daxing

2008-07-01

A 450mm diameter active stressed lap has been developed in NIAOT by 2003. We design a new lap in 2007. This paper puts on emphases on introducing the new deforming control system of the lap. Aiming at the control characteristic of the lap, a new kind of digital deforming controller is designed. The controller consists of 3 parts: computer signal disposing, motor driving and force sensor signal disposing. Intelligent numeral PID method is applied in the controller instead of traditional PID. In the end, the result of new deformation are given.

24 CFR 570.421 - New York Small Cities Program design.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2011-04-01 2010-04-01 true New York Small Cities Program design... HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY FACILITIES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS Small Cities, Non-Entitlement CDBG Grants in Hawaii and Insular Areas Programs § 570.421 New York Small Cities Program design...

Cycle Analysis of a New Air Engine Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Attar, Wiam Fadi

This thesis investigates a new externally heated engine design being developed by Soony Systems Inc. to serve as the prime mover in a residential-scale combined heat and power system. This is accomplished by developing a thermodynamic model for the engine and sweeping through the design parameter space in order to identify designs that maximize power output, efficiency, and brake mean effective pressure (BMEP). It was discovered that the original engine design was flawed so a new design was proposed and analyzed. The thermodynamic model was developed in four stages. The first model was quasi-static while the other three were time-dependent and used increasingly realistic models of the heat exchangers. For the range of design parameters investigated here, the peak power output is 6.8 kW, the peak efficiency is approximately 60%, and the peak BMEP is 389 kPa. These performance levels are compared to those of other closed-cycle engines. The results suggest that the Soony engine has the potential to be more efficient than Stirlings because it more closely approximates the Carnot cycle, but this comes at the cost of significantly lower BMEP (389 kPa vs. 2,760 kPa for the SOLO Stirling engine).

A Method for User Centering Systematic Product Development Aimed at Industrial Design Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coelho, Denis A.

2010-01-01

Instead of limiting the introduction and stimulus for new concept creation to lists of specifications, industrial design students seem to prefer to be encouraged by ideas in context. A new method that specifically tackles human activity to foster the creation of user centered concepts of new products was developed and is presented in this article.…

Comparison of search strategies in systematic reviews of adverse effects to other systematic reviews.

PubMed

Golder, Su; Loke, Yoon K; Zorzela, Liliane

2014-06-01

Research indicates that the methods used to identify data for systematic reviews of adverse effects may need to differ from other systematic reviews. To compare search methods in systematic reviews of adverse effects with other reviews. The search methodologies in 849 systematic reviews of adverse effects were compared with other reviews. Poor reporting of search strategies is apparent in both systematic reviews of adverse effects and other types of systematic reviews. Systematic reviews of adverse effects are less likely to restrict their searches to MEDLINE or include only randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The use of other databases is largely dependent on the topic area and the year the review was conducted, with more databases searched in more recent reviews. Adverse effects search terms are used by 72% of reviews and despite recommendations only two reviews report using floating subheadings. The poor reporting of search strategies in systematic reviews is universal, as is the dominance of searching MEDLINE. However, reviews of adverse effects are more likely to include a range of study designs (not just RCTs) and search beyond MEDLINE. © 2014 Crown Copyright.

Design methodology of Dutch banknotes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Heij, Hans A. M.

2000-04-01

Since the introduction of a design methodology for Dutch banknotes, the quality of Dutch paper currency has improved in more than one way. The methodology is question provides for (i) a design policy, which helps fix clear objectives; (ii) design management, to ensure a smooth cooperation between the graphic designer, printer, papermaker an central bank, (iii) a program of requirements, a banknote development guideline for all parties involved. This systematic approach enables an objective selection of design proposals, including security features. Furthermore, the project manager obtains regular feedback from the public by conducting market surveys. Each new design of a Netherlands Guilder banknote issued by the Nederlandsche Bank of the past 50 years has been an improvement on its predecessor in terms of value recognition, security and durability.

Systematic optimization model and algorithm for binding sequence selection in computational enzyme design

PubMed Central

Huang, Xiaoqiang; Han, Kehang; Zhu, Yushan

2013-01-01

A systematic optimization model for binding sequence selection in computational enzyme design was developed based on the transition state theory of enzyme catalysis and graph-theoretical modeling. The saddle point on the free energy surface of the reaction system was represented by catalytic geometrical constraints, and the binding energy between the active site and transition state was minimized to reduce the activation energy barrier. The resulting hyperscale combinatorial optimization problem was tackled using a novel heuristic global optimization algorithm, which was inspired and tested by the protein core sequence selection problem. The sequence recapitulation tests on native active sites for two enzyme catalyzed hydrolytic reactions were applied to evaluate the predictive power of the design methodology. The results of the calculation show that most of the native binding sites can be successfully identified if the catalytic geometrical constraints and the structural motifs of the substrate are taken into account. Reliably predicting active site sequences may have significant implications for the creation of novel enzymes that are capable of catalyzing targeted chemical reactions. PMID:23649589

Conceptual design of industrial process displays.

PubMed

Pedersen, C R; Lind, M

1999-11-01

Today, process displays used in industry are often designed on the basis of piping and instrumentation diagrams without any method of ensuring that the needs of the operators are fulfilled. Therefore, a method for a systematic approach to the design of process displays is needed. This paper discusses aspects of process display design taking into account both the designer's and the operator's points of view. Three aspects are emphasized: the operator tasks, the display content and the display form. The distinction between these three aspects is the basis for proposing an outline for a display design method that matches the industrial practice of modular plant design and satisfies the needs of reusability of display design solutions. The main considerations in display design in the industry are to specify the operator's activities in detail, to extract the information the operators need from the plant design specification and documentation, and finally to present this information. The form of the display is selected from existing standardized display elements such as trend curves, mimic diagrams, ecological interfaces, etc. Further knowledge is required to invent new display elements. That is, knowledge about basic visual means of presenting information and how humans perceive and interpret these means and combinations. This knowledge is required in the systematic selection of graphical items for a given display content. The industrial part of the method is first illustrated in the paper by a simple example from a plant with batch processes. Later the method is applied to develop a supervisory display for a condenser system in a nuclear power plant. The differences between the continuous plant domain of power production and the batch processes from the example are analysed and broad categories of display types are proposed. The problems involved in specification and invention of a supervisory display are analysed and conclusions from these problems are made. It is

Machine learning and new vital signs monitoring in civilian en route care: A systematic review of the literature and future implications for the military.

PubMed

Liu, Nehemiah T; Salinas, Jose

2016-11-01

Although air transport medical services are today an integral part of trauma systems in most developed countries, to date, there are no reviews on recent innovations in civilian en route care. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify potential machine learning and new vital signs monitoring technologies in civilian en route care that could help close civilian and military capability gaps in monitoring and the early detection and treatment of various trauma injuries. MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and citation review of relevant primary and review articles were searched for studies involving civilian en route care, air medical transport, and technologies from January 2005 to November 2015. Data were abstracted on study design, population, year, sponsors, innovation category, details of technologies, and outcomes. Thirteen observational studies involving civilian medical transport met inclusion criteria. Studies either focused on machine learning and software algorithms (n = 5), new vital signs monitoring (n = 6), or both (n = 2). Innovations involved continuous digital acquisition of physiologic data and parameter extraction. Importantly, all studies (n = 13) demonstrated improved outcomes where applicable and potential use during civilian and military en route care. However, almost all studies required further validation in prospective and/or randomized controlled trials. Potential machine learning technologies and monitoring of novel vital signs such as heart rate variability and complexity in civilian en route care could help enhance en route care for our nation's war fighters. In a complex global environment, they could potentially fill capability gaps such as monitoring and the early detection and treatment of various trauma injuries. However, the impact of these innovations and technologies will require further validation before widespread acceptance and prehospital use. Systematic review, level V.

New Design Heaters Using Tubes Finned by Deforming Cutting Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zubkov, N. N.; Nikitenko, S. M.; Nikitenko, M. S.

2017-10-01

The article describes the results of research aimed at selecting and assigning technological processing parameters for obtaining outer fins of heat-exchange tubes by the deformational cutting method, for use in a new design of industrial water-air heaters. The thermohydraulic results of comparative engineering tests of new and standard design air-heaters are presented.

Using Appreciative Intelligence for Ice-Breaking: A New Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verma, Neena; Pathak, Anil Anand

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of applying appreciative intelligence and appreciative inquiry concepts to design a possibly new model of ice-breaking, which is strengths-based and very often used in any training in general and team building training in particular. Design/methodology/approach: The design has…

Optimization of infobutton design and Implementation: A systematic review.

PubMed

Teixeira, Miguel; Cook, David A; Heale, Bret S E; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2017-10-01

Infobuttons are clinical decision tools embedded in the electronic health record that attempt to link clinical data with context sensitive knowledge resources. We systematically reviewed technical approaches that contribute to improved infobutton design, implementation and functionality. We searched databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library database from inception to March 1, 2016 for studies describing the use of infobuttons. We selected full review comparative studies, usability studies, and qualitative studies examining infobutton design and implementation. We abstracted usability measures such as user satisfaction, impact, and efficiency, as well as prediction accuracy of infobutton content retrieval algorithms and infobutton adoption/interoperability. We found 82 original research studies on infobuttons. Twelve studies met criteria for detailed abstraction. These studies investigated infobutton interoperability (1 study); tools to help tailor infobutton functionality (1 study); interventions to improve user experience (7 studies); and interventions to improve content retrieval by improving prediction of relevant knowledge resources and information needs (3 studies). In-depth interviews with implementers showed the Health Level Seven (HL7) Infobutton standard to be simple and easy to implement. A usability study demonstrated the feasibility of a tool to help medical librarians tailor infobutton functionality. User experience studies showed that access to resources with which users are familiar increased user satisfaction ratings; and that links to specific subsections of drug monographs increased information seeking efficiency. However, none of the user experience improvements led to increased usage uptake. Recommender systems based on machine learning algorithms outperformed hand-crafted rules in the prediction of relevant resources and clinicians' information needs in a laboratory setting, but no studies were found using these techniques

The psychoneuroimmunological effects of music: a systematic review and a new model.

PubMed

Fancourt, Daisy; Ockelford, Adam; Belai, Abi

2014-02-01

There has been a growing interest over the past decade into the health benefits of music, in particular examining its psychological and neurological effects. Yet this is the first attempt to systematically review publications on the psychoneuroimmunology of music. Of the selected sixty-three studies published over the past 22 years, a range of effects of music on neurotransmitters, hormones, cytokines, lymphocytes, vital signs and immunoglobulins as well as psychological assessments are cataloged. Research so far points to the pivotal role of stress pathways in linking music to an immune response. However, several challenges to this research are noted: (1) there is very little discussion on the possible mechanisms by which music is achieving its neurological and immunological impact; (2) the studies tend to examine biomarkers in isolation, without taking into consideration the interaction of the biomarkers in question with other physiological or metabolic activities of the body, leading to an unclear understanding of the impact that music may be having; (3) terms are not being defined clearly enough, such as distinctions not being made between different kinds of stress and 'music' being used to encompass a broad spectrum of activities without determining which aspects of musical engagement are responsible for alterations in biomarkers. In light of this, a new model is presented which provides a framework for developing a taxonomy of musical and stress-related variables in research design, and tracing the broad pathways that are involved in its influence on the body. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interventions Designed to Promote Exclusive Breastfeeding in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Review Update.

PubMed

Skouteris, Helen; Bailey, Cate; Nagle, Cate; Hauck, Yvonne; Bruce, Lauren; Morris, Heather

2017-12-01

Worldwide, women seldom reach the recommended target of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months postpartum. The aim of the current study was to update a previously published review that presented a conceptual and methodological synthesis of interventions designed to promote exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months in high-income countries. A systematic search of leading databases was conducted for scholarly, peer-reviewed, randomized controlled trials published from June 2013 to December 2016. Twelve new articles were identified as relevant; all were published in English and assessed exclusive breastfeeding with a follow-up period extending beyond 4 months postpartum. Articles were analyzed for overall quality of evidence in regard to duration of exclusive breastfeeding, using the Grading and Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. A significant increase in the duration of exclusive breastfeeding was found in 4 of the 12 studies. All four successful interventions had long-duration postpartum programs, implemented by telephone, text message, or through a website. Some of the successful interventions also included prenatal education or in-hospital breastfeeding support. Results from this review update correspond closely with previous findings, in that all of the successful interventions had lengthy postnatal support or an education component. More studies assessed intervention fidelity than in the previous review; however, there was little discussion of maternal body-mass index. While a pattern of successful interventions is beginning to emerge, further research is needed to provide a robust evidence base to inform future interventions, particularly with overweight and obese women.

MO-FG-BRA-04: Leveraging the Abscopal Effect Via New Design Radiotherapy Biomaterials Loaded with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

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

Hao, Y; Cifter, G; Altundal, Y

Purpose: Studies show that stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of a primary tumor in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) could Result in an immune-mediated regression of metastasis outside the radiation field, a phenomenon known as abscopal effect. However toxicities due to repeated systematic administration of ICI have been shown to be a major obstacle in clinical trials. Towards overcoming these toxicity limitations, we investigate a potential new approach whereby the ICI are administered via sustained in-situ release from radiotherapy (RT) biomaterials (e.g. fiducials) coated with a polymer containing the ICI. Methods: New design RT biomaterials were prepared by coatingmore » commercially available spacers/fiducials with a biocompatible polymer (PLGA) film containing fluorescent nanoparticles of size needed to load the ICI. The release of the nanoparticles was investigated in-vitro. Meanwhile, an experimentally determined in- vivo nanoparticle diffusion coefficient was employed in analytic calculations based on Fick’s second law to estimate the time for achieving the concentrations of ICI in the tumor draining lymph node (TDLN) that are needed to engender the abscopal effect during SBRT. The ICI investigated here was anti-CTLA-4 antibody (ipilimumab) at approved FDA concentrations. Results: Our in -vitro study results showed that RT biomaterials could be designed to achieve burst release of nanoparticles within one day. Meanwhile, our calculations indicate that for a 2 to 4 cm tumor it would take 4–22 days, respectively, following burst release, for the required concentration of ICI nanoparticles to accumulate in the TDLN during SBRT. Conclusion: Current investigations combining RT and immunotherapy involve repeated intravenous administration of ICI leading to significant systemic toxicities. Our preliminary results highlight a potential new approach for sustained in-situ release of the ICI from new design RT biomaterials. These

49 CFR 451.14 - Alternative approval of new containers by design type.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...) COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SAFETY APPROVAL OF CARGO CONTAINERS TESTING AND APPROVAL OF CONTAINERS Approval of New Containers § 451.14 Alternative approval of new containers by design type. (a) New... 49 Transportation 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Alternative approval of new containers by design...

49 CFR 451.14 - Alternative approval of new containers by design type.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...) COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SAFETY APPROVAL OF CARGO CONTAINERS TESTING AND APPROVAL OF CONTAINERS Approval of New Containers § 451.14 Alternative approval of new containers by design type. (a) New... 49 Transportation 6 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Alternative approval of new containers by design...

49 CFR 451.14 - Alternative approval of new containers by design type.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...) COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SAFETY APPROVAL OF CARGO CONTAINERS TESTING AND APPROVAL OF CONTAINERS Approval of New Containers § 451.14 Alternative approval of new containers by design type. (a) New... 49 Transportation 6 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Alternative approval of new containers by design...

49 CFR 451.14 - Alternative approval of new containers by design type.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...) COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SAFETY APPROVAL OF CARGO CONTAINERS TESTING AND APPROVAL OF CONTAINERS Approval of New Containers § 451.14 Alternative approval of new containers by design type. (a) New... 49 Transportation 6 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Alternative approval of new containers by design...

49 CFR 451.14 - Alternative approval of new containers by design type.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...) COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SAFETY APPROVAL OF CARGO CONTAINERS TESTING AND APPROVAL OF CONTAINERS Approval of New Containers § 451.14 Alternative approval of new containers by design type. (a) New... 49 Transportation 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Alternative approval of new containers by design...

A New Design Approach to Game-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen, Lasse Juel

2012-01-01

This paper puts forward a new design perspective for game-based learning. The general idea is to abandon the long sought-after dream of designing a closed learning system, where students in both primary and secondary school could learn--without the interference of teachers--whatever subject they wanted while sitting in front of a computer. This…

Prevention of Internet addiction: A systematic review.

PubMed

Vondráčková, Petra; Gabrhelík, Roman

2016-12-01

Background and aims Out of a large number of studies on Internet addiction, only a few have been published on the prevention of Internet addiction. The aim of this study is provide a systematic review of scientific articles regarding the prevention of Internet addiction and to identify the relevant topics published in this area of interest. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were adopted. The EBSCO, ProQuest Central, and PubMed databases were searched for texts published in English and Spanish between January 1995 and April 2016. A total of 179 original texts were obtained. After de-duplication and topic-relevance review, 108 texts were systematically classified and subjected to descriptive analysis and subsequent content analysis. Results The results of the content analysis yielded the following thematic areas: (a) target groups, (b) the improvement of specific skills, (c) program characteristics, and (d) environmental interventions. Discussion and conclusion Literature on the prevention of Internet addiction is scarce. There is an urgent need to introduce and implement new interventions for different at-risk populations, conduct well-designed research, and publish data on the effectiveness of these interventions. Developing prevention interventions should primarily target children and adolescents at risk of Internet addiction but also parents, teachers, peers, and others who are part of the formative environment of children and adolescents at risk of Internet addiction. Newly designed interventions focused on Internet addiction should be rigorously evaluated and the results published.

Prevention of Internet addiction: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Vondráčková, Petra; Gabrhelík, Roman

2016-01-01

Background and aims Out of a large number of studies on Internet addiction, only a few have been published on the prevention of Internet addiction. The aim of this study is provide a systematic review of scientific articles regarding the prevention of Internet addiction and to identify the relevant topics published in this area of interest. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were adopted. The EBSCO, ProQuest Central, and PubMed databases were searched for texts published in English and Spanish between January 1995 and April 2016. A total of 179 original texts were obtained. After de-duplication and topic-relevance review, 108 texts were systematically classified and subjected to descriptive analysis and subsequent content analysis. Results The results of the content analysis yielded the following thematic areas: (a) target groups, (b) the improvement of specific skills, (c) program characteristics, and (d) environmental interventions. Discussion and conclusion Literature on the prevention of Internet addiction is scarce. There is an urgent need to introduce and implement new interventions for different at-risk populations, conduct well-designed research, and publish data on the effectiveness of these interventions. Developing prevention interventions should primarily target children and adolescents at risk of Internet addiction but also parents, teachers, peers, and others who are part of the formative environment of children and adolescents at risk of Internet addiction. Newly designed interventions focused on Internet addiction should be rigorously evaluated and the results published. PMID:27998173

New design incinerator being built

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

Not Available

1980-09-01

A $14 million garbage-burning facility is being built by Reedy Creek Utilities Co. in cooperation with DOE at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on the edge of Walt Disney World. The nation's first large-volume slagging pyrolysis incinerator will burn municipal waste in a more beneficial way and supply 15% of the amusement park's energy demands. By studying the new incinerators slag-producing capabilities, engineers hope to design similar facilities for isolating low-level nuclear wastes in inert, rocklike slag.

Design of new central solenoid for SST-1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, Upendra; Pradhan, Subrata; Ghate, Mahesh; Raj, Piyush; Tanna, V. L.; Khan, Ziauddin; Roy, Swati; Santra, Prosenjit; Biswas, Prabal; Sharma, A. N.; Khristi, Yohan; Kanaber, Deven; Varmora, Pankaj

2017-04-01

The key role of central solenoid (CS) magnet of a Tokamak is for gas breakdown, ramp up and maintaining of plasma current. The magnetic flux change in CS along with other PF coils generates magnetic null and induces electric field in toroidal direction. The induced toroidal electric field accelerates the residual electrons which collide with the neutrals and an avalanche takes place which led to the net plasma in the vacuum vessel of a Tokamak. In order to maximize the CS volt-sec capability, the higher magnetic field with a greater magnetic flux linkage is necessary. In order to facilitate all these requirements of SST-1 a new superconducting CS has been designed for SST-1. The design of new central solenoid has two bases; first one is physics and second is smart engineering in limited bore diameter of ∼ 655 mm. The physics basis of the design includes volt-sec storage capacity of ∼ 0.8 volt-sec, magnetic field null around 0.2 m over major radius of 1.1 m and toroidal electric field of ∼ 0.3 volt/m. The engineering design of new CS consists of Nb3Sn cable in conduit conductor (CICC) of operating current of 14 kA @ 4.5 K at 6 T, consolidated winding pack, smart quench detection system, protection system, housing cryostat and conductor terminations and joint design. The winding pack consists of 576 numbers of turns distributed in four layers with 0.75 mm FRP tape soaked with cyanide Easter based epoxy resin turn insulation and 3 mm of ground insulation. The interlayer low resistance (∼1 nΩ) terminal praying hand joints at 14 kA at 4.5 K has been designed for making winding pack continuous. The total height of winding pack is 2500 mm. The stored energy of this winding pack is ∼ 3 MJ at 14 kA of operating current. The expected heat load at cryogenic temperature is ∼ 10 W per layer, which requires helium mass flow rate of 1.4 g/s at 1.4 bars @ 4.5 K. The typical diameter and height of housing cryostat are 650 mm and 2563 mm with 80 K shield respectively

UDOT calibration of AASHTO's new prestress loss design equations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-07-01

In the next edition of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications the procedure to calculate prestress losses will change dramatically. The new equations are empirically based on high performance concrete from four states (Nebraska, New Hampshire, ...

UDOT's calibration of AASHTO's new prestress loss design equations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-07-01

In the next edition of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications the procedure to calculate prestress losses will change dramatically. The new equations are empirically based on high performance concrete from four states (Nebraska, New Hampshire, ...

New features in the design code Tlie

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Zeijts, Johannes

1993-12-01

We present features recently installed in the arbitrary-order accelerator design code Tlie. The code uses the MAD input language, and implements programmable extensions modeled after the C language that make it a powerful tool in a wide range of applications: from basic beamline design to high precision-high order design and even control room applications. The basic quantities important in accelerator design are easily accessible from inside the control language. Entities like parameters in elements (strength, current), transfer maps (either in Taylor series or in Lie algebraic form), lines, and beams (either as sets of particles or as distributions) are among the type of variables available. These variables can be set, used as arguments in subroutines, or just typed out. The code is easily extensible with new datatypes.

Factors affecting the uptake of new medicines: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Lublóy, Ágnes

2014-10-20

The successful diffusion of new drugs is crucial for both pharmaceutical companies and patients-and of wider stakeholder concern, including for the funding of healthcare provision. Micro-level characteristics (the socio-demographic and professional characteristics of medical professionals), meso-level characteristics (the prescribing characteristics of doctors, the marketing efforts of pharmaceutical companies, interpersonal communication among doctors, drug attributes, and the characteristics of patients), and macro-level characteristics (government policies) all influence the diffusion of new drugs. This systematic literature review examines the micro- and meso-level characteristics of early prescribers of newly introduced drugs. Understanding the characteristics of early adopters may help to speed up the diffusion process, promote cost-efficient prescribing habits, forecast utilisation, and develop targeted intervention strategies. The PubMed and Scopus electronic databases were chosen for their extensive coverage of the pertinent literature and used to identify 205 potentially relevant studies by means of a four-layered search string. The 35 studies deemed eligible were then synthetized carefully and critically, to extract variables relevant to this review. Early adoption of new drugs is not a personal trait, independent of drug type, but early adopters share both micro- and meso-level characteristics. At prescriber level, doctors' interest in particular therapeutic areas, participation in clinical trials, and volume of prescribing-either in total or within the therapeutic class of the new drug-increase the likelihood of early adoption. The marketing efforts of pharmaceutical companies and doctors' professional and social interactions leading to prescribing contagion are very powerful predictors of new drug uptake. At patient level, doctors with younger patients, patients with higher socioeconomic statuses and/or patients with poorer health statuses are more

Exercise programs may be effective in preventing a new episode of neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

de Campos, Tarcisio F; Maher, Chris G; Steffens, Daniel; Fuller, Joel T; Hancock, Mark J

2018-06-13

What is the effectiveness of interventions that aim to prevent a new episode of neck pain? Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised, controlled trials. People without neck pain at study entry. Any intervention aiming to prevent a future episode of neck pain. New episode of neck pain. Five trials including a total of 3852 individuals met the inclusion criteria. The pooled results from two randomised, controlled trials (500 participants) found moderate-quality evidence that exercise reduces the risk of a new episode of neck pain (OR 0.32, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.86). One of the meta-analysed trials included some co-interventions with the exercise. There was low-quality evidence from three randomised, controlled trials (3352 participants) that ergonomic programs do not reduce the risk of a new neck pain episode (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.35). This review found moderate-quality evidence supporting the effectiveness of an exercise program for reducing the risk of a new episode of neck pain. There is a need for high-quality randomised, controlled trials evaluating interventions to prevent new episodes of neck pain. PROSPERO CRD42017055174. [de Campos TF, Maher CG, Steffens D, Fuller JT, Hancock MJ (2018) Exercise programs may be effective in preventing a new episode of neck pain: a systematic review. Journal of Physiotherapy XX: XX-XX]. Copyright © 2018 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Real-time PCR machine system modeling and a systematic approach for the robust design of a real-time PCR-on-a-chip system.

PubMed

Lee, Da-Sheng

2010-01-01

Chip-based DNA quantification systems are widespread, and used in many point-of-care applications. However, instruments for such applications may not be maintained or calibrated regularly. Since machine reliability is a key issue for normal operation, this study presents a system model of the real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine to analyze the instrument design through numerical experiments. Based on model analysis, a systematic approach was developed to lower the variation of DNA quantification and achieve a robust design for a real-time PCR-on-a-chip system. Accelerated lift testing was adopted to evaluate the reliability of the chip prototype. According to the life test plan, this proposed real-time PCR-on-a-chip system was simulated to work continuously for over three years with similar reproducibility in DNA quantification. This not only shows the robustness of the lab-on-a-chip system, but also verifies the effectiveness of our systematic method for achieving a robust design.

Real-time PCR Machine System Modeling and a Systematic Approach for the Robust Design of a Real-time PCR-on-a-Chip System

PubMed Central

Lee, Da-Sheng

2010-01-01

Chip-based DNA quantification systems are widespread, and used in many point-of-care applications. However, instruments for such applications may not be maintained or calibrated regularly. Since machine reliability is a key issue for normal operation, this study presents a system model of the real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine to analyze the instrument design through numerical experiments. Based on model analysis, a systematic approach was developed to lower the variation of DNA quantification and achieve a robust design for a real-time PCR-on-a-chip system. Accelerated lift testing was adopted to evaluate the reliability of the chip prototype. According to the life test plan, this proposed real-time PCR-on-a-chip system was simulated to work continuously for over three years with similar reproducibility in DNA quantification. This not only shows the robustness of the lab-on-a-chip system, but also verifies the effectiveness of our systematic method for achieving a robust design. PMID:22315563

Using Backward Design in Education Research: A Research Methods Essay †

PubMed Central

Jensen, Jamie L.; Bailey, Elizabeth G.; Kummer, Tyler A.; Weber, K. Scott

2017-01-01

Education research within the STEM disciplines applies a scholarly approach to teaching and learning, with the intent of better understanding how people learn and of improving pedagogy at the undergraduate level. Most of the professionals practicing in this field have ‘crossed over’ from other disciplinary fields and thus have faced challenges in becoming experts in a new discipline. In this article, we offer a novel framework for approaching education research design called Backward Design in Education Research. It is patterned on backward curricular design and provides a three-step, systematic approach to designing education projects: 1) Define a research question that leads to a testable causal hypothesis based on a theoretical rationale; 2) Choose or design the assessment instruments to test the research hypothesis; and 3) Develop an experimental protocol that will be effective in testing the research hypothesis. This approach provides a systematic method to develop and carry out evidence-based research design. PMID:29854045

Systematic review automation technologies

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Systematic reviews, a cornerstone of evidence-based medicine, are not produced quickly enough to support clinical practice. The cost of production, availability of the requisite expertise and timeliness are often quoted as major contributors for the delay. This detailed survey of the state of the art of information systems designed to support or automate individual tasks in the systematic review, and in particular systematic reviews of randomized controlled clinical trials, reveals trends that see the convergence of several parallel research projects. We surveyed literature describing informatics systems that support or automate the processes of systematic review or each of the tasks of the systematic review. Several projects focus on automating, simplifying and/or streamlining specific tasks of the systematic review. Some tasks are already fully automated while others are still largely manual. In this review, we describe each task and the effect that its automation would have on the entire systematic review process, summarize the existing information system support for each task, and highlight where further research is needed for realizing automation for the task. Integration of the systems that automate systematic review tasks may lead to a revised systematic review workflow. We envisage the optimized workflow will lead to system in which each systematic review is described as a computer program that automatically retrieves relevant trials, appraises them, extracts and synthesizes data, evaluates the risk of bias, performs meta-analysis calculations, and produces a report in real time. PMID:25005128

Observation chart design features affect the detection of patient deterioration: a systematic experimental evaluation.

PubMed

Christofidis, Melany J; Hill, Andrew; Horswill, Mark S; Watson, Marcus O

2016-01-01

To systematically evaluate the impact of several design features on chart-users' detection of patient deterioration on observation charts with early-warning scoring-systems. Research has shown that observation chart design affects the speed and accuracy with which abnormal observations are detected. However, little is known about the contribution of individual design features to these effects. A 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 mixed factorial design, with data-recording format (drawn dots vs. written numbers), scoring-system integration (integrated colour-based system vs. non-integrated tabular system) and scoring-row placement (grouped vs. separate) varied within-participants and scores (present vs. absent) varied between-participants by random assignment. 205 novice chart-users, tested between March 2011-March 2014, completed 64 trials where they saw real patient data presented on an observation chart. Each participant saw eight cases (four containing abnormal observations) on each of eight designs (which represented a factorial combination of the within-participants variables). On each trial, they assessed whether any of the observations were physiologically abnormal, or whether all observations were normal. Response times and error rates were recorded for each design. Participants responded faster (scores present and absent) and made fewer errors (scores absent) using drawn-dot (vs. written-number) observations and an integrated colour-based (vs. non-integrated tabular) scoring-system. Participants responded faster using grouped (vs. separate) scoring-rows when scores were absent, but separate scoring-rows when scores were present. Our findings suggest that several individual design features can affect novice chart-users' ability to detect patient deterioration. More broadly, the study further demonstrates the need to evaluate chart designs empirically. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS FOR A NEW HIGHWAY VEHICLE EMISSIONS ESTIMATION METHODOLOGY

EPA Science Inventory

The report discusses six conceptual designs for a new highway vehicle emissions estimation methodology and summarizes the recommendations of each design for improving the emissions and activity factors in the emissions estimation process. he complete design reports are included a...

Ionic Liquids and Relative Process Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, S.; Lu, X.; Zhang, Y.; Zhou, Q.; Sun, J.; Han, L.; Yue, G.; Liu, X.; Cheng, W.; Li, S.

Ionic liquids have gained increasing attention in recent years due to their significant advantages, not only as alternative solvents but also as new materials and catalysts. Until now, most research work on ionic liquids has been at the laboratory or pilot scale. In view of the multifarious applications of ionic liquids, more new knowledge is needed and more systematic work on ionic liquids should be carried out deeply and broadly in order to meet the future needs of process design. For example, knowledge of the physicochemical properties is indispensable for the design of new ionic liquids and for the development of novel processes. The synthesis and application of ionic liquids are fundamental parts of engineering science, and the toxicity and environmental assessment of ionic liquids is critical importance for their large scale applications, especially for process design. These research aspects are closely correlated to the industrial applications of ionic liquids and to sustainable processes. However, material process design in the industrial applications of ionic liquids has hardly been implemented. Therefore, this chapter reviews several essential issues that are closely related to process design, such as the synthesis, structure-property relationships, important applications, and toxicity of ionic liquids.

New Design for an Adjustable Cise Space Maintainer

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Objective The aim of this study is to present a new adjustable Cise space maintainer for preventive orthodontic applications. Methods Stainless steel based new design consists of six main components. In order to understand the major displacement and stress fields, structural analysis for the design is considered by using finite element method. Results Similar to major displacement at y-axis, critical stresses σx and τxy possess a linear distribution with constant increasing. Additionally, strain energy density (SED) plays an important role to determine critical biting load capacity. Conclusion Structural analysis shows that the space maintainer is stable and is used for maintaining and/or regaining the space which arouses early loss of molar tooth. PMID:29854764

Engineering Bacteria to Search for Specific Concentrations of Molecules by a Systematic Synthetic Biology Design Method

PubMed Central

Chen, Bor-Sen

2016-01-01

Bacteria navigate environments full of various chemicals to seek favorable places for survival by controlling the flagella’s rotation using a complicated signal transduction pathway. By influencing the pathway, bacteria can be engineered to search for specific molecules, which has great potential for application to biomedicine and bioremediation. In this study, genetic circuits were constructed to make bacteria search for a specific molecule at particular concentrations in their environment through a synthetic biology method. In addition, by replacing the “brake component” in the synthetic circuit with some specific sensitivities, the bacteria can be engineered to locate areas containing specific concentrations of the molecule. Measured by the swarm assay qualitatively and microfluidic techniques quantitatively, the characteristics of each “brake component” were identified and represented by a mathematical model. Furthermore, we established another mathematical model to anticipate the characteristics of the “brake component”. Based on this model, an abundant component library can be established to provide adequate component selection for different searching conditions without identifying all components individually. Finally, a systematic design procedure was proposed. Following this systematic procedure, one can design a genetic circuit for bacteria to rapidly search for and locate different concentrations of particular molecules by selecting the most adequate “brake component” in the library. Moreover, following simple procedures, one can also establish an exclusive component library suitable for other cultivated environments, promoter systems, or bacterial strains. PMID:27096615

Teachers Are Designers: Addressing Problems of Practice in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henriksen, Danah; Richardson, Carmen

2017-01-01

Teachers may be confused or put off by buzzwords like "design thinking," but the concept is a useful one: To solve stubborn, everyday problems of practice in schools, they should approach those problems strategically and systematically. Specifically, explain the authors, teachers gain new insights into challenges they face when they take…

A new classification of spin in systematic reviews and meta-analyses was developed and ranked according to the severity.

PubMed

Yavchitz, Amélie; Ravaud, Philippe; Altman, Douglas G; Moher, David; Hrobjartsson, Asbjørn; Lasserson, Toby; Boutron, Isabelle

2016-07-01

We aimed to (1) identify and classify spin (i.e., a description that overstates efficacy and/or understates harm) in systematic reviews and (2) rank spin in abstracts of systematic reviews according to their severity (i.e., the likelihood of distorting readers' interpretation of the results). First, we used a four-phase consensus process to develop a classification of different types of spin. Second, we ranked the types of spin in abstracts according to their severity using a Q-sort survey with members of the Cochrane Collaboration. We identified 39 types of spin, 28 from the main text and 21 from the abstract; 13 were specific to the systematic review design. Spin was classified into three categories: (1) misleading reporting, (2) misleading interpretation, and (3) inappropriate extrapolation. Spin ranked as the most severe by the 122 people who participated in the survey were (1) recommendations for clinical practice not supported by findings in the conclusion, (2) misleading title, and (3) selective reporting. This study allowed for identifying spin that is likely to distort interpretation. Our classification could help authors, editors, and reviewers avoid spin in reports of systematic reviews. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seriously, There Is No Time for Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrington, Jeanne

2012-01-01

Training can often be the right answer--or part of the right answer--to help people learn how to do something that is new for them. Although some may be tempted to ignore instructional design when faced with a tight time line, that is exactly when following a systematic process can provide a recipe for success. Given six important questions, the…

New trends in radiology workstation design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moise, Adrian; Atkins, M. Stella

2002-05-01

In the radiology workstation design, the race for adding more features is now morphing into an iterative user centric design with the focus on ergonomics and usability. The extent of the list of features for the radiology workstation used to be one of the most significant factors for a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) vendor's ability to sell the radiology workstation. Not anymore is now very much the same between the major players in the PACS market. How these features work together distinguishes different radiology workstations. Integration (with the PACS/Radiology Information System (RIS) systems, with the 3D tool, Reporting Tool etc.), usability (user specific preferences, advanced display protocols, smart activation of tools etc.) and efficiency (what is the output a radiologist can generate with the workstation) are now core factors for selecting a workstation. This paper discusses these new trends in radiology workstation design. We demonstrate the importance of the interaction between the PACS vendor (software engineers) and the customer (radiologists) during the radiology workstation design. We focus on iterative aspects of the workstation development, such as the presentation of early prototypes to as many representative users as possible during the software development cycle and present the results of a survey of 8 radiologists on designing a radiology workstation.

New Methods for Design and Computation of Freeform Optics

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-09

338, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2009. [18] R. Winston , J. C. Miñano, and P. Beńıtez, with contributions by N. Shatz and J. Bortz, Nonimaging Optics , Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam, 2005. 8 ...AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2015-0160 New Methods for Design and Computation of Free-form Optics Vladimir Oliker EMORY UNIVERSITY Final Report 07/09/2015...Include area code) 01-07-2015 Final Technical Report May 01, 2012 - April 30, 2015 New Methods for Design and Computation of Freeform Optics FA9550-12--1

New approaches to optimization in aerospace conceptual design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gage, Peter J.

1995-01-01

Aerospace design can be viewed as an optimization process, but conceptual studies are rarely performed using formal search algorithms. Three issues that restrict the success of automatic search are identified in this work. New approaches are introduced to address the integration of analyses and optimizers, to avoid the need for accurate gradient information and a smooth search space (required for calculus-based optimization), and to remove the restrictions imposed by fixed complexity problem formulations. (1) Optimization should be performed in a flexible environment. A quasi-procedural architecture is used to conveniently link analysis modules and automatically coordinate their execution. It efficiently controls a large-scale design tasks. (2) Genetic algorithms provide a search method for discontinuous or noisy domains. The utility of genetic optimization is demonstrated here, but parameter encodings and constraint-handling schemes must be carefully chosen to avoid premature convergence to suboptimal designs. The relationship between genetic and calculus-based methods is explored. (3) A variable-complexity genetic algorithm is created to permit flexible parameterization, so that the level of description can change during optimization. This new optimizer automatically discovers novel designs in structural and aerodynamic tasks.

Diseno Sistematico de Proyectos: Manual para Voluntarios (Systematic Project Design: A Handbook for Volunteers). Appropriate Technologies for Development. Fourth Edition. Reprint R-44B.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peace Corps, Washington, DC. Information Collection and Exchange Div.

This manual, the Spanish translation of a separately available English handbook on program design, is intended to assist volunteers and staff of volunteer organizations in the systematic design of projects in various health, community, and social service areas. The first section of the manual is a guidebook that addresses such aspects of the…

40 CFR 165.85 - Design and capacity requirements for new structures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Design and capacity requirements for... Structures § 165.85 Design and capacity requirements for new structures. (a) For all new containment... containment structure: (1) The containment structure must be constructed of steel, reinforced concrete or...

University-Partnered New School Designs: Fertile Ground for Research-Practice Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quartz, Karen Hunter; Weinstein, Rhona S.; Kaufman, Gail; Levine, Harold; Mehan, Hugh; Pollock, Mica; Priselac, Jody Z.; Worrell, Frank C.

2017-01-01

This commentary suggests that new school design is a fertile policy context for advancing research-practice partnerships. The authors represent four public universities that have created new school designs in partnership with urban school districts. Unlike the laboratory schools of previous generations, these university-partnered public schools…

New FOAs for using IT to support systematic screening and treatment of depression in cancer. | Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR)

Cancer.gov

The purpose of these Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) is to identify new, information technology (IT)-enabled delivery models that support systematic screening and treatment of depression in cancer patients and test the feasibility of implementing these new delivery models in a variety of oncology practice settings, especially those serving under-served populations.

Revitalising Assessment Design: What Is Holding New Lecturers Back?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norton, Lin; Norton, Bill; Shannon, Lee

2013-01-01

This paper reports on a survey study exploring new lecturers' views on assessment design (using a questionnaire called the Assessment Design Inventory) with 586 newly qualified or still qualifying lecturers from UK universities. A factor analysis established two factors labelled "desirable practice" and "constraints".…

Environmental scan and evaluation of best practices for online systematic review resources

PubMed Central

Parker, Robin M. N.; Boulos, Leah M.; Visintini, Sarah; Ritchie, Krista; Hayden, Jill

2018-01-01

Objective Online training for systematic review methodology is an attractive option due to flexibility and limited availability of in-person instruction. Librarians often direct new reviewers to these online resources, so they should be knowledgeable about the variety of available resources. The objective for this project was to conduct an environmental scan of online systematic review training resources and evaluate those identified resources. Methods The authors systematically searched for electronic learning resources pertaining to systematic review methods. After screening for inclusion, we collected data about characteristics of training resources and assigned scores in the domains of (1) content, (2) design, (3) interactivity, and (4) usability by applying a previously published evaluation rubric for online instruction modules. We described the characteristics and scores for each training resource and compared performance across the domains. Results Twenty training resources were evaluated. Average overall score of online instructional resources was 61%. Online courses (n=7) averaged 73%, web modules (n=5) 64%, and videos (n=8) 48%. The top 5 highest scoring resources were in course or web module format, featured high interactivity, and required a longer (>5hrs) time commitment from users. Conclusion This study revealed that resources include appropriate content but are less likely to adhere to principles of online training design and interactivity. Awareness of these resources will allow librarians to make informed recommendations for training based on patrons’ needs. Future online systematic review training resources should use established best practices for e-learning to provide high-quality resources, regardless of format or user time commitment. PMID:29632443

Environmental scan and evaluation of best practices for online systematic review resources.

PubMed

Parker, Robin M N; Boulos, Leah M; Visintini, Sarah; Ritchie, Krista; Hayden, Jill

2018-04-01

Online training for systematic review methodology is an attractive option due to flexibility and limited availability of in-person instruction. Librarians often direct new reviewers to these online resources, so they should be knowledgeable about the variety of available resources. The objective for this project was to conduct an environmental scan of online systematic review training resources and evaluate those identified resources. The authors systematically searched for electronic learning resources pertaining to systematic review methods. After screening for inclusion, we collected data about characteristics of training resources and assigned scores in the domains of (1) content, (2) design, (3) interactivity, and (4) usability by applying a previously published evaluation rubric for online instruction modules. We described the characteristics and scores for each training resource and compared performance across the domains. Twenty training resources were evaluated. Average overall score of online instructional resources was 61%. Online courses (n=7) averaged 73%, web modules (n=5) 64%, and videos (n=8) 48%. The top 5 highest scoring resources were in course or web module format, featured high interactivity, and required a longer (>5hrs) time commitment from users. This study revealed that resources include appropriate content but are less likely to adhere to principles of online training design and interactivity. Awareness of these resources will allow librarians to make informed recommendations for training based on patrons' needs. Future online systematic review training resources should use established best practices for e-learning to provide high-quality resources, regardless of format or user time commitment.

Design of Research on Performance of a New Iridium Coordination Compound for the Detection of Hg2.

PubMed

Ma, Hailing; Tsai, Sang-Bing

2017-10-16

Heavy metal pollution has become one of the most significant pollution problems encountered by our country in terms of environment protection. In addition to the significant effects of heavy metals on the human body and other organisms through water, food chain enrichment and other routes, heavy metals involved in daily necessities beyond the level limit could also affect people's lives, so the detection of heavy metals is extremely important. Ir (III) coordination compound, considered to be one of the best phosphorescent sensing materials, is characterized by high luminous efficiency, easy modification of the ligand and so on, and it has potential applications in the field of heavy metal detection. This project aims to product a new Ir (III) functional coordination compound by designing a new auxiliary ligand and a main ligand with a sulfur identification unit, in order to systematically investigate the application of iridium coordination compound in the detection of the heavy metal Hg 2+ . With the introduction of the sulfur identification unit, selective sensing of Hg 2+ could be achieved. Additionally, a new auxiliary ligand is also introduced to produce a functional iridium coordination compound with high quantum efficiency, and to diversify the application of iridium coordination compound in this field.

New design opportunities with OVI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bleikolm, Anton F.

1998-04-01

Optically Variable Ink (OVITM) chosen for its unique colour shifting properties is applied to the currencies of more than 50 countries. An significant colour difference at viewing angles of 90 degrees and 30 degrees respectively makes colour copying impossible. New manufacturing techniques for the interference pigment (OVP) provide ever better cost/performance ratios. Screen printing presses newly available on the market guarantee production speeds of 8000 sheets/hour or 130 meters/minute in the case of web printing, perfectly in line with the traditional equipment for manufacturing of currency. Specifically developed ink formulations allow UV-curing at high speed or oxidative drying to create highly mechanically and chemically resistant colour shifting prints. The unique colour shifting characteristics together with overprinting in intaglio give design opportunities providing the best protection against colour copying or commercial reprint. Specific designs of OVP together with high security ingredients allow the formulation of machine readable optically variable inks useful for the authentication and sorting of documents.

Transforming information from silicon testing and design characterization into numerical data sets for yield learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Thomas; Shen, Yang; Zhang, Yifan; Sweis, Jason; Lai, Ya-Chieh

2017-03-01

Silicon testing results are regularly collected for a particular lot of wafers to study yield loss from test result diagnostics. Product engineers will analyze the diagnostic results and perform a number of physical failure analyses to detect systematic defects which cause yield loss for these sets of wafers in order to feedback the information to process engineers for process improvements. Most of time, the systematic defects that are detected are major issues or just one of the causes for the overall yield loss. This paper will present a working flow for using design analysis techniques combined with diagnostic methods to systematically transform silicon testing information into physical layout information. A new set of the testing results are received from a new lot of wafers for the same product. We can then correlate all the diagnostic results from different periods of time to check which blocks or nets have been highlighted or stop occurring on the failure reports in order to monitor process changes which impact the yield. The design characteristic analysis flow is also implemented to find 1) the block connections on a design that have failed electrical test or 2) frequently used cells that been highlighted multiple times.

A new concept in Bitter disk design

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

Gao, B.J.; Schneider-Muntau, H.J.; Eyssa, Y.M.

1996-07-01

A new concept in cooling hole design in Bitter disks that allows for much higher power densities and results in considerably lower hoop stresses has been developed and successfully tested at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) in Tallahassee, FL. The new cooling hole shape allows for extreme power densities (up to 12 W.mm{sup 3}) at a moderate heat flux of only 5 W/mm{sup 2}. The new concept also reduces the hoop stress by about 30--50% by making a Bitter disk compliant in the radial direction through staggering small width and closely spaced elongated cooling holes. Finally, the designmore » is optimized for equal temperature.« less

The behaviour change wheel: a new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions.

PubMed

Michie, Susan; van Stralen, Maartje M; West, Robert

2011-04-23

Improving the design and implementation of evidence-based practice depends on successful behaviour change interventions. This requires an appropriate method for characterising interventions and linking them to an analysis of the targeted behaviour. There exists a plethora of frameworks of behaviour change interventions, but it is not clear how well they serve this purpose. This paper evaluates these frameworks, and develops and evaluates a new framework aimed at overcoming their limitations. A systematic search of electronic databases and consultation with behaviour change experts were used to identify frameworks of behaviour change interventions. These were evaluated according to three criteria: comprehensiveness, coherence, and a clear link to an overarching model of behaviour. A new framework was developed to meet these criteria. The reliability with which it could be applied was examined in two domains of behaviour change: tobacco control and obesity. Nineteen frameworks were identified covering nine intervention functions and seven policy categories that could enable those interventions. None of the frameworks reviewed covered the full range of intervention functions or policies, and only a minority met the criteria of coherence or linkage to a model of behaviour. At the centre of a proposed new framework is a 'behaviour system' involving three essential conditions: capability, opportunity, and motivation (what we term the 'COM-B system'). This forms the hub of a 'behaviour change wheel' (BCW) around which are positioned the nine intervention functions aimed at addressing deficits in one or more of these conditions; around this are placed seven categories of policy that could enable those interventions to occur. The BCW was used reliably to characterise interventions within the English Department of Health's 2010 tobacco control strategy and the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence's guidance on reducing obesity. Interventions and policies to

New PDC bit design reduces vibrational problems

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

Mensa-Wilmot, G.; Alexander, W.L.

1995-05-22

A new polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit design combines cutter layout, load balancing, unsymmetrical blades and gauge pads, and spiraled blades to reduce problematic vibrations without limiting drilling efficiency. Stabilization improves drilling efficiency and also improves dull characteristics for PDC bits. Some PDC bit designs mitigate one vibrational mode (such as bit whirl) through drilling parameter manipulation yet cause or excite another vibrational mode (such as slip-stick). An alternative vibration-reducing concept which places no limitations on the operational environment of a PDC bit has been developed to ensure optimization of the bit`s available mechanical energy. The paper discusses bit stabilization,more » vibration reduction, vibration prevention, cutter arrangement, load balancing, blade layout, spiraled blades, and bit design.« less

High stability design for new centrifugal compressor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kanki, H.; Katayama, K.; Morii, S.; Mouri, Y.; Umemura, S.; Ozawa, U.; Oda, T.

1989-01-01

It is essential that high-performance centrifugal compressors be free of subsynchronous vibrations. A new high-performance centrifugal compressor has been developed by applying the latest rotordynamics knowledge and design techniques: (1) To improve the system damping, a specially designed oil film seal was developed. This seal attained a damping ratio three times that of the conventional design. The oil film seal contains a special damper ring in the seal cartridge. (2) To reduce the destabilizing effect of the labyrinth seal, a special swirl canceler (anti-swirl nozzle) was applied to the balance piston seal. (3) To confirm the system damping margin, the dynamic simulation rotor model test and the full load test applied the vibration exciting test in actual load conditions.

Systematic development of technical textiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beer, M.; Schrank, V.; Gloy, Y.-S.; Gries, T.

2016-07-01

Technical textiles are used in various fields of applications, ranging from small scale (e.g. medical applications) to large scale products (e.g. aerospace applications). The development of new products is often complex and time consuming, due to multiple interacting parameters. These interacting parameters are production process related and also a result of the textile structure and used material. A huge number of iteration steps are necessary to adjust the process parameter to finalize the new fabric structure. A design method is developed to support the systematic development of technical textiles and to reduce iteration steps. The design method is subdivided into six steps, starting from the identification of the requirements. The fabric characteristics vary depending on the field of application. If possible, benchmarks are tested. A suitable fabric production technology needs to be selected. The aim of the method is to support a development team within the technology selection without restricting the textile developer. After a suitable technology is selected, the transformation and correlation between input and output parameters follows. This generates the information for the production of the structure. Afterwards, the first prototype can be produced and tested. The resulting characteristics are compared with the initial product requirements.

Systematic Omics Analysis Review (SOAR) Tool to Support Risk Assessment

PubMed Central

McConnell, Emma R.; Bell, Shannon M.; Cote, Ila; Wang, Rong-Lin; Perkins, Edward J.; Garcia-Reyero, Natàlia; Gong, Ping; Burgoon, Lyle D.

2014-01-01

Environmental health risk assessors are challenged to understand and incorporate new data streams as the field of toxicology continues to adopt new molecular and systems biology technologies. Systematic screening reviews can help risk assessors and assessment teams determine which studies to consider for inclusion in a human health assessment. A tool for systematic reviews should be standardized and transparent in order to consistently determine which studies meet minimum quality criteria prior to performing in-depth analyses of the data. The Systematic Omics Analysis Review (SOAR) tool is focused on assisting risk assessment support teams in performing systematic reviews of transcriptomic studies. SOAR is a spreadsheet tool of 35 objective questions developed by domain experts, focused on transcriptomic microarray studies, and including four main topics: test system, test substance, experimental design, and microarray data. The tool will be used as a guide to identify studies that meet basic published quality criteria, such as those defined by the Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment standard and the Toxicological Data Reliability Assessment Tool. Seven scientists were recruited to test the tool by using it to independently rate 15 published manuscripts that study chemical exposures with microarrays. Using their feedback, questions were weighted based on importance of the information and a suitability cutoff was set for each of the four topic sections. The final validation resulted in 100% agreement between the users on four separate manuscripts, showing that the SOAR tool may be used to facilitate the standardized and transparent screening of microarray literature for environmental human health risk assessment. PMID:25531884

Ureteral Stents. New Materials and Designs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monga, Manoj

2008-09-01

Issues of stent migration and challenges of stent placement can be addressed adequately with current stent designs and materials, and an emphasis on precision in technique. Future changes in ureteral stents will need to maintain the current standard that has been set with existing devices in these regards. In contrast, new advances are sorely needed in encrustation and infection associated with ureteral stents. The main target for future development in ureteral stent materials lies in a biodegradable stent that degrades either on demand or degrades reliably within one-month with predictable degradation patterns that do not predispose to urinary obstruction, discomfort or need for secondary procedures. The main target for future development in ureteral stent design is improved patient comfort.

Complex Approach to Conceptual Design of Machine Mechanically Extracting Oil from Jatropha curcas L. Seeds for Biomass-Based Fuel Production

PubMed Central

Mašín, Ivan

2016-01-01

One of important sources of biomass-based fuel is Jatropha curcas L. Great attention is paid to the biofuel produced from the oil extracted from the Jatropha curcas L. seeds. A mechanised extraction is the most efficient and feasible method for oil extraction for small-scale farmers but there is a need to extract oil in more efficient manner which would increase the labour productivity, decrease production costs, and increase benefits of small-scale farmers. On the other hand innovators should be aware that further machines development is possible only when applying the systematic approach and design methodology in all stages of engineering design. Systematic approach in this case means that designers and development engineers rigorously apply scientific knowledge, integrate different constraints and user priorities, carefully plan product and activities, and systematically solve technical problems. This paper therefore deals with the complex approach to design specification determining that can bring new innovative concepts to design of mechanical machines for oil extraction. The presented case study as the main part of the paper is focused on new concept of screw of machine mechanically extracting oil from Jatropha curcas L. seeds. PMID:27668259

Creating New Small Schools for Urban Youth: Understanding Early Design Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cade, Vilicia

2010-01-01

Discussions about the ways of improving high schools have frequently considered school size and many "new" schools reduce the size to personalize the school experience and produce more positive student outcomes. Interest in designing new small schools has increased. Embedded in many of the small school design initiatives is the belief that new…

Accelerating Success: A Design Guide for Starting a New School Incubator

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lake, Robin; Rainey, Lydia

2004-01-01

Incubators are organizations that aim to decrease the learning curve for new schools and increase the likelihood that promising school plans will succeed. Incubators offer communities an innovative new way to support locally-initiated school designs. This design guide is intended to help people who are interested in starting a school incubator…

Systematic evaluation of the impact of ChIP-seq read designs on genome coverage, peak identification, and allele-specific binding detection.

PubMed

Zhang, Qi; Zeng, Xin; Younkin, Sam; Kawli, Trupti; Snyder, Michael P; Keleş, Sündüz

2016-02-24

Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) experiments revolutionized genome-wide profiling of transcription factors and histone modifications. Although maturing sequencing technologies allow these experiments to be carried out with short (36-50 bps), long (75-100 bps), single-end, or paired-end reads, the impact of these read parameters on the downstream data analysis are not well understood. In this paper, we evaluate the effects of different read parameters on genome sequence alignment, coverage of different classes of genomic features, peak identification, and allele-specific binding detection. We generated 101 bps paired-end ChIP-seq data for many transcription factors from human GM12878 and MCF7 cell lines. Systematic evaluations using in silico variations of these data as well as fully simulated data, revealed complex interplay between the sequencing parameters and analysis tools, and indicated clear advantages of paired-end designs in several aspects such as alignment accuracy, peak resolution, and most notably, allele-specific binding detection. Our work elucidates the effect of design on the downstream analysis and provides insights to investigators in deciding sequencing parameters in ChIP-seq experiments. We present the first systematic evaluation of the impact of ChIP-seq designs on allele-specific binding detection and highlights the power of pair-end designs in such studies.

A Systematic Summary of Systematic Reviews on the Topic of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament

PubMed Central

Anderson, Michael J.; Browning, William M.; Urband, Christopher E.; Kluczynski, Melissa A.; Bisson, Leslie J.

2016-01-01

Background: There has been a substantial increase in the amount of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Purpose: To quantify the number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published on the ACL in the past decade and to provide an overall summary of this literature. Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: A systematic review of all ACL-related systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between January 2004 and September 2014 was performed using PubMed, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Database. Narrative reviews and non-English articles were excluded. Results: A total of 1031 articles were found, of which 240 met the inclusion criteria. Included articles were summarized and divided into 17 topics: anatomy, epidemiology, prevention, associated injuries, diagnosis, operative versus nonoperative management, graft choice, surgical technique, fixation methods, computer-assisted surgery, platelet-rich plasma, rehabilitation, return to play, outcomes assessment, arthritis, complications, and miscellaneous. Conclusion: A summary of systematic reviews on the ACL can supply the surgeon with a single source for the most up-to-date synthesis of the literature. PMID:27047983

A New Approach of Designing Superalloys for Low Density

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

MacKay, Rebecca A.; Gabb, Timothy P.; Smialek, James L.; Nathal, Michael V.

2010-01-01

New low-density single-crystal (LDS) alloy, have bee. developed for turbine blade applications, which have the potential for significant improvements in the thrust-to-weight ratio over current production superalloys. An innovative alloying strategy was wed to achieve alloy density reductions, high-temperature creep resistance, microstructural stability, and cyclic oxidation resistance. The alloy design relies on molybdenum as a potent. lower-density solid-solution strengthener in the nickel-based superalloy. Low alloy density was also achieved with modest rhenium levels tmd the absence of tungsten. Microstructural, physical mechanical, and environmental testing demonstrated the feasibility of this new LDS superalloy design.

New synthetic thrombin inhibitors: molecular design and experimental verification.

PubMed

Sinauridze, Elena I; Romanov, Alexey N; Gribkova, Irina V; Kondakova, Olga A; Surov, Stepan S; Gorbatenko, Aleksander S; Butylin, Andrey A; Monakov, Mikhail Yu; Bogolyubov, Alexey A; Kuznetsov, Yuryi V; Sulimov, Vladimir B; Ataullakhanov, Fazoyl I

2011-01-01

The development of new anticoagulants is an important goal for the improvement of thromboses treatments. The design, synthesis and experimental testing of new safe and effective small molecule direct thrombin inhibitors for intravenous administration. Computer-aided molecular design of new thrombin inhibitors was performed using our original docking program SOL, which is based on the genetic algorithm of global energy minimization in the framework of a Merck Molecular Force Field. This program takes into account the effects of solvent. The designed molecules with the best scoring functions (calculated binding energies) were synthesized and their thrombin inhibitory activity evaluated experimentally in vitro using a chromogenic substrate in a buffer system and using a thrombin generation test in isolated plasma and in vivo using the newly developed model of hemodilution-induced hypercoagulation in rats. The acute toxicities of the most promising new thrombin inhibitors were evaluated in mice, and their stabilities in aqueous solutions were measured. New compounds that are both effective direct thrombin inhibitors (the best K(I) was <1 nM) and strong anticoagulants in plasma (an IC(50) in the thrombin generation assay of approximately 100 nM) were discovered. These compounds contain one of the following new residues as the basic fragment: isothiuronium, 4-aminopyridinium, or 2-aminothiazolinium. LD(50) values for the best new inhibitors ranged from 166.7 to >1111.1 mg/kg. A plasma-substituting solution supplemented with one of the new inhibitors prevented hypercoagulation in the rat model of hemodilution-induced hypercoagulation. Activities of the best new inhibitors in physiological saline (1 µM solutions) were stable after sterilization by autoclaving, and the inhibitors remained stable at long-term storage over more than 1.5 years at room temperature and at 4°C. The high efficacy, stability and low acute toxicity reveal that the inhibitors that were developed

DESIGN NOTE: New apparatus for haze measurement for transparent media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, H. L.; Hsiao, C. C.; Liu, W. C.

2006-08-01

Precise measurement of luminous transmittance and haze of transparent media is increasingly important to the LCD industry. Currently there are at least three documentary standards for measuring transmission haze. Unfortunately, none of those standard methods by itself can obtain the precise values for the diffuse transmittance (DT), total transmittance (TT) and haze. This note presents a new apparatus capable of precisely measuring all three variables simultaneously. Compared with current structures, the proposed design contains one more compensatory port. For optimal design, the light trap absorbs the beam completely, light scattered by the instrument is zero and the interior surface of the integrating sphere, baffle, as well as the reflectance standard, are of equal characteristic. The accurate values of the TT, DT and haze can be obtained using the new apparatus. Even if the design is not optimal, the measurement errors of the new apparatus are smaller than those of other methods especially for high sphere reflectance. Therefore, the sphere can be made of a high reflectance material for the new apparatus to increase the signal-to-noise ratio.

ACL reconstruction in patients aged 40 years and older: a systematic review and introduction of a new methodology score for ACL studies.

PubMed

Brown, Christopher A; McAdams, Timothy R; Harris, Alex H S; Maffulli, Nicola; Safran, Marc R

2013-09-01

Treatment of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knee in older patients remains a core debate. To perform a systematic review of studies that assessed outcomes in patients aged 40 years and older treated with ACL reconstruction and to provide a new methodological scoring system that is directed at critical assessment of studies evaluating ACL surgical outcomes: the ACL Methodology Score (AMS). Systematic review. A comprehensive literature search was performed from 1995 to 2012 using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Scopus. Inclusion criteria for studies were primary ACL injury, patient age of 40 years and older, and mean follow-up of at least 21 months after reconstruction. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria from the 371 abstracts from MEDLINE and 880 abstracts from Scopus. Clinical outcomes (International Knee Documentation Committee [IKDC], Lysholm, and Tegner activity scores), joint stability measures (Lachman test, pivot-shift test, and instrumented knee arthrometer assessment), graft type, complications, and reported chondral or meniscal injury were evaluated in this review. A new methodology scoring system was developed to be specific at critically analyzing ACL outcome studies and used to examine each study design. Nineteen studies describing 627 patients (632 knees; mean age, 49.0 years; range, 42.6-60.0 years) were included in the review. The mean time to surgery was 32.0 months (range, 2.9-88.0 months), with a mean follow-up of 40.2 months (range, 21.0-114.0 months). The IKDC, Lysholm, and Tegner scores and knee laxity assessment indicated favorable results in the studies that reported these outcomes. Patients did not demonstrate a significant difference between graft types and functional outcome scores or stability assessment. The mean AMS was 43.9 ± 7.2 (range, 33.5-57.5). The level of evidence rating did not positively correlate with the AMS, which suggests that the new AMS system may be able to detect errors in methodology or reporting that

Systematic methods for knowledge acquisition and expert system development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belkin, Brenda L.; Stengel, Robert F.

1991-01-01

Nine cooperating rule-based systems, collectively called AUTOCREW, were designed to automate functions and decisions associated with a combat aircraft's subsystem. The organization of tasks within each system is described; performance metrics were developed to evaluate the workload of each rule base, and to assess the cooperation between the rule-bases. Each AUTOCREW subsystem is composed of several expert systems that perform specific tasks. AUTOCREW's NAVIGATOR was analyzed in detail to understand the difficulties involved in designing the system and to identify tools and methodologies that ease development. The NAVIGATOR determines optimal navigation strategies from a set of available sensors. A Navigation Sensor Management (NSM) expert system was systematically designed from Kalman filter covariance data; four ground-based, a satellite-based, and two on-board INS-aiding sensors were modeled and simulated to aid an INS. The NSM Expert was developed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the ID3 algorithm. Navigation strategy selection is based on an RSS position error decision metric, which is computed from the covariance data. Results show that the NSM Expert predicts position error correctly between 45 and 100 percent of the time for a specified navaid configuration and aircraft trajectory. The NSM Expert adapts to new situations, and provides reasonable estimates of hybrid performance. The systematic nature of the ANOVA/ID3 method makes it broadly applicable to expert system design when experimental or simulation data is available.

A new magnet design for future Kibble balances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shisong; Stock, Michael; Schlamminger, Stephan

2018-06-01

We propose a new permanent magnet system for Kibble balance experiments, which combines advantages of the magnet designs invented by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). The goal of the proposed magnet system is to minimize the coil-current effect and to optimize the shielding at the same time. In the proposed design, a permanent magnet system with two gaps, each housing a coil, is employed to minimize the coil current effect, by reducing the linear coil-current dependence reported for the single air gap design by at least one order of magnitude. Both air gaps of the magnet are completely surrounded by high-permeability material, and hence the coils are shielded from outside magnetic fields and no magnetic field leaks outside of the magnet system. An example of the new magnet system is given and the analysis shows that the magnetic field in the air gap can be optimized to meet the requirement to be used in Kibble balances.

Bold Plans for School Restructuring: The New American Schools Designs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stringfield, Sam, Ed.; Ross, Steven, M., Ed.; Smith, Lana, Ed.

In 1991, the New American Schools (NAS) Development Corporation was founded by a group of business and foundation leaders interested in investing in innovative designs for school transformation. This book describes the first 3 years of development and evaluation of 9 NAS whole-school restructuring designs. The designs were very diverse, as were…

A systematic review and qualitative analysis to inform the development of a new emergency department-based geriatric case management model.

PubMed

Sinha, Samir K; Bessman, Edward S; Flomenbaum, Neal; Leff, Bruce

2011-06-01

We inform the future development of a new geriatric emergency management practice model. We perform a systematic review of the existing evidence for emergency department (ED)-based case management models designed to improve the health, social, and health service utilization outcomes for noninstitutionalized older patients within the context of an index ED visit. This was a systematic review of English-language articles indexed in MEDLINE and CINAHL (1966 to 2010), describing ED-based case management models for older adults. Bibliographies of the retrieved articles were reviewed to identify additional references. A systematic qualitative case study analytic approach was used to identify the core operational components and outcome measures of the described clinical interventions. The authors of the included studies were also invited to verify our interpretations of their work. The determined patterns of component adherence were then used to postulate the relative importance and effect of the presence or absence of a particular component in influencing the overall effectiveness of their respective interventions. Eighteen of 352 studies (reported in 20 articles) met study criteria. Qualitative analyses identified 28 outcome measures and 8 distinct model characteristic components that included having an evidence-based practice model, nursing clinical involvement or leadership, high-risk screening processes, focused geriatric assessments, the initiation of care and disposition planning in the ED, interprofessional and capacity-building work practices, post-ED discharge follow-up with patients, and evaluation and monitoring processes. Of the 15 positive study results, 6 had all 8 characteristic components and 9 were found to be lacking at least 1 component. Two studies with positive results lacked 2 characteristic components and none lacked more than 2 components. Of the 3 studies with negative results demonstrating no positive effects based on any outcome tested, one

Design of a new separable rotary transformer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, X. F.; Zhang, L.; Feng, E. J.

2017-09-01

A new-type separable rotary transformer which can be used in rotary steerable drilling is designed to deliver power efficiently from a stationary primary source to a rotary secondary load over a relatively large air gap via magnetic coupling. In this paper, E-type magnetic cores are reasonably distributed so that rotation of the rotary secondary has the least influence on reluctance of magnetic coupling. The influence of different winding layouts and connection modes on self-inductance and coupling coefficient is studied. By analysing the influence of the different geometrical shapes of cores on magnetic path, a design principle is proposed.

The role of intervention mapping in designing disease prevention interventions: A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Garba, Rayyan M; Gadanya, Muktar A

2017-01-01

To assess the role of Intervention Mapping (IM) in designing disease prevention interventions worldwide. Systematic search and review of the relevant literature-peer-reviewed and grey-was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Only five of the twenty two included studies reviewed were RCTs that compared intervention using IM protocol with placebo intervention, and provided the outcomes in terms of percentage increase in the uptake of disease-prevention programmes, and only one of the five studies provided an effect measure in the form of relative risk (RR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.08-2.34, p = 0.02). Of the five RCTs, three were rated as strong evidences, one as a medium evidence and one as a weak evidence, and they all reported statistically significant difference between the two study groups, with disease prevention interventions that have used the intervention mapping approach generally reported significant increases in the uptake of disease-prevention interventions, ranging from 9% to 28.5% (0.0001 ≤ p ≤ 0.02), On the other hand, all the 22 studies have successfully identified the determinants of the uptake of disease prevention interventions that is essential to the success of disease prevention programmes. Intervention Mapping has been successfully used to plan, implement and evaluate interventions that showed significant increase in uptake of disease prevention programmes. This study has provided a good understanding of the role of intervention mapping in designing disease prevention interventions, and a good foundation upon which subsequent reviews can be guided.

The role of intervention mapping in designing disease prevention interventions: A systematic review of the literature

PubMed Central

Garba, Rayyan M.; Gadanya, Muktar A.

2017-01-01

Objective To assess the role of Intervention Mapping (IM) in designing disease prevention interventions worldwide. Methods Systematic search and review of the relevant literature—peer-reviewed and grey—was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Findings Only five of the twenty two included studies reviewed were RCTs that compared intervention using IM protocol with placebo intervention, and provided the outcomes in terms of percentage increase in the uptake of disease-prevention programmes, and only one of the five studies provided an effect measure in the form of relative risk (RR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.08–2.34, p = 0.02). Of the five RCTs, three were rated as strong evidences, one as a medium evidence and one as a weak evidence, and they all reported statistically significant difference between the two study groups, with disease prevention interventions that have used the intervention mapping approach generally reported significant increases in the uptake of disease-prevention interventions, ranging from 9% to 28.5% (0.0001 ≤ p ≤ 0.02), On the other hand, all the 22 studies have successfully identified the determinants of the uptake of disease prevention interventions that is essential to the success of disease prevention programmes. Conclusion Intervention Mapping has been successfully used to plan, implement and evaluate interventions that showed significant increase in uptake of disease prevention programmes. This study has provided a good understanding of the role of intervention mapping in designing disease prevention interventions, and a good foundation upon which subsequent reviews can be guided. PMID:28358821

The design of the new LHC connection cryostats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vande Craen, A.; Barlow, G.; Eymin, C.; Moretti, M.; Parma, V.; Ramos, D.

2017-12-01

In the frame of the High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC, improved collimation schemes are needed to cope with the superconducting magnet quench limitations due to the increasing beam intensities and particle debris produced in the collision points. Two new TCLD collimators have to be installed on either side of the ALICE experiment to intercept heavy-ion particle debris. Beam optics solutions were found to place these collimators in the continuous cryostat of the machine, in the locations where connection cryostats, bridging a gap of about 13 m between adjacent magnets, are already present. It is therefore planned to replace these connection cryostats with two new shorter ones separated by a bypass cryostat allowing the collimators to be placed close to the beam pipes. The connection cryostats, of a new design when compared to the existing ones, will still have to ensure the continuity of the technical systems of the machine cryostat (i.e. beam lines, cryogenic and electrical circuits, insulation vacuum). This paper describes the functionalities and the design solutions implemented, as well as the plans for their construction.

The New ISD: Applying Cognitive Strategies to Instructional Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Ruth Colvin

2002-01-01

Discusses cognitive models of instruction that can help develop new models of Instructional Systems Design (ISD) that include cognitive task analysis to identify mental models; constructive assumptions of learning; working memory and long-term memory; retrieval of new knowledge and skills from long-term memory; and support of metacognitive skills.…

Mobile Phone-Based Behavioural Interventions for Health: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buhi, Eric R.; Trudnak, Tara E.; Martinasek, Mary P.; Oberne, Alison B.; Fuhrmann, Hollie J.; McDermott, Robert J.

2013-01-01

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the literature concerning behavioural mobile health (mHealth) and summarize points related to heath topic, use of theory, audience, purpose, design, intervention components, and principal results that can inform future health education applications. Design: A systematic review of the literature. Method:…

Impact of Study Design on Reported Incidences of Acute Mountain Sickness: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Waeber, Baptiste; Kayser, Bengt; Dumont, Lionel; Lysakowski, Christopher; Tramèr, Martin R; Elia, Nadia

2015-09-01

Published incidences of acute mountain sickness (AMS) vary widely. Reasons for this variation, and predictive factors of AMS, are not well understood. We aimed to identify predictive factors that are associated with the occurrence of AMS, and to test the hypothesis that study design is an independent predictive factor of AMS incidence. We did a systematic search (Medline, bibliographies) for relevant articles in English or French, up to April 28, 2013. Studies of any design reporting on AMS incidence in humans without prophylaxis were selected. Data on incidence and potential predictive factors were extracted by two reviewers and crosschecked by four reviewers. Associations between predictive factors and AMS incidence were sought through bivariate and multivariate analyses for different study designs separately. Association between AMS incidence and study design was assessed using multiple linear regression. We extracted data from 53,603 subjects from 34 randomized controlled trials, 44 cohort studies, and 33 cross-sectional studies. In randomized trials, the median of AMS incidences without prophylaxis was 60% (range, 16%-100%); mode of ascent and population were significantly associated with AMS incidence. In cohort studies, the median of AMS incidences was 51% (0%-100%); geographical location was significantly associated with AMS incidence. In cross-sectional studies, the median of AMS incidences was 32% (0%-68%); mode of ascent and maximum altitude were significantly associated with AMS incidence. In a multivariate analysis, study design (p=0.012), mode of ascent (p=0.003), maximum altitude (p<0.001), population (p=0.002), and geographical location (p<0.001) were significantly associated with AMS incidence. Age, sex, speed of ascent, duration of exposure, or history of AMS were inconsistently reported and therefore not further analyzed. Reported incidences and identifiable predictive factors of AMS depend on study design.

ErgoTMC, A New Tool For Human-Centered TMC Design

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-04-01

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has recently made available a new tool to assist Transportation Management Center (TMC) managers and designers in incorporating human-centered design principles into their TMCs. ErgoTMC, a web site tailored t...

Design Process-System and Methodology of Design Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashier, Fathi

2017-10-01

Studies have recognized the failure of the traditional design approach both in practice and in the studio. They showed that design problems today are too complex for the traditional approach to cope with and reflected a new interest in a better quality design services in order to meet the challenges of our time. In the mid-1970s and early 1980s, there has been a significant shift in focus within the field of design research towards the aim of creating a ‘design discipline’. The problem, as will be discussed, is the lack of an integrated theory of design knowledge that can explicitly describe the design process in a coherent way. As a consequence, the traditional approach fails to operate systematically, in a disciplinary manner. Addressing this problem is the primary goal of the research study in the design process currently being conducted in the research-based master studio at Wollega University, Ethiopia. The research study seeks to make a contribution towards a disciplinary approach, through proper understanding the mechanism of knowledge development within design process systems. This is the task of the ‘theory of design knowledge’. In this article the research project is introduced, and a model of the design process-system is developed in the studio as a research plan and a tool of design research at the same time. Based on data drawn from students’ research projects, the theory of design knowledge is developed and empirically verified through the research project.

Systematic review of surveillance systems and methods for early detection of exotic, new and re-emerging diseases in animal populations.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Prieto, V; Vicente-Rubiano, M; Sánchez-Matamoros, A; Rubio-Guerri, C; Melero, M; Martínez-López, B; Martínez-Avilés, M; Hoinville, L; Vergne, T; Comin, A; Schauer, B; Dórea, F; Pfeiffer, D U; Sánchez-Vizcaíno, J M

2015-07-01

In this globalized world, the spread of new, exotic and re-emerging diseases has become one of the most important threats to animal production and public health. This systematic review analyses conventional and novel early detection methods applied to surveillance. In all, 125 scientific documents were considered for this study. Exotic (n = 49) and re-emerging (n = 27) diseases constituted the most frequently represented health threats. In addition, the majority of studies were related to zoonoses (n = 66). The approaches found in the review could be divided in surveillance modalities, both active (n = 23) and passive (n = 5); and tools and methodologies that support surveillance activities (n = 57). Combinations of surveillance modalities and tools (n = 40) were also found. Risk-based approaches were very common (n = 60), especially in the papers describing tools and methodologies (n = 50). The main applications, benefits and limitations of each approach were extracted from the papers. This information will be very useful for informing the development of tools to facilitate the design of cost-effective surveillance strategies. Thus, the current literature review provides key information about the advantages, disadvantages, limitations and potential application of methodologies for the early detection of new, exotic and re-emerging diseases.

Design of a new membrane stretching device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Yiran

Cell stretching device has been applied into the lab use for many years to help researchers study about the behavior of cells during the stretching process. Because the cell responses to the different mechanical stimuli, especially in the case of disease, the cell stretching device is a necessary tool to study the cell behavior in a controlled environment. However existing devices have limitations, such as too big to fit the culture chamber, unable to be observed during the stretching process and too expensive to fabricate. In this thesis, a new cell stretcher is designed to resolve these limitations. Many typical cell stretching devices only work under simple conditions. For instance they can only apply the strain on the cell in uniaxial or equibiaxial directions. On the other hand the environment of cells' survival is varying. Many new cell stretchers have been developed, which have the same property that cells can be stretched via the radical deformation of the elastomeric membrane. The aim of this new design is to create a cell stretching device that fits in general lab conditions. This device is designed to fit on a microscope to observe, as well as in the incubator. In addition, two small step motors are used to control the strain, adjust the frequency, and maintain the stability precisely. Problems such as the culture media leakage and the membrane breakage are solved by the usage of multiple materials for both the cell stretcher and the membrane. Based on the experimental results, this device can satisfy the requirements of target users with a reduced manufacturing cost. In the future, an auto-focus tracking function will be developed to allow real time observation of the cells' behavior.

Study protocol: developing a decision system for inclusive housing: applying a systematic, mixed-method quasi-experimental design.

PubMed

Zeeman, Heidi; Kendall, Elizabeth; Whitty, Jennifer A; Wright, Courtney J; Townsend, Clare; Smith, Dianne; Lakhani, Ali; Kennerley, Samantha

2016-03-15

Identifying the housing preferences of people with complex disabilities is a much needed, but under-developed area of practice and scholarship. Despite the recognition that housing is a social determinant of health and quality of life, there is an absence of empirical methodologies that can practically and systematically involve consumers in this complex service delivery and housing design market. A rigorous process for making effective and consistent development decisions is needed to ensure resources are used effectively and the needs of consumers with complex disability are properly met. This 3-year project aims to identify how the public and private housing market in Australia can better respond to the needs of people with complex disabilities whilst simultaneously achieving key corporate objectives. First, using the Customer Relationship Management framework, qualitative (Nominal Group Technique) and quantitative (Discrete Choice Experiment) methods will be used to quantify the housing preferences of consumers and their carers. A systematic mixed-method, quasi-experimental design will then be used to quantify the development priorities of other key stakeholders (e.g., architects, developers, Government housing services etc.) in relation to inclusive housing for people with complex disabilities. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 1 (experimental group) will participate in a series of focus groups employing Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methodology. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 2 (control group) will participate in focus groups employing existing decision making processes to inclusive housing development (e.g., Risk, Opportunity, Cost, Benefit considerations). Using comparative stakeholder analysis, this research design will enable the AHP methodology (a proposed tool to guide inclusive housing development decisions) to be tested. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will enable stakeholders to incorporate consumer housing

Quasi-experimental study designs series-paper 8: identifying quasi-experimental studies to inform systematic reviews.

PubMed

Glanville, Julie; Eyers, John; Jones, Andrew M; Shemilt, Ian; Wang, Grace; Johansen, Marit; Fiander, Michelle; Rothstein, Hannah

2017-09-01

This article reviews the available evidence and guidance on methods to identify reports of quasi-experimental (QE) studies to inform systematic reviews of health care, public health, international development, education, crime and justice, and social welfare. Research, guidance, and examples of search strategies were identified by searching a range of databases, key guidance documents, selected reviews, conference proceedings, and personal communication. Current practice and research evidence were summarized. Four thousand nine hundred twenty-four records were retrieved by database searches, and additional documents were obtained by other searches. QE studies are challenging to identify efficiently because they have no standardized nomenclature and may be indexed in various ways. Reliable search filters are not available. There is a lack of specific resources devoted to collecting QE studies and little evidence on where best to search. Searches to identify QE studies should search a range of resources and, until indexing improves, use strategies that focus on the topic rather than the study design. Better definitions, better indexing in databases, prospective registers, and reporting guidance are required to improve the retrieval of QE studies and promote systematic reviews of what works based on the evidence from such studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A systematic review of the quality of conduct and reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery

PubMed Central

Gudlaugsdottir, Katrin; Andrews, James

2017-01-01

Objective Our objective was to evaluate quality of conduct and reporting of published systematic reviews and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery. We also aimed to identify characteristics predictive of review quality. Background Systematic reviews summarise evidence by combining sources, but are potentially prone to bias. To counter this, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was published to aid in reporting. Similarly, the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) measurement tool was designed to appraise methodology. The paediatric surgical literature has seen an increasing number of reviews over the past decade, but quality has not been evaluated. Methods Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, we performed a systematic review with a priori design to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses of interventions in paediatric surgery. From 01/2010 to 06/2016, we searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, Web of Science, Google Scholar, reference lists and journals. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data. We assessed conduct and reporting using AMSTAR and PRISMA. Scores were calculated as the sum of reported items. We also extracted author, journal and article characteristics, and used them in exploratory analysis to determine which variables predict quality. Results 112 articles fulfilled eligibility criteria (53 systematic reviews; 59 meta-analyses). Overall, 68% AMSTAR and 56.8% PRISMA items were reported adequately. Poorest scores were identified with regards a priori design, inclusion of structured summaries, including the grey literature, citing excluded articles and evaluating bias. 13 reviews were pre-registered and 6 in PRISMA-endorsing journals. The following predicted quality in univariate analysis:, word count, Cochrane review, journal h-index, impact factor, journal endorses PRISMA, PRISMA adherence suggested in author guidance

A systematic review of the use of an expertise-based randomised controlled trial design.

PubMed

Cook, Jonathan A; Elders, Andrew; Boachie, Charles; Bassinga, Ted; Fraser, Cynthia; Altman, Doug G; Boutron, Isabelle; Ramsay, Craig R; MacLennan, Graeme S

2015-05-30

Under a conventional two-arm randomised trial design, participants are allocated to an intervention and participating health professionals are expected to deliver both interventions. However, health professionals often have differing levels of expertise in a skill-based interventions such as surgery or psychotherapy. An expertise-based approach to trial design, where health professionals only deliver an intervention in which they have expertise, has been proposed as an alternative. The aim of this project was to systematically review the use of an expertise-based trial design in the medical literature. We carried out a comprehensive search of nine databases--AMED, BIOSIS, CENTRAL, CINAHL, Cochrane Methodology Register, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Science Citation Index, and PsycINFO--from 1966 to 2012 and performed citation searches using the ISI Citation Indexes and Scopus. Studies that used an expertise-based trial design were included. Two review authors independently screened the titles and abstracts and assessed full-text reports. Data were extracted and summarised on the study characteristics, general and expertise-specific study methodology, and conduct. In total, 7476 titles and abstracts were identified, leading to 43 included studies (54 articles). The vast majority (88%) used a pure expertise-based design; three (7%) adopted a hybrid design, and two (5%) used a design that was unclear. Most studies compared substantially different interventions (79%). In many cases, key information relating to the expertise-based design was absent; only 12 (28%) reported criteria for delivering both interventions. Most studies recruited the target sample size or very close to it (median of 101, interquartile range of 94 to 118), although the target was reported for only 40% of studies. The proportion of participants who received the allocated intervention was high (92%, interquartile range of 82 to 99%). While use of an expertise-based trial design is growing, it remains uncommon

Impact of searching clinical trial registries in systematic reviews of pharmaceutical treatments: methodological systematic review and reanalysis of meta-analyses.

PubMed

Baudard, Marie; Yavchitz, Amélie; Ravaud, Philippe; Perrodeau, Elodie; Boutron, Isabelle

2017-02-17

Objective  To evaluate the impact of searching clinical trial registries in systematic reviews. Design  Methodological systematic review and reanalyses of meta-analyses. Data sources  Medline was searched to identify systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing pharmaceutical treatments published between June 2014 and January 2015. For all systematic reviews that did not report a trial registry search but reported the information to perform it, the World Health Organization International Trials Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP search portal) was searched for completed or terminated RCTs not originally included in the systematic review. Data extraction  For each systematic review, two researchers independently extracted the outcomes analysed, the number of patients included, and the treatment effect estimated. For each RCT identified, two researchers independently determined whether the results were available (ie, posted, published, or available on the sponsor website) and extracted the data. When additional data were retrieved, we reanalysed meta-analyses and calculated the weight of the additional RCTs and the change in summary statistics by comparison with the original meta-analysis. Results  Among 223 selected systematic reviews, 116 (52%) did not report a search of trial registries; 21 of these did not report the information to perform the search (key words, search date). A search was performed for 95 systematic reviews; for 54 (57%), no additional RCTs were found and for 41 (43%) 122 additional RCTs were identified. The search allowed for increasing the number of patients by more than 10% in 19 systematic reviews, 20% in 10, 30% in seven, and 50% in four. Moreover, 63 RCTs had results available; the results for 45 could be included in a meta-analysis. 14 systematic reviews including 45 RCTs were reanalysed. The weight of the additional RCTs in the recalculated meta-analyses ranged from 0% to 58% and was greater than 10% in five of 14

Design of Urban Public Spaces: Intent vs. Reality

PubMed Central

Martin, W. Mike; Stewart, Tom; Troelsen, Jens

2018-01-01

This study investigated how two public spaces for sport and recreation were utilized by different user groups, and how this aligned with the initial design objectives for these spaces. Two newly built urban spaces situated in Copenhagen, Denmark, provided the context for this investigation. The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) was used to examine the physical activity of users in these two urban spaces. The architects responsible for designing each space were interviewed to ascertain the intended target group of each space and to unravel the reasons behind the design decisions. The SOPARC observations revealed that males were more vigorously active than females when using the recreation facilities, and the observed users did not align with the intended target groups. The interviews suggested that design decisions were based on minimal interdisciplinary knowledge, and that expert knowledge was chosen randomly. These findings point to a systematic lack of evidence-based practice when designing sport and recreational facilities. This article has implications for landscape architects and urban planners; a new method must be developed to embed interdisciplinary knowledge in the planning process of future sport and recreation projects. This must be done in a systematic way to make the design process transparent. PMID:29690509

Methods to systematically review and meta-analyse observational studies: a systematic scoping review of recommendations.

PubMed

Mueller, Monika; D'Addario, Maddalena; Egger, Matthias; Cevallos, Myriam; Dekkers, Olaf; Mugglin, Catrina; Scott, Pippa

2018-05-21

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies are frequently performed, but no widely accepted guidance is available at present. We performed a systematic scoping review of published methodological recommendations on how to systematically review and meta-analyse observational studies. We searched online databases and websites and contacted experts in the field to locate potentially eligible articles. We included articles that provided any type of recommendation on how to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies. We extracted and summarised recommendations on pre-defined key items: protocol development, research question, search strategy, study eligibility, data extraction, dealing with different study designs, risk of bias assessment, publication bias, heterogeneity, statistical analysis. We summarised recommendations by key item, identifying areas of agreement and disagreement as well as areas where recommendations were missing or scarce. The searches identified 2461 articles of which 93 were eligible. Many recommendations for reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies were transferred from guidance developed for reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs. Although there was substantial agreement in some methodological areas there was also considerable disagreement on how evidence synthesis of observational studies should be conducted. Conflicting recommendations were seen on topics such as the inclusion of different study designs in systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the use of quality scales to assess the risk of bias, and the choice of model (e.g. fixed vs. random effects) for meta-analysis. There is a need for sound methodological guidance on how to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies, which critically considers areas in which there are conflicting recommendations.

The Role of Transfer in Designing Games and Simulations for Health: Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Terlouw, Gijs; Wartena, Bard O; van 't Veer, Job TB; Prins, Jelle T; Pierie, Jean Pierre EN

2017-01-01

Background The usefulness and importance of serious games and simulations in learning and behavior change for health and health-related issues are widely recognized. Studies have addressed games and simulations as interventions, mostly in comparison with their analog counterparts. Numerous complex design choices have to be made with serious games and simulations for health, including choices that directly contribute to the effects of the intervention. One of these decisions is the way an intervention is expected to lead to desirable transfer effects. Most designs adopt a first-class transfer rationale, whereas the second class of transfer types seems a rarity in serious games and simulations for health. Objective This study sought to review the literature specifically on the second class of transfer types in the design of serious games and simulations. Focusing on game-like interventions for health and health care, this study aimed to (1) determine whether the second class of transfer is recognized as a road for transfer in game-like interventions, (2) review the application of the second class of transfer type in designing game-like interventions, and (3) assess studies that include second-class transfer types reporting transfer outcomes. Methods A total of 6 Web-based databases were systematically searched by titles, abstracts, and keywords using the search strategy (video games OR game OR games OR gaming OR computer simulation*) AND (software design OR design) AND (fidelity OR fidelities OR transfer* OR behaviour OR behavior). The databases searched were identified as relevant to health, education, and social science. Results A total of 15 relevant studies were included, covering a range of game-like interventions, all more or less mentioning design parameters aimed at transfer. We found 9 studies where first-class transfer was part of the design of the intervention. In total, 8 studies dealt with transfer concepts and fidelity types in game-like intervention

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of interventions designed to decrease child abuse in high-risk families

PubMed Central

Levey, Elizabeth J.; Gelaye, Bizu; Bain, Paul; Rondon, Marta B.; Borba, Christina P.C.; Henderson, David C.; Williams, Michelle A.

2017-01-01

Child abuse is a global problem, and parents with histories of childhood abuse are at increased risk of abusing their offspring. The objective of this systematic review is to provide a clear overview of the existing literature of randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to prevent child abuse. PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, and CINAHL were systematically searched and expanded by hand search. This review includes all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions designed to prevent abuse among mothers identified as high-risk. Of the eight studies identified, only three found statistically significant reductions in abuse by any measure, and only two found reductions in incidents reported to child protective services. While much has been written about child abuse in high-risk families, few RCTs have been performed. Only home visitation has a significant evidence base for reducing child abuse, and the findings vary considerably. Also, data from low- and middle-income countries are limited. PMID:28110205

New Single Piece Blast Hardware design

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

Ulrich, Andri; Steinzig, Michael Louis; Aragon, Daniel Adrian

W, Q and PF engineers and machinists designed and fabricated, on the new Mazak i300, the first Single Piece Blast Hardware (unclassified design shown) reducing fabrication and inspection time by over 50%. The first DU Single Piece is completed and will be used for Hydro Test 3680. Past hydro tests used a twopiece assembly due to a lack of equipment capable of machining the complex saddle shape in a single piece. The i300 provides turning and milling 5-axis machining on one machine. The milling head on the i300 can machine past 90 relative to the spindle axis. This makes itmore » possible to machine the complex saddle surface on a single piece. Going to a single piece eliminates tolerance problems, such as tilting and eccentricity, that typically occurred when assembling the two pieces together« less

Use of systematic reviews in clinical practice guidelines: case study of smoking cessation

PubMed Central

Silagy, C A; Stead, L F; Lancaster, T

2001-01-01

Objective To examine the extent to which recommendations in the national guidelines for the cessation of smoking are based on evidence from systematic reviews of controlled trials. Design Retrospective analysis of recommendations for the national guidelines for the cessation of smoking. Materials National guidelines in clinical practice on smoking cessation published in English. Main outcome measures The type of evidence (systematic review of controlled trials, individual trials, other studies, expert opinion) used to support each recommendation. We also assessed whether a Cochrane systematic review was available and could have been used in formulating the recommendation. Results Four national smoking cessation guidelines (from Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) covering 105 recommendations were identified. An explicit evidence base for 100%, 89%, 68%, and 98% of recommendations, respectively, was detected, of which 60%, 56%, 59%, and 47% were based on systematic reviews of controlled studies. Cochrane systematic reviews could have been used to develop between 39% and 73% of recommendations but were actually used in 0% to 36% of recommendations. The UK guidelines had the highest proportion of recommendations based on Cochrane systematic reviews. Conclusions Use of systematic reviews in guidelines is a measure of the “payback” on investment in research synthesis. Systematic reviews commonly underpinned recommendations in guidelines on smoking cessation. The extent to which they were used varied by country and there was evidence of duplication of effort in some areas. Greater international collaboration in developing and maintaining an evidence base of systematic reviews can improve the efficiency of use of research resources. PMID:11597966

33 CFR 143.201 - Existing MODUs exempted from new design requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF ACTIVITIES DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT Mobile Offshore Drilling Units § 143.201 Existing MODUs exempted from new design requirements. Any mobile offshore drilling...

The benefits of health information exchange: an updated systematic review.

PubMed

Menachemi, Nir; Rahurkar, Saurabh; Harle, Christopher A; Vest, Joshua R

2018-04-28

Widespread health information exchange (HIE) is a national objective motivated by the promise of improved care and a reduction in costs. Previous reviews have found little rigorous evidence that HIE positively affects these anticipated benefits. However, early studies of HIE were methodologically limited. The purpose of the current study is to review the recent literature on the impact of HIE. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to conduct our systematic review. PubMed and Scopus databases were used to identify empirical articles that evaluated HIE in the context of a health care outcome. Our search strategy identified 24 articles that included 63 individual analyses. The majority of the studies were from the United States representing 9 states; and about 40% of the included analyses occurred in a handful of HIEs from the state of New York. Seven of the 24 studies used designs suitable for causal inference and all reported some beneficial effect from HIE; none reported adverse effects. The current systematic review found that studies with more rigorous designs all reported benefits from HIE. Such benefits include fewer duplicated procedures, reduced imaging, lower costs, and improved patient safety. We also found that studies evaluating community HIEs were more likely to find benefits than studies that evaluated enterprise HIEs or vendor-mediated exchanges. Overall, these finding bode well for the HIEs ability to deliver on anticipated improvements in care delivery and reduction in costs.

Molecular and morphological systematics of Doto Oken, 1851 (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia), with descriptions of five new species and a new genus.

PubMed

Shipman, Carissa; Gosliner, Terrence

2015-06-16

The nudibranch family Dotidae has been an extremely challenging group to study taxonomically due to their small body size, lack of distinct internal morphological differences and similar color patterns. This integrative systematic study of the Dotidae encompasses 29 individuals from the north Atlantic and Mediterranean, and 11 from the Indo-Pacific. Two mitochondrial genes, 16S, COI, and a nuclear gene, H3, were sequenced for 31 specimens and Bayesian and RAxML concatenated analyses were run. Dotidae is monophyletic and possesses strong geographic structure. Co-evolution between some of the north Atlantic taxa and their hydroid prey is apparent, thus supporting the hypothesis that speciation may be correlated with prey diversification. This study also supports the notion that the hydroid prey is a reliable indicator for distinguishing between cryptic species. Doto coronata Gmelin, the type species for the genus Doto, is re-described and a neotype, collected near Goes, Netherlands, is designated. From the molecular data, D. millbayana, D. dunnei, D. koenneckeri, D. maculata Lemche within the Doto coronata species complex, are confirmed to be distinct from D. coronata. Based on molecular data, specimens previously identified as D. coronata from South Africa are determined to represent a new species. It is described here and named Doto africoronata n. sp. Kabeiro n. gen. is introduced for the clade of elongate individuals from the Indo-Pacific, which diverges by 11.6% or greater in 16S from short-bodied Doto species. These elongate species are sister to all the short-bodied species and possess an enlarged pericardium, elongate cerata, a reproductive system with a pocketed prostate (penial gland), and an external tube-like digestive gland, which are absent in short-bodied Doto. Species of Kabeiro described here are: Kabeiro christianae n. sp., Kabeiro rubroreticulata n. sp., and Kabeiro phasmida n. sp. from the Philippines. The Indo-Pacific short-bodied species, Doto

A new efficient mixture screening design for optimization of media.

PubMed

Rispoli, Fred; Shah, Vishal

2009-01-01

Screening ingredients for the optimization of media is an important first step to reduce the many potential ingredients down to the vital few components. In this study, we propose a new method of screening for mixture experiments called the centroid screening design. Comparison of the proposed design with Plackett-Burman, fractional factorial, simplex lattice design, and modified mixture design shows that the centroid screening design is the most efficient of all the designs in terms of the small number of experimental runs needed and for detecting high-order interaction among ingredients. (c) 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009.

Rational design of new electrolyte materials for electrochemical double layer capacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schütter, Christoph; Husch, Tamara; Viswanathan, Venkatasubramanian; Passerini, Stefano; Balducci, Andrea; Korth, Martin

2016-09-01

The development of new electrolytes is a centerpiece of many strategies to improve electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC) devices. We present here a computational screening-based rational design approach to find new electrolyte materials. As an example application, the known chemical space of almost 70 million compounds is investigated in search of electrochemically more stable solvents. Cyano esters are identified as especially promising new compound class. Theoretical predictions are validated with subsequent experimental studies on a selected case. These studies show that based on theoretical predictions only, a previously untested, but very well performing compound class was identified. We thus find that our rational design strategy is indeed able to successfully identify completely new materials with substantially improved properties.

Experience-based design: from redesigning the system around the patient to co-designing services with the patient.

PubMed

Bate, Paul; Robert, Glenn

2006-10-01

Involving patients in service improvement and listening and responding to what they say has played a key part in the redesign of healthcare processes over the past five years and more. Patients and users have attended stakeholder events, participated in discovery interviews, completed surveys, mapped healthcare processes and even designed new hospitals with healthcare staff. However, to date efforts have not necessarily focused on the patient's experience, beyond asking what was good and what was not. Questions were not asked to find out details of what the experience was or should be like ("experience" being different from "attitudes") and the information then systematically used to co-design services with patients. Knowledge of the experience, held only by the patient, is unique and precious. In this paper, attention is drawn to the burgeoning discipline of the design sciences and experience-based design, in which the traditional view of the user as a passive recipient of a product or service has begun to give way to the new view of users as integral to the improvement and innovation process.

Systematic review of interventions for promoting active school transport.

PubMed

Villa-González, Emilio; Barranco-Ruiz, Yaira; Evenson, Kelly R; Chillón, Palma

2018-06-01

Active commuting to school has been recognized as a potential avenue to increase physical activity in children and adolescents. However, active commuting to school has declined over time, and interventions are needed to reverse this trend. The main aim in the current study was to update a previous systematic review on interventions focused on active travel to school, following the same methodology and addressing the quality and effectiveness of new studies detected in the more recent scientific literature. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention studies of active commuting to school published from February 2010 to December 2016. Five electronic databases and a manual search were conducted. Detailed information was extracted, including a quantitative assessment comparing the effect sizes, with Cohen's d, and a qualitative assessment using the Evaluation of Public Health Practice Projects tool. We identified 23 interventions that focused on active commuting to school. Among the 23 interventions, three were randomized control trials, 22 had a pre/post design, and 12 used control groups. Most interventions reported a small effect size on active commuting to school (14/23) (d: from -1.45 to 2.37). The quality assessment was rated as weak in most studies (21/23). Government funding continues investing in public policies to promote active commuting to school. However, even though seven years have passed since the last systematic review, research with high quality designs with randomization, greater sample size, and the use of valid and reliable instruments are needed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design, Development and Application of New, High-Performance Gear Steels

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

thesis work focused on design principles for advanced carburized bearing steels . He also received a Master of Product Development degree from...Design computational design technology to develop a new class of high-strength, secondary hardening gear steels that are optimized for high-temperature...high contact fatigue resistance, which makes it a candidate for applications such as camshafts and bearings , as well as gear sets. (Printed with

Systematic and biogeographic review of the Staphylinini rove beetles of Lord Howe Island with description of new species and taxonomic changes (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

PubMed Central

Shaw, Josh Jenkins; Solodovnikov, Alexey

2016-01-01

Abstract Lord Howe is an oceanic and relatively young island situated in an area of complex geological and therefore biogeographical processes. The island boasts a large number of endemic species, including many beetles, however, few groups are in an adequate state of systematic knowledge for biogeographic investigation. Recent advances in the systematics of the hyper-diverse rove beetle tribe Staphylinini on a global scale enable us to implement taxonomic changes for species from Lord Howe Island. With the improved systematics we are able to make more accurate biogeographic conclusions and set a framework for further more in-depth exploration of this unique island using rove beetles. Two new species are described: Cheilocolpus olliffi sp. n. and Quediopsis howensis sp. n. Taxonomic changes for the tribe are implemented resulting in the following new combinations: Cheilocolpus castaneus (Lea, 1925), comb. n., Cheilocolpus kentiae (Lea, 1925), comb. n., Ctenandropus mirus (Lea, 1925), comb. n., and Hesperus dolichoderes (Lea, 1925), comb. n. With the updated state of knowledge, the Staphylinini fauna of Lord Howe Island appears to be mainly derived from lineages on mainland Australia. PMID:28174494

Which intervention design factors influence performance of community health workers in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic review

PubMed Central

Kok, Maryse C; Dieleman, Marjolein; Taegtmeyer, Miriam; Broerse, Jacqueline EW; Kane, Sumit S; Ormel, Hermen; Tijm, Mandy M; de Koning, Korrie AM

2015-01-01

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors influence CHW performance. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention design related factors influencing performance of CHWs. We systematically searched six databases for quantitative and qualitative studies that included CHWs working in promotional, preventive or curative primary health services in LMICs. One hundred and forty studies met the inclusion criteria, were quality assessed and double read to extract data relevant to the design of CHW programmes. A preliminary framework containing factors influencing CHW performance and characteristics of CHW performance (such as motivation and competencies) guided the literature search and review. A mix of financial and non-financial incentives, predictable for the CHWs, was found to be an effective strategy to enhance performance, especially of those CHWs with multiple tasks. Performance-based financial incentives sometimes resulted in neglect of unpaid tasks. Intervention designs which involved frequent supervision and continuous training led to better CHW performance in certain settings. Supervision and training were often mentioned as facilitating factors, but few studies tested which approach worked best or how these were best implemented. Embedment of CHWs in community and health systems was found to diminish workload and increase CHW credibility. Clearly defined CHW roles and introduction of clear processes for communication among different levels of the health system could strengthen CHW performance. When designing community-based health programmes, factors that increased CHW performance in comparable settings should be taken into account. Additional intervention research to develop a better evidence base for the most effective training and supervision mechanisms and qualitative research to

Which intervention design factors influence performance of community health workers in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic review.

PubMed

Kok, Maryse C; Dieleman, Marjolein; Taegtmeyer, Miriam; Broerse, Jacqueline E W; Kane, Sumit S; Ormel, Hermen; Tijm, Mandy M; de Koning, Korrie A M

2015-11-01

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors influence CHW performance. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention design related factors influencing performance of CHWs. We systematically searched six databases for quantitative and qualitative studies that included CHWs working in promotional, preventive or curative primary health services in LMICs. One hundred and forty studies met the inclusion criteria, were quality assessed and double read to extract data relevant to the design of CHW programmes. A preliminary framework containing factors influencing CHW performance and characteristics of CHW performance (such as motivation and competencies) guided the literature search and review.A mix of financial and non-financial incentives, predictable for the CHWs, was found to be an effective strategy to enhance performance, especially of those CHWs with multiple tasks. Performance-based financial incentives sometimes resulted in neglect of unpaid tasks. Intervention designs which involved frequent supervision and continuous training led to better CHW performance in certain settings. Supervision and training were often mentioned as facilitating factors, but few studies tested which approach worked best or how these were best implemented. Embedment of CHWs in community and health systems was found to diminish workload and increase CHW credibility. Clearly defined CHW roles and introduction of clear processes for communication among different levels of the health system could strengthen CHW performance.When designing community-based health programmes, factors that increased CHW performance in comparable settings should be taken into account. Additional intervention research to develop a better evidence base for the most effective training and supervision mechanisms and qualitative research to inform

Aggressive behavior in transgenic animal models: A systematic review.

PubMed

Jager, Amanda; Maas, Dorien A; Fricke, Kim; de Vries, Rob B; Poelmans, Geert; Glennon, Jeffrey C

2018-08-01

Aggressive behavior is often core or comorbid to psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Transgenic animal models are commonly used to study the neurobiological mechanisms underlying aggressive phenotypes and have led to new insights into aggression. This systematic review critically evaluates the available literature on transgenic animal models tested for aggression with the resident-intruder test. By combining the available literature on this topic, we sought to highlight effective methods for laboratory aggression testing and provide recommendations for study design as well as aggression induction and measurement in rodents that are translational to humans, taking into consideration possible confounding factors. In addition, we built a molecular landscape of interactions between the proteins encoded by the aggression-linked genes from our systematic search. Some molecular pathways within this landscape overlap with psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and the landscapes point towards a number of putative (drug) targets for aggression that need to be validated in future studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computational Design of Self-Assembling Cyclic Protein Homo-oligomers

PubMed Central

Fallas, Jorge A.; Ueda, George; Sheffler, William; Nguyen, Vanessa; McNamara, Dan E.; Sankaran, Banumathi; Pereira, Jose Henrique; Parmeggiani, Fabio; Brunette, TJ; Cascio, Duilio; Yeates, Todd R.; Zwart, Peter; Baker, David

2016-01-01

Self-assembling cyclic protein homo-oligomers play important roles in biology and the ability to generate custom homo-oligomeric structures could enable new approaches to probe biological function. Here we report a general approach to design cyclic homo-oligomers that employs a new residue pair transform method for assessing the design ability of a protein-protein interface. This method is sufficiently rapid to enable systematic enumeration of cyclically docked arrangements of a monomer followed by sequence design of the newly formed interfaces. We use this method to design interfaces onto idealized repeat proteins that direct their assembly into complexes that possess cyclic symmetry. Of 96 designs that were experimentally characterized, 21 were found to form stable monodisperse homo-oligomers in solution, and 15 (4 homodimers, 6 homotrimers, 6 homotetramers and 1 homopentamer) had solution small angle X-ray scattering data consistent with the design models. X-ray crystal structures were obtained for five of the designs and each of these were shown to be very close to their design model. PMID:28338692

New reflective symmetry design capability in the JPL-IDEAS Structure Optimization Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strain, D.; Levy, R.

1986-01-01

The JPL-IDEAS antenna structure analysis and design optimization computer program was modified to process half structure models of symmetric structures subjected to arbitrary external static loads, synthesize the performance, and optimize the design of the full structure. Significant savings in computation time and cost (more than 50%) were achieved compared to the cost of full model computer runs. The addition of the new reflective symmetry analysis design capabilities to the IDEAS program allows processing of structure models whose size would otherwise prevent automated design optimization. The new program produced synthesized full model iterative design results identical to those of actual full model program executions at substantially reduced cost, time, and computer storage.

Breastfeeding-Friendly Erie County: Establishing the New York State Breastfeeding Friendly Practice Designation.

PubMed

Gregg, Deborah J; Prokorym, Megan; Dennison, Barbara A; Waniewski, Patricia

2015-11-01

Primary care providers play an important role in encouraging and counseling pregnant and postpartum women to successfully breastfeed. One objective of this 1-year grant was to establish the Breastfeeding Friendly Practice Designation criteria and process to identify and designate at least 5 primary care practices as New York State Breastfeeding Friendly Practices in a high-need, racially/ethnically diverse, urban county in New York with very low prevalence of breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity, and duration. A partnership between the New York State Department of Health and the P(2) Collaborative of Western New York and United Way of Buffalo & Erie County's Healthy Start Healthy Future for All Coalition facilitated the development of the New York State Ten Steps to a Breastfeeding Friendly Practice, accompanying implementation guide, designation criteria, and model office policies. Practice staff and providers received on-site training and materials and participated in a virtual learning network to share their experiences, celebrate successes, and overcome challenges in implementing system changes. Practice staff completed a self-assessment survey at baseline and after implementation of the Ten Steps and submitted their written office breastfeeding policy for review. Fourteen practices met the criteria for designation and were recognized by the New York State Health Commissioner. The number of practices designated as Breastfeeding Friendly far exceeded the grant objective. Future efforts are directed at expanding this initiative statewide and determining the impact of the designation on breastfeeding outcomes. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Role of Transfer in Designing Games and Simulations for Health: Systematic Review.

PubMed

Kuipers, Derek A; Terlouw, Gijs; Wartena, Bard O; van 't Veer, Job Tb; Prins, Jelle T; Pierie, Jean Pierre En

2017-11-24

The usefulness and importance of serious games and simulations in learning and behavior change for health and health-related issues are widely recognized. Studies have addressed games and simulations as interventions, mostly in comparison with their analog counterparts. Numerous complex design choices have to be made with serious games and simulations for health, including choices that directly contribute to the effects of the intervention. One of these decisions is the way an intervention is expected to lead to desirable transfer effects. Most designs adopt a first-class transfer rationale, whereas the second class of transfer types seems a rarity in serious games and simulations for health. This study sought to review the literature specifically on the second class of transfer types in the design of serious games and simulations. Focusing on game-like interventions for health and health care, this study aimed to (1) determine whether the second class of transfer is recognized as a road for transfer in game-like interventions, (2) review the application of the second class of transfer type in designing game-like interventions, and (3) assess studies that include second-class transfer types reporting transfer outcomes. A total of 6 Web-based databases were systematically searched by titles, abstracts, and keywords using the search strategy (video games OR game OR games OR gaming OR computer simulation*) AND (software design OR design) AND (fidelity OR fidelities OR transfer* OR behaviour OR behavior). The databases searched were identified as relevant to health, education, and social science. A total of 15 relevant studies were included, covering a range of game-like interventions, all more or less mentioning design parameters aimed at transfer. We found 9 studies where first-class transfer was part of the design of the intervention. In total, 8 studies dealt with transfer concepts and fidelity types in game-like intervention design in general; 3 studies dealt with

Expanding Biosensing Abilities through Computer-Aided Design of Metabolic Pathways.

PubMed

Libis, Vincent; Delépine, Baudoin; Faulon, Jean-Loup

2016-10-21

Detection of chemical signals is critical for cells in nature as well as in synthetic biology, where they serve as inputs for designer circuits. Important progress has been made in the design of signal processing circuits triggering complex biological behaviors, but the range of small molecules recognized by sensors as inputs is limited. The ability to detect new molecules will increase the number of synthetic biology applications, but direct engineering of tailor-made sensors takes time. Here we describe a way to immediately expand the range of biologically detectable molecules by systematically designing metabolic pathways that transform nondetectable molecules into molecules for which sensors already exist. We leveraged computer-aided design to predict such sensing-enabling metabolic pathways, and we built several new whole-cell biosensors for molecules such as cocaine, parathion, hippuric acid, and nitroglycerin.

New design for inertial piezoelectric motors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lige; Ge, Weifeng; Meng, Wenjie; Hou, Yubin; Zhang, Jing; Lu, Qingyou

2018-03-01

We have designed, implemented, and tested a novel inertial piezoelectric motor (IPM) that is the first IPM to have controllable total friction force, which means that it sticks with large total friction forces and slips with severely reduced total friction forces. This allows the IPM to work with greater robustness and produce a larger output force at a lower threshold voltage while also providing higher rigidity. This is a new IPM design that means that the total friction force can be dramatically reduced or even canceled where necessary by pushing the clamping points at the ends of a piezoelectric tube that contains the sliding shaft inside it in the opposite directions during piezoelectric deformation. Therefore, when the shaft is propelled forward by another exterior piezoelectric tube, the inner piezoelectric tube can deform to reduce the total friction force acting on the shaft instantly and cause more effective stepping movement of the shaft. While our new IPM requires the addition of another piezoelectric tube, which leads to an increase in volume of 120% when compared with traditional IPMs, the average step size has increased by more than 400% and the threshold voltage has decreased by more than 50 V. The improvement in performance is far more significant than the increase in volume. This enhanced performance will allow the proposed IPM to work under large load conditions where a simple and powerful piezoelectric motor is needed.

Do natural spring waters in Australia and New Zealand affect health? A systematic review.

PubMed

Stanhope, Jessica; Weinstein, Philip; Cook, Angus

2018-02-01

Therapeutic use of spring waters has a recorded history dating back to at least 1550 BC and includes both bathing in and drinking such waters for their healing properties. In Australia and New Zealand the use of therapeutic spring waters is a much more recent phenomenon, becoming a source of health tourism from the late 1800s. We conducted a systematic review aimed at determining the potential health outcomes relating to exposure to Australian or New Zealand natural spring water. We found only low-level evidence of adverse health outcomes relating to this spring water exposure, including fatalities from hydrogen sulphide poisoning, drowning and primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. We found no studies that investigated the therapeutic use of these waters, compared with similar treatment with other types of water. From the broader literature, recommendations have been made, including fencing potentially harmful spring water, and having signage and media messages to highlight the potential harms from spring water exposure and how to mitigate the risks (e.g. not putting your head under water from geothermal springs). Sound research into the potential health benefits of Australian and New Zealand spring waters could provide an evidence base for the growing wellness tourism industry.

A systematic process for persuasive mobile healthcare applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qasim, Mustafa Moosa; Ahmad, Mazida; Omar, Mazni; Zulkifli, Abdul Nasir; Bakar, Juliana Aida Abu

2017-10-01

In recent years there has been an increased focus on persuasive design of mobile in the healthcare domain. However, most of the studies did not follow systematic processes while analysis and designing the persuasive technology applications, and they also failed to provide some of the relevant information needed to design the persuasive applications. Adding to this is a need for more guidance in order to set how the persuasive guidelines can be implemented, which also means that there is a need for a way to transform the persuasive components into software requirements and functionalities. Therefore, this paper proposes a general systematic process to be used independently of the problem domain in order to analyze the customers' significant requirements. Such domain is the obesity problem among Malaysian children, and the most significant treatment of this case is parents' involvement. To this end, this paper will apply a systematic process in monitoring the children's obesity status among parents.

The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Improving the design and implementation of evidence-based practice depends on successful behaviour change interventions. This requires an appropriate method for characterising interventions and linking them to an analysis of the targeted behaviour. There exists a plethora of frameworks of behaviour change interventions, but it is not clear how well they serve this purpose. This paper evaluates these frameworks, and develops and evaluates a new framework aimed at overcoming their limitations. Methods A systematic search of electronic databases and consultation with behaviour change experts were used to identify frameworks of behaviour change interventions. These were evaluated according to three criteria: comprehensiveness, coherence, and a clear link to an overarching model of behaviour. A new framework was developed to meet these criteria. The reliability with which it could be applied was examined in two domains of behaviour change: tobacco control and obesity. Results Nineteen frameworks were identified covering nine intervention functions and seven policy categories that could enable those interventions. None of the frameworks reviewed covered the full range of intervention functions or policies, and only a minority met the criteria of coherence or linkage to a model of behaviour. At the centre of a proposed new framework is a 'behaviour system' involving three essential conditions: capability, opportunity, and motivation (what we term the 'COM-B system'). This forms the hub of a 'behaviour change wheel' (BCW) around which are positioned the nine intervention functions aimed at addressing deficits in one or more of these conditions; around this are placed seven categories of policy that could enable those interventions to occur. The BCW was used reliably to characterise interventions within the English Department of Health's 2010 tobacco control strategy and the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence's guidance on reducing obesity

New method of design of nonimaging concentrators.

PubMed

Miñano, J C; González, J C

1992-06-01

A new method of designing nonimaging concentrators is presented and two new types of concentrators are developed. The first is an aspheric lens, and the second is a lens-mirror combination. A ray tracing of three-dimensional concentrators (with rotational symmetry) is also done, showing that the lens-mirror combination has a total transmission as high as that of the full compound parabolic concentrators, while their depth is much smaller than the classical parabolic mirror-nonimaging concentrator combinations. Another important feature of this concentrator is that the optically active surfaces are not in contact with the receiver, as occurs in other nonimaging concentrators in which the rim of the mirror coincides with the rim of the receiver.

A new statistical method for design and analyses of component tolerance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Movahedi, Mohammad Mehdi; Khounsiavash, Mohsen; Otadi, Mahmood; Mosleh, Maryam

2017-03-01

Tolerancing conducted by design engineers to meet customers' needs is a prerequisite for producing high-quality products. Engineers use handbooks to conduct tolerancing. While use of statistical methods for tolerancing is not something new, engineers often use known distributions, including the normal distribution. Yet, if the statistical distribution of the given variable is unknown, a new statistical method will be employed to design tolerance. In this paper, we use generalized lambda distribution for design and analyses component tolerance. We use percentile method (PM) to estimate the distribution parameters. The findings indicated that, when the distribution of the component data is unknown, the proposed method can be used to expedite the design of component tolerance. Moreover, in the case of assembled sets, more extensive tolerance for each component with the same target performance can be utilized.

Assessing the complexity of interventions within systematic reviews: development, content and use of a new tool (iCAT_SR).

PubMed

Lewin, Simon; Hendry, Maggie; Chandler, Jackie; Oxman, Andrew D; Michie, Susan; Shepperd, Sasha; Reeves, Barnaby C; Tugwell, Peter; Hannes, Karin; Rehfuess, Eva A; Welch, Vivien; Mckenzie, Joanne E; Burford, Belinda; Petkovic, Jennifer; Anderson, Laurie M; Harris, Janet; Noyes, Jane

2017-04-26

Health interventions fall along a spectrum from simple to more complex. There is wide interest in methods for reviewing 'complex interventions', but few transparent approaches for assessing intervention complexity in systematic reviews. Such assessments may assist review authors in, for example, systematically describing interventions and developing logic models. This paper describes the development and application of the intervention Complexity Assessment Tool for Systematic Reviews (iCAT_SR), a new tool to assess and categorise levels of intervention complexity in systematic reviews. We developed the iCAT_SR by adapting and extending an existing complexity assessment tool for randomized trials. We undertook this adaptation using a consensus approach in which possible complexity dimensions were circulated for feedback to a panel of methodologists with expertise in complex interventions and systematic reviews. Based on these inputs, we developed a draft version of the tool. We then invited a second round of feedback from the panel and a wider group of systematic reviewers. This informed further refinement of the tool. The tool comprises ten dimensions: (1) the number of active components in the intervention; (2) the number of behaviours of recipients to which the intervention is directed; (3) the range and number of organizational levels targeted by the intervention; (4) the degree of tailoring intended or flexibility permitted across sites or individuals in applying or implementing the intervention; (5) the level of skill required by those delivering the intervention; (6) the level of skill required by those receiving the intervention; (7) the degree of interaction between intervention components; (8) the degree to which the effects of the intervention are context dependent; (9) the degree to which the effects of the interventions are changed by recipient or provider factors; (10) and the nature of the causal pathway between intervention and outcome. Dimensions 1

A New Capability for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Design

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

Amiri, Benjamin W.; Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; Kapernick, Richard J.

2007-01-30

This paper describes a new capability for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) design that has been developed, and presents the results of some analyses performed with this design tool. The purpose of the tool is to design to specified mission and material limits, while maximizing system thrust to weight. The head end of the design tool utilizes the ROCket Engine Transient Simulation (ROCETS) code to generate a system design and system design requirements as inputs to the core analysis. ROCETS is a modular system level code which has been used extensively in the liquid rocket engine industry for many years. Themore » core design tool performs high-fidelity reactor core nuclear and thermal-hydraulic design analysis. At the heart of this process are two codes TMSS-NTP and NTPgen, which together greatly automate the analysis, providing the capability to rapidly produce designs that meet all specified requirements while minimizing mass. A PERL based command script, called CORE DESIGNER controls the execution of these two codes, and checks for convergence throughout the process. TMSS-NTP is executed first, to produce a suite of core designs that meet the specified reactor core mechanical, thermal-hydraulic and structural requirements. The suite of designs consists of a set of core layouts and, for each core layout specific designs that span a range of core fuel volumes. NTPgen generates MCNPX models for each of the core designs from TMSS-NTP. Iterative analyses are performed in NTPgen until a reactor design (fuel volume) is identified for each core layout that meets cold and hot operation reactivity requirements and that is zoned to meet a radial core power distribution requirement.« less

[Effects of the new comprehensive system for designating illegal drug components on the abuse of designer drugs and future problems based on an online questionnaire].

PubMed

Morino, Taichi; Okazaki, Mitsuhiro; Toda, Takaki; Yokoyama, Takashi

2015-12-01

Recently, the abuse of designer drugs has become a social problem. Designer drugs are created by modifying part of the chemical structure of drugs that have already been categorized as illegal, thereby creating a different chemical compound in order to evade Pharmaceutical Affairs Law regulations. The new comprehensive system for designating illegal drug components has been in effect since March 2013, and many designer drugs can now be regulated. We conducted an online questionnaire survey of people with a history of designer drug use to elucidate the effects of the new system on the abuse of designer drugs and to identify potential future problems. Over half the subjects obtained designer drugs only before the new system was implemented. Awareness of the system was significantly lower among subjects who obtained designer drugs for the first time after its introduction than those who obtained the drugs only before its implementation. Due to the new system, all methods of acquiring designer drugs saw decreases in activity. However, the ratio of the acquisition of designer drugs via the Internet increased. Since over 50% of the subjects never obtained designer drugs after the new system was introduced, goals that aimed to make drug procurement more difficult were achieved. However, awareness of the new system among subjects who obtained designer drugs after the new system was introduced was significantly low. Therefore, fostering greater public awareness of the new system is necessary. The results of the questionnaire also suggested that acquiring designer drugs through the Internet has hardly been affected by the new system. We strongly hope that there will be a greater push to restrict the sale of designer drugs on the Internet in the near future.

24 CFR 570.421 - New York Small Cities Program design.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false New York Small Cities Program... HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY FACILITIES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS Small Cities, Non-Entitlement CDBG Grants in Hawaii and Insular Areas Programs § 570.421 New York Small Cities Program design...

Managing design excellence tools during the development of new orthopaedic implants.

PubMed

Défossez, Henri J P; Serhan, Hassan

2013-11-01

Design excellence (DEX) tools have been widely used for years in some industries for their potential to facilitate new product development. The medical sector, targeted by cost pressures, has therefore started adopting them. Numerous tools are available; however only appropriate deployment during the new product development stages can optimize the overall process. The primary study objectives were to describe generic tools and illustrate their implementation and management during the development of new orthopaedic implants, and compile a reference package. Secondary objectives were to present the DEX tool investment costs and savings, since the method can require significant resources for which companies must carefully plan. The publicly available DEX method "Define Measure Analyze Design Verify Validate" was adopted and implemented during the development of a new spinal implant. Several tools proved most successful at developing the correct product, addressing clinical needs, and increasing market penetration potential, while reducing design iterations and manufacturing validations. Cost analysis and Pugh Matrix coupled with multi generation planning enabled developing a strong rationale to activate the project, set the vision and goals. improved risk management and product map established a robust technical verification-validation program. Design of experiments and process quantification facilitated design for manufacturing of critical features, as early as the concept phase. Biomechanical testing with analysis of variance provided a validation model with a recognized statistical performance baseline. Within those tools, only certain ones required minimum resources (i.e., business case, multi generational plan, project value proposition, Pugh Matrix, critical To quality process validation techniques), while others required significant investments (i.e., voice of customer, product usage map, improved risk management, design of experiments, biomechanical testing

Design of a new abrasive slurry jet generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, F. C.; Shi, L. L.; Guo, C. W.

2017-12-01

With the advantages of a low system working pressure, good jet convergence and high cutting quality, abrasive slurry jet (ASJ) has broad application prospects in material cutting and equipment cleaning. Considering that the generator plays a crucial role in ASJ system, the paper designed a new type ASJ generator using an electric oil pump, a separate plunger cylinder, and a spring energized seal. According to the determining of structure shape, size and seal type, a new ASJ generator has been manufactured out and tested by a series of experiments. The new generator separates the abrasive slurry from the dynamic hydraulic oil, which can improve the service life of the ASJ system. And the new ASJ system can reach 40 MPa and has good performance in jet convergence, which deserves to popularization and application in materials machining.

A New Vision for Public Art and Functional Landscape Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Young Imm Kang

2014-01-01

This article explores how Johanson's ecological public art and landscape design addresses current social issues and community necessities. It also examines how her designs may serve as a communication tool for the surrounding society, and how her public art may provide new perspectives for community members, scientists, artists, engineers,…

Model-based approach for design verification and co-optimization of catastrophic and parametric-related defects due to systematic manufacturing variations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, Dan; Nakamoto, Mark; Verghese, Nishath; Hurat, Philippe; Rouse, Rich

2007-03-01

Model-based hotspot detection and silicon-aware parametric analysis help designers optimize their chips for yield, area and performance without the high cost of applying foundries' recommended design rules. This set of DFM/ recommended rules is primarily litho-driven, but cannot guarantee a manufacturable design without imposing overly restrictive design requirements. This rule-based methodology of making design decisions based on idealized polygons that no longer represent what is on silicon needs to be replaced. Using model-based simulation of the lithography, OPC, RET and etch effects, followed by electrical evaluation of the resulting shapes, leads to a more realistic and accurate analysis. This analysis can be used to evaluate intelligent design trade-offs and identify potential failures due to systematic manufacturing defects during the design phase. The successful DFM design methodology consists of three parts: 1. Achieve a more aggressive layout through limited usage of litho-related recommended design rules. A 10% to 15% area reduction is achieved by using more aggressive design rules. DFM/recommended design rules are used only if there is no impact on cell size. 2. Identify and fix hotspots using a model-based layout printability checker. Model-based litho and etch simulation are done at the cell level to identify hotspots. Violations of recommended rules may cause additional hotspots, which are then fixed. The resulting design is ready for step 3. 3. Improve timing accuracy with a process-aware parametric analysis tool for transistors and interconnect. Contours of diffusion, poly and metal layers are used for parametric analysis. In this paper, we show the results of this physical and electrical DFM methodology at Qualcomm. We describe how Qualcomm was able to develop more aggressive cell designs that yielded a 10% to 15% area reduction using this methodology. Model-based shape simulation was employed during library development to validate architecture

Earlinet database: new design and new products for a wider use of aerosol lidar data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mona, Lucia; D'Amico, Giuseppe; Amato, Francesco; Linné, Holger; Baars, Holger; Wandinger, Ulla; Pappalardo, Gelsomina

2018-04-01

The EARLINET database is facing a complete reshaping to meet the wide request for more intuitive products and to face the even wider request related to the new initiatives such as Copernicus, the European Earth observation programme. The new design has been carried out in continuity with the past, to take advantage from long-term database. In particular, the new structure will provide information suitable for synergy with other instruments, near real time (NRT) applications, validation and process studies and climate applications.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of interventions designed to decrease child abuse in high-risk families.

PubMed

Levey, Elizabeth J; Gelaye, Bizu; Bain, Paul; Rondon, Marta B; Borba, Christina P C; Henderson, David C; Williams, Michelle A

2017-03-01

Child abuse is a global problem, and parents with histories of childhood abuse are at increased risk of abusing their offspring. The objective of this systematic review is to provide a clear overview of the existing literature of randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to prevent child abuse. PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, and CINAHL were systematically searched and expanded by hand search. This review includes all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions designed to prevent abuse among mothers identified as high-risk. Of the eight studies identified, only three found statistically significant reductions in abuse by any measure, and only two found reductions in incidents reported to child protective services. While much has been written about child abuse in high-risk families, few RCTs have been performed. Only home visitation has a significant evidence base for reducing child abuse, and the findings vary considerably. Also, data from low- and middle-income countries are limited. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Systematic design of 3D auxetic lattice materials with programmable Poisson's ratio for finite strains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Fengwen

2018-05-01

This paper presents a systematic approach for designing 3D auxetic lattice materials, which exhibit constant negative Poisson's ratios over large strain intervals. A unit cell model mimicking tensile tests is established and based on the proposed model, the secant Poisson's ratio is defined as the negative ratio between the lateral and the longitudinal engineering strains. The optimization problem for designing a material unit cell with a target Poisson's ratio is formulated to minimize the average lateral engineering stresses under the prescribed deformations. Numerical results demonstrate that 3D auxetic lattice materials with constant Poisson's ratios can be achieved by the proposed optimization formulation and that two sets of material architectures are obtained by imposing different symmetry on the unit cell. Moreover, inspired by the topology-optimized material architecture, a subsequent shape optimization is proposed by parametrizing material architectures using super-ellipsoids. By designing two geometrical parameters, simple optimized material microstructures with different target Poisson's ratios are obtained. By interpolating these two parameters as polynomial functions of Poisson's ratios, material architectures for any Poisson's ratio in the interval of ν ∈ [ - 0.78 , 0.00 ] are explicitly presented. Numerical evaluations show that interpolated auxetic lattice materials exhibit constant Poisson's ratios in the target strain interval of [0.00, 0.20] and that 3D auxetic lattice material architectures with programmable Poisson's ratio are achievable.

Indigenous health program evaluation design and methods in Australia: a systematic review of the evidence.

PubMed

Lokuge, Kamalini; Thurber, Katherine; Calabria, Bianca; Davis, Meg; McMahon, Kathryn; Sartor, Lauren; Lovett, Raymond; Guthrie, Jill; Banks, Emily

2017-10-01

Indigenous Australians experience a disproportionately higher burden of disease compared to non-Indigenous Australians. High-quality evaluation of Indigenous health programs is required to inform health and health services improvement. We aimed to quantify methodological and other characteristics of Australian Indigenous health program evaluations published in the peer-reviewed literature. Systematic review of peer-reviewed literature (November 2009-2014) on Indigenous health program evaluation. We identified 118 papers describing evaluations of 109 interventions; 72.0% were university/research institution-led. 82.2% of evaluations included a quantitative component; 49.2% utilised quantitative data only and 33.1% used both quantitative and qualitative data. The most common design was a before/after comparison (30.5%, n=36/118). 7.6% of studies (n=9/118) used an experimental design: six individual-level and three cluster-randomised controlled trials. 56.8% (67/118) reported on service delivery/process outcomes (versus health or health risk factor outcomes) only. Given the number of Indigenous health programs that are implemented, few evaluations overall are published in the peer-reviewed literature and, of these, few use optimal methodologies such as mixed methods and experimental design. Implications for public health: Multiple strategies are required to increase high-quality, accessible evaluation in Indigenous health, including supporting stronger research-policy-practice partnerships and capacity building for evaluation by health services and government. © 2017 The Authors.

Research-Based Design and Development of a Simulation of Liquid-Vapor Equilibrium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akaygun, Sevil; Jones, Loretta L.

2013-01-01

Helping learners to visualize the structures and dynamics of particles through the use of technology is challenging. Animations and simulations can be difficult for learners to interpret and can even lead to new misconceptions. A systematic approach to development based on the findings of cognitive science was used to design, develop, and evaluate…

Team Design Communication Patterns in e-Learning Design and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapanta, Chrysi; Maina, Marcelo; Lotz, Nicole; Bacchelli, Alberto

2013-01-01

Prescriptive stage models have been found insufficient to describe the dynamic aspects of designing, especially in interdisciplinary e-learning design teams. There is a growing need for a systematic empirical analysis of team design processes that offer deeper and more detailed insights into instructional design (ID) than general models can offer.…

Human interest meets biodiversity hotspots: A new systematic approach for urban ecosystem conservation

PubMed Central

Kasada, Minoru; Matsuba, Misako; Miyashita, Tadashi

2017-01-01

Creating a win-win relationship between biodiversity and human well-being is one of the major current challenges for environmental policy. One way to approach this challenge is to identify sites with both high biodiversity and high human interest in urban areas. Here, we propose a new systematic approach to identify such sites by using land prices and biodiversity indexes for butterflies and birds from a nationwide perspective. As a result, we found sites that are valuable to humans and to other organisms, including national red-list species, and they are located in sites with cultural heritages and near seaside. By referencing the habitat features and landscape characteristics of these sites, we can establish high quality environments that provide a benefit to both humans and biodiversity in urban landscapes. PMID:28235020

Human interest meets biodiversity hotspots: A new systematic approach for urban ecosystem conservation.

PubMed

Kasada, Minoru; Matsuba, Misako; Miyashita, Tadashi

2017-01-01

Creating a win-win relationship between biodiversity and human well-being is one of the major current challenges for environmental policy. One way to approach this challenge is to identify sites with both high biodiversity and high human interest in urban areas. Here, we propose a new systematic approach to identify such sites by using land prices and biodiversity indexes for butterflies and birds from a nationwide perspective. As a result, we found sites that are valuable to humans and to other organisms, including national red-list species, and they are located in sites with cultural heritages and near seaside. By referencing the habitat features and landscape characteristics of these sites, we can establish high quality environments that provide a benefit to both humans and biodiversity in urban landscapes.

A Systematic Review of mHealth-Based Heart Failure Interventions.

PubMed

Cajita, Maan Isabella; Gleason, Kelly T; Han, Hae-Ra

2016-01-01

The popularity of mobile phones and similar mobile devices makes it an ideal medium for delivering interventions. This is especially true with heart failure (HF) interventions, in which mHealth-based HF interventions are rapidly replacing their telephone-based predecessors. This systematic review examined the impact of mHealth-based HF management interventions on HF outcomes. The specific aims of the systematic review are to (1) describe current mHealth-based HF interventions and (2) discuss the impact of these interventions on HF outcomes. PubMed, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Scopus were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies that tested mHealth interventions in people with HF using the terms Heart Failure, Mobile Health, mHealth, Telemedicine, Text Messaging, Texting, Short Message Service, Mobile Applications, and Mobile Apps. Ten articles, representing 9 studies, were included in this review. The majority of the studies utilized mobile health technology as part of an HF monitoring system, which typically included a blood pressure-measuring device, weighing scale, and an electrocardiogram recorder. The impact of the mHealth interventions on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, HF-related hospitalizations, length of stay, New York Heart Association functional class, left ventricular ejection fraction, quality of life, and self-care were inconsistent at best. Further research is needed to conclusively determine the impact of mHealth interventions on HF outcomes. The limitations of the current studies (eg, inadequate sample size, quasi-experimental design, use of older mobile phone models, etc) should be taken into account when designing future studies.

Systematic review of factors affecting pharmaceutical expenditures.

PubMed

Mousnad, Mohamed Awad; Shafie, Asrul Akmal; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham

2014-06-01

To systematically identify the main factors contributing to the increase in pharmaceutical expenditures. A systematic search of published studies was conducted utilising major widely used electronic databases using the search terms 'factors,' 'financing,' 'pharmaceutical,' and 'expenditures.' To be included, the studies needed to: (1) measure at least one of the following outcomes: total growth in pharmaceutical expenditures, price growth or quantity growth; (2) mention a clear method for analysing the impact of factors affecting the increases in drug expenditures; (3) be written in English. Nonprimary articles that were published only as an abstract, a review, a commentary or a letter were excluded. From a total of 2039 studies, only 25 were included in the full review. The main determinant categories that were identified in the review were factors related to price, utilisation, therapeutic choice, demand and health care system. The major cost drivers were found to be changes in drug quantities and therapies as well as new drugs. It is important for policymakers to understand pharmaceutical spending trends and the factors that influence them in order to formulate effective cost containment strategies and design optimum drug policy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

When New Boundaries Abound: A Systematic Approach to Redistricting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creighton, Roger L.; Irwin, Armond J.

1994-01-01

A systematic approach to school redistricting that was developed over the past half-dozen years utilizes a computer. Crucial to achieving successful results are accuracy of data, enrollment forecasting, and citizen participation. Outlines the major steps of a typical redistricting study. One figure illustrates the redistricting process. (MLF)

Optimal hydraulic design of new-type shaft tubular pumping system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, H. G.; Zhang, R. T.; Zhou, J. R.

2012-11-01

Based on the characteristics of large flow rate, low-head, short annual operation time and high reliability of city flood-control pumping stations, a new-type shaft tubular pumping system featuring shaft suction box, siphon-type discharge passage with vacuum breaker as cutoff device was put forward, which possesses such advantages as simpler structure, reliable cutoff and higher energy performance. According to the design parameters of a city flood control pumping station, a numerical computation model was set up including shaft-type suction box, siphon-type discharge passage, pump impeller and guide vanes. By using commercial CFD software Fluent, RNG κ-epsilon turbulence model was adopted to close the three-dimensional time-averaged incompressible N-S equations. After completing optimal hydraulic design of shaft-type suction box, and keeping the parameters of total length, maximum width and outlet section unchanged, siphon-type discharge passages of three hump locations and three hump heights were designed and numerical analysis on the 9 hydraulic design schemes of pumping system were proceeded. The computational results show that the changing of hump locations and hump heights directly affects the internal flow patterns of discharge passages and hydraulic performances of the system, and when hump is located 3.66D from the inlet section and hump height is about 0.65D (D is the diameter of pump impeller), the new-type shaft tubular pumping system achieves better energy performances. A pumping system model test of the optimal designed scheme was carried out. The result shows that the highest pumping system efficiency reaches 75.96%, and when at design head of 1.15m the flow rate and system efficiency were 0.304m3/s and 63.10%, respectively. Thus, the validity of optimal design method was verified by the model test, and a solid foundation was laid for the application and extension of the new-type shaft tubular pumping system.

Using non-systematic surveys to investigate effects of regional climate variability on Australasian gannets in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, Mridula; Dassis, Mariela; Benn, Emily; Stockin, Karen A.; Martinez, Emmanuelle; Machovsky-Capuska, Gabriel E.

2015-05-01

Few studies have investigated regional and natural climate variability on seabird populations using ocean reanalysis datasets (e.g. Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA)) that integrate atmospheric information to supplement ocean observations and provide improved estimates of ocean conditions. Herein we use a non-systematic dataset on Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) from 2001 to 2009 to identify potential connections between Gannet Sightings Per Unit Effort (GSPUE) and climate and oceanographic variability in a region of known importance for breeding seabirds, the Hauraki Gulf (HG), New Zealand. While no statistically significant relationships between GSPUE and global climate indices were determined, there was a significant correlation between GSPUE and regional SST anomaly for HG. Also, there appears to be a strong link between global climate indices and regional climate in the HG. Further, based on cross-correlation function coefficients and lagged multiple regression models, we identified potential leading and lagging climate variables, and climate variables but with limited predictive capacity in forecasting future GSPUE. Despite significant inter-annual variability and marginally cooler SSTs since 2001, gannet sightings appear to be increasing. We hypothesize that at present underlying physical changes in the marine ecosystem may be insufficient to affect supply of preferred gannet main prey (pilchard Sardinops spp.), which tolerate a wide thermal range. Our study showcases the potential scientific value of lengthy non-systematic data streams and when designed properly (i.e., contain abundance, flock size, and spatial data), can yield useful information in climate impact studies on seabirds and other marine fauna. Such information can be invaluable for enhancing conservation measures for protected species in fiscally constrained research environments.

Computational design and experimental validation of new thermal barrier systems

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

Guo, Shengmin

2015-03-31

The focus of this project is on the development of a reliable and efficient ab initio based computational high temperature material design method which can be used to assist the Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) bond-coat and top-coat design. Experimental evaluations on the new TBCs are conducted to confirm the new TBCs’ properties. Southern University is the subcontractor on this project with a focus on the computational simulation method development. We have performed ab initio density functional theory (DFT) method and molecular dynamics simulation on screening the top coats and bond coats for gas turbine thermal barrier coating design and validationmore » applications. For experimental validations, our focus is on the hot corrosion performance of different TBC systems. For example, for one of the top coatings studied, we examined the thermal stability of TaZr 2.75O 8 and confirmed it’s hot corrosion performance.« less

New Gear Transmission Error Measurement System Designed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oswald, Fred B.

2001-01-01

The prime source of vibration and noise in a gear system is the transmission error between the meshing gears. Transmission error is caused by manufacturing inaccuracy, mounting errors, and elastic deflections under load. Gear designers often attempt to compensate for transmission error by modifying gear teeth. This is done traditionally by a rough "rule of thumb" or more recently under the guidance of an analytical code. In order for a designer to have confidence in a code, the code must be validated through experiment. NASA Glenn Research Center contracted with the Design Unit of the University of Newcastle in England for a system to measure the transmission error of spur and helical test gears in the NASA Gear Noise Rig. The new system measures transmission error optically by means of light beams directed by lenses and prisms through gratings mounted on the gear shafts. The amount of light that passes through both gratings is directly proportional to the transmission error of the gears. A photodetector circuit converts the light to an analog electrical signal. To increase accuracy and reduce "noise" due to transverse vibration, there are parallel light paths at the top and bottom of the gears. The two signals are subtracted via differential amplifiers in the electronics package. The output of the system is 40 mV/mm, giving a resolution in the time domain of better than 0.1 mm, and discrimination in the frequency domain of better than 0.01 mm. The new system will be used to validate gear analytical codes and to investigate mechanisms that produce vibration and noise in parallel axis gears.

The active comparator, new user study design in pharmacoepidemiology: historical foundations and contemporary application

PubMed Central

Lund, Jennifer L.; Richardson, David B.; Stürmer, Til

2016-01-01

Better understanding of biases related to selective prescribing of, and adherence to, preventive treatments has led to improvements in the design and analysis of pharmacoepidemiologic studies. One influential development has been the “active comparator, new user” study design, which seeks to emulate the design of a head-to-head randomized controlled trial. In this review, we first discuss biases that may affect pharmacoepidemiologic studies and describe their direction and magnitude in a variety of settings. We then present the historical foundations of the active comparator, new user study design and explain how this design conceptually mitigates biases leading to a paradigm shift in pharmacoepidemiology. We offer practical guidance on the implementation of the study design using administrative databases. Finally, we provide an empirical example in which the active comparator, new user study design addresses biases that have previously impeded pharmacoepidemiologic studies. PMID:26954351

Summary of long-baseline systematics session at CETUP*2014

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

Cherdack, Daniel; Worcester, Elizabeth

2015-10-15

A session studying systematics in long-baseline neutrino oscillation physics was held July 14-18, 2014 as part of CETUP* 2014. Systematic effects from flux normalization and modeling, modeling of cross sections and nuclear interactions, and far detector effects were addressed. Experts presented the capabilities of existing and planned tools. A program of study to determine estimates of and requirements for the size of these effects was designed. This document summarizes the results of the CETUP* systematics workshop and the current status of systematic uncertainty studies in long-baseline neutrino oscillation measurements.

New design of cable-in-conduit conductor for application in future fusion reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Jinggang; Wu, Yu; Li, Jiangang; Liu, Fang; Dai, Chao; Shi, Yi; Liu, Huajun; Mao, Zhehua; Nijhuis, Arend; Zhou, Chao; Yagotintsev, Konstantin A.; Lubkemann, Ruben; Anvar, V. A.; Devred, Arnaud

2017-11-01

The China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) is a new tokamak device whose magnet system includes toroidal field, central solenoid (CS) and poloidal field coils. The main goal is to build a fusion engineering tokamak reactor with about 1 GW fusion power and self-sufficiency by blanket. In order to reach this high performance, the magnet field target is 15 T. However, the huge electromagnetic load caused by high field and current is a threat for conductor degradation under cycling. The conductor with a short-twist-pitch (STP) design has large stiffness, which enables a significant performance improvement in view of load and thermal cycling. But the conductor with STP design has a remarkable disadvantage: it can easily cause severe strand indentation during cabling. The indentation can reduce the strand performance, especially under high load cycling. In order to overcome this disadvantage, a new design is proposed. The main characteristic of this new design is an updated layout in the triplet. The triplet is made of two Nb3Sn strands and one soft copper strand. The twist pitch of the two Nb3Sn strands is large and cabled first. The copper strand is then wound around the two superconducting strands (CWS) with a shorter twist pitch. The following cable stages layout and twist pitches are similar to the ITER CS conductor with STP design. One short conductor sample with a similar scale to the ITER CS was manufactured and tested with the Twente Cable Press to investigate the mechanical properties, AC loss and internal inspection by destructive examination. The results are compared to the STP conductor (ITER CS and CFETR CSMC) tests. The results show that the new conductor design has similar stiffness, but much lower strand indentation than the STP design. The new design shows potential for application in future fusion reactors.

Mathematical models used to inform study design or surveillance systems in infectious diseases: a systematic review.

PubMed

Herzog, Sereina A; Blaizot, Stéphanie; Hens, Niel

2017-12-18

Mathematical models offer the possibility to investigate the infectious disease dynamics over time and may help in informing design of studies. A systematic review was performed in order to determine to what extent mathematical models have been incorporated into the process of planning studies and hence inform study design for infectious diseases transmitted between humans and/or animals. We searched Ovid Medline and two trial registry platforms (Cochrane, WHO) using search terms related to infection, mathematical model, and study design from the earliest dates to October 2016. Eligible publications and registered trials included mathematical models (compartmental, individual-based, or Markov) which were described and used to inform the design of infectious disease studies. We extracted information about the investigated infection, population, model characteristics, and study design. We identified 28 unique publications but no registered trials. Focusing on compartmental and individual-based models we found 12 observational/surveillance studies and 11 clinical trials. Infections studied were equally animal and human infectious diseases for the observational/surveillance studies, while all but one between humans for clinical trials. The mathematical models were used to inform, amongst other things, the required sample size (n = 16), the statistical power (n = 9), the frequency at which samples should be taken (n = 6), and from whom (n = 6). Despite the fact that mathematical models have been advocated to be used at the planning stage of studies or surveillance systems, they are used scarcely. With only one exception, the publications described theoretical studies, hence, not being utilised in real studies.

Control group design, contamination and drop-out in exercise oncology trials: a systematic review.

PubMed

Steins Bisschop, Charlotte N; Courneya, Kerry S; Velthuis, Miranda J; Monninkhof, Evelyn M; Jones, Lee W; Friedenreich, Christine; van der Wall, Elsken; Peeters, Petra H M; May, Anne M

2015-01-01

Important considerations for exercise trials in cancer patients are contamination and differential drop-out among the control group members that might jeopardize the internal validity. This systematic review provides an overview of different control groups design characteristics of exercise-oncology trials and explores the association with contamination and drop-out rates. Randomized controlled exercise-oncology trials from two Cochrane reviews were included. Additionally, a computer-aided search using Medline (Pubmed), Embase and CINAHL was conducted after completion date of the Cochrane reviews. Eligible studies were classified according to three control group design characteristics: the exercise instruction given to controls before start of the study (exercise allowed or not); and the intervention the control group was offered during (any (e.g., education sessions or telephone contacts) or none) or after (any (e.g., cross-over or exercise instruction) or none) the intervention period. Contamination (yes or no) and excess drop-out rates (i.e., drop-out rate of the control group minus the drop-out rate exercise group) were described according to the three design characteristics of the control group and according to the combinations of these three characteristics; so we additionally made subgroups based on combinations of type and timing of instructions received. 40 exercise-oncology trials were included based on pre-specified eligibility criteria. The lowest contamination (7.1% of studies) and low drop-out rates (excess drop-out rate -4.7±9.2) were found in control groups offered an intervention after the intervention period. When control groups were offered an intervention both during and after the intervention period, contamination (0%) and excess drop-out rates (-10.0±12.8%) were even lower. Control groups receiving an intervention during and after the study intervention period have lower contamination and drop-out rates. The present findings can be

A new optimal sliding mode controller design using scalar sign function.

PubMed

Singla, Mithun; Shieh, Leang-San; Song, Gangbing; Xie, Linbo; Zhang, Yongpeng

2014-03-01

This paper presents a new optimal sliding mode controller using the scalar sign function method. A smooth, continuous-time scalar sign function is used to replace the discontinuous switching function in the design of a sliding mode controller. The proposed sliding mode controller is designed using an optimal Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) approach. The sliding surface of the system is designed using stable eigenvectors and the scalar sign function. Controller simulations are compared with another existing optimal sliding mode controller. To test the effectiveness of the proposed controller, the controller is implemented on an aluminum beam with piezoceramic sensor and actuator for vibration control. This paper includes the control design and stability analysis of the new optimal sliding mode controller, followed by simulation and experimental results. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed approach is very effective. © 2013 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Positioning Industrial Design Students to Operate at the "Fuzzy Front End": Investigating a New Arena of University Design Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wormald, Paul W.

2011-01-01

This paper describes pedagogic research to instigate, support and understand a significant change in the education of undergraduate industrial design students. Design educators at Loughborough University, UK, have proposed that it will be critical for future industrial designers to learn new knowledge and abilities which will enable them to…

New Methods in Design Education: The Systemic Methodology and the Use of Sketch in the Conceptual Design Stage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westermeyer, Juan Carlos Briede; Ortuno, Bernabe Hernandis

2011-01-01

This study describes the application of a new product concurrent design methodologies in the context in the education of industrial design. The use of the sketch has been utilized many times as a tool of creative expression especially in the conceptual design stage, in an intuitive way and a little out of the context of the reality needs that the…

Systematic optimization of human pluripotent stem cells media using Design of Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marinho, Paulo A.; Chailangkarn, Thanathom; Muotri, Alysson R.

2015-05-01

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) are used to study the early stages of human development in vitro and, increasingly due to somatic cell reprogramming, cellular and molecular mechanisms of disease. Cell culture medium is a critical factor for hPSC to maintain pluripotency and self-renewal. Numerous defined culture media have been empirically developed but never systematically optimized for culturing hPSC. We applied design of experiments (DOE), a powerful statistical tool, to improve the medium formulation for hPSC. Using pluripotency and cell growth as read-outs, we determined the optimal concentration of both basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and neuregulin-1 beta 1 (NRG1β1). The resulting formulation, named iDEAL, improved the maintenance and passage of hPSC in both normal and stressful conditions, and affected trimethylated histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) epigenetic status after genetic reprogramming. It also enhances efficient hPSC plating as single cells. Altogether, iDEAL potentially allows scalable and controllable hPSC culture routine in translational research. Our DOE strategy could also be applied to hPSC differentiation protocols, which often require numerous and complex cell culture media.

Systematic design of superaerophobic nanotube-array electrode comprised of transition-metal sulfides for overall water splitting.

PubMed

Li, Haoyi; Chen, Shuangming; Zhang, Ying; Zhang, Qinghua; Jia, Xiaofan; Zhang, Qi; Gu, Lin; Sun, Xiaoming; Song, Li; Wang, Xun

2018-06-22

Great attention has been focused on the design of electrocatalysts to enable electrochemical water splitting-a technology that allows energy derived from renewable resources to be stored in readily accessible and non-polluting chemical fuels. Herein we report a bifunctional nanotube-array electrode for water splitting in alkaline electrolyte. The electrode requires the overpotentials of 58 mV and 184 mV for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions respectively, meanwhile maintaining remarkable long-term durability. The prominent performance is due to the systematic optimization of chemical composition and geometric structure principally-that is, abundant electrocatalytic active sites, excellent conductivity of metallic 1T' MoS 2 , synergistic effects among iron, cobalt, nickel ions, and the superaerophobicity of electrode surface for fast mass transfer. The electrode is also demonstrated to function as anode and cathode, simultaneously, delivering 10 mA cm -2 at a cell voltage of 1.429 V. Our results demonstrate substantial improvement in the design of high-efficiency electrodes for water electrolysis.

New Worlds Observer Telescope and Instrument Optical Design Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Joseph M.; Noecker, Charlie; Kendrick, Steve; Woodgate, Bruce; Kilstron, Steve; Cash, Webster

2008-01-01

Optical design concepts for the telescope and instrumentation for NASA s New Worlds Observer program are presented. A four-meter multiple channel telescope is discussed, as well as a suite of science instrument concepts. Wide field instrumentation (imager and spectrograph) would be accommodated by a three-mirror-anastigmat telescope design. Planet finding and characterization, and a UV instrument would use a separate channel that is picked off after the first two mirrors (primary and secondary). Guiding concepts are also discussed.

Conceptual Design for the New RPI 2020 Linac

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

Adolphsen, C.; Bane, K.; Dolgashev, V.

2014-10-29

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) spectrometer is an installation based on an L-band linear accelerator designed and installed many decades ago. While this installation has served many important experiments over the decades, a new more powerful and more flexible linac to serve a wider range of experiments is envisioned as an upgrade to the existing installation by 2020.

78 FR 67360 - Ambient Air Monitoring Reference and Equivalent Methods: Designation of Five New Equivalent Methods

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-12

... Methods: Designation of Five New Equivalent Methods AGENCY: Office of Research and Development; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of the designation of five new equivalent methods for...) has designated, in accordance with 40 CFR Part 53, five new equivalent methods, one for measuring...

Investigating the impact of design characteristics on statistical efficiency within discrete choice experiments: A systematic survey.

PubMed

Vanniyasingam, Thuva; Daly, Caitlin; Jin, Xuejing; Zhang, Yuan; Foster, Gary; Cunningham, Charles; Thabane, Lehana

2018-06-01

This study reviews simulation studies of discrete choice experiments to determine (i) how survey design features affect statistical efficiency, (ii) and to appraise their reporting quality. Statistical efficiency was measured using relative design (D-) efficiency, D-optimality, or D-error. For this systematic survey, we searched Journal Storage (JSTOR), Since Direct, PubMed, and OVID which included a search within EMBASE. Searches were conducted up to year 2016 for simulation studies investigating the impact of DCE design features on statistical efficiency. Studies were screened and data were extracted independently and in duplicate. Results for each included study were summarized by design characteristic. Previously developed criteria for reporting quality of simulation studies were also adapted and applied to each included study. Of 371 potentially relevant studies, 9 were found to be eligible, with several varying in study objectives. Statistical efficiency improved when increasing the number of choice tasks or alternatives; decreasing the number of attributes, attribute levels; using an unrestricted continuous "manipulator" attribute; using model-based approaches with covariates incorporating response behaviour; using sampling approaches that incorporate previous knowledge of response behaviour; incorporating heterogeneity in a model-based design; correctly specifying Bayesian priors; minimizing parameter prior variances; and using an appropriate method to create the DCE design for the research question. The simulation studies performed well in terms of reporting quality. Improvement is needed in regards to clearly specifying study objectives, number of failures, random number generators, starting seeds, and the software used. These results identify the best approaches to structure a DCE. An investigator can manipulate design characteristics to help reduce response burden and increase statistical efficiency. Since studies varied in their objectives, conclusions

Feasibility study and verified design concept for new improved hot gas facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

The MSFC Hot Gas Facility (HGF) was fabricated in 1975 as a temporary facility to provide immediate turnaround testing to support the SRB and ET TPS development. This facility proved to be very useful and was used to make more than 1300 runs, far more than ever intended in the original design. Therefore, it was in need of constant repair and needed to be replaced with a new improved design to support the continuing SRB/ET TPS product improvement and/or removal efforts. MSFC contracted with Lockheed-Huntsville to work on this improved design through contract NAS8-36304 Feasibility Study and Verified Design Concept for the New Improved Hot Gas Facility. The results of Lockheed-Huntsville's efforts under this contract are summarized.

New entrance shade design for SIRTF

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Paul K.

1989-01-01

A new design for the entrance shade for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is presented. The evolution of the entrance shade began with a simple frustum, symmetrical about the telescope axis, when SIRTF was expected to be Shuttle-attached. With the change to a free-flying SIRTF this frustum was cut off at an angle. The telescope will be operated so that whenever not in the earth's shadow the high side is kept toward the sun. However, the entrance shade interior itself will be so warm that the optics, including the secondary mirror and its mechanisms and support structure, will be restricted to the rear part of the barrel, termed the aftbaffle, which is shaded from the interior of the entrance shade by the forebaffle. This is best accomplished by the most recent design in which the axis of the entrance shade is offset from the telescope axis. This results in a shorter entrance shade, shorter forebaffle, and a shaded region within the barrel which is symmetrical about the telescope axis. All of these are advantageous.

Design of New Power Management Circuit for Light Energy Harvesting System

PubMed Central

Jafer, Issa; Stack, Paul; MacNamee, Kevin

2016-01-01

Nowadays, it can be observed that Wireless Sensors Networks (WSN) are taking increasingly vital roles in many applications, such as building energy monitoring and control, which is the focus of the work in this paper. However, the main challenging issue with adopting WSN technology is the use of power sources such as batteries, which have a limited lifetime. A smart solution that could tackle this problem is using Energy Harvesting technology. The work in this paper will be focused on proposing a new power management design through harvesting indoor light intensity. The new approach is inspired by the use of the Fractional Open Circuit Voltage based Maximum Power Point tracking (MPPT) concept for sub mw Photo Voltaic (PV) cells. The new design adopts two main features: First, it minimizes the power consumed by the power management section; and second, it maximizes the MPPT-converted output voltage and consequently improves the efficiency of the power conversion in the sub mw power level. The new experimentally-tested design showed an improvement of 81% in the efficiency of MPPT conversion using 0.5 mW input power in comparison with the other presented solutions that showed less efficiency with higher input power. PMID:26907300

[Prevalence of new designer drugs and their legal status in Japan].

PubMed

Kikura-Hanajiri, Ruri; Uchiyama, Nahoko; Kawamura, Maiko; Ogata, Jun; Goda, Yukihiro

2013-01-01

In recent years, many analogs of narcotics have been widely distributed as easily available psychotropic substances and have become a serious problem in Japan. To counter the spread of these non-controlled substances, the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law in Japan was amended in 2006 to establish a new category; Designated Substances in order to more strictly control these substances. In April 2007, 31 compounds and 1 plant were first controlled as Designated Substances. Before 2007, the major compounds distributed in the Japanese illegal drug market were tryptamines, phenethylamines and piperazines. Alkyl nitrites, such as isobutyl nitrite and isopentyl nitrite, were also widely distributed. After they were listed as Narcotics or Designated Substances in 2007, these compounds, especially the tryptamines, quickly disappeared from the market. In their place, cathinone derivatives have been widely distributed, as well as different phenethylamines and piperazines. Additionally, in recent years, new herbal products containing synthetic cannabinoids have appeared globally. As at July 2012, 78 substances (including 1 plant; Salvia divinorum) were listed in the category of Designated Substances. They were 13 tryptamines, 17 phenethylamines, 11 cathinones, 4 piperazines, 23 synthetic cannabinoids, 6 alkyl nitrites, 3 other compounds and 1 plant. In this review, we show our survey of the spread of new designer drugs in Japan, focusing especially on synthetic cannabinoids and cathinone derivatives. Also, the prevalence and legal status of these substances in other countries will be presented.

Molpher: a software framework for systematic chemical space exploration.

PubMed

Hoksza, David; Skoda, Petr; Voršilák, Milan; Svozil, Daniel

2014-03-21

Chemical space is virtual space occupied by all chemically meaningful organic compounds. It is an important concept in contemporary chemoinformatics research, and its systematic exploration is vital to the discovery of either novel drugs or new tools for chemical biology. In this paper, we describe Molpher, an open-source framework for the systematic exploration of chemical space. Through a process we term 'molecular morphing', Molpher produces a path of structurally-related compounds. This path is generated by the iterative application of so-called 'morphing operators' that represent simple structural changes, such as the addition or removal of an atom or a bond. Molpher incorporates an optimized parallel exploration algorithm, compound logging and a two-dimensional visualization of the exploration process. Its feature set can be easily extended by implementing additional morphing operators, chemical fingerprints, similarity measures and visualization methods. Molpher not only offers an intuitive graphical user interface, but also can be run in batch mode. This enables users to easily incorporate molecular morphing into their existing drug discovery pipelines. Molpher is an open-source software framework for the design of virtual chemical libraries focused on a particular mechanistic class of compounds. These libraries, represented by a morphing path and its surroundings, provide valuable starting data for future in silico and in vitro experiments. Molpher is highly extensible and can be easily incorporated into any existing computational drug design pipeline.

A New Era of Symmetries in the Hadronic Interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crawford, Christopher

2016-09-01

The search for a weak component of the nuclear force began in 1957, shortly after the proposal of parity violation. While it has been observed in compound nuclei with large nuclear enhancements, a systematic characterization of the hadronic weak interaction is still forthcoming almost sixty years later. New experimental facilities and technology have rejuvenated efforts to map out this ``complexity frontier'' within the Standard Model, and we will soon have precision data from multiple few-body experiments. In parallel, modern effective field theories have provided a systematic model independent description of the hadronic interaction with estimates of higher-order effects. The characterization of discrete symmetries in hadronic systems has recently become important for the design and analysis of other precision symmetries measurements, for example, electron PV scattering and time-reversal violation experiments. These new developments in experiment, theory, and application have ushered in a new era in hadronic parity violation. We acknowledge support from DOE-NP under Contract DE-SC0008107.

Back in time: a new systematic proposal for the Bilateria.

PubMed

Baguñà, Jaume; Martinez, Pere; Paps, Jordi; Riutort, Marta

2008-04-27

Conventional wisdom suggests that bilateral organisms arose from ancestors that were radially, rather than bilaterally, symmetrical and, therefore, had a single body axis and no mesoderm. The two main hypotheses on how this transformation took place consider either a simple organism akin to the planula larva of extant cnidarians or the acoel Platyhelminthes (planuloid-acoeloid theory), or a rather complex organism bearing several or most features of advanced coelomate bilaterians (archicoelomate theory). We report phylogenetic analyses of bilaterian metazoans using quantitative (ribosomal, nuclear and expressed sequence tag sequences) and qualitative (HOX cluster genes and microRNA sets) markers. The phylogenetic trees obtained corroborate the position of acoel and nemertodermatid flatworms as the earliest branching extant members of the Bilateria. Moreover, some acoelomate and pseudocoelomate clades appear as early branching lophotrochozoans and deuterostomes. These results strengthen the view that stem bilaterians were small, acoelomate/pseudocoelomate, benthic organisms derived from planuloid-like organisms. Because morphological and recent gene expression data suggest that cnidarians are actually bilateral, the origin of the last common bilaterian ancestor has to be put back in time earlier than the cnidarian-bilaterian split in the form of a planuloid animal. A new systematic scheme for the Bilateria that includes the Cnidaria is suggested and its main implications discussed.

A new strategy to design eutectic high-entropy alloys using simple mixture method

DOE PAGES

Jiang, Hui; Han, Kaiming; Gao, Xiaoxia; ...

2018-01-13

Eutectic high entropy alloys (EHEAs) hold promising industrial application potential, but how to design EHEA compositions remains challenging. In the present work, a simple and effective strategy by combining mixing enthalpy and constituent binary eutectic compositions was proposed to design EHEA compositions. This strategy was then applied to a series of (CoCrFeNi)M x (M = Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf) HEAs, leading to the discovery of new EHEAs, namely, CoCrFeNiNb 0.45, CoCrFeNiTa 0.4, CoCrFeNiZr 0.55 and CoCrFeNiHf 0.4. The microstructure of these new EHEAs comprised of FCC and Laves phases in the as-cast state. In conclusion, the experimental result shows thatmore » this new alloy design strategy can be used to locate new EHEAs effectively.« less

A new strategy to design eutectic high-entropy alloys using simple mixture method

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

Jiang, Hui; Han, Kaiming; Gao, Xiaoxia

Eutectic high entropy alloys (EHEAs) hold promising industrial application potential, but how to design EHEA compositions remains challenging. In the present work, a simple and effective strategy by combining mixing enthalpy and constituent binary eutectic compositions was proposed to design EHEA compositions. This strategy was then applied to a series of (CoCrFeNi)M x (M = Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf) HEAs, leading to the discovery of new EHEAs, namely, CoCrFeNiNb 0.45, CoCrFeNiTa 0.4, CoCrFeNiZr 0.55 and CoCrFeNiHf 0.4. The microstructure of these new EHEAs comprised of FCC and Laves phases in the as-cast state. In conclusion, the experimental result shows thatmore » this new alloy design strategy can be used to locate new EHEAs effectively.« less

Impact of the design of neonatal intensive care units on neonates, staff, and families: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Shahheidari, Marzieh; Homer, Caroline

2012-01-01

Newborn intensive care is for critically ill newborns requiring constant and continuous care and supervision. The survival rates of critically ill infants and hospitalization in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have improved over the past 2 decades because of technological advances in neonatology. The design of NICUs may also have implications for the health of babies, parents, and staff. It is important therefore to articulate the design features of NICU that are associated with improved outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the main features of the NICU design and to determine the advantages and limitations of the designs in terms of outcomes for babies, parents, and staff, predominately nurses. A systematic review of English-language, peer-reviewed articles was conducted for a period of 10 years, up to January 2011. Four online library databases and a number of relevant professional Web sites were searched using key words. There were 2 main designs of NICUs: open bay and single-family room. The open-bay environment develops communication and interaction with medical staff and nurses and has the ability to monitor multiple infants simultaneously. The single-family rooms were deemed superior for patient care and parent satisfaction. Key factors associated with improved outcomes included increased privacy, increased parental involvement in patient care, assistance with infection control, noise control, improved sleep, decreased length of hospital stay, and reduced rehospitalization. The design of NICUs has implications for babies, parents, and staff. An understanding of the positive design features needs to be considered by health service planners, managers, and those who design such specialized units.

Flubromazolam--A new life-threatening designer benzodiazepine.

PubMed

Łukasik-Głębocka, Magdalena; Sommerfeld, Karina; Teżyk, Artur; Zielińska-Psuja, Barbara; Panieński, Paweł; Żaba, Czesław

2016-01-01

In addition to designer benzodiazepines such as etizolam, deschloroetizolam, pyrazolam, diclazepam, nifoxipam, or clonazolam, a new psychoactive substance like flubromazolam, triazole of flubromazepam has become available. Flubromazolam is currently not marketed as a medication but rather as a research chemical and recreational drug. It mostly causes sedative effects but also has moderate anti-anxiety and muscle relaxant effects. A case of a severe intoxication of flubromazolam has been reported. A 27-year-old man, presented with deep coma, bilateral pinpoint unreactive pupils, acute respiratory failure and hypotension, complicated by hypoxic ischemic changes in the central nervous system. A positive result of a urine screening test confirmed the presence of benzodiazepines, which resulted in administration of flumazenil and improved patient consciousness. Quantitative method of liquid chromatography indicated flubromazolam in the patient's serum at 59 ng/mL and urine at 105 ng/mL about 19 h after ingestion of 3 mg dose. On admission, serum creatine kinase was 15,960 U/L. The patient was treated with mechanical ventilation, intravenous fluids, flumazenil and continuous infusion of norepinephrine at a dose of 0.12 µg/kg/min. The patient survived and on the ninth day of hospitalization he was transferred to the Department of Neurology. Flubromazolam is a new designer drug. Recreational use may be a cause of prolonged, severe intoxication associated with coma, hypotension, and rhabdomyolysis.

Designs and test results for three new rotational sensors

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jedlicka, P.; Kozak, J.T.; Evans, J.R.; Hutt, C.R.

2012-01-01

We discuss the designs and testing of three rotational seismometer prototypes developed at the Institute of Geophysics, Academy of Sciences (Prague, Czech Republic). Two of these designs consist of a liquid-filled toroidal tube with the liquid as the proof mass and providing damping; we tested the piezoelectric and pressure transduction versions of this torus. The third design is a wheel-shaped solid metal inertial sensor with capacitive sensing and magnetic damping. Our results from testing in Prague and at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory of the US Geological Survey of transfer function and cross-axis sensitivities are good enough to justify the refinement and subsequent testing of advanced prototypes. These refinements and new testing are well along.

Designs and test results for three new rotational sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jedlička, P.; Kozák, J. T.; Evans, J. R.; Hutt, C. R.

2012-10-01

We discuss the designs and testing of three rotational seismometer prototypes developed at the Institute of Geophysics, Academy of Sciences (Prague, Czech Republic). Two of these designs consist of a liquid-filled toroidal tube with the liquid as the proof mass and providing damping; we tested the piezoelectric and pressure transduction versions of this torus. The third design is a wheel-shaped solid metal inertial sensor with capacitive sensing and magnetic damping. Our results from testing in Prague and at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory of the US Geological Survey of transfer function and cross-axis sensitivities are good enough to justify the refinement and subsequent testing of advanced prototypes. These refinements and new testing are well along.

Living systematic reviews: 2. Combining human and machine effort.

PubMed

Thomas, James; Noel-Storr, Anna; Marshall, Iain; Wallace, Byron; McDonald, Steven; Mavergames, Chris; Glasziou, Paul; Shemilt, Ian; Synnot, Anneliese; Turner, Tari; Elliott, Julian

2017-11-01

New approaches to evidence synthesis, which use human effort and machine automation in mutually reinforcing ways, can enhance the feasibility and sustainability of living systematic reviews. Human effort is a scarce and valuable resource, required when automation is impossible or undesirable, and includes contributions from online communities ("crowds") as well as more conventional contributions from review authors and information specialists. Automation can assist with some systematic review tasks, including searching, eligibility assessment, identification and retrieval of full-text reports, extraction of data, and risk of bias assessment. Workflows can be developed in which human effort and machine automation can each enable the other to operate in more effective and efficient ways, offering substantial enhancement to the productivity of systematic reviews. This paper describes and discusses the potential-and limitations-of new ways of undertaking specific tasks in living systematic reviews, identifying areas where these human/machine "technologies" are already in use, and where further research and development is needed. While the context is living systematic reviews, many of these enabling technologies apply equally to standard approaches to systematic reviewing. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A new decentralised controller design method for a class of strongly interconnected systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Zhisheng; Jiang, Zhong-Ping; Huang, Lin

2017-02-01

In this paper, two interconnected structures are first discussed, under which some closed-loop subsystems must be unstable to make the whole interconnected system stable, which can be viewed as a kind of strongly interconnected systems. Then, comparisons with small gain theorem are discussed and large gain interconnected characteristics are shown. A new approach for the design of decentralised controllers is presented by determining the Lyapunov function structure previously, which allows the existence of unstable subsystems. By fully utilising the orthogonal space information of input matrix, some new understandings are presented for the construction of Lyapunov matrix. This new method can deal with decentralised state feedback, static output feedback and dynamic output feedback controllers in a unified framework. Furthermore, in order to reduce the design conservativeness and deal with robustness, a new robust decentralised controller design method is given by combining with the parameter-dependent Lyapunov function method. Some basic rules are provided for the choice of initial variables in Lyapunov matrix or new introduced slack matrices. As byproducts, some linear matrix inequality based sufficient conditions are established for centralised static output feedback stabilisation. Effects of unstable subsystems in nonlinear Lur'e systems are further discussed. The corresponding decentralised controller design method is presented for absolute stability. The examples illustrate that the new method is significantly effective.

New Buildings Design | Climate Neutral Research Campuses | NREL

Science.gov Websites

over a building's lifetime, energy efficiency represents the lowest cost strategy for reducing energy (ft2*yr) to $16/ft2*yr. This means that if you are designing a new 100,000-ft2 building, it could cost as much as $1.6 million per year to operate. Given this baseline, life cycle cost calculations are

A systematic review of evidence relating to clinical supervision for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals.

PubMed

Pollock, Alex; Campbell, Pauline; Deery, Ruth; Fleming, Mick; Rankin, Jean; Sloan, Graham; Cheyne, Helen

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to systematically review evidence relating to clinical supervision for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. Since 1902 statutory supervision has been a requirement for UK midwives, but this is due to change. Evidence relating to clinical supervision for nurses and allied health professions could inform a new model of clinical supervision for midwives. A systematic review with a contingent design, comprising a broad map of research relating to clinical supervision and two focussed syntheses answering specific review questions. Electronic databases were searched from 2005 - September 2015, limited to English-language peer-reviewed publications. Systematic reviews evaluating the effectiveness of clinical supervision were included in Synthesis 1. Primary research studies including a description of a clinical supervision intervention were included in Synthesis 2. Quality of reviews were judged using a risk of bias tool and review results summarized in tables. Data describing the key components of clinical supervision interventions were extracted from studies included in Synthesis 2, categorized using a reporting framework and a narrative account provided. Ten reviews were included in Synthesis 1; these demonstrated an absence of convincing empirical evidence and lack of agreement over the nature of clinical supervision. Nineteen primary studies were included in Synthesis 2; these highlighted a lack of consistency and large variations between delivered interventions. Despite insufficient evidence to directly inform the selection and implementation of a framework, the limited available evidence can inform the design of a new model of clinical supervision for UK-based midwives. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Visualization of the Invisible, Explanation of the Unknown, Ruggedization of the Unstable: Sensitivity Analysis, Virtual Tryout and Robust Design through Systematic Stochastic Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwickl, Titus; Carleer, Bart; Kubli, Waldemar

2005-08-01

In the past decade, sheet metal forming simulation became a well established tool to predict the formability of parts. In the automotive industry, this has enabled significant reduction in the cost and time for vehicle design and development, and has helped to improve the quality and performance of vehicle parts. However, production stoppages for troubleshooting and unplanned die maintenance, as well as production quality fluctuations continue to plague manufacturing cost and time. The focus therefore has shifted in recent times beyond mere feasibility to robustness of the product and process being engineered. Ensuring robustness is the next big challenge for the virtual tryout / simulation technology. We introduce new methods, based on systematic stochastic simulations, to visualize the behavior of the part during the whole forming process — in simulation as well as in production. Sensitivity analysis explains the response of the part to changes in influencing parameters. Virtual tryout allows quick exploration of changed designs and conditions. Robust design and manufacturing guarantees quality and process capability for the production process. While conventional simulations helped to reduce development time and cost by ensuring feasible processes, robustness engineering tools have the potential for far greater cost and time savings. Through examples we illustrate how expected and unexpected behavior of deep drawing parts may be tracked down, identified and assigned to the influential parameters. With this knowledge, defects can be eliminated or springback can be compensated e.g.; the response of the part to uncontrollable noise can be predicted and minimized. The newly introduced methods enable more reliable and predictable stamping processes in general.

Systematics of constant roll inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anguelova, Lilia; Suranyi, Peter; Wijewardhana, L. C. R.

2018-02-01

We study constant roll inflation systematically. This is a regime, in which the slow roll approximation can be violated. It has long been thought that this approximation is necessary for agreement with observations. However, recently it was understood that there can be inflationary models with a constant, and not necessarily small, rate of roll that are both stable and compatible with the observational constraint ns ≈ 1. We investigate systematically the condition for such a constant-roll regime. In the process, we find a whole new class of inflationary models, in addition to the known solutions. We show that the new models are stable under scalar perturbations. Finally, we find a part of their parameter space, in which they produce a nearly scale-invariant scalar power spectrum, as needed for observational viability.

Scientific Message Translation and the Heuristic Systematic Model: Insights for Designing Educational Messages About Progesterone and Breast Cancer Risks

PubMed Central

Perrault, Evan; Smith, Sandi; Keating, David M.; Nazione, Samantha; Silk, Kami; Russell, Jessica

2017-01-01

Results of ongoing scientific research on environmental determinants of breast cancer are not typically presented to the public in ways they can easily understand and use to take preventive actions. In this study, results of scientific studies on progesterone exposure as a risk factor for breast cancer were translated into high and low literacy level messages. Using the heuristic systematic model, this study examined how ability, motivation, and message processing (heuristic and systematic) influenced perceptions of risk beliefs and negative attitudes about progesterone exposure among women who read the translated scientific messages. Among the 1254 participants, those given the higher literacy level message had greater perceptions of risk about progesterone. Heuristic message cues of source credibility and perceived message quality, as well as motivation, also predicted risk beliefs. Finally, risk beliefs were a strong predictor of negative attitudes about exposure to progesterone. The results can help improve health education message design in terms of practitioners having better knowledge of message features that are the most persuasive to the target audiences on this topic. PMID:25903053

Systematic review of effects of current transtibial prosthetic socket designs-Part 1: Qualitative outcomes.

PubMed

Safari, Mohammad Reza; Meier, Margrit Regula

2015-01-01

This review is an attempt to untangle the complexity of transtibial prosthetic socket fit, determine the most important characteristic for a successful fitting, and perhaps find some indication of whether a particular prosthetic socket type might be best for a given situation. Further, it is intended to provide directions for future research. We followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and used medical subject headings and standard key words to search for articles in relevant databases. No restrictions were made on study design or type of outcome measure. From the obtained search results (n = 1,863), 35 articles were included. The relevant data were entered into a predefined data form that incorporated the Downs and Black risk of bias assessment checklist. Results for the qualitative outcomes (n = 19 articles) are synthesized. Total surface bearing sockets lead to greater activity levels and satisfaction in active persons with amputation, those with a traumatic cause of amputation, and younger persons with amputation than patellar tendon bearing sockets. Evidence on vacuum-assisted suction and hydrostatic sockets is inadequate, and further studies are much needed. To improve the scientific basis for prescription, comparison of and correlation between mechanical properties of interface material, socket designs, user characteristics, and outcome measures should be conducted and reported in future studies.

Design-Construct Method Saves Time and Money in New School Building

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Modern Schools, 1972

1972-01-01

Describes the Lottie M. Schmidt Elementary School in New Baltimore, Michigan, completed in 154 days. Designed to a price rather than priced to a design, the school was built at considerable savings over modular approaches -- and the modest price also covered furniture, electric heating/cooling, carpeting, full masonry construction, concrete slab…

SYFSA: A Framework for Systematic Yet Flexible Systems Analysis

PubMed Central

Johnson, Todd R.; Markowitz, Eliz; Bernstam, Elmer V.; Herskovic, Jorge R.; Thimbleby, Harold

2013-01-01

Although technological or organizational systems that enforce systematic procedures and best practices can lead to improvements in quality, these systems must also be designed to allow users to adapt to the inherent uncertainty, complexity, and variations in healthcare. We present a framework, called Systematic Yet Flexible Systems Analysis (SYFSA) that supports the design and analysis of Systematic Yet Flexible (SYF) systems (whether organizational or technical) by formally considering the tradeoffs between systematicity and flexibility. SYFSA is based on analyzing a task using three related problem spaces: the idealized space, the natural space, and the system space. The idealized space represents the best practice—how the task is to be accomplished under ideal conditions. The natural space captures the task actions and constraints on how the task is currently done. The system space specifies how the task is done in a redesigned system, including how it may deviate from the idealized space, and how the system supports or enforces task constraints. The goal of the framework is to support the design of systems that allow graceful degradation from the idealized space to the natural space. We demonstrate the application of SYFSA for the analysis of a simplified central line insertion task. We also describe several information-theoretic measures of flexibility that can be used to compare alternative designs, and to measure how efficiently a system supports a given task, the relative cognitive workload, and learnability. PMID:23727053

Design Change Model for Effective Scheduling Change Propagation Paths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hai-Zhu; Ding, Guo-Fu; Li, Rong; Qin, Sheng-Feng; Yan, Kai-Yin

2017-09-01

Changes in requirements may result in the increasing of product development project cost and lead time, therefore, it is important to understand how requirement changes propagate in the design of complex product systems and be able to select best options to guide design. Currently, a most approach for design change is lack of take the multi-disciplinary coupling relationships and the number of parameters into account integrally. A new design change model is presented to systematically analyze and search change propagation paths. Firstly, a PDS-Behavior-Structure-based design change model is established to describe requirement changes causing the design change propagation in behavior and structure domains. Secondly, a multi-disciplinary oriented behavior matrix is utilized to support change propagation analysis of complex product systems, and the interaction relationships of the matrix elements are used to obtain an initial set of change paths. Finally, a rough set-based propagation space reducing tool is developed to assist in narrowing change propagation paths by computing the importance of the design change parameters. The proposed new design change model and its associated tools have been demonstrated by the scheduling change propagation paths of high speed train's bogie to show its feasibility and effectiveness. This model is not only supportive to response quickly to diversified market requirements, but also helpful to satisfy customer requirements and reduce product development lead time. The proposed new design change model can be applied in a wide range of engineering systems design with improved efficiency.

Limitations on Design Principles for Public Key Protocols

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

preserves nonrepudiation|assuming, as in the last example, that signatures are added to each message. Note that for all the messages save one, the...digital money must be put up against any bid in their auction, the attack requires the active partic- ipation of a bank. Second, since they protect...ACM Press, New York, November 1993. [5] R. Bird, I. Gopal, A. Herzberg , P. Janson, S. Kut- ten, R. Molva, and M. Yung. Systematic Design of a Family

Sequential analysis in neonatal research-systematic review.

PubMed

Lava, Sebastiano A G; Elie, Valéry; Ha, Phuong Thi Viet; Jacqz-Aigrain, Evelyne

2018-05-01

As more new drugs are discovered, traditional designs come at their limits. Ten years after the adoption of the European Paediatric Regulation, we performed a systematic review on the US National Library of Medicine and Excerpta Medica database of sequential trials involving newborns. Out of 326 identified scientific reports, 21 trials were included. They enrolled 2832 patients, of whom 2099 were analyzed: the median number of neonates included per trial was 48 (IQR 22-87), median gestational age was 28.7 (IQR 27.9-30.9) weeks. Eighteen trials used sequential techniques to determine sample size, while 3 used continual reassessment methods for dose-finding. In 16 studies reporting sufficient data, the sequential design allowed to non-significantly reduce the number of enrolled neonates by a median of 24 (31%) patients (IQR - 4.75 to 136.5, p = 0.0674) with respect to a traditional trial. When the number of neonates finally included in the analysis was considered, the difference became significant: 35 (57%) patients (IQR 10 to 136.5, p = 0.0033). Sequential trial designs have not been frequently used in Neonatology. They might potentially be able to reduce the number of patients in drug trials, although this is not always the case. What is known: • In evaluating rare diseases in fragile populations, traditional designs come at their limits. About 20% of pediatric trials are discontinued, mainly because of recruitment problems. What is new: • Sequential trials involving newborns were infrequently used and only a few (n = 21) are available for analysis. • The sequential design allowed to non-significantly reduce the number of enrolled neonates by a median of 24 (31%) patients (IQR - 4.75 to 136.5, p = 0.0674).

New Worlds Observer Telescope and Instrument Optical Design Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Joseph; Kilston, Steve; Kendrick, Steve

2008-01-01

Optical design concepts for the telescope and instrumentation for NASA's New Worlds Observer program are presented. First order parameters are derived from the science requirements, and estimated performance metrics are shown using optical models. A four meter multiple channel telescope is discussed, as well as a suite of science instrument concepts. Wide field instrumentation (imager and spectrograph) would be accommodated by a three-mirror anastigmat telescope design. Planet finding and characterization would use a separate channel which is picked off after the first two mirrors (primary and secondary). Guiding concepts are also discussed.

New designer drug p-methoxymethamphetamine: studies on its metabolism and toxicological detection in urine using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Staack, Roland F; Fehn, Josef; Maurer, Hans H

2003-06-05

Studies are described on the metabolism and the toxicological analysis of the new designer drug rac-p-methoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) in rat urine using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The identified metabolites indicated that PMMA was extensively metabolized mainly by O-demethylation to pholedrine and to a minor extent to p-methoxyamphetamine (PMA), 1-hydroxypholedrine diastereomers (one being oxilofrine), 4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxymethamphetamine and 4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyamphetamine. The authors' systematic toxicological analysis (STA) procedure using full-scan GC-MS after acid hydrolysis, liquid-liquid extraction and microwave-assisted acetylation allowed the detection of the main metabolites of PMMA in rat urine after a dose corresponding to that of drug users. Therefore, this procedure should be suitable for detection of PMMA intake in human urine via its metabolites. However, it must be considered that pholedrine and oxilofrine are also in therapeutic use. Differentiation of PMMA, PMA and/or pholedrine intake is discussed.

A new species of Cladotanytarsus (Lenziella) from Oregon supports the systematic concept of the subgenus (Diptera: Chironomidae).

PubMed

Puchalski, Mateusz; Giłka, Wojciech

2017-05-18

A new species of the genus Cladotanytarsus Kieffer, 1921 and the small subgenus Lenziella Kieffer, 1922 is described from Southern Oregon, USA. The adult male of C. (L.) glaber Giłka et Puchalski, sp. nov., featuring tibial lobes armed with dense setae and a large globular swelling of the hypopygial inferior volsella, supports the recently defined systematic concept for Lenziella. This subgenus is known from seven species distributed in the Northern Hemisphere (1 European, 1 Palaearctic and 5 Nearctic), the males of which are included in an updated identification key.

The PRISMA extension statement for reporting of systematic reviews incorporating network meta-analyses of health care interventions: checklist and explanations.

PubMed

Hutton, Brian; Salanti, Georgia; Caldwell, Deborah M; Chaimani, Anna; Schmid, Christopher H; Cameron, Chris; Ioannidis, John P A; Straus, Sharon; Thorlund, Kristian; Jansen, Jeroen P; Mulrow, Cynthia; Catalá-López, Ferrán; Gøtzsche, Peter C; Dickersin, Kay; Boutron, Isabelle; Altman, Douglas G; Moher, David

2015-06-02

The PRISMA statement is a reporting guideline designed to improve the completeness of reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Authors have used this guideline worldwide to prepare their reviews for publication. In the past, these reports typically compared 2 treatment alternatives. With the evolution of systematic reviews that compare multiple treatments, some of them only indirectly, authors face novel challenges for conducting and reporting their reviews. This extension of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) statement was developed specifically to improve the reporting of systematic reviews incorporating network meta-analyses. A group of experts participated in a systematic review, Delphi survey, and face-to-face discussion and consensus meeting to establish new checklist items for this extension statement. Current PRISMA items were also clarified. A modified, 32-item PRISMA extension checklist was developed to address what the group considered to be immediately relevant to the reporting of network meta-analyses. This document presents the extension and provides examples of good reporting, as well as elaborations regarding the rationale for new checklist items and the modification of previously existing items from the PRISMA statement. It also highlights educational information related to key considerations in the practice of network meta-analysis. The target audience includes authors and readers of network meta-analyses, as well as journal editors and peer reviewers.

Living systematic review: 1. Introduction-the why, what, when, and how.

PubMed

Elliott, Julian H; Synnot, Anneliese; Turner, Tari; Simmonds, Mark; Akl, Elie A; McDonald, Steve; Salanti, Georgia; Meerpohl, Joerg; MacLehose, Harriet; Hilton, John; Tovey, David; Shemilt, Ian; Thomas, James

2017-11-01

Systematic reviews are difficult to keep up to date, but failure to do so leads to a decay in review currency, accuracy, and utility. We are developing a novel approach to systematic review updating termed "Living systematic review" (LSR): systematic reviews that are continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. LSRs may be particularly important in fields where research evidence is emerging rapidly, current evidence is uncertain, and new research may change policy or practice decisions. We hypothesize that a continual approach to updating will achieve greater currency and validity, and increase the benefits to end users, with feasible resource requirements over time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A firefly algorithm for optimum design of new-generation beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erdal, F.

2017-06-01

This research addresses the minimum weight design of new-generation steel beams with sinusoidal openings using a metaheuristic search technique, namely the firefly method. The proposed algorithm is also used to compare the optimum design results of sinusoidal web-expanded beams with steel castellated and cellular beams. Optimum design problems of all beams are formulated according to the design limitations stipulated by the Steel Construction Institute. The design methods adopted in these publications are consistent with BS 5950 specifications. The formulation of the design problem considering the above-mentioned limitations turns out to be a discrete programming problem. The design algorithms based on the technique select the optimum universal beam sections, dimensional properties of sinusoidal, hexagonal and circular holes, and the total number of openings along the beam as design variables. Furthermore, this selection is also carried out such that the behavioural limitations are satisfied. Numerical examples are presented, where the suggested algorithm is implemented to achieve the minimum weight design of these beams subjected to loading combinations.

Precision of systematic and random sampling in clustered populations: habitat patches and aggregating organisms.

PubMed

McGarvey, Richard; Burch, Paul; Matthews, Janet M

2016-01-01

Natural populations of plants and animals spatially cluster because (1) suitable habitat is patchy, and (2) within suitable habitat, individuals aggregate further into clusters of higher density. We compare the precision of random and systematic field sampling survey designs under these two processes of species clustering. Second, we evaluate the performance of 13 estimators for the variance of the sample mean from a systematic survey. Replicated simulated surveys, as counts from 100 transects, allocated either randomly or systematically within the study region, were used to estimate population density in six spatial point populations including habitat patches and Matérn circular clustered aggregations of organisms, together and in combination. The standard one-start aligned systematic survey design, a uniform 10 x 10 grid of transects, was much more precise. Variances of the 10 000 replicated systematic survey mean densities were one-third to one-fifth of those from randomly allocated transects, implying transect sample sizes giving equivalent precision by random survey would need to be three to five times larger. Organisms being restricted to patches of habitat was alone sufficient to yield this precision advantage for the systematic design. But this improved precision for systematic sampling in clustered populations is underestimated by standard variance estimators used to compute confidence intervals. True variance for the survey sample mean was computed from the variance of 10 000 simulated survey mean estimates. Testing 10 published and three newly proposed variance estimators, the two variance estimators (v) that corrected for inter-transect correlation (ν₈ and ν(W)) were the most accurate and also the most precise in clustered populations. These greatly outperformed the two "post-stratification" variance estimators (ν₂ and ν₃) that are now more commonly applied in systematic surveys. Similar variance estimator performance rankings were found with

40 CFR 264.572 - Design and installation of new drip pads.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Design and installation of new drip pads. 264.572 Section 264.572 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Drip Pads § 264.572 Design...

Is sexual content in new media linked to sexual risk behaviour in young people? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Smith, Lucy Watchirs; Liu, Bette; Degenhardt, Louisa; Richters, Juliet; Patton, George; Wand, Handan; Cross, Donna; Hocking, Jane S; Skinner, S Rachel; Cooper, Spring; Lumby, Catharine; Kaldor, John M; Guy, Rebecca

2016-11-01

Social networking and digital media increasingly have an impact on the lives of young people. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that examined the relationship between exposure to sexually explicit websites (SEWs) and 'sexting' (i.e. sending semi-nude or nude photos from a mobile phone) and the sexual attitudes and practices of young people. In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses statement, Medline, EMBASE and PsycINFO were searched for papers that described the statistical association between viewing SEWs or sexting by young people (defined as 10-24 years) and their sexual attitudes and behaviours. Fourteen studies, all cross-sectional in design, met the inclusion criteria. Six studies (10352 participants) examined young people's exposure to SEWs and eight (10429 participants) examined sexting. There was substantial variation across studies in exposure and outcome definitions. Meta-analyses found that SEW exposure was correlated with condomless sexual intercourse (odds ratio (OR) 1.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.38, two studies); sexting was correlated with ever having had sexual intercourse (OR 5.58, 95% CI: 4.46-6.71, five studies), recent sexual activity (OR 4.79, 95% CI: 3.55-6.04, two studies), alcohol and other drug use before sexual intercourse (OR 2.65, 95% CI: 1.99-3.32, two studies) and multiple recent sexual partners (OR 2.79, 95% CI: 1.95-3.63, two studies). Most studies had limited adjustment for important potential confounders. Cross-sectional studies show a strong association between self-reported exposure to sexual content in new media and sexual behaviours in young people. Longitudinal studies would provide a greater opportunity to adjust for confounding, and better insight into the causal pathways underlying the observed associations.

A New Design Method of Automotive Electronic Real-time Control System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuo, Wenying; Li, Yinguo; Wang, Fengjuan; Hou, Xiaobo

Structure and functionality of automotive electronic control system is becoming more and more complex. The traditional manual programming development mode to realize automotive electronic control system can't satisfy development needs. So, in order to meet diversity and speedability of development of real-time control system, combining model-based design approach and auto code generation technology, this paper proposed a new design method of automotive electronic control system based on Simulink/RTW. Fristly, design algorithms and build a control system model in Matlab/Simulink. Then generate embedded code automatically by RTW and achieve automotive real-time control system development in OSEK/VDX operating system environment. The new development mode can significantly shorten the development cycle of automotive electronic control system, improve program's portability, reusability and scalability and had certain practical value for the development of real-time control system.

Radiation Environment Modeling for Spacecraft Design: New Model Developments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barth, Janet; Xapsos, Mike; Lauenstein, Jean-Marie; Ladbury, Ray

2006-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on various new space radiation environment models for spacecraft design is described. The topics include: 1) The Space Radiatio Environment; 2) Effects of Space Environments on Systems; 3) Space Radiatio Environment Model Use During Space Mission Development and Operations; 4) Space Radiation Hazards for Humans; 5) "Standard" Space Radiation Environment Models; 6) Concerns about Standard Models; 7) Inadequacies of Current Models; 8) Development of New Models; 9) New Model Developments: Proton Belt Models; 10) Coverage of New Proton Models; 11) Comparison of TPM-1, PSB97, AP-8; 12) New Model Developments: Electron Belt Models; 13) Coverage of New Electron Models; 14) Comparison of "Worst Case" POLE, CRESELE, and FLUMIC Models with the AE-8 Model; 15) New Model Developments: Galactic Cosmic Ray Model; 16) Comparison of NASA, MSU, CIT Models with ACE Instrument Data; 17) New Model Developmemts: Solar Proton Model; 18) Comparison of ESP, JPL91, KIng/Stassinopoulos, and PSYCHIC Models; 19) New Model Developments: Solar Heavy Ion Model; 20) Comparison of CREME96 to CREDO Measurements During 2000 and 2002; 21) PSYCHIC Heavy ion Model; 22) Model Standardization; 23) Working Group Meeting on New Standard Radiation Belt and Space Plasma Models; and 24) Summary.

Ergonomic study and static analysis for new design of electric scooter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fadzly, M. K.; Munirah, Anis; Shayfull, Z.; Saad, Mohd Sazli

2017-09-01

The purposes of this project are to design and diversify the function of a battery powered scooter frame which is more practical for the human factor in ergonomic and optimum design. The new design is based on ideas which are studied from existing scooter frame, United States Patent design and European States International Patent design. The final idea of concept design for scooter frame is based on concept chosen from the best characteristics and it is divided into three main difference ideas and the matrix evaluation method is applied. Analysis that applies to frame design, arm, rim and drive train component is based on Cosmos Express program. As a conclusion, the design that is produce are able to carry the maximum also has more practical features in ergonomic view.

Learning Environment: An Architectural Interpretation of a New Designs Archetype High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jilk, Bruce A.; And Others

The New Designs for the Comprehensive High School project used the break-the-mold design-down process to develop a prototype high school. The basic building block of this design is the personal workstation, not the classroom. Combining the personal workstation with the desire for teaming leads to the idea of a small, flexible group space that…

Implementation of the new AASHTO pavement design procedure in Louisiana : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1990-06-01

This study was undertaken to provide the LA DOTD with an implementation package to facilitate adoption of the new AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures. The study included evaluation of design parameters for rigid and flexible pavements, inc...

Signal lights - designed light for rear lamps and new upcoming technologies: innovations in automotive lighting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mügge, Martin; Hohmann, Carsten

2016-04-01

Signal functions have to fulfill statutory regulations such as ECE or FMVSS108 to provide a clear signal to other road users and satisfy the same standard definitions of lighting parameters. However, as rear combination lamps are very different from one another, and these days are an increasingly powerful design element of cars, automotive manufacturers want an innovative, superior, and contrasting design. Daytime appearances with a new and unusual look and nighttime appearances with unexpected illumination are strong drivers for developing amazing innovative signal functions. The combination of LED technology and different forms of light-guiding optics, new interpretations of common optical systems to develop various styling options, the use of new materials and components for lighting effects, the introduction of OLED technology on the automotive market, and amazing new optical systems, using diffractive or holographic optics in future rear lamps, are paving the way for further, exciting design possibilities. The challenge of new signal functions is to take these possibilities and to develop the appearance and illumination effects the designer wants to reinforce the image of the car manufacturer and to fit harmoniously into the vehicle design. Lighting systems with a three-dimensional design and appearance when unlit and lit, amazing 3D effects, and surprising lighting scenarios will gain in importance. But the signal lights on cars will, in the future, be not only lighting functions in rear lamps; new functions and stylistic illuminations for coming/leaving-home scenarios will support and complete the car's overall lighting appearance. This paper describes current lighting systems realizing the styling requirements and future lighting systems offering new design possibilities and developing further stylistic, visual effects and improved technologies.

Methodology for Designing and Developing a New Ultra-Wideband Antenna Based on Bio-Inspired Optimization Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-11-01

ARL-TR-8225 ● NOV 2017 US Army Research Laboratory Methodology for Designing and Developing a New Ultra-Wideband Antenna Based...Research Laboratory Methodology for Designing and Developing a New Ultra-Wideband Antenna Based on Bio-Inspired Optimization Techniques by...SUBTITLE Methodology for Designing and Developing a New Ultra-Wideband Antenna Based on Bio-Inspired Optimization Techniques 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

Conceptual design of new polychromator on Thomson scattering system to measure Zeff.

PubMed

Lee, Jongha; Oh, Seungtae; Wi, Hanmin; Oh, Youngkook; Yamada, I; Narihara, K; Kawahata, K; Jeon, Jongsu

2012-10-01

To measure the Z(eff) with electron temperature (T(e)) and electron density (n(e)) profiles at the same time and the same position in the KSTAR tokamak, we design a new polychromator for Thomson scattering system that has additional function. The additional function is measuring bremsstrahlung intensity to calculate Z(eff) independent of Thomson signals. For this new polychromator, we design and fabricate a collimation lens set, and interference filter that has center wavelength of 523 nm and 2 nm FWHM. Finally, we change the lenses, detector diodes, and add the bremsstrahlung filter on the KSTAR edge Thomson scattering polychromator. Then this new polychromator was tested by Tungsten light and monochromator.

Molecular dynamics in drug design: new generations of compstatin analogs.

PubMed

Tamamis, Phanourios; López de Victoria, Aliana; Gorham, Ronald D; Bellows-Peterson, Meghan L; Pierou, Panayiota; Floudas, Christodoulos A; Morikis, Dimitrios; Archontis, Georgios

2012-05-01

We report the computational and rational design of new generations of potential peptide-based inhibitors of the complement protein C3 from the compstatin family. The binding efficacy of the peptides is tested by extensive molecular dynamics-based structural and physicochemical analysis, using 32 atomic detail trajectories in explicit water for 22 peptides bound to human, rat or mouse target protein C3, with a total of 257 ns. The criteria for the new design are: (i) optimization for C3 affinity and for the balance between hydrophobicity and polarity to improve solubility compared to known compstatin analogs; and (ii) development of dual specificity, human-rat/mouse C3 inhibitors, which could be used in animal disease models. Three of the new analogs are analyzed in more detail as they possess strong and novel binding characteristics and are promising candidates for further optimization. This work paves the way for the development of an improved therapeutic for age-related macular degeneration, and other complement system-mediated diseases, compared to known compstatin variants. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

SysFinder: A customized platform for search, comparison and assisted design of appropriate animal models based on systematic similarity.

PubMed

Yang, Shuang; Zhang, Guoqing; Liu, Wan; Wang, Zhen; Zhang, Jifeng; Yang, Dongshan; Chen, Y Eugene; Sun, Hong; Li, Yixue

2017-05-20

Animal models are increasingly gaining values by cross-comparisons of response or resistance to clinical agents used for patients. However, many disease mechanisms and drug effects generated from animal models are not transferable to human. To address these issues, we developed SysFinder (http://lifecenter.sgst.cn/SysFinder), a platform for scientists to find appropriate animal models for translational research. SysFinder offers a "topic-centered" approach for systematic comparisons of human genes, whose functions are involved in a specific scientific topic, to the corresponding homologous genes of animal models. Scientific topic can be a certain disease, drug, gene function or biological pathway. SysFinder calculates multi-level similarity indexes to evaluate the similarities between human and animal models in specified scientific topics. Meanwhile, SysFinder offers species-specific information to investigate the differences in molecular mechanisms between humans and animal models. Furthermore, SysFinder provides a user-friendly platform for determination of short guide RNAs (sgRNAs) and homology arms to design a new animal model. Case studies illustrate the ability of SysFinder in helping experimental scientists. SysFinder is a useful platform for experimental scientists to carry out their research in the human molecular mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Genetics Society of China. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regulatory RNA design through evolutionary computation and strand displacement.

PubMed

Rostain, William; Landrain, Thomas E; Rodrigo, Guillermo; Jaramillo, Alfonso

2015-01-01

The discovery and study of a vast number of regulatory RNAs in all kingdoms of life over the past decades has allowed the design of new synthetic RNAs that can regulate gene expression in vivo. Riboregulators, in particular, have been used to activate or repress gene expression. However, to accelerate and scale up the design process, synthetic biologists require computer-assisted design tools, without which riboregulator engineering will remain a case-by-case design process requiring expert attention. Recently, the design of RNA circuits by evolutionary computation and adapting strand displacement techniques from nanotechnology has proven to be suited to the automated generation of DNA sequences implementing regulatory RNA systems in bacteria. Herein, we present our method to carry out such evolutionary design and how to use it to create various types of riboregulators, allowing the systematic de novo design of genetic control systems in synthetic biology.

New schools design: Acoustics as main target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maffei, Luigi; Lembo, Paola

2005-04-01

The effects of poor intelligibility and high background noise levels on the cognitive development of school children and on the dissatisfaction of teachers has been largely investigated. National standards have been implemented and attempts to harmonize these standards in international guidelines are ongoing. All these activities have led to the awareness that design of new schools must be centered on the achievement of a good acoustic environment. At this point a strong research effort to study and implement best solutions must be conducted, in collaboration, by architects, acousticians, pedagogues, psychologists, builders and acoustic materials producers. Recently an international competition for the planning of new primary schools in Rome, Italy has been announced. The aim of the competition is to study new architectural and running features of primary schools to obtain, among other parameters such as lighting, low cost energy solutions and air quality, the control of reverberation time, sound insulation and mechanical equipments noise. In these school buildings, as innovative requirement, children must be also able to elaborate interpretative hypothesis of physical phenomena such as sound emission and perception and be aware of their influence on these phenomena. Different possible solutions are presented.

Blended Learning at the Boundary: Designing a New Internship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heckman, Robert; Østerlund, Carsten S.; Saltz, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

This paper explores how blended learning can enhance learning at the boundary between academia and industry, and make possible the design of a new kind of internship. Boundary theory proposes that socio-cultural discontinuities between different environments create opportunities for learning. Blended learning pedagogy makes it possible to make the…

OPDOT: A computer program for the optimum preliminary design of a transport airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sliwa, S. M.; Arbuckle, P. D.

1980-01-01

A description of a computer program, OPDOT, for the optimal preliminary design of transport aircraft is given. OPDOT utilizes constrained parameter optimization to minimize a performance index (e.g., direct operating cost per block hour) while satisfying operating constraints. The approach in OPDOT uses geometric descriptors as independent design variables. The independent design variables are systematically iterated to find the optimum design. The technical development of the program is provided and a program listing with sample input and output are utilized to illustrate its use in preliminary design. It is not meant to be a user's guide, but rather a description of a useful design tool developed for studying the application of new technologies to transport airplanes.

Impact of prehospital transfer strategies in major trauma and head injury: systematic review, meta-analysis, and recommendations for study design.

PubMed

Pickering, Alastair; Cooper, Katy; Harnan, Susan; Sutton, Anthea; Mason, Suzanne; Nicholl, Jonathan

2015-01-01

It is unclear whether trauma patients should be transferred initially to a trauma center or local hospital. A systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the evidence for direct transport to specialist centers (SCs) versus initial stabilization at non-SCs (NSCs) for major trauma or moderate-to-severe head injury. Nine databases were searched from 1988 to 2012. Limitations in the study design informed recommendations for future studies. Of 19 major trauma studies, five (n = 19,910) included patients not transferred to SCs and adjusted for case mix. Meta-analysis showed no difference in mortality for initial triage to NSCs versus SCs (odds ratio [OR] 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-1.23). Within studies excluding patients not transferred to SCs, unadjusted analyses of mortality nonsignificantly favored transfer via NSCs (16 studies; n = 37,079; OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.68-1.01), whereas adjusted analysis nonsignificantly favored direct triage to SCs (9 studies; n = 34,266; OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.96-1.44). Of 11 head injury studies, all excluded patients not transferred to SCs and half were in remote locations. There was no significant mortality difference between initial triage to NSCs versus SCs within adjusted analyses (3 studies; n = 1,507; OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.31-1.79) or unadjusted analyses (10 studies; n = 3,671; OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.62-1.23). This systematic review demonstrated no difference in outcomes for direct transport to a trauma center versus initial triage to a local hospital. Many studies had significant limitations in the design, and heterogeneity was high. Recommendations for future studies include the following: (i) inclusion of patients not transferred to SCs and those dying during transport; (ii) clear description of centers plus transport distances/times; (iii) adjustments for case mix; and (iv) assessment of morbidity and mortality. Systematic review, level IV.

Evidence-based mapping of design heterogeneity prior to meta-analysis: a systematic review and evidence synthesis.

PubMed

Althuis, Michelle D; Weed, Douglas L; Frankenfeld, Cara L

2014-07-23

Assessment of design heterogeneity conducted prior to meta-analysis is infrequently reported; it is often presented post hoc to explain statistical heterogeneity. However, design heterogeneity determines the mix of included studies and how they are analyzed in a meta-analysis, which in turn can importantly influence the results. The goal of this work is to introduce ways to improve the assessment and reporting of design heterogeneity prior to statistical summarization of epidemiologic studies. In this paper, we use an assessment of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) as an example to show how a technique called 'evidence mapping' can be used to organize studies and evaluate design heterogeneity prior to meta-analysis.. Employing a systematic and reproducible approach, we evaluated the following elements across 11 selected cohort studies: variation in definitions of SSB, T2D, and co-variables, design features and population characteristics associated with specific definitions of SSB, and diversity in modeling strategies. Evidence mapping strategies effectively organized complex data and clearly depicted design heterogeneity. For example, across 11 studies of SSB and T2D, 7 measured diet only once (with 7 to 16 years of disease follow-up), 5 included primarily low SSB consumers, and 3 defined the study variable (SSB) as consumption of either sugar or artificially-sweetened beverages. This exercise also identified diversity in analysis strategies, such as adjustment for 11 to 17 co-variables and a large degree of fluctuation in SSB-T2D risk estimates depending on variables selected for multivariable models (2 to 95% change in the risk estimate from the age-adjusted model). Meta-analysis seeks to understand heterogeneity in addition to computing a summary risk estimate. This strategy effectively documents design heterogeneity, thus improving the practice of meta-analysis by aiding in: 1) protocol and analysis planning, 2) transparent reporting of

Evidence-based mapping of design heterogeneity prior to meta-analysis: a systematic review and evidence synthesis

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Assessment of design heterogeneity conducted prior to meta-analysis is infrequently reported; it is often presented post hoc to explain statistical heterogeneity. However, design heterogeneity determines the mix of included studies and how they are analyzed in a meta-analysis, which in turn can importantly influence the results. The goal of this work is to introduce ways to improve the assessment and reporting of design heterogeneity prior to statistical summarization of epidemiologic studies. Methods In this paper, we use an assessment of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) as an example to show how a technique called ‘evidence mapping’ can be used to organize studies and evaluate design heterogeneity prior to meta-analysis.. Employing a systematic and reproducible approach, we evaluated the following elements across 11 selected cohort studies: variation in definitions of SSB, T2D, and co-variables, design features and population characteristics associated with specific definitions of SSB, and diversity in modeling strategies. Results Evidence mapping strategies effectively organized complex data and clearly depicted design heterogeneity. For example, across 11 studies of SSB and T2D, 7 measured diet only once (with 7 to 16 years of disease follow-up), 5 included primarily low SSB consumers, and 3 defined the study variable (SSB) as consumption of either sugar or artificially-sweetened beverages. This exercise also identified diversity in analysis strategies, such as adjustment for 11 to 17 co-variables and a large degree of fluctuation in SSB-T2D risk estimates depending on variables selected for multivariable models (2 to 95% change in the risk estimate from the age-adjusted model). Conclusions Meta-analysis seeks to understand heterogeneity in addition to computing a summary risk estimate. This strategy effectively documents design heterogeneity, thus improving the practice of meta-analysis by aiding in: 1) protocol and

Design and development of a new cryosurgical instrument utilizing the Peltier thermoelectric effect.

PubMed

Holman, M R; Rowland, S J

1997-01-01

Warts and some other dermatological conditions may be treated by the application of intense cold. This freezing has to be so severe as to form ice crystals which will rupture the cell membranes. The initial part of this project was to investigate the feasibility of using Peltier thermoelectric coolers (TECs) to cool down a suitable hand-held treatment tip to a temperature of approximately -50 degrees C. The results of these initial experiments showed how this could be accomplished and a prototype cryosurgical instrument, suitable for clinical trials, was designed and constructed. This new design is freestanding, self-contained and is operated from a standard 230 V mains supply. Unlike existing systems it does not use any disposable gases or liquids. A cryoprobe of this new design would allow reliable cryosurgery to be performed in a GP's treatment room where supplies of liquid nitrogen, nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide are not readily available. The design also has a built-in thermometer to measure the treatment tip temperature thus ensuring consistency in treatment. Clinical trials are being conducted at a number of GP practices to evaluate this new design.

Methodological quality of systematic reviews in subfertility: a comparison of Cochrane and non-Cochrane systematic reviews in assisted reproductive technologies.

PubMed

Windsor, B; Popovich, I; Jordan, V; Showell, M; Shea, B; Farquhar, C

2012-12-01

Are there differences in the methodological quality of Cochrane systematic reviews (CRs) and non-Cochrane systematic reviews (NCRs) of assisted reproductive technologies? CRs on assisted reproduction are of higher methodological quality than similar reviews published in other journals. The quality of systematic reviews varies. This was a cross-sectional study of 30 CR and 30 NCR systematic reviews that were randomly selected from the eligible reviews identified from a literature search for the years 2007-2011. We extracted data on the reporting and methodological characteristics of the included systematic reviews. We assessed the methodological quality of the reviews using the 11-domain Measurement Tool to Assess the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) tool and subsequently compared CR and NCR systematic reviews. The AMSTAR quality assessment found that CRs were superior to NCRs. For 10 of 11 AMSTAR domains, the requirements were met in >50% of CRs, but only 4 of 11 domains showed requirements being met in >50% of NCRs. The strengths of CRs are the a priori study design, comprehensive literature search, explicit lists of included and excluded studies and assessments of internal validity. Significant failings in the CRs were found in duplicate study selection and data extraction (67% meeting requirements), assessment for publication bias (53% meeting requirements) and reporting of conflicts of interest (47% meeting requirements). NCRs were more likely to contain methodological weaknesses as the majority of the domains showed <40% of reviews meeting requirements, e.g. a priori study design (17%), duplicate study selection and data extraction (17%), assessment of study quality (27%), study quality in the formulation of conclusions (23%) and reporting of conflict of interests (10%). The AMSTAR assessment can only judge what is reported by authors. Although two of the five authors are involved in the production of CRs, the risk of bias was reduced by

Embroidered Electromyography: A Systematic Design Guide.

PubMed

Shafti, Ali; Ribas Manero, Roger B; Borg, Amanda M; Althoefer, Kaspar; Howard, Matthew J

2017-09-01

Muscle activity monitoring or electromyography (EMG) is a useful tool. However, EMG is typically invasive, expensive and difficult to use for untrained users. A possible solution is textile-based surface EMG (sEMG) integrated into clothing as a wearable device. This is, however, challenging due to 1) uncertainties in the electrical properties of conductive threads used for electrodes, 2) imprecise fabrication technologies (e.g., embroidery, sewing), and 3) lack of standardization in design variable selection. This paper, for the first time, provides a design guide for such sensors by performing a thorough examination of the effect of design variables on sEMG signal quality. Results show that imprecisions in digital embroidery lead to a trade-off between low electrode impedance and high manufacturing consistency. An optimum set of variables for this trade-off is identified and tested with sEMG during a variable force isometric grip exercise with n = 12 participants, compared with conventional gel-based electrodes. Results show that thread-based electrodes provide a similar level of sensitivity to force variation as gel-based electrodes with about 90% correlation to expected linear behavior. As proof of concept, jogging leggings with integrated embroidered sEMG are made and successfully tested for detection of muscle fatigue while running on different surfaces.

Systematic studies of small scintillators for new sampling calorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacosalem, E. P.; Iba, S.; Nakajima, N.; Ono, H.; Sanchez, A. L. C.; Bacala, A. M.; Miyata, H.

2007-12-01

A new sampling calorimeter using very thin scintillators and the multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) has been proposed to produce better position resolution for the international linear collider (ILC) experiment. As part of this R&D study, small plastic scintillators of different sizes, thickness and wrapping reflectors are systematically studied. The scintillation light due to beta rays from a collimated ^{90}Sr source are collected from the scintillator by wavelength-shifting (WLS) fiber and converted into electrical signals at the PMT. The wrapped scintillator that gives the best light yield is determined by comparing the measured pulse height of each 10 × 40 × 2 mm strip scintillator covered with 3M reflective mirror film, teflon, white paint, black tape, gold, aluminum and white paint+teflon. The pulse height dependence on position, length and thickness of the 3M reflective mirror film and teflon wrapped scintillators are measured. Results show that the 3M radiant mirror film-wrapped scintillator has the greatest light yield with an average of 9.2 photoelectrons. It is observed that light yield slightly increases with scintillator length, but increases to about 100% when WLS fiber diameter is increased from 1.0 mm to 1.6 mm. The position dependence measurement along the strip scintillator showed the uniformity of light transmission from the sensor to the PMT. A dip across the strip is observed which is 40% of the maximum pulse height. The block type scintillator pulse height, on the other hand, is found to be almost proportional to scintillator thickness.

A new approach for the design of hypersonic scramjet inlets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raj, N. Om Prakash; Venkatasubbaiah, K.

2012-08-01

A new methodology has been developed for the design of hypersonic scramjet inlets using gas dynamic relations. The approach aims to find the optimal inlet geometry which has maximum total pressure recovery at a prescribed design free stream Mach number. The design criteria for inlet is chosen as shock-on-lip condition which ensures maximum capture area and minimum intake length. Designed inlet geometries are simulated using computational fluid dynamics analysis. The effects of 1D, 2D inviscid and viscous effects on performance of scramjet inlet are reported here. A correction factor in inviscid design is reported for viscous effects to obtain shock-on-lip condition. A parametric study is carried out for the effect of Mach number at the beginning of isolator for the design of scramjet inlets. Present results show that 2D and viscous effects are significant on performance of scramjet inlet. Present simulation results are matching very well with the experimental results available from the literature.

Report on Component 2 - Designing New Methods for Visualizing Text in Spatial Contexts

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-31

W9132V-11-P-0010 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Alexander Savelyev , Scott Pezanowski, Anthony C. Robinson, and Alan M...e Component 2 – Designing New Methods for Visualizing Text in Spatial Contexts Alexander Savelyev , Scott Pezanowski, Anthony Robinson and Alan...Center, Penn State University Report on Component 2: Component 2 – Designing New Methods for Visualizing Text in Spatial Contexts Alexander

Towards a systems approach to risk considerations for concurrent design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meshkat, Leila; Oberto, Robert E.

2004-01-01

This paper describes the new process used by the Project Design Center at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the identification, assessment and communication of risk elements throughout the lifecycle of a mission design. This process includes a software tool, 'RAP' that collects and communicates risk information between the various designers and a 'risk expert' who mediates this process. The establishment of this process is an attempt towards the systematic consideration of risk in the design decision making process. Using this process, we are able to better keep track of the risks associated with the design decisions. Furthermore, it helps us develop better risk profiles for the studies under consideration. We aim to refine and expand the current process to enable more thorough risk analysis capabilities in the future.

21st Century Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Anger: A Systematic Review of Research Design, Methodology and Outcome.

PubMed

Fernandez, Ephrem; Malvaso, Catia; Day, Andrew; Guharajan, Deepan

2018-07-01

Past reviews of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anger have focused on outcome in specific subpopulations, with few questions posed about research design and methodology. Since the turn of the century, there has been a surge of methodologically varied studies awaiting systematic review. The basic aim was to review this recent literature in terms of trends and patterns in research design, operationalization of anger, and covariates such as social desirability bias (SDB). Also of interest was clinical outcome. After successive culling, 42 relevant studies were retained. These were subjected to a rapid evidence assessment (REA) with special attention to design (ranked on the Scientific Methods Scale) measurement methodology (self-monitored behaviour, anger questionnaires, and others' ratings), SDB assessment, and statistical versus clinical significance. The randomized controlled trial characterized 60% of the studies, and the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory was the dominant measure of anger. All but one of the studies reported statistically significant outcome, and all but one of the 21 studies evaluating clinical significance laid claim to it. The one study with neither statistical nor clinical significance was the only one that had assessed and corrected for SDB. Measures remain relatively narrow in scope, but study designs have improved, and the outcomes suggest efficacy and clinical effectiveness. In conjunction with previous findings of an inverse relationship between anger and SDB, the results raise the possibility that the favourable picture of CBT for anger may need closer scrutiny with SDB and other methodological details in mind.

New Wave Energy Converter Design Inspired by Wind Energy | News | NREL

Science.gov Websites

from the pitch control of wind turbine blades to develop a new design for WECs. When wind speed increases, turbine control systems adjust the pitch of their blades to account for the added load, which converters with new freedom and control." The variable-geometry WEC can alter its shape to change how it

Universal Design for Instruction in Postsecondary Education: A Systematic Review of Empirically Based Articles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Kelly D.; Park, Hye Jin; Brown, Steven; Cook, Bryan

2011-01-01

Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) in postsecondary education is a relatively new concept/framework that has generated significant support. The purpose of this literature review was to examine existing empirical research, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, on the use of UDI (and related terms) in postsecondary education.…

Field demonstration of new bridge approach slab designs and performance.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-06-01

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) has initiated a major effort to minimize the bridge end bump problem associated : with differential settlement. As a result, a new design for the approach slab was proposed, which requ...

Systematic analysis of signaling pathways using an integrative environment.

PubMed

Visvanathan, Mahesh; Breit, Marc; Pfeifer, Bernhard; Baumgartner, Christian; Modre-Osprian, Robert; Tilg, Bernhard

2007-01-01

Understanding the biological processes of signaling pathways as a whole system requires an integrative software environment that has comprehensive capabilities. The environment should include tools for pathway design, visualization, simulation and a knowledge base concerning signaling pathways as one. In this paper we introduce a new integrative environment for the systematic analysis of signaling pathways. This system includes environments for pathway design, visualization, simulation and a knowledge base that combines biological and modeling information concerning signaling pathways that provides the basic understanding of the biological system, its structure and functioning. The system is designed with a client-server architecture. It contains a pathway designing environment and a simulation environment as upper layers with a relational knowledge base as the underlying layer. The TNFa-mediated NF-kB signal trans-duction pathway model was designed and tested using our integrative framework. It was also useful to define the structure of the knowledge base. Sensitivity analysis of this specific pathway was performed providing simulation data. Then the model was extended showing promising initial results. The proposed system offers a holistic view of pathways containing biological and modeling data. It will help us to perform biological interpretation of the simulation results and thus contribute to a better understanding of the biological system for drug identification.

Defining and Measuring the Affordability of New Medicines: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Antoñanzas, Fernando; Terkola, Robert; Overton, Paul M; Shalet, Natalie; Postma, Maarten

2017-08-01

In many healthcare systems, affordability concerns can lead to restrictions on the use of expensive efficacious therapies. However, there does not appear to be any consensus as to the terminology used to describe affordability, or the thresholds used to determine whether new drugs are affordable. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate how affordability is defined and measured in healthcare. MEDLINE, EMBASE and EconLit databases (2005-July 2016) were searched using terms covering affordability and budget impact, combined with definitions, thresholds and restrictions, to identify articles describing a definition of affordability with respect to new medicines. Additional definitions were identified through citation searching, and through manual searches of European health technology assessment body websites. In total, 27 definitions were included in the review. Of these, five definitions described affordability in terms of the value of a product; seven considered affordability within the context of healthcare system budgets; and 15 addressed whether products are affordable in a given country based on economic factors. However, there was little in the literature to indicate that the price of medicines is considered alongside both their value to individual patients and their budget impact at a population level. Current methods of assessing affordability in healthcare may be limited by their focus on budget impact. A more effective approach may involve a broader perspective than is currently described in the literature, to consider the long-term benefits of a therapy and cost savings elsewhere in the healthcare system, as well as cooperation between healthcare payers and the pharmaceutical industry to develop financing models that support sustainability as well as innovation.

14 CFR 1260.58 - Designation of new technology representative and patent representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Designation of new technology representative and patent representative. 1260.58 Section 1260.58 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS General Special Conditions § 1260.58 Designation...

14 CFR 1260.58 - Designation of new technology representative and patent representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Designation of new technology representative and patent representative. 1260.58 Section 1260.58 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS General Special Conditions § 1260.58 Designation...

Starting a Fee-Based Systematic Review Service.

PubMed

Knehans, Amy; Dell, Esther; Robinson, Cynthia

2016-01-01

The George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library at Penn State College of Medicine began a fee-based systematic review service, a model for cost recovery, in October 2013. This article describes the library's experience in establishing, introducing, and promoting the new service, which follows the Institute of Medicine's recommended standards for performing systematic reviews. The goal is to share this information with librarians who are contemplating starting such a service.

Molpher: a software framework for systematic chemical space exploration

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Chemical space is virtual space occupied by all chemically meaningful organic compounds. It is an important concept in contemporary chemoinformatics research, and its systematic exploration is vital to the discovery of either novel drugs or new tools for chemical biology. Results In this paper, we describe Molpher, an open-source framework for the systematic exploration of chemical space. Through a process we term ‘molecular morphing’, Molpher produces a path of structurally-related compounds. This path is generated by the iterative application of so-called ‘morphing operators’ that represent simple structural changes, such as the addition or removal of an atom or a bond. Molpher incorporates an optimized parallel exploration algorithm, compound logging and a two-dimensional visualization of the exploration process. Its feature set can be easily extended by implementing additional morphing operators, chemical fingerprints, similarity measures and visualization methods. Molpher not only offers an intuitive graphical user interface, but also can be run in batch mode. This enables users to easily incorporate molecular morphing into their existing drug discovery pipelines. Conclusions Molpher is an open-source software framework for the design of virtual chemical libraries focused on a particular mechanistic class of compounds. These libraries, represented by a morphing path and its surroundings, provide valuable starting data for future in silico and in vitro experiments. Molpher is highly extensible and can be easily incorporated into any existing computational drug design pipeline. PMID:24655571

From research to evidence-informed decision making: a systematic approach

PubMed Central

Poot, Charlotte C; van der Kleij, Rianne M; Brakema, Evelyn A; Vermond, Debbie; Williams, Siân; Cragg, Liza; van den Broek, Jos M; Chavannes, Niels H

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Knowledge creation forms an integral part of the knowledge-to-action framework aimed at bridging the gap between research and evidence-informed decision making. Although principles of science communication, data visualisation and user-centred design largely impact the effectiveness of communication, their role in knowledge creation is still limited. Hence, this article aims to provide researchers a systematic approach on how knowledge creation can be put into practice. Methods A systematic two-phased approach towards knowledge creation was formulated and executed. First, during a preparation phase the purpose and audience of the knowledge were defined. Subsequently, a developmental phase facilitated how the content is ‘said’ (language) and communicated (channel). This developmental phase proceeded via two pathways: a translational cycle and design cycle, during which core translational and design components were incorporated. The entire approach was demonstrated by a case study. Results The case study demonstrated how the phases in this systematic approach can be operationalised. It furthermore illustrated how created knowledge can be delivered. Conclusion The proposed approach offers researchers a systematic, practical and easy-to-implement tool to facilitate effective knowledge creation towards decision-makers in healthcare. Through the integration of core components of knowledge creation evidence-informed decision making will ultimately be optimized. PMID:29538728

Critical examination of evidence for the nutritional status of children in Papua New Guinea - a systematic review.

PubMed

McGlynn, Peter J; Renzaho, Andre μΝ; Pham, Minh D; Toole, Mike; Fisher, Jane; Luchters, Stanley

2018-01-01

Undernutrition remains a significant cause of childhood illness, poor growth, development, and death in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Studies on child nutritional outcomes in PNG vary by design, measurement protocols and quality. We conducted a systematic review to assess the evidence for the prevalence of child undernutrition across different study populations, geographical locations and time periods. Six electronic databases and additional grey literature were searched for articles describing the nutritional status by wasting, stunting and underweight, of PNG children under five years of age, published between 1990 and April 2015. Prevalence data using different scales of measurement and reference populations were standardized according to WHO protocols. The search yielded 566 articles, of which, 31 studies met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of child undernutrition varied from 1% to 76% for wasting (median 11%), 5% to 92% for stunting (median 51%), and 14% to 59% for underweight (median 32%). Wide variations exist according to the index used for measurement, the population characteristics and the geographical region in which they live. Prevalence estimates increase significantly when data using different scales of measurement and population references are standardized to the WHO protocols. Child undernutrition in PNG is regionally variable due to a complex interplay of poverty, disease, food-security, cultural, environmental and sociopolitical issues requiring a complex mix of solutions by governments, health systems and local communities. Area- specific surveys using multiple measures are necessary to inform local solutions for this important problem.

IPMC-driven thrust generation: a new conceptual design (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, Zakai; Kim, Kwang Jin

2017-04-01

Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMC) are highly functional actuators that find many uses in the field of soft robotics due to their low actuation voltage and ability to operate in aquatic environments. The actuation of an IPMC relies on the swelling of the negatively charged side when a potential is applied, due to the free-moving cations and water molecules migrating to that half. While this bending type actuation can be utilized to perform many tasks, it is ill suited for the primary propulsion mechanism in certain soft robotic applications. Here, a new conceptual design is presented which utilizes the bending of IPMC materials to achieve complex actuation motion in an attempt to generate a non-zero net thrust for propulsion of soft robots. The design capitalizes on advances in the manufacturing processes of electroactive polymer materials, which now allow for more complex shapes and thus new and unique modes of actuation. By utilizing the consistent bending deformation of IPMC actuators, in conjunction with carefully considered geometry, an IPMC driven body may serve as a primary mode of propulsion through a positive net thrust generation. This work consists of the initial feasibility study, concept testing, and optimization for such an actuator through computer modeling and simulation. COMSOL will be used for the finite element analysis to design the most efficient and optimized design for a positive net thrust generation. Such an IPMC design may find a great deal of applications, and the potential of future integration into other soft robotic systems is considered.

Analysis of the implementation of ergonomic design at the new units of an oil refinery.

PubMed

Passero, Carolina Reich Marcon; Ogasawara, Erika Lye; Baú, Lucy Mara Silva; Buso, Sandro Artur; Bianchi, Marcos Cesar

2012-01-01

Ergonomic design is the adaptation of working conditions to human limitations and skills in the physical design phase of a new installation, a new working system, or new products or tools. Based on this concept, the purpose of this work was to analyze the implementation of ergonomic design at the new industrial units of an oil refinery, using the method of Ergonomic Workplace Assessment. This study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team composed of operation, maintenance and industrial safety technicians, ergonomists, designers and engineers. The analysis involved 6 production units, 1 industrial wastewater treatment unit, and 3 utilities units, all in the design detailing phase, for which 455 ergonomic requirements were identified. An analysis and characterization of the requirements identified for 5 of the production units, involving a total of 246 items, indicated that 62% were related to difficult access and blockage operations, while 15% were related to difficulties in the circulation of employees inside the units. Based on these data, it was found that the ergonomic requirements identified in the design detailing phase of an industrial unit involve physical ergonomics, and that it is very difficult to identify requirements related to organizational or cognitive ergonomics.

A new framework for designing programmes of assessment

PubMed Central

Van der Vleuten, C. P. M.; Schuwirth, L. W. T.

2009-01-01

Research on assessment in medical education has strongly focused on individual measurement instruments and their psychometric quality. Without detracting from the value of this research, such an approach is not sufficient to high quality assessment of competence as a whole. A programmatic approach is advocated which presupposes criteria for designing comprehensive assessment programmes and for assuring their quality. The paucity of research with relevance to programmatic assessment, and especially its development, prompted us to embark on a research project to develop design principles for programmes of assessment. We conducted focus group interviews to explore the experiences and views of nine assessment experts concerning good practices and new ideas about theoretical and practical issues in programmes of assessment. The discussion was analysed, mapping all aspects relevant for design onto a framework, which was iteratively adjusted to fit the data until saturation was reached. The overarching framework for designing programmes of assessment consists of six assessment programme dimensions: Goals, Programme in Action, Support, Documenting, Improving and Accounting. The model described in this paper can help to frame programmes of assessment; it not only provides a common language, but also a comprehensive picture of the dimensions to be covered when formulating design principles. It helps identifying areas concerning assessment in which ample research and development has been done. But, more importantly, it also helps to detect underserved areas. A guiding principle in design of assessment programmes is fitness for purpose. High quality assessment can only be defined in terms of its goals. PMID:19821042

A new framework for designing programmes of assessment.

PubMed

Dijkstra, J; Van der Vleuten, C P M; Schuwirth, L W T

2010-08-01

Research on assessment in medical education has strongly focused on individual measurement instruments and their psychometric quality. Without detracting from the value of this research, such an approach is not sufficient to high quality assessment of competence as a whole. A programmatic approach is advocated which presupposes criteria for designing comprehensive assessment programmes and for assuring their quality. The paucity of research with relevance to programmatic assessment, and especially its development, prompted us to embark on a research project to develop design principles for programmes of assessment. We conducted focus group interviews to explore the experiences and views of nine assessment experts concerning good practices and new ideas about theoretical and practical issues in programmes of assessment. The discussion was analysed, mapping all aspects relevant for design onto a framework, which was iteratively adjusted to fit the data until saturation was reached. The overarching framework for designing programmes of assessment consists of six assessment programme dimensions: Goals, Programme in Action, Support, Documenting, Improving and Accounting. The model described in this paper can help to frame programmes of assessment; it not only provides a common language, but also a comprehensive picture of the dimensions to be covered when formulating design principles. It helps identifying areas concerning assessment in which ample research and development has been done. But, more importantly, it also helps to detect underserved areas. A guiding principle in design of assessment programmes is fitness for purpose. High quality assessment can only be defined in terms of its goals.

Systematic Reviews of Mechanisms for Financing Family Planning: Findings, Implications, and Future Agenda.

PubMed

Lissner, Craig L; Ali, Moazzam

2016-12-01

The article describes an international collaboration that systematically reviewed the evidence on financing mechanisms for family planning/contraception, assessed the strength of and summarized the evidence, identified research gaps, and proposed a new research agenda to address the gaps. The review found that the evidence base is weak owing to the paucity of studies, diversity in findings, and variations in intervention, study design, and outcome measures. Of more than 17,000 papers reviewed only 38 met the eligibility criteria. A number of general recommendations on the directions and areas of future research can be drawn. There is a strong need for more robust study designs on the effectiveness of financial incentives in family planning. © 2016 The Population Council, Inc.

Systematically reviewing and synthesizing evidence from conversation analytic and related discursive research to inform healthcare communication practice and policy: an illustrated guide

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Healthcare delivery is largely accomplished in and through conversations between people, and healthcare quality and effectiveness depend enormously upon the communication practices employed within these conversations. An important body of evidence about these practices has been generated by conversation analysis and related discourse analytic approaches, but there has been very little systematic reviewing of this evidence. Methods We developed an approach to reviewing evidence from conversation analytic and related discursive research through the following procedures: • reviewing existing systematic review methods and our own prior experience of applying these • clarifying distinctive features of conversation analytic and related discursive work which must be taken into account when reviewing • holding discussions within a review advisory team that included members with expertise in healthcare research, conversation analytic research, and systematic reviewing • attempting and then refining procedures through conducting an actual review which examined evidence about how people talk about difficult future issues including illness progression and dying Results We produced a step-by-step guide which we describe here in terms of eight stages, and which we illustrate from our ‘Review of Future Talk’. The guide incorporates both established procedures for systematic reviewing, and new techniques designed for working with conversation analytic evidence. Conclusions The guide is designed to inform systematic reviews of conversation analytic and related discursive evidence on specific domains and topics. Whilst we designed it for reviews that aim at informing healthcare practice and policy, it is flexible and could be used for reviews with other aims, for instance those aiming to underpin research programmes and projects. We advocate systematically reviewing conversation analytic and related discursive findings using this approach in order to translate

Maximum performance synergy: A new approach to recording studio control room design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szymanski, Jeff D.

2003-10-01

Popular recording studio control room designs include LEDE(tm), RFZ(tm), and nonenvironment rooms. The common goal of all of these is to create an accurate acoustical environment that does not distort or otherwise color audio reproduction. Also common to these designs is the frequent need to have multiple ancillary recording rooms, often adjacent to the main control room, where group members perform. This approach, where group members are physically separated from one another, can lead to lack of ensemble in the finished recordings. New twists on old acoustical treatment techniques have been implemented at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee, which minimize the need for multiple ancillary recording rooms, thus creating an environment where talent, producer and recording professionals can all occupy the same space for maximum performance synergy. Semi-separated performance areas are designed around a central, critical listening area. The techniques and equipment required to achieve this separation are reviewed, as are advantages and disadvantages to this new control room design approach.

Integrating Evidence From Systematic Reviews, Qualitative Research, and Expert Knowledge Using Co-Design Techniques to Develop a Web-Based Intervention for People in the Retirement Transition.