Improving utility of evidence synthesis for healthy public policy: the three Rs (relevance, rigor, and readability [and resources]).

PubMed

Thomson, Hilary

2013-08-01

Systematic reviews have the potential to promote knowledge exchange between researchers and decision-makers. Review planning requires engagement with evidence users to ensure preparation of relevant reviews, and well-conducted reviews should provide accessible and reliable synthesis to support decision-making. Yet, systematic reviews are not routinely referred to by decision-makers, and innovative approaches to improve the utility of reviews is needed. Evidence synthesis for healthy public policy is typically complex and methodologically challenging. Although not lessening the value of reviews, these challenges can be overwhelming and threaten their utility. Using the interrelated principles of relevance, rigor, and readability, and in light of available resources, this article considers how utility of evidence synthesis for healthy public policy might be improved.

Improving Utility of Evidence Synthesis for Healthy Public Policy: the Three Rs (Relevance, Rigor, and Readability [and Resources])

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Systematic reviews have the potential to promote knowledge exchange between researchers and decision-makers. Review planning requires engagement with evidence users to ensure preparation of relevant reviews, and well-conducted reviews should provide accessible and reliable synthesis to support decision-making. Yet, systematic reviews are not routinely referred to by decision-makers, and innovative approaches to improve the utility of reviews is needed. Evidence synthesis for healthy public policy is typically complex and methodologically challenging. Although not lessening the value of reviews, these challenges can be overwhelming and threaten their utility. Using the interrelated principles of relevance, rigor, and readability, and in light of available resources, this article considers how utility of evidence synthesis for healthy public policy might be improved. PMID:23763400

Qualitative Validation of the IMM Model for ISS and STS Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerstman, E.; Walton, M.; Reyes, D.; Boley, L.; Saile, L.; Young, M.; Arellano, J.; Garcia, Y.; Myers, J. G.

2016-01-01

To validate and further improve the Integrated Medical Model (IMM), medical event data were obtained from 32 ISS and 122 STS person-missions. Using the crew characteristics from these observed missions, IMM v4.0 was used to forecast medical events and medical resource utilization. The IMM medical condition incidence values were compared to the actual observed medical event incidence values, and the IMM forecasted medical resource utilization was compared to actual observed medical resource utilization. Qualitative comparisons of these parameters were conducted for both the ISS and STS programs. The results of these analyses will provide validation of IMM v4.0 and reveal areas of the model requiring adjustments to improve the overall accuracy of IMM outputs. This validation effort should result in enhanced credibility of the IMM and improved confidence in the use of IMM as a decision support tool for human space flight.

A Scheme To Improve the Utilization on Vocational Qualifications in the Labor Market.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Dong-Im; Kim, Deog-Ki

Korea's labor market was analyzed to inform efforts to develop a scheme to improve the utilization of vocational qualifications. The study examined the different meanings of qualifications in South Korea's labor market and how utilization of qualifications is influenced by factors such as types of human resource management, vocational training…

Integrating fisheries approaches and household utility models for improved resource management.

PubMed

Milner-Gulland, E J

2011-01-25

Natural resource management is littered with cases of overexploitation and ineffectual management, leading to loss of both biodiversity and human welfare. Disciplinary boundaries stifle the search for solutions to these issues. Here, I combine the approach of management strategy evaluation, widely applied in fisheries, with household utility models from the conservation and development literature, to produce an integrated framework for evaluating the effectiveness of competing management strategies for harvested resources against a range of performance metrics. I demonstrate the strengths of this approach with a simple model, and use it to examine the effect of manager ignorance of household decisions on resource management effectiveness, and an allocation tradeoff between monitoring resource stocks to reduce observation uncertainty and monitoring users to improve compliance. I show that this integrated framework enables management assessments to consider household utility as a direct metric for system performance, and that although utility and resource stock conservation metrics are well aligned, harvest yield is a poor proxy for both, because it is a product of household allocation decisions between alternate livelihood options, rather than an end in itself. This approach has potential far beyond single-species harvesting in situations where managers are in full control; I show that the integrated approach enables a range of management intervention options to be evaluated within the same framework.

LiDAR utility for natural resource managers

Treesearch

Andrew Thomas Hudak; Jeffrey Scott Evans; Alistair Mattthew Stuart Smith

2009-01-01

Applications of LiDAR remote sensing are exploding, while moving from the research to the operational realm. Increasingly, natural resource managers are recognizing the tremendous utility of LiDAR-derived information to make improved decisions. This review provides a cross-section of studies, many recent, that demonstrate the relevance of LiDAR across a suite of...

Effectiveness of community-based mangrove management for sustainable resource use and livelihood support: A case study of four villages in Central Java, Indonesia.

PubMed

Damastuti, Ekaningrum; de Groot, Rudolf

2017-12-01

Community-Based Mangrove Management (CBMM) is implemented with different approaches and outcomes. This study examined the effectiveness of various CBMM practices to achieve sustainable management of mangrove resources. We analyzed local mangrove resource management strategies in four coastal villages (e.g. Sriwulan, Bedono, Timbulsloko, and Surodadi) on Central Java, Indonesia. Local data on institutions, socio-economic conditions and mangrove resources utilization was collected through participatory resource mapping and interviews with 16 key actors and 500 households. The main differences in CBMM-practices that affect the outcomes in each village were the type of community participation, the level of organizational and economic assistance from external institutions, the magnitude of the rehabilitation project, the time selected for rehabilitation and the maintenance strategies applied in each village. Surodadi achieved most in terms of both efficient resource utilization and local livelihood improvement. Bedono's management strategy was most effective in extending and maintaining the rehabilitated mangrove areas but less in terms of livelihood support while the strategy applied in Timbulsloko resulted in higher resource utilization compared to Surodadi. Sriwulan failed on most criteria. This study suggests that combining the management strategies practiced in Bedono and Surodadi and adding external scientific and technological assistance, income diversification, institutional reinforcement and continuous monitoring of the functioning of local institutions can improve the CBMM performance to sustainably manage mangrove resources and improve livelihoods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Role of genomics in promoting the utilization of plant genetic resources in genebanks

PubMed Central

Wambugu, Peterson W; Ndjiondjop, Marie-Noelle

2018-01-01

Abstract Global efforts have seen the world’s plant genetic resources (PGRs) conserved in about 1625 germ plasm repositories. Utility of these resources is important in increasing the resilience and productivity of agricultural production systems. However, despite their importance, utility of these resources has been poor. This article reviews the real and potential application of the current advances in genomic technologies in improving the utilization of these resources. The actual and potential application of these genomic approaches in plant identification, phylogenetic analysis, analysing the genetic value of germ plasm, facilitating germ plasm selection in genebanks as well as instilling confidence in international germ plasm exchange system is discussed. We note that if genebanks are to benefit from this genomic revolution, there is need for fundamental changes in the way genebanks are managed, perceived, organized and funded. Increased collaboration between genebank managers and the user community is also recommended PMID:29688255

Advanced Performance Modeling with Combined Passive and Active Monitoring

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

Dovrolis, Constantine; Sim, Alex

2015-04-15

To improve the efficiency of resource utilization and scheduling of scientific data transfers on high-speed networks, the "Advanced Performance Modeling with combined passive and active monitoring" (APM) project investigates and models a general-purpose, reusable and expandable network performance estimation framework. The predictive estimation model and the framework will be helpful in optimizing the performance and utilization of networks as well as sharing resources with predictable performance for scientific collaborations, especially in data intensive applications. Our prediction model utilizes historical network performance information from various network activity logs as well as live streaming measurements from network peering devices. Historical network performancemore » information is used without putting extra load on the resources by active measurement collection. Performance measurements collected by active probing is used judiciously for improving the accuracy of predictions.« less

Quality tools and resources to support organisational improvement integral to high-quality primary care: a systematic review of published and grey literature.

PubMed

Janamian, Tina; Upham, Susan J; Crossland, Lisa; Jackson, Claire L

2016-04-18

To conduct a systematic review of the literature to identify existing online primary care quality improvement tools and resources to support organisational improvement related to the seven elements in the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool (PC-PIT), with the identified tools and resources to progress to a Delphi study for further assessment of relevance and utility. Systematic review of the international published and grey literature. CINAHL, Embase and PubMed databases were searched in March 2014 for articles published between January 2004 and December 2013. GreyNet International and other relevant websites and repositories were also searched in March-April 2014 for documents dated between 1992 and 2012. All citations were imported into a bibliographic database. Published and unpublished tools and resources were included in the review if they were in English, related to primary care quality improvement and addressed any of the seven PC-PIT elements of a high-performing practice. Tools and resources that met the eligibility criteria were then evaluated for their accessibility, relevance, utility and comprehensiveness using a four-criteria appraisal framework. We used a data extraction template to systematically extract information from eligible tools and resources. A content analysis approach was used to explore the tools and resources and collate relevant information: name of the tool or resource, year and country of development, author, name of the organisation that provided access and its URL, accessibility information or problems, overview of each tool or resource and the quality improvement element(s) it addresses. If available, a copy of the tool or resource was downloaded into the bibliographic database, along with supporting evidence (published or unpublished) on its use in primary care. This systematic review identified 53 tools and resources that can potentially be provided as part of a suite of tools and resources to support primary care practices in improving the quality of their practice, to achieve improved health outcomes.

Evaluating forest biomass utilization in the Appalachians: A review of potential impacts and guidelines for management

Treesearch

Michael R. Vanderberg; Mary Beth Adams; Mark S. Wiseman

2012-01-01

Forests are important economic and ecological resources for both the Appalachian hardwood forest region and the country. Increased demand for woody biomass can be met, at least in part, by improved utilization of these resources. However, concerns exist about the impacts of increased intensity of woody biomass removal on the sustainability of forest ecosystems....

Resource utilization after introduction of a standardized clinical assessment and management plan.

PubMed

Friedman, Kevin G; Rathod, Rahul H; Farias, Michael; Graham, Dionne; Powell, Andrew J; Fulton, David R; Newburger, Jane W; Colan, Steven D; Jenkins, Kathy J; Lock, James E

2010-01-01

A Standardized Clinical Assessment and Management Plan (SCAMP) is a novel quality improvement initiative that standardizes the assessment and management of all patients who carry a predefined diagnosis. Based on periodic review of systemically collected data the SCAMP is designed to be modified to improve its own algorithm. One of the objectives of a SCAMP is to identify and reduce resource utilization and patient care costs. We retrospectively reviewed resource utilization in the first 93 arterial switch operation (ASO) SCAMP patients and 186 age-matched control ASO patients. We compared diagnostic and laboratory testing obtained at the initial SCAMP clinic visit and control patient visits. To evaluate the effect of the SCAMP over time, the number of clinic visits per patient year and echocardiograms per patient year in historical control ASO patients were compared to the projected rates for ASO SCAMP participants. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), stress echocardiogram, and lipid profile utilization were higher in the initial SCAMP clinic visit group than in age-matched control patients. Total echocardiogram and lung scan usage were similar. Chest X-ray and exercise stress testing were obtained less in SCAMP patients. ASO SCAMP patients are projected to have 0.5 clinic visits and 0.5 echocardiograms per year. Historical control patients had more clinic visits (1.2 vs. 0.5 visits/patient year, P<.01) and a higher echocardiogram rate (0.92 vs. 0.5 echocardiograms/patient year, P<.01) Implementation of a SCAMP may initially lead to increased resource utilization, but over time resource utilization is projected to decrease.

Lean Manufacturing Improves Emergency Department Throughput and Patient Satisfaction.

PubMed

Kane, Marlena; Chui, Kristen; Rimicci, Janet; Callagy, Patrice; Hereford, James; Shen, Sam; Norris, Robert; Pickham, David

2015-09-01

A multidisciplinary team led by nursing leadership and physicians developed a plan to meet increasing demand and improve the patient experience in the ED without expanding the department's current resources. The approach included Lean tools and engaged frontline staff and physicians. Applying Lean management principles resulted in quicker service, improved patient satisfaction, increased capacity, and reduced resource utilization. Incorporating continuous daily management is necessary for sustainment of continuous improvement activities.

A cognitive gateway-based spectrum sharing method in downlink round robin scheduling of LTE system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hongyu; Wu, Cheng; Wang, Yiming

2017-07-01

A key technique of LTE is how to allocate efficiently the resource of radio spectrum. Traditional Round Robin (RR) scheduling scheme may lead to too many resource residues when allocating resources. When the number of users in the current transmission time interval (TTI) is not the greatest common divisor of resource block groups (RBGs), and such a phenomenon lasts for a long time, the spectrum utilization would be greatly decreased. In this paper, a novel spectrum allocation scheme of cognitive gateway (CG) was proposed, in which the LTE spectrum utilization and CG’s throughput were greatly increased by allocating idle resource blocks in the shared TTI in LTE system to CG. Our simulation results show that the spectrum resource sharing method can improve LTE spectral utilization and increase the CG’s throughput as well as network use time.

Effective Strategies Urban Superintendents Utilize That Improve the Academic Achievement for African American Males

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prioleau, Lushandra

2013-01-01

This study examined the effective strategies, resources, and programs urban superintendents utilize to improve the academic achievement for African-American males. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to answer the following research questions regarding urban superintendents and the academic achievement for African-American males: What…

Develop feedback system for intelligent dynamic resource allocation to improve application performance.

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

Gentile, Ann C.; Brandt, James M.; Tucker, Thomas

2011-09-01

This report provides documentation for the completion of the Sandia Level II milestone 'Develop feedback system for intelligent dynamic resource allocation to improve application performance'. This milestone demonstrates the use of a scalable data collection analysis and feedback system that enables insight into how an application is utilizing the hardware resources of a high performance computing (HPC) platform in a lightweight fashion. Further we demonstrate utilizing the same mechanisms used for transporting data for remote analysis and visualization to provide low latency run-time feedback to applications. The ultimate goal of this body of work is performance optimization in the facemore » of the ever increasing size and complexity of HPC systems.« less

Integrating Hospital Administrative Data to Improve Health Care Efficiency and Outcomes: “The Socrates Story”

PubMed Central

Lawrence, Justin; Delaney, Conor P.

2013-01-01

Evaluation of health care outcomes has become increasingly important as we strive to improve quality and efficiency while controlling cost. Many groups feel that analysis of large datasets will be useful in optimizing resource utilization; however, the ideal blend of clinical and administrative data points has not been developed. Hospitals and health care systems have several tools to measure cost and resource utilization, but the data are often housed in disparate systems that are not integrated and do not permit multisystem analysis. Systems Outcomes and Clinical Resources AdministraTive Efficiency Software (SOCRATES) is a novel data merging, warehousing, analysis, and reporting technology, which brings together disparate hospital administrative systems generating automated or customizable risk-adjusted reports. Used in combination with standardized enhanced care pathways, SOCRATES offers a mechanism to improve the quality and efficiency of care, with the ability to measure real-time changes in outcomes. PMID:24436649

Integrating hospital administrative data to improve health care efficiency and outcomes: "the socrates story".

PubMed

Lawrence, Justin; Delaney, Conor P

2013-03-01

Evaluation of health care outcomes has become increasingly important as we strive to improve quality and efficiency while controlling cost. Many groups feel that analysis of large datasets will be useful in optimizing resource utilization; however, the ideal blend of clinical and administrative data points has not been developed. Hospitals and health care systems have several tools to measure cost and resource utilization, but the data are often housed in disparate systems that are not integrated and do not permit multisystem analysis. Systems Outcomes and Clinical Resources AdministraTive Efficiency Software (SOCRATES) is a novel data merging, warehousing, analysis, and reporting technology, which brings together disparate hospital administrative systems generating automated or customizable risk-adjusted reports. Used in combination with standardized enhanced care pathways, SOCRATES offers a mechanism to improve the quality and efficiency of care, with the ability to measure real-time changes in outcomes.

Improving Student Academic Success through Differentiated Teaching within a Specialized Learning Resource Center

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Roy E.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to improve the academic success of students through the utilization of differentiated teaching within a specialized Learning Resource Center. The research study site is a private coeducational K-11 school located in Northern Georgia. The school provides motivated and disciplined students with a rigorous…

Principles of Improvement the Energy Efficiency in Pyrometallurgy of Copper: Utilization the Secondary Heat Energy of Intermediate Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ćirković, Milorad; Bugarin, Mile; Trujić, Vlastimir; Kamberović, Željko

Having in mind that the energy is more and more expensive and that the natural energy resources are smaller and smaller, this research presents a contribution to the use of renewable thermoenergetic resources in terms of improving the economy and ecology in the pyrometallurgical copper production.

Mining and Utilizing Dataset Relevancy from Oceanographic Dataset (MUDROD) Metadata, Usage Metrics, and User Feedback to Improve Data Discovery and Access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Y.

2015-12-01

Oceanographic resource discovery is a critical step for developing ocean science applications. With the increasing number of resources available online, many Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) components (e.g. catalogues and portals) have been developed to help manage and discover oceanographic resources. However, efficient and accurate resource discovery is still a big challenge because of the lack of data relevancy information. In this article, we propose a search engine framework for mining and utilizing dataset relevancy from oceanographic dataset metadata, usage metrics, and user feedback. The objective is to improve discovery accuracy of oceanographic data and reduce time for scientist to discover, download and reformat data for their projects. Experiments and a search example show that the propose engine helps both scientists and general users search for more accurate results with enhanced performance and user experience through a user-friendly interface.

Improving sand and gravel utilization and land-use planning. - 3D-modelling gravel resources with geospatial data.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rolstad Libach, Lars; Wolden, Knut; Dagestad, Atle; Eskil Larsen, Bjørn

2017-04-01

The Norwegian aggregate industry produces approximately 14 million tons of sand and gravel aggregates annually to a value of approximately 100 million Euros. Utilization of aggregates are often linked to land-use conflicts and complex environmental impacts at the extraction site. These topics are managed on a local municipal level in Norway. The Geological Survey of Norway has a database and a web map service with information about sand and gravel deposits with considerable volumes and an importance evaluation. Some of the deposits covers large areas where the land-use conflicts are high. To ease and improve land-use planning, safeguard other important resources like groundwater and sustainable utilization of sand and gravel resources - there is a need for more detailed information of already mapped important resources. Detailed 3D-models of gravel deposits is a tool for a better land-use- and resource management. By combining seismic, GPR and resistivity geophysical profile data, borehole data, quaternary maps and lidar surface data, it has been possible to make 3D-models of deposits and to further research the possibilities for distinguishing different qualities and volumes. Good datasets and a detailed resource map is a prerequisite to assess geological resources for planners, extractors and neighbours. Future challenges lies in use of, often old, geophysical data, and combining these. What kind of information is it possible to grasp from depth-data that actually argues for a more detailed delineation of resources?

Studies on water resources carrying capacity in Tuhai river basin based on ecological footprint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chengshuai; Xu, Lirong; Fu, Xin

2017-05-01

In this paper, the method of the water ecological footprint (WEF) was used to evaluate water resources carrying capacity and water resources sustainability of Tuhai River Basin in Shandong Province. The results show that: (1) The WEF had a downward trend in overall volatility in Tuhai River Basin from 2003 to 2011. Agricultural water occupies high proportion, which was a major contributor to the WEF, and about 86.9% of agricultural WEF was used for farmland irrigation; (2) The water resources carrying capacity had a downward trend in general, which was mostly affected by some natural factors in this basin such as hydrology and meteorology in Tuhai River Basin; (3) Based on analysis of water resources ecological deficit, it can be concluded that the water resources utilization mode was in an unhealthy pattern and it was necessary to improve the utilization efficiency of water resources in Tuhai River Basin; (4) In view of water resources utilization problems in the studied area, well irrigation should be greatly developed at the head of Yellow River Irrigation Area(YRIA), however, water from Yellow River should be utilized for irrigation as much as possible, combined with agricultural water-saving measures and controlled exploiting groundwater at the tail of YRIA. Therefore, the combined usage of surface water and ground water of YRIA is an important way to realize agricultural water saving and sustainable utilization of water resources in Tuhai River Basin.

Impact of Lumbar Fusion on Health Care Resource Utilization.

PubMed

Mina, Curtis; Carreon, Leah Y; Glassman, Steven D

2016-02-01

A longitudinal cohort. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of health care resource utilization decrease 2 years after lumbar spinal fusion. Despite the assumption that surgery will minimize the need for ongoing nonsurgical treatment, the impact of lumbar fusion on subsequent health care resource utilization has not been effectively studied. Patients who had continuous coverage by a major insurer during the year before decompression and posterolateral instrumented spinal fusion, and the 2 and a half years following were identified. All charges processed during this time-period were collected. Charges associated with the index surgery, the 90-day postoperative period, and those unrelated to spinal care were excluded. Associations with Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score improvement at 2 years after surgery and health care resource utilization were determined. Sixty-six patients were included in the analysis. The mean age was 59 years and 39% were males. There was a decrease in health care utilization costs 1 year after surgery ($3267.59) compared with pre-op ($4246.32), but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.197). There was a statistically significant decrease in costs during the second year after surgery ($1420.97) compared with either pre-op (P = 0.000) or 1-year costs (P = 0.001). No statistically significant correlations could be found between change in ODI scores and costs incurred at either year post-op. Health care utilization decreased at 1 year and significantly at 2 years after lumbar fusion. However, there was no correlation between use of nonsurgical resources and clinical outcome based on ODI scores. This raises the question as to whether these resources were used in a rational manner. This cooperative study between a major insurer and a tertiary spine center provides improved insight into the cost profile of lumbar fusion surgery. Further study is needed to determine whether ongoing post-op treatment is necessary or simply established practice. 2.

X Marks the Spot: Creating and Managing a Single Service Point to Improve Customer Service and Maximize Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venner, Mary Ann; Keshmiripour, Seti

2016-01-01

This article will describe how merging service points in an academic library is an opportunity to improve customer service and utilize staffing resources more efficiently. Combining service points provides libraries with the ability to create a more positive library experience for patrons by minimizing the ping-pong effect for assistance. The…

Resource utilization in children with tuberous sclerosis complex and associated seizures: a retrospective chart review study.

PubMed

Lennert, Barb; Farrelly, Eileen; Sacco, Patricia; Pira, Geraldine; Frost, Michael

2013-04-01

Seizures are a hallmark manifestation of tuberous sclerosis complex, yet data characterizing resource utilization are lacking. This retrospective chart review was performed to assess the economic burden of tuberous sclerosis complex with neurologic manifestations. Demographic and resource utilization data were collected for 95 patients for up to 5 years after tuberous sclerosis complex diagnosis. Mean age at diagnosis was 3.1 years, with complex partial and infantile spasms as the most common seizure types. In the first 5 years post-diagnosis, 83.2% required hospitalization, 30.5% underwent surgery, and the majority of patients (90.5%) underwent ≥3 testing procedures. In 79 patients with a full 5 years of data, hospitalizations, intensive care unit stays, diagnostic testing, and rehabilitation services decreased over the 5-year period. Resource utilization is cost-intensive in children with tuberous sclerosis complex and associated seizures during the first few years following diagnosis. Improving seizure control and reducing health care costs in this population remain unmet needs.

Estimating the Value of Improved Distributed Photovoltaic Adoption Forecasts for Utility Resource Planning

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

Gagnon, Pieter; Barbose, Galen L.; Stoll, Brady

Misforecasting the adoption of customer-owned distributed photovoltaics (DPV) can have operational and financial implications for utilities; forecasting capabilities can be improved, but generally at a cost. This paper informs this decision-space by using a suite of models to explore the capacity expansion and operation of the Western Interconnection over a 15-year period across a wide range of DPV growth rates and misforecast severities. The system costs under a misforecast are compared against the costs under a perfect forecast, to quantify the costs of misforecasting. Using a simplified probabilistic method applied to these modeling results, an analyst can make a first-ordermore » estimate of the financial benefit of improving a utility’s forecasting capabilities, and thus be better informed about whether to make such an investment. For example, under our base assumptions, a utility with 10 TWh per year of retail electric sales who initially estimates that DPV growth could range from 2% to 7.5% of total generation over the next 15 years could expect total present-value savings of approximately $4 million if they could reduce the severity of misforecasting to within ±25%. Utility resource planners can compare those savings against the costs needed to achieve that level of precision, to guide their decision on whether to make an investment in tools or resources.« less

A case study: the initiative to improve RN scheduling at Hamilton Health Sciences.

PubMed

Wallace, Laurel-Anne; Pierson, Sharon

2008-01-01

In 2003, Hamilton Health Sciences embarked on an initiative to improve and standardize nursing schedules and scheduling practices. The scheduling project was one of several initiatives undertaken by a corporate-wide Nursing Resource Group established to enhance the work environment and patient care and to ensure appropriate utilization of nursing resources across the organization's five hospitals. This article focuses on major activities undertaken in the scheduling initiative. The step-by-step approach described, plus examples of the scheduling resources developed and samples of extended-tour schedules, will all provide insight, potential strategies and practical help for nursing administrators, human resources (HR) personnel and others interested in improving nurse scheduling.

Feeling of competition may raise utility efficiency

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

Not Available

1983-05-01

In an attempt to provide the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with a means of encouragement to regulated but non-competitive utilities to offer their customers the lowest possible rates, the Resources Consulting Group Inc. (RCG) devised an incentive regulation program that would award payments to those utilities that are able to reduce the level of and growth in rates. The program has the advantages of promoting the minimization of costs better than traditional regulation does; cost cuts are encouraged in consideration of both long- and short-term resource production and utilization; and ratepayers are able to achieve the greatest possible sharemore » of economic benefits associated with improved performance.« less

The Resouce Cost Model in Illinois: Utilization for Planning and Funding.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, F. Howard

1987-01-01

The Resources Cost Model (RCM) determines an appropriate cost of education for each Illinois school district. Appropriate cost is a function of the quantity of resources (teachers, supplies, and buildings) needed and the price of resources faced by each district. A modified RCM framework could remove the model's surburban bias and improve judgment…

Underutilization of Student-Centered Resources: Understanding Student Response to Supports for Improved Institutional Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craft, Rebecca W.

2013-01-01

Nationwide, students enrolled in community colleges respond to national surveys indicating that academic resources are very important, while at the same time failing to utilize those same resources. This study focused on identifying the reasons for this incongruity on the Terry Campus of Delaware Technical Community College. Using a sequential…

Recovery and utilization of protein derived from surimi wash-water

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Surimi processors are committed to improve utilization of seafood resources, increase productivity and reduce organic matter discharged into the environment. The object of this study was to recover protein from pollock surimi processing wash-water using membrane filtration and characterize propertie...

Transporter engineering in biomass utilization by yeast.

PubMed

Hara, Kiyotaka Y; Kobayashi, Jyumpei; Yamada, Ryosuke; Sasaki, Daisuke; Kuriya, Yuki; Hirono-Hara, Yoko; Ishii, Jun; Araki, Michihiro; Kondo, Akihiko

2017-11-01

Biomass resources are attractive carbon sources for bioproduction because of their sustainability. Many studies have been performed using biomass resources to produce sugars as carbon sources for cell factories. Expression of biomass hydrolyzing enzymes in cell factories is an important approach for constructing biomass-utilizing bioprocesses because external addition of these enzymes is expensive. In particular, yeasts have been extensively engineered to be cell factories that directly utilize biomass because of their manageable responses to many genetic engineering tools, such as gene expression, deletion and editing. Biomass utilizing bioprocesses have also been developed using these genetic engineering tools to construct metabolic pathways. However, sugar input and product output from these cells are critical factors for improving bioproduction along with biomass utilization and metabolic pathways. Transporters are key components for efficient input and output activities. In this review, we focus on transporter engineering in yeast to enhance bioproduction from biomass resources. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

In-Situ Resource Utilization for Space Exploration: Resource Processing, Mission-Enabling Technologies, and Lessons for Sustainability on Earth and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, A. F.; Palaszewski, B. A.; Landis, G. A.; Jaworske, D. A.; Colozza, A. J.; Kulis, M. J.; Heller, R. S.

2015-01-01

As humanity begins to reach out into the solar system, it has become apparent that supporting a human or robotic presence in transit andor on station requires significant expendable resources including consumables (to support people), fuel, and convenient reliable power. Transporting all necessary expendables is inefficient, inconvenient, costly, and, in the final analysis, a complicating factor for mission planners and a significant source of potential failure modes. Over the past twenty-five years, beginning with the Space Exploration Initiative, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), academic collaborators, and industrial partners have analyzed, researched, and developed successful solutions for the challenges posed by surviving and even thriving in the resource limited environment(s) presented by near-Earth space and non-terrestrial surface operations. In this retrospective paper, we highlight the efforts of the co-authors in resource simulation and utilization, materials processing and consumable(s) production, power systems and analysis, fuel storage and handling, propulsion systems, and mission operations. As we move forward in our quest to explore space using a resource-optimized approach, it is worthwhile to consider lessons learned relative to efficient utilization of the (comparatively) abundant natural resources and improving the sustainability (and environment) for life on Earth. We reconsider Lunar (and briefly Martian) resource utilization for potential colonization, and discuss next steps moving away from Earth.

In-Situ Resource Utilization for Space Exploration: Resource Processing, Mission-Enabling Technologies, and Lessons for Sustainability on Earth and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, A. F.; Palaszewski, B. A.; Landis, G. A.; Jaworske, D. A.; Colozza, A. J.; Kulis, M. J.; Heller, Richard S.

2014-01-01

As humanity begins to reach out into the solar system, it has become apparent that supporting a human or robotic presence in transit and/or on station requires significant expendable resources including consumables (to support people), fuel, and convenient reliable power. Transporting all necessary expendables is inefficient, inconvenient, costly, and, in the final analysis, a complicating factor for mission planners and a significant source of potential failure modes. Over the past twenty-five years, beginning with the Space Exploration Initiative, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), academic collaborators, and industrial partners have analyzed, researched, and developed successful solutions for the challenges posed by surviving and even thriving in the resource limited environment(s) presented by near-Earth space and non-terrestrial surface operations. In this retrospective paper, we highlight the efforts of the co-authors in resource simulation and utilization, materials processing and consumable(s) production, power systems and analysis, fuel storage and handling, propulsion systems, and mission operations. As we move forward in our quest to explore space using a resource-optimized approach, it is worthwhile to consider lessons learned relative to efficient utilization of the (comparatively) abundant natural resources and improving the sustainability (and environment) for life on Earth. We reconsider Lunar (and briefly Martian) resource utilization for potential colonization, and discuss next steps moving away from Earth.

Improved Cardiovascular Risk among Hispanic Border Participants of the Mi Corazón Mi Comunidad Promotores De Salud Model: The HEART II Cohort Intervention Study 2009-2013.

PubMed

de Heer, Hendrik Dirk; Balcazar, Hector G; Wise, Sherrie; Redelfs, Alisha H; Rosenthal, E Lee; Duarte, Maria O

2015-01-01

Community resources (parks, recreational facilities) provide opportunities for health promotion, but little is known about how to promote utilization of these resources and their impact on cardiovascular disease risk (CVD). This cohort study evaluated the impact of an intervention called Mi Corazon Mi Comunidad (MiCMiC), which consisted of promoting use of community physical activity and nutrition resources by Promotoras de Salud/Community Health Workers. Participants were assessed at baseline and following the 4-month intervention. Attendance records were objectively collected to assess utilization of intervention programing. A total of five consecutive cohorts were recruited between 2009 and 2013. Participants were mostly females (86.0%), on average 46.6 years old, and 81% were low in acculturation. Participants who completed follow-up (n = 413) showed significant improvements in reported health behaviors and body composition. Higher attendance significantly predicted greater improvements. The baseline to 4-month change for the highest vs. the lowest attendance quartiles were for weight (-5.2 vs. +0.01 lbs, p < 0.001), waist circumference (-1.20 vs. -0.56 inches, p = 0.047), hip circumference (-1.13 vs. -0.41 inches, p < 0.001); hours of exercise/week (+3.87 vs. +0.81 hours, p < 0.001), proportion of participants eating five servings of fruits and vegetables/day (+54.7 vs. 14.7%, p < 0.001). Following the Promotora-led MiCMiC intervention, substantial improvements in health behaviors and modest improvements in cardiovascular risk factors were found. Greater utilization of community resources was associated with more favorable changes. This study provided preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of Promotora-led interventions for promoting use of existing community resources in CVD risk reduction.

International Comparison of Water Resources Utilization Efficiency in the Silk Road Economic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Long; Ma, Jing; Deng, Wei; Wang, Yong

2018-03-01

In order to get knowledge of the standard of water utilization of the Silk Road Economic Belt from international point of view, the paper analyzes the annual variation of water resources utilization in the Silk Road Economic Belt, and compares with other typical countries. The study shows that Water resources utilization efficiency has been greatly improved in recent 20 years and the water consumption per USD 10000 of GDP has been declined 87.97%. the improvement of industrial water consumption efficiency is the key driving factors for substantial decrease in water consumption.The comparison of water utilization and human development shows that the higher HDI the country is, the more efficient water utilization the country has. water consumption per USD 10000 of GDP in country with HDI>0.9 is 194m³, being 8.5% of that in country with HDI from 0.5 to 0.6. On the premise of maintaining the stable economic and social development of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the realization of the control target of total water consumption must depend on the strict control over the disorderly expansion of irrigated area, the change in the mode of economic growth, the implementation of the development strategy for new industrialization and urbanization, vigorous development of the processing industry with low water consumption as well as the high-tech and high value-added industry. Only in this way, the control target of total water consumption can be realized in the process of completing the industrialization task.

Utilization of patient resources in physiotherapy interventions: Analysis of the interaction concerning non-specific low back pain.

PubMed

Josephson, Iréne; Bülow, Pia H

2014-01-01

This paper reports on an empirical study in Sweden of how patient resources come into play in physiotherapy interventions. A qualitative analysis was conducted of five video-recorded first encounters between patients with non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) and physiotherapists in primary care, using Conservation of Resource Theory (COR) to identify and focus on how physiotherapists made use of patients' resources (objects, conditions, personal characteristics and energies). The findings reveal variations in how these resources are utilized during the intervention. Resources with implications for what happens in the examination room during the ongoing encounter and resources characterized by professional familiarity were both employed in the intervention. However, underutilized resources were featured in the broader lifeworld perspective of laypeople and of other professional frames. The findings raise questions about professional challenges that go beyond professional skills. This implies that professionals need to improve skills in understanding and integrating patient resources into interventions.

Evaluation on equality and efficiency of health resources allocation and health services utilization in China.

PubMed

Sun, Jian; Luo, Hongye

2017-07-14

China is faced with a daunting challenge to equality and efficiency in health resources allocation and health services utilization in the context of rapid economic growth. This study sought to evaluate the equality and efficiency of health resources allocation and health services utilization in China. Demographic, economic, and geographic area data was sourced from China Statistical Yearbook 2012-2016. Data related to health resources and health services was obtained from China Health Statistics Yearbook 2012-2016. Furthermore, we evaluated the equality of health resources allocation based on Gini coefficient. Concentration index was used to measure the equality in utilization of health services. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was employed to assess the efficiency of health resources allocation. From 2011 to 2015, the Gini coefficients for health resources by population ranged between 0.0644 and 0.1879, while the Gini coefficients for the resources by geographic area ranged from 0.6136 to 0.6568. Meanwhile, the concentration index values for health services utilization ranged from -0.0392 to 0.2110. Moreover, in 2015, 10 provinces (32.26%) were relatively efficient in terms of health resources allocation, while 7 provinces (22.58%) and 14 provinces (45.16%) were weakly efficient and inefficient, respectively. There exist distinct regional disparities in the distribution of health resources in China, which are mainly reflected in the geographic distribution of health resources. Furthermore, the people living in the eastern developed areas are more likely to use outpatient care, while the people living in western underdeveloped areas are more likely to use inpatient care. Moreover, the efficiency of health resources allocation in 21 provinces (67.74%) of China was low and needs to be improved. Thus, the government should pay more attention to the equality based on geographic area, guide patients to choose medical treatment rationally, and optimize the resource investments for different provinces.

World Collection of Sugarcane and Related Grasses: Utilizing a Vast Genetic Resource

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) cultivar improvement programs have not yet systematically utilized most of the genetic sources of yield potential and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses that may exist in the Saccharum germplasm. Two collections of genetic material potentially useful to sugarcane br...

A systematic literature review of the economic implications of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea and its impact on quality of life.

PubMed

Tarricone, Rosanna; Abu Koush, Dana; Nyanzi-Wakholi, Barbara; Medina-Lara, Antonieta

2016-03-01

Chemotherapy-induced diarrhea (CID) diminishes physical performance, raises anxiety and depression levels, and increases healthcare resource utilization. To understand the impact that CID has on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and on healthcare resource utilization. Systematic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, DARE, and the NHS EED databases. A total of 22 articles were retrieved for full review (n=17, HRQoL; n=5 healthcare resource utilization). Only 2 studies had assessed HRQoL in patients experiencing CID, while cost studies demonstrated that CID episodes are unnecessarily expensive and can be avoided if diagnosed and treated early. Better management of CID has the potential to reduce overall economic burden and improve patients' HRQoL. Available evidence also relays the need to conduct larger studies that assess HRQoL and consider cost beyond direct medical costs in order to understand the full impact of CID on HRQoL and healthcare resource utilization. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online Prediction of Health Care Utilization in the Next Six Months Based on Electronic Health Record Information: A Cohort and Validation Study.

PubMed

Hu, Zhongkai; Hao, Shiying; Jin, Bo; Shin, Andrew Young; Zhu, Chunqing; Huang, Min; Wang, Yue; Zheng, Le; Dai, Dorothy; Culver, Devore S; Alfreds, Shaun T; Rogow, Todd; Stearns, Frank; Sylvester, Karl G; Widen, Eric; Ling, Xuefeng

2015-09-22

The increasing rate of health care expenditures in the United States has placed a significant burden on the nation's economy. Predicting future health care utilization of patients can provide useful information to better understand and manage overall health care deliveries and clinical resource allocation. This study developed an electronic medical record (EMR)-based online risk model predictive of resource utilization for patients in Maine in the next 6 months across all payers, all diseases, and all demographic groups. In the HealthInfoNet, Maine's health information exchange (HIE), a retrospective cohort of 1,273,114 patients was constructed with the preceding 12-month EMR. Each patient's next 6-month (between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013) health care resource utilization was retrospectively scored ranging from 0 to 100 and a decision tree-based predictive model was developed. Our model was later integrated in the Maine HIE population exploration system to allow a prospective validation analysis of 1,358,153 patients by forecasting their next 6-month risk of resource utilization between July 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. Prospectively predicted risks, on either an individual level or a population (per 1000 patients) level, were consistent with the next 6-month resource utilization distributions and the clinical patterns at the population level. Results demonstrated the strong correlation between its care resource utilization and our risk scores, supporting the effectiveness of our model. With the online population risk monitoring enterprise dashboards, the effectiveness of the predictive algorithm has been validated by clinicians and caregivers in the State of Maine. The model and associated online applications were designed for tracking the evolving nature of total population risk, in a longitudinal manner, for health care resource utilization. It will enable more effective care management strategies driving improved patient outcomes.

Online Prediction of Health Care Utilization in the Next Six Months Based on Electronic Health Record Information: A Cohort and Validation Study

PubMed Central

Hu, Zhongkai; Hao, Shiying; Jin, Bo; Shin, Andrew Young; Zhu, Chunqing; Huang, Min; Wang, Yue; Zheng, Le; Dai, Dorothy; Culver, Devore S; Alfreds, Shaun T; Rogow, Todd; Stearns, Frank

2015-01-01

Background The increasing rate of health care expenditures in the United States has placed a significant burden on the nation’s economy. Predicting future health care utilization of patients can provide useful information to better understand and manage overall health care deliveries and clinical resource allocation. Objective This study developed an electronic medical record (EMR)-based online risk model predictive of resource utilization for patients in Maine in the next 6 months across all payers, all diseases, and all demographic groups. Methods In the HealthInfoNet, Maine’s health information exchange (HIE), a retrospective cohort of 1,273,114 patients was constructed with the preceding 12-month EMR. Each patient’s next 6-month (between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013) health care resource utilization was retrospectively scored ranging from 0 to 100 and a decision tree–based predictive model was developed. Our model was later integrated in the Maine HIE population exploration system to allow a prospective validation analysis of 1,358,153 patients by forecasting their next 6-month risk of resource utilization between July 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. Results Prospectively predicted risks, on either an individual level or a population (per 1000 patients) level, were consistent with the next 6-month resource utilization distributions and the clinical patterns at the population level. Results demonstrated the strong correlation between its care resource utilization and our risk scores, supporting the effectiveness of our model. With the online population risk monitoring enterprise dashboards, the effectiveness of the predictive algorithm has been validated by clinicians and caregivers in the State of Maine. Conclusions The model and associated online applications were designed for tracking the evolving nature of total population risk, in a longitudinal manner, for health care resource utilization. It will enable more effective care management strategies driving improved patient outcomes. PMID:26395541

Research on the tourism resource development from the perspective of network capability-Taking Wuxi Huishan Ancient Town as an example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, Yanli; Hua, Hefeng

2017-03-01

Network capability is the enterprise's capability to set up, manage, maintain and use a variety of relations between enterprises, and to obtain resources for improving competitiveness. Tourism in China is in a transformation period from sightseeing to leisure and vacation. Scenic spots as well as tourist enterprises can learn from some other enterprises in the process of resource development, and build up its own network relations in order to get resources for their survival and development. Through the effective management of network relations, the performance of resource development will be improved. By analyzing literature on network capability and the case analysis of Wuxi Huishan Ancient Town, the role of network capacity in the tourism resource development is explored and resource development path is built from the perspective of network capability. Finally, the tourism resource development process model based on network capacity is proposed. This model mainly includes setting up network vision, resource identification, resource acquisition, resource utilization and tourism project development. In these steps, network construction, network management and improving network center status are key points.

Evaluate the Role of Evapotranspiration Remote Sensing Data in Improving Hydrological Modeling Predictability

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

As the global demands for the use of freshwater resources continues to rise, it has become increasingly important to insure the sustainability of this resources. This is accomplished through the use of management strategies that often utilize monitoring and the use of hydrological models. However, m...

National Aeronautics and Space Administration fundamental research program. Information utilization and evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estes, J. E.; Eisgruber, L.

1981-01-01

In the second half of the 1980's NASA can expect to face difficult choices among alternative fundamental and applied research, and development projects that could potentially lead to improvements in the information systems used to manage renewable resources. The working group on information utilization and evaluation believes that effective choices cannot be made without a better understanding of the current and prospective problems and opportunities involved in the application of remote sensing to improve renewable research information systems. A renewable resources information system is defined in a broad context to include a flow of data/information from: acquisition through processing, storage, integration with other data, analysis, graphic presentation, decision making, and assessment of the affects of those decisions.

Impact of glycemic control on healthcare resource utilization and costs of type 2 diabetes: current and future pharmacologic approaches to improving outcomes.

PubMed

Banerji, Mary Ann; Dunn, Jeffrey D

2013-09-01

The incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes continue to grow in the United States and worldwide, along with the growing prevalence of obesity. Patients with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk for comorbid cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD), which dramatically affects overall healthcare costs. To review the impact of glycemic control and medication adherence on morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs of patients with type 2 diabetes, and to highlight the need for new drug therapies to improve outcomes in this patient population. This comprehensive literature search was conducted for the period between 2000 and 2013, using MEDLINE, to identify published articles that report the associations between glycemic control, medication adherence, CV morbidity and mortality, and healthcare utilization and costs. Search terms included "type 2 diabetes," "adherence," "compliance," "nonadherence," "drug therapy," "resource use," "cost," and "cost-effectiveness." Despite improvements in the management of CV risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes, outcomes remain poor. The costs associated with the management of type 2 diabetes are increasing dramatically as the prevalence of the disease increases. Medication adherence to long-term drug therapy remains poor in patients with type 2 diabetes and contributes to poor glycemic control in this patient population, increased healthcare resource utilization and increased costs, as well as increased rates of comorbid CVD and mortality. Furthermore, poor adherence to established evidence-based guidelines for type 2 diabetes, including underdiagnosis and undertreatment, contributes to poor outcomes. New approaches to the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes currently in development have the potential to improve medication adherence and consequently glycemic control, which in turn will help to reduce associated costs and healthcare utilization. As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its associated comorbidities grows, healthcare costs will continue to increase, indicating a need for better approaches to achieve glycemic control and manage comorbid conditions. Drug therapies are needed that enhance patient adherence and persistence levels far above levels reported with currently available drugs. Improvements in adherence to treatment guidelines and greater rates of lifestyle modifications also are needed. A serious unmet need exists for greatly improved patient outcomes, more effective and more tolerable drugs, as well as marked improvements in adherence to treatment guidelines and drug therapy to positively impact healthcare costs and resource use.

Improving watershed management practices in humid regions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Understanding the basic hydrology and erosion is vital for effective management and utilization of water resources and soil conservation planning. To improve the understanding we used watershed studies on three continents. The results show that in well vegetated (sub) humid and temperate watersheds ...

Management of multiple myeloma in resource-constrained settings.

PubMed

Kumar, Lalit; Kumar Sahoo, Ranjit

2016-12-01

The prognosis of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has improved significantly in the past two decades. This is attributed to use of novel agents for induction, high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), maintenance therapy, and improved supportive care. Currently, evidence-based management guidelines/recommendations developed by International societies/groups are being followed partially in low-resource settings. Lack of quality diagnostics (eg, cytogenetics/fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), serum free light chains), novel therapeutics, and trained manpower, and limited financial resources are key challanges. An optimal utilization of available resources with continued educational activities of treating physicians focused on improving knowledge in the management of such patients may be a way forward to improve the outcome of myeloma patients in these countries. Our current approach to the management of this disease is presented here through a discussion of clinical vignettes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perinatal pathology: practice suggestions for limited-resource settings.

PubMed

Roberts, Drucilla J

2013-06-01

The practice of perinatal pathology in much of the world suffers, as do all subspecialties of anatomic pathology, from inadequate resources (equipment, consumables, and both professional and technical personnel), from lack of education (not only of the pathologist but also of the clinicians responsible for sending the specimens, and the technicians processing the specimens), and from lack of appropriate government sector support. Perinatal pathology has significant public health-related utility and should be championing its service by providing maternal and fetal/infant mortality and morbidity data to governmental health ministries. It is with this pathologic data that informed decisions can be made on health-related courses of action and allocation of resources. These perinatal pathology data are needed to develop appropriate public health initiatives, specifically toward achieving the Millennium Developmental Goals as the best way to effectively decrease infant and maternal deaths and to determine causes of perinatal mortality and morbidity. The following overview will focus on the utility of perinatal pathology specifically as related to its public health function and will suggest methods to improve its service in resource-poor settings. This article is offered not as a critique of the current practice that most pathologists find themselves working in globally, but to provide suggestions for improving perinatal pathology services, which could be implemented with the limited available resources and manpower most pathology departments currently have. In addition, we offer suggestions for graded improvements ("ramping up") over time.

Research versus Advocacy in the Allocation of Resources: Problems, Causes, Solutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menolascino, Frank J.; Stark, Jack A.

1990-01-01

This commentary on EC 231 901 discusses whether resource allocations and service policies for mentally retarded individuals should be based upon purported findings of scientific theory or the purported needs of service systems. The paper calls for improved research utilization and understanding of what makes a social movement work. (JDD)

Performance Feedback Utility in a Small Organization: Effects on Organizational Outcomes and Managerial Decision Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florin-Thuma, Beth C.; Boudreau, John W.

1987-01-01

Investigated the frequent but previously untested assertion that utility analysis can improve communication and decision making about human resource management programs by examining a performance feedback intervention in a small fast-food store. Results suggest substantial payoffs from performance feedback, though the store's owner-managers had…

[Utilization of dental services for children: a review of the influencing factors and the possible improvements].

PubMed

Cheng, M L; Si, Y

2017-05-09

It has been reported that children's oral health conditions are correlated with their attendance to dental health services. Evaluating the influencing factors of utilization of dental services for children may give ways to improve the services per se, and furtherly the children's oral health. The present review retrieved and summarized domestic and foreign studies on the utilization of oral health services for children based on the Andersen behavior model. It was concluded that the utilization of dental services for children was affected by demographic characteristics, social structure, health belief, family factors, community factors and perceived/evaluated needs. To improve the utilization of dental services for children, effort should be made by means of changing caregivers' health belief, developing oral health insurance system, setting up regular oral health resources and increasing the financial support for oral health services by government.

Diabetes Care Management Teams Did Not Reduce Utilization When Compared With Traditional Care: A Randomized Cluster Trial.

PubMed

Kearns, Patrick

2017-10-01

PURPOSE: Health services research evaluates redesign models for primary care. Care management is one alternative. Evaluation includes resource utilization as a criterion. Compare the impact of care-manager teams on resource utilization. The comparison includes entire panes of patients and the subset of patients with diabetes. DESIGN: Randomized, prospective, cohort study comparing change in utilization rates between groups, pre- and post-intervention. METHODOLOGY: Ten primary care physician panels in a safety-net setting. Ten physicians were randomized to either a care-management approach (Group 1) or a traditional approach (Group 2). Care managers focused on diabetes and the cardiovascular cluster of diseases. Analysis compared rates of hospitalization, 30-day readmission, emergency room visits, and urgent care visits. Analysis compared baseline rates to annual rates after a yearlong run-in for entire panels and the subset of patients with diabetes. RESULTS: Resource utilization showed no statistically significant change between baseline and Year 3 (P=.79). Emergency room visits and hospital readmission increased for both groups (P=.90), while hospital admissions and urgent care visits decreased (P=.73). Similarly, utilization was not significantly different for patients with diabetes (P=.69). CONCLUSIONS: A care-management team approach failed to improve resource utilization rates by entire panels and the subset of diabetic patients compared to traditional care. This reinforces the need for further evidentiary support for the care-management model's hypothesis in the safety net.

42 CFR 59.206 - Evaluation and grant award.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GRANTS GRANTS FOR FAMILY... and health services personnel; (iii) Improvement in the utilization and career development of..., particularly in rural areas, through new or improved approaches to program planning and deployment of resources...

Awake craniotomy for supratentorial gliomas: why, when and how?

PubMed

Ibrahim, George M; Bernstein, Mark

2012-09-01

Awake craniotomy has become an increasingly utilized procedure in the treatment of supratentorial intra-axial tumors. The popularity of this procedure is partially attributable to improvements in intraoperative technology and anesthetic techniques. The application of awake craniotomy to the field of neuro-oncology has decreased iatrogenic postoperative neurological deficits, allowed for safe maximal tumor resection and improved healthcare resource stewardship by permitting early patient discharge. In this article, we review recent evidence for the utility of awake craniotomy in the resection of gliomas and describe the senior author's experience in performing this procedure. Furthermore, we explore innovative applications of awake craniotomy to outpatient tumor resections and the conduct of neurosurgery in resource-poor settings. We conclude that awake craniotomy is an effective and versatile neurosurgical procedure with expanding applications in neuro-oncology.

A prospective study of prolonged stay in the intensive care unit: predictors and impact on resource utilization.

PubMed

Arabi, Yaseen; Venkatesh, S; Haddad, Samir; Al Shimemeri, Abdullah; Al Malik, Salim

2002-10-01

To evaluate the predictors of prolonged Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay and the impact on resource utilization. Prospective study. Adult medical/surgical ICU in a tertiary-care teaching hospital. All admissions to the ICU (numbering 947) over a 20-month period were enrolled. Data on demographic and clinical profile, length of stay, and outcome were collected prospectively. The ICU length of stay and mechanical ventilation days were used as surrogate parameters for resource utilization. Potential predictors were analyzed for possible association with prolonged ICU stay (length of stay > 14 days). Patients with prolonged ICU stay formed only 11% of patients, but utilized 45.1% of ICU days and 55.5% of mechanical ventilation days. Non-elective admissions, readmissions, respiratory or trauma-related reasons for admission, and first 24-hour evidence of infection, oliguria, coagulopathy, and the need for mechanical ventilation or vasopressor therapy had significant association with prolonged ICU stay. Mean APACHE II and SAPS II were slightly higher in patients with prolonged stay. ICU outcome was comparable to patients with < or = 14 days ICU stay. Patients with prolonged ICU stay form a small proportion of ICU patients, yet they consume a significant share of the ICU resources. The outcome of this group of patients is comparable to that of shorter stay patients. The predictors identified in the study can be used in targeting this group to improve resource utilization and efficiency of ICU care.

Using a Radiofrequency Identification System for Improving the Patient Discharge Process: A Simulation Study.

PubMed

Shim, Sung J; Kumar, Arun; Jiao, Roger

2016-01-01

A hospital is considering deploying a radiofrequency identification (RFID) system and setting up a new "discharge lounge" to improve the patient discharge process. This study uses computer simulation to model and compare the current process and the new process, and it assesses the impact of the RFID system and the discharge lounge on the process in terms of resource utilization and time taken in the process. The simulation results regarding resource utilization suggest that the RFID system can slightly relieve the burden on all resources, whereas the RFID system and the discharge lounge together can significantly mitigate the nurses' tasks. The simulation results in terms of the time taken demonstrate that the RFID system can shorten patient wait times, staff busy times, and bed occupation times. The results of the study could prove helpful to others who are considering the use of an RFID system in the patient discharge process in hospitals or similar processes.

Quality Improvement: Creating a Float Pool Specialty Within a New Graduate Residency.

PubMed

Shinners, Jean; Alejandro, John Aldrich N; Frigillana, Vanessa; Desmond, Juliann; LaVigne, Ronda

2016-01-01

Creating new norms is essential for success as acute care leaders seek to redesign care delivery. Through the structures of the registered nurse (RN) residency and utilizing a quality improvement process, new graduate RNs demonstrated success in creating a centralized float pool resource.

Conservation priorities for tree crop wild relatives in the United States

Treesearch

Colin K. Khoury; Stephanie L. Greene; Karen A. Williams; Chrystian C. Sosa; Chris Richards

2017-01-01

Crop wild relatives native to the United States have proved useful as genetic resources in breeding more productive, nutritious, and resilient crops. Their utilization is expected to increase with better information about the species and improving breeding tools. But this utilization may be constrained by their limited representation in genebanks and the ongoing loss...

Integrated Medical Model (IMM) Optimization Version 4.0 Functional Improvements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arellano, John; Young, M.; Boley, L.; Garcia, Y.; Saile, L.; Walton, M.; Kerstman, E.; Reyes, D.; Goodenow, D. A.; Myers, J. G.

2016-01-01

The IMMs ability to assess mission outcome risk levels relative to available resources provides a unique capability to provide guidance on optimal operational medical kit and vehicle resources. Post-processing optimization allows IMM to optimize essential resources to improve a specific model outcome such as maximization of the Crew Health Index (CHI), or minimization of the probability of evacuation (EVAC) or the loss of crew life (LOCL). Mass and or volume constrain the optimized resource set. The IMMs probabilistic simulation uses input data on one hundred medical conditions to simulate medical events that may occur in spaceflight, the resources required to treat those events, and the resulting impact to the mission based on specific crew and mission characteristics. Because IMM version 4.0 provides for partial treatment for medical events, IMM Optimization 4.0 scores resources at the individual resource unit increment level as opposed to the full condition-specific treatment set level, as done in version 3.0. This allows the inclusion of as many resources as possible in the event that an entire set of resources called out for treatment cannot satisfy the constraints. IMM Optimization version 4.0 adds capabilities that increase efficiency by creating multiple resource sets based on differing constraints and priorities, CHI, EVAC, or LOCL. It also provides sets of resources that improve mission-related IMM v4.0 outputs with improved performance compared to the prior optimization. The new optimization represents much improved fidelity that will improve the utility of the IMM 4.0 for decision support.

Strategic implementation and accountability: the case of the long-term care alliance.

PubMed

Seaman, Al; Elias, Maria; O'Neill, Bill; Yatabe, Karen

2010-01-01

A group of chief executives of long-term care homes formed an alliance in order to tap the resources residing within their management teams. Adopting a strategic implementation project based on a framework of accountability, the executives were able to better understand the uncertainties of the environment and potentially structure their strategic implementation to best use scarce resources. The framework of accountability allowed the homes to recognize the need for a strong business approach to long-term care. Communication improved throughout the organizations while systems and resources showed improved utilization. Quality became the driving force for all actions taken to move the organizations toward achieving their visions.

Implementing antiretroviral therapy programs in resource-constrained settings: lessons from Monze, Zambia.

PubMed

Adedimeji, Adebola; Malokota, Oliver; Manafa, Ogenna

2011-05-01

We describe the impact of an antiretroviral therapy program on human resource utilization and service delivery in a rural hospital in Monze, Zambia, using qualitative data. We assess project impact on staff capacity utilization, service delivery, and community perception of care. Increased workload resulted in fatigue, low staff morale, and exacerbated critical manpower shortages, but also an increase in users of antiretroviral therapy, improvement in hospital infrastructure and funding, and an overall community satisfaction with service delivery. Integrating HAART programs within existing hospital units and services may be a good alternative to increase overall efficiency.

Data Center Consolidation: A Step towards Infrastructure Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winter, Markus

Application service providers face enormous challenges and rising costs in managing and operating a growing number of heterogeneous system and computing landscapes. Limitations of traditional computing environments force IT decision-makers to reorganize computing resources within the data center, as continuous growth leads to an inefficient utilization of the underlying hardware infrastructure. This paper discusses a way for infrastructure providers to improve data center operations based on the findings of a case study on resource utilization of very large business applications and presents an outlook beyond server consolidation endeavors, transforming corporate data centers into compute clouds.

Improved LANDSAT to give better view of earth resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The launch data of LANDSAT 3 is announced. The improved capability of the spacecrafts' remote sensors (the return beam vidicon and the multispectral scanner) and application of LANDSAT data to the study of energy supplies, food production, and global large-scale environmental monitoring are discussed along with the piggyback amateur radio communication satellite-OSCAR-D, the plasma Interaction Experiment, and the data collection system onboard LANDSAT 3. An assessment of the utility of LANDSAT multispectral data is given based on the research results to data from studies of LANDSAT 1 and 2 data. Areas studied include agriculture, rangelands, forestry, water resources, environmental and marine resources, environmental and marine resources, cartography, land use, demography, and geological surveys and mineral/petroleum exploration.

Remote sensing inputs to National Model Implementation Program for water resources quality improvement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eidenshink, J. C.; Schmer, F. A.

1979-01-01

The Lake Herman watershed in southeastern South Dakota has been selected as one of seven water resources systems in the United States for involvement in the National Model Implementation Program (MIP). MIP is a pilot program initiated to illustrate the effectiveness of existing water resources quality improvement programs. The Remote Sensing Institute (RSI) at South Dakota State University has produced a computerized geographic information system for the Lake Herman watershed. All components necessary for the monitoring and evaluation process were included in the data base. The computerized data were used to produce thematic maps and tabular data for the land cover and soil classes within the watershed. These data are being utilized operationally by SCS resource personnel for planning and management purposes.

Perspectives on the utilization of aquaculture coproduct in Europe and Asia: prospects for value addition and improved resource efficiency.

PubMed

Newton, Richard; Telfer, Trevor; Little, Dave

2014-01-01

Aquaculture has often been criticized for its environmental impacts, especially efficiencies concerning global fisheries resources for use in aquafeeds among others. However, little attention has been paid to the contribution of coproducts from aquaculture, which can vary between 40% and 70% of the production. These have often been underutilized and could be redirected to maximize the efficient use of resource inputs including reducing the burden on fisheries resources. In this review, we identify strategies to enhance the overall value of the harvested yield including noneffluent processing coproducts for three of the most important global aquaculture species, and discuss the current and prospective utilization of these resources for value addition and environmental impact reduction. The review concludes that in Europe coproducts are often underutilized because of logistical reasons such as the disconnected nature of the value chain, and perceived legislative barriers. However, in Asia, most coproducts are used, often innovatively but not to their full economic potential and sometimes with possible human health and biosecurity risks. These include possible spread of diseased material and low traceability in some circumstances. Full economic and environmental appraisal is long overdue for the current and potential strategies available for coproduct utilization.

[Calculation model of urban water resources ecological footprint and its application: a case study in Shenyang City of Northeast China].

PubMed

Wang, Jian; Zhang, Chao-Xing; Yu, Ying-Tan; Li, Fa-Yun; Ma, Fang

2012-08-01

Water resources ecological footprint can directly reflect the pressure of human social and economic activities to water resources, and provide important reference for the rational utilization of water resources. Based on the existing ecological footprint models and giving full consideration of the water resources need of urban ecological system, this paper established a new calculation model of urban water resources ecological footprint, including domestic water account, process water account, public service water account, and ecological water requirement account. According to the actual situation of Shenyang City, the key parameters of the model were determined, and the water resources ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity of the City were calculated and analyzed. From 2000 to 2009, the water resources ecological footprint per capita of the City presented an overall decreasing trend, but still had an annual ecological deficit. As compared to that in 2000, the water resources ecological footprint per capita was decreased to 0.31 hm2 in 2005, increased slightly in 2006 and 2007, and remained stable in 2008 and 2009, which suggested that the sustainable utilization of water resources in Shenyang City had definite improvement, but was still in an unsustainable development situation.

Improving a Counselor Education Web Site through Usability Testing: The Bibliotherapy Education Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMillen, Paula S.; Pehrsson, Dale-Elizabeth

2009-01-01

Technology proficiency expectations have proliferated in counselor education; however, limited information in the counseling literature details how to effectively evaluate or refine online resources from a design/utility standpoint. This description of a small-scale usability study demonstrates a cost-effective strategy for improving counselor…

A study on low-cost, high-accuracy, and real-time stereo vision algorithms for UAV power line inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hongyu; Zhang, Baomin; Zhao, Xun; Li, Cong; Lu, Cunyue

2018-04-01

Conventional stereo vision algorithms suffer from high levels of hardware resource utilization due to algorithm complexity, or poor levels of accuracy caused by inadequacies in the matching algorithm. To address these issues, we have proposed a stereo range-finding technique that produces an excellent balance between cost, matching accuracy and real-time performance, for power line inspection using UAV. This was achieved through the introduction of a special image preprocessing algorithm and a weighted local stereo matching algorithm, as well as the design of a corresponding hardware architecture. Stereo vision systems based on this technique have a lower level of resource usage and also a higher level of matching accuracy following hardware acceleration. To validate the effectiveness of our technique, a stereo vision system based on our improved algorithms were implemented using the Spartan 6 FPGA. In comparative experiments, it was shown that the system using the improved algorithms outperformed the system based on the unimproved algorithms, in terms of resource utilization and matching accuracy. In particular, Block RAM usage was reduced by 19%, and the improved system was also able to output range-finding data in real time.

Improving salinity tolerance of plants through conventional breeding and genetic engineering: An analytical comparison.

PubMed

Ashraf, Muhammad; Akram, Nudrat Aisha

2009-01-01

The last century has witnessed a substantial improvement in yield potential, quality and disease resistance in crops. This was indeed the outcome of conventional breeding, which was achieved with little or no knowledge of underlying physiological and biochemical phenomena related to a trait. Also the resources utilized on programs involving conventional breeding were not of great magnitude. Plant breeders have also been successful during the last century in producing a few salt-tolerant cultivars/lines of some potential crops through conventional breeding, but this again has utilized modest resources. However, this approach seems now inefficient due to a number of reasons, and alternatively, genetic engineering for improving crop salt tolerance is being actively followed these days by the plant scientists, world-over. A large number of transgenic lines with enhanced salt tolerance of different crops can be deciphered from the literature but up to now only a very few field-tested cultivars/lines are known despite the fact that considerable resources have been expended on the sophisticated protocols employed for generating such transgenics. This review analytically compares the achievements made so far in terms of producing salt-tolerant lines/cultivars through conventional breeding or genetic engineering.

78 FR 47003 - Draft National Spatial Data Infrastructure Strategic Plan; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-02

... NSDI.'' Executive Order 12906 describes the NSDI as ``the technology, policies, standards, and human resources necessary to acquire, process, store, distribute, and improve utilization of geospatial data...

The utility of decision support, clinical guidelines, and financial incentives as tools to achieve improved clinical performance.

PubMed

Goldfarb, S

1999-03-01

Whether one seeks to reduce inappropriate utilization of resources, improve diagnostic accuracy, increase utilization of effective therapies, or reduce the incidence of complications, the key to change is physician involvement in change. Unfortunately, a simple approach to the problem of inducing change in physician behavior is not available. There is a generally accepted view that expert, best-practice guidelines will improve clinical performance. However, there may be a bias to report positive results and a lack of careful analysis of guideline usage in routine practice in a "postmarketing" study akin to that seen in the pharmaceutical industry. Systems that allow the reliable assessment of quality of outcomes, efficiency of resource utilization, and accurate assessment of the risks associated with the care of given patient populations must be widely available before deciding whether an incentive-based system for providing the full range of medical care is feasible. Decision support focuses on providing information, ideally at the "point of service" and in the context of a particular clinical situation. Rules are self-imposed by physicians and are therefore much more likely to be adopted. As health care becomes corporatized, with increasing numbers of physicians employed by large organizations with the capacity to provide detailed information on the nature and quality of clinical care, it is possible that properly constructed guidelines, appropriate financial incentives, and robust forms of decision support will lead to a physician-led, process improvement approach to more rational and affordable health care.

Collaborative filtering to improve navigation of large radiology knowledge resources.

PubMed

Kahn, Charles E

2005-06-01

Collaborative filtering is a knowledge-discovery technique that can help guide readers to items of potential interest based on the experience of prior users. This study sought to determine the impact of collaborative filtering on navigation of a large, Web-based radiology knowledge resource. Collaborative filtering was applied to a collection of 1,168 radiology hypertext documents available via the Internet. An item-based collaborative filtering algorithm identified each document's six most closely related documents based on 248,304 page views in an 18-day period. Documents were amended to include links to their related documents, and use was analyzed over the next 5 days. The mean number of documents viewed per visit increased from 1.57 to 1.74 (P < 0.0001). Collaborative filtering can increase a radiology information resource's utilization and can improve its usefulness and ease of navigation. The technique holds promise for improving navigation of large Internet-based radiology knowledge resources.

Integrated Practice Improvement Solutions-Practical Steps to Operating Room Management.

PubMed

Chernov, Mikhail; Pullockaran, Janet; Vick, Angela; Leyvi, Galina; Delphin, Ellise

2016-10-01

Perioperative productivity is a vital concern for surgeons, anesthesiologists, and administrators as the OR is a major source of hospital elective admissions and revenue. Based on elements of existing Practice Improvement Methodologies (PIMs), "Integrated Practice Improvement Solutions" (IPIS) is a practical and simple solution incorporating aspects of multiple management approaches into a single open source framework to increase OR efficiency and productivity by better utilization of existing resources. OR efficiency was measured both before and after IPIS implementation using the total number of cases versus room utilization, OR/anesthesia revenue and staff overtime (OT) costs. Other parameters of efficiency, such as the first case on-time start and the turnover time (TOT) were measured in parallel. IPIS implementation resulted in increased numbers of surgical procedures performed by an average of 10.7%, and OR and anesthesia revenue increases of 18.5% and 6.9%, respectively, with a simultaneous decrease in TOT (15%) and OT for anesthesia staff (26%). The number of perioperative adverse events was stable during the two-year study period which involved a total of 20,378 patients. IPIS, an effective and flexible practice improvement model, was designed to quickly, significantly, and sustainably improve OR efficiency by better utilization of existing resources. Success of its implementation directly correlates with the involvement of and acceptance by the entire OR team and hospital administration.

Mental health service utilization in sub-Saharan Africa: is public mental health literacy the problem? Setting the perspectives right.

PubMed

Atilola, Olayinka

2016-06-01

The severely constrained resources for mental health service in less-developed regions like sub-Saharan Africa underscore the need for good public mental health literacy as a potential additional mental health resource. Several studies examining the level of public knowledge about the nature and dynamics of mental illness in sub-Saharan Africa in the last decade had concluded that such knowledge was poor and had called for further public enlightenment. What was thought to be mental health 'ignorance' has also been blamed for poor mainstream service utilization. These views however assume that non-alignment of the views of community dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa with the biomedical understanding of mental illness connotes 'ignorance', and that correcting such 'ignorance' will translate to improvements in service utilization. Within the framework of contemporary thinking in mental health literacy, this paper argues that such assumptions are not culturally nuanced and may have overrated the usefulness of de-contextualized public engagement in enhancing mental health service utilization in the region. The paper concludes with a discourse on how to contextualize public mental health enlightenment in the region and the wider policy initiatives that can improve mental health service utilization. © The Author(s) 2015.

Impact of Glycemic Control on Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs of Type 2 Diabetes: Current and Future Pharmacologic Approaches to Improving Outcomes

PubMed Central

Banerji, Mary Ann; Dunn, Jeffrey D.

2013-01-01

Background The incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes continue to grow in the United States and worldwide, along with the growing prevalence of obesity. Patients with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk for comorbid cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD), which dramatically affects overall healthcare costs. Objectives To review the impact of glycemic control and medication adherence on morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs of patients with type 2 diabetes, and to highlight the need for new drug therapies to improve outcomes in this patient population. Methods This comprehensive literature search was conducted for the period between 2000 and 2013, using MEDLINE, to identify published articles that report the associations between glycemic control, medication adherence, CV morbidity and mortality, and healthcare utilization and costs. Search terms included “type 2 diabetes,” “adherence,” “compliance,” “nonadherence,” “drug therapy,” “resource use,” “cost,” and “cost-effectiveness.” Discussion Despite improvements in the management of CV risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes, outcomes remain poor. The costs associated with the management of type 2 diabetes are increasing dramatically as the prevalence of the disease increases. Medication adherence to long-term drug therapy remains poor in patients with type 2 diabetes and contributes to poor glycemic control in this patient population, increased healthcare resource utilization and increased costs, as well as increased rates of comorbid CVD and mortality. Furthermore, poor adherence to established evidence-based guidelines for type 2 diabetes, including underdiagnosis and undertreatment, contributes to poor outcomes. New approaches to the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes currently in development have the potential to improve medication adherence and consequently glycemic control, which in turn will help to reduce associated costs and healthcare utilization. Conclusions As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its associated comorbidities grows, healthcare costs will continue to increase, indicating a need for better approaches to achieve glycemic control and manage comorbid conditions. Drug therapies are needed that enhance patient adherence and persistence levels far above levels reported with currently available drugs. Improvements in adherence to treatment guidelines and greater rates of lifestyle modifications also are needed. A serious unmet need exists for greatly improved patient outcomes, more effective and more tolerable drugs, as well as marked improvements in adherence to treatment guidelines and drug therapy to positively impact healthcare costs and resource use. PMID:24991370

Analysis of Low-Temperature Utilization of Geothermal Resources

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

Anderson, Brian

Full realization of the potential of what might be considered “low-grade” geothermal resources will require that we examine many more uses for the heat than traditional electricity generation. To demonstrate that geothermal energy truly has the potential to be a national energy source we will be designing, assessing, and evaluating innovative uses for geothermal-produced water such as hybrid biomass-geothermal cogeneration of electricity and district heating and efficiency improvements to the use of cellulosic biomass in addition to utilization of geothermal in district heating for community redevelopment projects. The objectives of this project were: 1) to perform a techno-economic analysis ofmore » the integration and utilization potential of low-temperature geothermal sources. Innovative uses of low-enthalpy geothermal water were designed and examined for their ability to offset fossil fuels and decrease CO2 emissions. 2) To perform process optimizations and economic analyses of processes that can utilize low-temperature geothermal fluids. These processes included electricity generation using biomass and district heating systems. 3) To scale up and generalize the results of three case study locations to develop a regionalized model of the utilization of low-temperature geothermal resources. A national-level, GIS-based, low-temperature geothermal resource supply model was developed and used to develop a series of national supply curves. We performed an in-depth analysis of the low-temperature geothermal resources that dominate the eastern half of the United States. The final products of this study include 17 publications, an updated version of the cost estimation software GEOPHIRES, and direct-use supply curves for low-temperature utilization of geothermal resources. The supply curves for direct use geothermal include utilization from known hydrothermal, undiscovered hydrothermal, and near-hydrothermal EGS resources and presented these results at the Stanford Geothermal Workshop. We also have incorporated our wellbore model into TOUGH2-EGS and began coding TOUGH2-EGS with the wellbore model into GEOPHIRES as a reservoir thermal drawdown option. Additionally, case studies for the WVU and Cornell campuses were performed to assess the potential for district heating and cooling at these two eastern U.S. sites.« less

Using the Internet To Improve the Resources of a Rural High School Media Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curran, Jean A.

This project was designed to bring the resources of the Internet to a rural high school through the school's media center and to provide training to enough of the faculty and students to facilitate its use. A flexible program for five academic departments requiring only one meeting of each department and utilizing written worksheets geared to four…

Lean Six Sigma in Health Care: Improving Utilization and Reducing Waste.

PubMed

Almorsy, Lamia; Khalifa, Mohamed

2016-01-01

Healthcare costs have been increasing worldwide mainly due to over utilization of resources. The savings potentially achievable from systematic, comprehensive, and cooperative reduction in waste are far higher than from more direct and blunter cuts in care and coverage. At King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center inappropriate and over utilization of the glucose test strips used for whole blood glucose determination using glucometers was observed. The hospital implemented a project to improve its utilization. Using the Six Sigma DMAIC approach (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control), an efficient practice was put in place including updating the related internal policies and procedures and the proper implementation of an effective users' training and competency check off program. That resulted in decreasing the unnecessary Quality Control (QC) runs from 13% to 4%, decreasing the failed QC runs from 14% to 7%, lowering the QC to patient testing ratio from 24/76 to 19/81.

Improving surgeon utilization in an orthopedic department using simulation modeling

PubMed Central

Simwita, Yusta W; Helgheim, Berit I

2016-01-01

Purpose Worldwide more than two billion people lack appropriate access to surgical services due to mismatch between existing human resource and patient demands. Improving utilization of existing workforce capacity can reduce the existing gap between surgical demand and available workforce capacity. In this paper, the authors use discrete event simulation to explore the care process at an orthopedic department. Our main focus is improving utilization of surgeons while minimizing patient wait time. Methods The authors collaborated with orthopedic department personnel to map the current operations of orthopedic care process in order to identify factors that influence poor surgeons utilization and high patient waiting time. The authors used an observational approach to collect data. The developed model was validated by comparing the simulation output with the actual patient data that were collected from the studied orthopedic care process. The authors developed a proposal scenario to show how to improve surgeon utilization. Results The simulation results showed that if ancillary services could be performed before the start of clinic examination services, the orthopedic care process could be highly improved. That is, improved surgeon utilization and reduced patient waiting time. Simulation results demonstrate that with improved surgeon utilizations, up to 55% increase of future demand can be accommodated without patients reaching current waiting time at this clinic, thus, improving patient access to health care services. Conclusion This study shows how simulation modeling can be used to improve health care processes. This study was limited to a single care process; however the findings can be applied to improve other orthopedic care process with similar operational characteristics. PMID:29355193

Enhancing preparedness and satisfaction of caregivers of patients discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation facility using an interactive website.

PubMed

Stone, Karon

2014-01-01

Research indicates a need for improved caregiver preparation to provide care following a patient's discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. The aim of this project was to test the use of web-based resources to enhance the preparedness and satisfaction of such caregivers. A website was provided to caregivers with resources and e-mail access to a rehabilitation nurse practitioner. Care recipients had the following diagnoses: stroke, amputation, trauma/orthopedic, brain injury or debility. Preparedness for caregiving was assessed before utilization of the website and after discharge. Satisfaction of the resources was assessed after discharge. Measures included the Preparedness for Caregiver Scale and the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. Seventy caregivers completed the predischarge preparedness tool. Thirty returned both tools postdischarge. Analysis of pre-post test data indicated increased preparedness to provide care after resource use, no increase meeting the caregiver's personal needs, and satisfaction with the resources provided. The caregivers of brain-injured patients reported less preparation as caregivers than those who cared for patients with other diagnoses. Although high interest was reported in using e-mail with the nurse practitioner, the resource was not utilized. This preliminary study supports the clinical relevance of Internet resources to improve caregiver preparation. With shortened hospital stays, providing applicable and evidence-based websites and other online services for caregivers can complement other healthcare services. More research focused on preparing caregivers and supporting personal caregiver needs is needed to evaluate the impact on overall rehabilitation outcomes. © 2013 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.

Grid accounting service: state and future development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levshina, T.; Sehgal, C.; Bockelman, B.; Weitzel, D.; Guru, A.

2014-06-01

During the last decade, large-scale federated distributed infrastructures have been continually developed and expanded. One of the crucial components of a cyber-infrastructure is an accounting service that collects data related to resource utilization and identity of users using resources. The accounting service is important for verifying pledged resource allocation per particular groups and users, providing reports for funding agencies and resource providers, and understanding hardware provisioning requirements. It can also be used for end-to-end troubleshooting as well as billing purposes. In this work we describe Gratia, a federated accounting service jointly developed at Fermilab and Holland Computing Center at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Open Science Grid, Fermilab, HCC, and several other institutions have used Gratia in production for several years. The current development activities include expanding Virtual Machines provisioning information, XSEDE allocation usage accounting, and Campus Grids resource utilization. We also identify the direction of future work: improvement and expansion of Cloud accounting, persistent and elastic storage space allocation, and the incorporation of WAN and LAN network metrics.

[Significance and utilization of "RECHS" (Resource Center for Health Science) focusing on the importance of human bio-resources].

PubMed

Matuo, Yushi; Matsunami, Hidetoshi; Takemura, Masao; Saito, Kuniaki

2011-12-01

The Resource Center for Health Science (RECHS) has initiated a project based on the development and utilization of Bio-Resources/Database (BR/DB), comprising personal health records(PHR), such as health/medical records of the health of individuals, physically consolidated with bio-resources, e.g. serum, urine etc. taken from the same individuals. This is characterized as analytical alterations of BR/DB annually collected from healthy individuals, targeting 100,000, but not as data dependent on the number of unhealthy individuals so far investigated. The purpose is to establish a primary defense for the improvement of QOL by applying BR/DB to analysis by epidemiology and clinical chemistry. Furthermore, it also contributes to the construction of a PHR system planned as a national project. The RECHS coordinating activities are fully dependent on as many general hospitals as possible on the basis of regional medical services, and academia groups capable of analyzing BR/DB.

Operating room efficiency improvement after implementation of a postoperative team assessment.

PubMed

Porta, Christopher R; Foster, Andrew; Causey, Marlin W; Cordier, Patricia; Ozbirn, Roger; Bolt, Stephen; Allison, Dennis; Rush, Robert

2013-03-01

Operating room time is highly resource intensive, and delays can be a source of lost revenue and surgeon frustration. Methods to decrease these delays are important not only for patient care, but to maximize operating room resource utilization. The purpose of this study was to determine the root cause of operating room delays in a standardized manner to help improve overall operating room efficiency. We performed a single-center prospective observational study analyzing operating room utilization and efficiency after implementing an executive-driven standardized postoperative team debriefing system from January 2010 to December 2010. A total of 11,342 procedures were performed over the 1-y study period (elective 86%, urgent 11%, and emergent 3%), with 1.3 million min of operating room time, 865,864 min of surgeon operative time (62.5%), and 162,958 min of anesthesia time (11.8%). Overall, the average operating room delay was 18 min and varied greatly based on the surgical specialty. The longest delays were due to need for radiology (40 min); other significant delays were due to supply issues (22.7 min), surgeon issues (18 min), nursing issues (14 min), and room turnover (14 min). Over the 1-y period, there was a decrease in mean delay duration, averaging a decrease in delay of 0.147 min/mo with an overall 9% decrease in the mean delay times. With regard to overall operating room utilization, there was a 39% decrease in overall un-utilized available OR time that was due to delays, improving efficiency by 2334 min (212 min/mo). During this study interval no sentinel events occurred in the operating room. A standardized postoperative debrief tracking system is highly beneficial in identifying and reducing overall operative delays and improving operating room utilization. Published by Elsevier Inc.

77 FR 3783 - Collection; Comment Request: Revision of the National Diabetes Education Program Comprehensive...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-25

... improve quality of life; (3) decrease the number of Americans with undiagnosed diabetes; (4) Among people... and resources that support behavior change, improved quality of life, and better diabetes outcomes; (3..., including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility...

EPA Research in Sustainable Water Resources

EPA Science Inventory

The four goals addressed in this slide presentation are: (1) Address contaminants as groups, (2) Technology advancement: engage the private sector, universities, communities, and utilities, (3) Leverage all appropriate authorities, and (4) Improve information sharing with stake...

Earth resources data analysis program, phase 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Tasks were performed in two areas: (1) systems analysis and (2) algorithmic development. The major effort in the systems analysis task was the development of a recommended approach to the monitoring of resource utilization data for the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE). Other efforts included participation in various studies concerning the LACIE Project Plan, the utility of the GE Image 100, and the specifications for a special purpose processor to be used in the LACIE. In the second task, the major effort was the development of improved algorithms for estimating proportions of unclassified remotely sensed data. Also, work was performed on optimal feature extraction and optimal feature extraction for proportion estimation.

Nurse managers' experiences in continuous quality improvement in resource-poor healthcare settings.

PubMed

Kakyo, Tracy Alexis; Xiao, Lily Dongxia

2017-06-01

Ensuring safe and quality care for patients in hospitals is an important part of a nurse manager's role. Continuous quality improvement has been identified as one approach that leads to the delivery of quality care services to patients and is widely used by nurse managers to improve patient care. Nurse managers' experiences in initiating continuous quality improvement activities in resource-poor healthcare settings remain largely unknown. Research evidence is highly demanded in these settings to address disease burden and evidence-based practice. This interpretive qualitative study was conducted to gain an understanding of nurse managers' Continuous Quality Improvement experiences in rural hospitals in Uganda. Nurse managers in rural healthcare settings used their role to prioritize quality improvement activities, monitor the Continuous Quality Improvement process, and utilize in-service education to support continuous quality improvement. The nurse managers in our sample encountered a number of barriers during the implementation of Continuous Quality Improvement, including: limited patient participation, lack of materials, and limited human resources. Efforts to address the challenges faced through good governance and leadership development require more attention. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Utilizing Wisconsin Afterschool Programs to Increase Physical Activity in Youth.

PubMed

Cavanagh, Bradley D; Meinen, Amy

2015-10-01

Approximately 31.7% of children in the United States are overweight or obese. Interventions in the afterschool setting may help combat childhood obesity. Research exists on interventions in school settings, but a few data exist for interventions about afterschool programs. This study investigates increasing physical activity (PA) in Wisconsin afterschool programs. A literature review was used to develop key informant interviews. Utilizing a constant comparative method, interview data were coded and themes were identified. The themes, literature review, and expert opinions were used to formulate recommendations for improving PA in afterschool programs. Programs had success in utilizing different resources to improve PA. Key barriers to improving PA included grant-imposed academic restrictions, the need for provider education, fears of conflict and competitiveness, and a lack of understanding between health and sedentariness. There is a clear need for additional exploration into improving PA in Wisconsin afterschool programs. This study resulted in specific recommendations to increase PA in afterschool programming, including utilizing school wellness policies and staff professional development to improve PA in afterschool programs. © 2015, American School Health Association.

Opportunistic Computing with Lobster: Lessons Learned from Scaling up to 25k Non-Dedicated Cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Matthias; Woodard, Anna; Li, Wenzhao; Hurtado Anampa, Kenyi; Yannakopoulos, Anna; Tovar, Benjamin; Donnelly, Patrick; Brenner, Paul; Lannon, Kevin; Hildreth, Mike; Thain, Douglas

2017-10-01

We previously described Lobster, a workflow management tool for exploiting volatile opportunistic computing resources for computation in HEP. We will discuss the various challenges that have been encountered while scaling up the simultaneous CPU core utilization and the software improvements required to overcome these challenges. Categories: Workflows can now be divided into categories based on their required system resources. This allows the batch queueing system to optimize assignment of tasks to nodes with the appropriate capabilities. Within each category, limits can be specified for the number of running jobs to regulate the utilization of communication bandwidth. System resource specifications for a task category can now be modified while a project is running, avoiding the need to restart the project if resource requirements differ from the initial estimates. Lobster now implements time limits on each task category to voluntarily terminate tasks. This allows partially completed work to be recovered. Workflow dependency specification: One workflow often requires data from other workflows as input. Rather than waiting for earlier workflows to be completed before beginning later ones, Lobster now allows dependent tasks to begin as soon as sufficient input data has accumulated. Resource monitoring: Lobster utilizes a new capability in Work Queue to monitor the system resources each task requires in order to identify bottlenecks and optimally assign tasks. The capability of the Lobster opportunistic workflow management system for HEP computation has been significantly increased. We have demonstrated efficient utilization of 25 000 non-dedicated cores and achieved a data input rate of 30 Gb/s and an output rate of 500GB/h. This has required new capabilities in task categorization, workflow dependency specification, and resource monitoring.

Sustainability assessment of regional water resources under the DPSIR framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shikun; Wang, Yubao; Liu, Jing; Cai, Huanjie; Wu, Pute; Geng, Qingling; Xu, Lijun

2016-01-01

Fresh water is a scarce and critical resource in both natural and socioeconomic systems. Increasing populations combined with an increasing demand for water resources have led to water shortages worldwide. Current water management strategies may not be sustainable, and comprehensive action should be taken to minimize the water budget deficit. Sustainable water resources management is essential because it ensures the integration of social, economic, and environmental issues into all stages of water resources management. This paper establishes the indicators to evaluate the sustainability of water utilization based on the Drive-Pressure-Status-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model. Based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, a comprehensive assessment of changes to the sustainability of the water resource system in the city of Bayannur was conducted using these indicators. The results indicate that there is an increase in the driving force of local water consumption due to changes in society, economic development, and the consumption structure of residents. The pressure on the water system increased, whereas the status of the water resources continued to decrease over the study period due to the increasing drive indicators. The local government adopted a series of response measures to relieve the decreasing water resources and alleviate the negative effects of the increasing driver in demand. The response measures improved the efficiency of water usage to a large extent, but the large-scale expansion in demands brought a rebounding effect, known as ;Jevons paradox; At the same time, the increasing emissions of industrial and agriculture pollutants brought huge pressures to the regional water resources environment, which caused a decrease in the sustainability of regional water resources. Changing medium and short-term factors, such as regional economic pattern, technological levels, and water utilization practices, can contribute to the sustainable utilization of regional water resources.

Sustainable Human Presence on the Moon using In Situ Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McLemore, Carol A.; Fikes, John C.; McCarley, Kevin S.; Darby, Charles A.; Curreri, Peter A.; Kennedy, James P.; Good, James E.; Gilley, Scott D.

2008-01-01

New capabilities, technologies and infrastructure must be developed to enable a sustained human presence on the moon and beyond. The key to having this permanent presence is the utilization of in situ resources. To this end, NASA is investigating how in situ resources can be utilized to improve mission success by reducing up-mass, improving safety, reducing risk, and bringing down costs for the overall mission. To ensure that this capability is available when needed, technology development is required now. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is supporting this endeavor, along with other NASA centers, by exploring how lunar regolith can be mined for uses such as construction, life support, propulsion, power, and fabrication. Efforts at MSFC include development of lunar regolith simulant for hardware testing and development, extraction of oxygen and other materials from the lunar regolith, production of parts and tools on the moon from local materials or from provisioned feedstocks, and capabilities to show that produced parts are "ready for use". This paper discusses the lunar regolith, how the regolith is being replicated in the development of simulants and possible uses of the regolith.

Factors affecting mortality and resource use for hospitalized patients with cirrhosis

PubMed Central

Charatcharoenwitthaya, Phunchai; Soonthornworasiri, Ngamphol; Karaketklang, Khemajira; Poovorawan, Kittiyod; Pan-ngum, Wirichada; Chotiyaputta, Watcharasak; Tanwandee, Tawesak; Phaosawasdi, Kamthorn

2017-01-01

Abstract Hospitalizations for advanced liver disease are costly and associated with significant mortality. This population-based study aimed to evaluate factors associated with in-hospital mortality and resource use for the management of hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. Mortality records and resource utilization for 52,027 patients hospitalized with cirrhosis and/or complications of portal hypertension (ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, variceal bleeding, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, or hepatorenal syndrome) were extracted from a nationally representative sample of Thai inpatients covered by Universal Coverage Scheme during 2009 to 2013. The rate of dying in the hospital increased steadily by 12% from 9.6% in 2009 to 10.8% in 2013 (P < .001). Complications of portal hypertension were independently associated with increased in-hospital mortality except for ascites. The highest independent risk for hospital death was seen with hepatorenal syndrome (odds ratio [OR], 5.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.38–5.79). Mortality rate remained high in patients with infection, particularly septicemia (OR, 4.26; 95% CI, 4.0–4.54) and pneumonia (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 2.18–2.73). Receiving upper endoscopy (OR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.27–0.32) and paracentesis (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.87–1.00) were associated with improved patient survival. The inflation-adjusted national annual costs (P = .06) and total hospital days (P = .07) for cirrhosis showed a trend toward increasing during the 5-year period. Renal dysfunction, infection, and sequelae of portal hypertension except for ascites were independently associated with increased resource utilization. Renal dysfunction, infection, and portal hypertension-related complications are the main factors affecting in-hospital mortality and resource utilization for hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. The early intervention for modifiable factors is an important step toward improving hospital outcomes. PMID:28796076

Translations on Environmental Quality, Number 142

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-07-28

Theo Wurm; SUEDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 27 May 77) 42 Improved Air Pollution Measurement Systems Discussed . (FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE, 28 May 77) 45...lowest cost to the economy and the pollu- tion authority has also gai- ned revenue to use to fur- ther improve water quality . Dr Uriarte saw no... improvement , and restoration of the environment and the rational utilization of water resources; 2. To control and coordinate the implementation of

Theoretical Calculations on the Feasibility of Microalgal Biofuels: Utilization of Marine Resources Could Help Realizing the Potential of Microalgae

PubMed Central

Park, Hanwool

2016-01-01

Abstract Microalgae have long been considered as one of most promising feedstocks with better characteristics for biofuels production over conventional energy crops. There have been a wide range of estimations on the feasibility of microalgal biofuels based on various productivity assumptions and data from different scales. The theoretical maximum algal biofuel productivity, however, can be calculated by the amount of solar irradiance and photosynthetic efficiency (PE), assuming other conditions are within the optimal range. Using the actual surface solar irradiance data around the world and PE of algal culture systems, maximum algal biomass and biofuel productivities were calculated, and feasibility of algal biofuel were assessed with the estimation. The results revealed that biofuel production would not easily meet the economic break‐even point and may not be sustainable at a large‐scale with the current algal biotechnology. Substantial reductions in the production cost, improvements in lipid productivity, recycling of resources, and utilization of non‐conventional resources will be necessary for feasible mass production of algal biofuel. Among the emerging technologies, cultivation of microalgae in the ocean shows great potentials to meet the resource requirements and economic feasibility in algal biofuel production by utilizing various marine resources. PMID:27782372

Improving hospital bed occupancy and resource utilization through queuing modeling and evolutionary computation.

PubMed

Belciug, Smaranda; Gorunescu, Florin

2015-02-01

Scarce healthcare resources require carefully made policies ensuring optimal bed allocation, quality healthcare service, and adequate financial support. This paper proposes a complex analysis of the resource allocation in a hospital department by integrating in the same framework a queuing system, a compartmental model, and an evolutionary-based optimization. The queuing system shapes the flow of patients through the hospital, the compartmental model offers a feasible structure of the hospital department in accordance to the queuing characteristics, and the evolutionary paradigm provides the means to optimize the bed-occupancy management and the resource utilization using a genetic algorithm approach. The paper also focuses on a "What-if analysis" providing a flexible tool to explore the effects on the outcomes of the queuing system and resource utilization through systematic changes in the input parameters. The methodology was illustrated using a simulation based on real data collected from a geriatric department of a hospital from London, UK. In addition, the paper explores the possibility of adapting the methodology to different medical departments (surgery, stroke, and mental illness). Moreover, the paper also focuses on the practical use of the model from the healthcare point of view, by presenting a simulated application. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theoretical Calculations on the Feasibility of Microalgal Biofuels: Utilization of Marine Resources Could Help Realizing the Potential of Microalgae.

PubMed

Park, Hanwool; Lee, Choul-Gyun

2016-11-01

Microalgae have long been considered as one of most promising feedstocks with better characteristics for biofuels production over conventional energy crops. There have been a wide range of estimations on the feasibility of microalgal biofuels based on various productivity assumptions and data from different scales. The theoretical maximum algal biofuel productivity, however, can be calculated by the amount of solar irradiance and photosynthetic efficiency (PE), assuming other conditions are within the optimal range. Using the actual surface solar irradiance data around the world and PE of algal culture systems, maximum algal biomass and biofuel productivities were calculated, and feasibility of algal biofuel were assessed with the estimation. The results revealed that biofuel production would not easily meet the economic break-even point and may not be sustainable at a large-scale with the current algal biotechnology. Substantial reductions in the production cost, improvements in lipid productivity, recycling of resources, and utilization of non-conventional resources will be necessary for feasible mass production of algal biofuel. Among the emerging technologies, cultivation of microalgae in the ocean shows great potentials to meet the resource requirements and economic feasibility in algal biofuel production by utilizing various marine resources. © 2016 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

LCA-based optimization of wood utilization under special consideration of a cascading use of wood.

PubMed

Höglmeier, Karin; Steubing, Bernhard; Weber-Blaschke, Gabriele; Richter, Klaus

2015-04-01

Cascading, the use of the same unit of a resource in multiple successional applications, is considered as a viable means to improve the efficiency of resource utilization and to decrease environmental impacts. Wood, as a regrowing but nevertheless limited and increasingly in demand resource, can be used in cascades, thereby increasing the potential efficiency per unit of wood. This study aims to assess the influence of cascading wood utilization on optimizing the overall environmental impact of wood utilization. By combining a material flow model of existing wood applications - both for materials provision and energy production - with an algebraic optimization tool, the effects of the use of wood in cascades can be modelled and quantified based on life cycle impact assessment results for all production processes. To identify the most efficient wood allocation, the effects of a potential substitution of non-wood products were taken into account in a part of the model runs. The considered environmental indicators were global warming potential, particulate matter formation, land occupation and an aggregated single score indicator. We found that optimizing either the overall global warming potential or the value of the single score indicator of the system leads to a simultaneous relative decrease of all other considered environmental impacts. The relative differences between the impacts of the model run with and without the possibility of a cascading use of wood were 7% for global warming potential and the single score indicator, despite cascading only influencing a small part of the overall system, namely wood panel production. Cascading led to savings of up to 14% of the annual primary wood supply of the study area. We conclude that cascading can improve the overall performance of a wood utilization system. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Market segmentation and industry overcapacity considering input resources and environmental costs through the lens of governmental intervention.

PubMed

Jiang, Zhou; Jin, Peizhen; Mishra, Nishikant; Song, Malin

2017-09-01

The problems with China's regional industrial overcapacity are often influenced by local governments. This study constructs a framework that includes the resource and environmental costs to analyze overcapacity using the non-radial direction distance function and the price method to measure industrial capacity utilization and market segmentation in 29 provinces in China from 2002 to 2014. The empirical analysis of the spatial panel econometric model shows that (1) the industrial capacity utilization in China's provinces has a ladder-type distribution with a gradual decrease from east to west and there is a severe overcapacity in the traditional heavy industry areas; (2) local government intervention has serious negative effects on regional industry utilization and factor market segmentation more significantly inhibits the utilization rate of regional industry than commodity market segmentation; (3) economic openness improves the utilization rate of industrial capacity while the internet penetration rate and regional environmental management investment have no significant impact; and(4) a higher degree of openness and active private economic development have a positive spatial spillover effect, while there is a significant negative spatial spillover effect from local government intervention and industrial structure sophistication. This paper includes the impact of resources and the environment in overcapacity evaluations, which should guide sustainable development in emerging economies.

Crisis resource management training for an anaesthesia faculty: a new approach to continuing education.

PubMed

Blum, Richard H; Raemer, Daniel B; Carroll, John S; Sunder, Neelakantan; Felstein, David M; Cooper, Jeffrey B

2004-01-01

Human error and system failures continue to play a substantial role in adverse outcomes in health care. Anaesthesia crisis resource management addresses many patient safety issues by teaching behavioural skills for critical events but it has not been systematically utilized to teach experienced faculty. An anaesthesia crisis resource management course was created for the faculty of our medical school's anaesthesia teaching programmes. The course objectives were to understand and improve participants' proficiency in crisis resource management (CRM) skills and to learn skills for debriefing residents after critical events. Through surveys, measurement objectives assessed acceptance, utility and need for recurrent training immediately post-course. These were measured again approximately 1 year later along with self-perceived changes in the management of difficult or critical events. The highly rated course was well received in terms of overall course quality, realism, debriefings and didactic presentation. Course usefulness, CRM principles, debriefing skills and communication were highly rated immediately post-course and 1 year later. Approximately half of the faculty staff reported a difficult or critical event following the course; of nine self-reported CRM performance criteria surveyed all claimed improvement in their CRM non-technical skills. A unique and highly rated anaesthesia faculty course was created; participation made the faculty staff eligible for malpractice premium reductions. Self-reported CRM behaviours in participants' most significant difficult or critical events indicated an improvement in performance. These data provide indirect evidence supporting the contention that this type of training should be more widely promoted, although more definitive measures of improved outcomes are needed.

Electric utility companies and geothermal power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pivirotto, D. S.

1976-01-01

The requirements of the electric utility industry as the primary potential market for geothermal energy are analyzed, based on a series of structured interviews with utility companies and financial institution executives. The interviews were designed to determine what information and technologies would be required before utilities would make investment decisions in favor of geothermal energy, the time frame in which the information and technologies would have to be available, and the influence of the governmental politics. The paper describes the geothermal resources, electric utility industry, its structure, the forces influencing utility companies, and their relationship to geothermal energy. A strategy for federal stimulation of utility investment in geothermal energy is suggested. Possibilities are discussed for stimulating utility investment through financial incentives, amelioration of institutional barriers, and technological improvements.

Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure Benefits: Expected And Experienced

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-08-20

In traffic engineering, the concept of traffic control is giving way to the broader philosophy of Transportation Systems Management (TSM), whose purpose is not to move vehicles, but to optimize the utilization of transportation resources to improve t...

Protocol to Exploit Waiting Resources for UASNs.

PubMed

Hung, Li-Ling; Luo, Yung-Jeng

2016-03-08

The transmission speed of acoustic waves in water is much slower than that of radio waves in terrestrial wireless sensor networks. Thus, the propagation delay in underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASN) is much greater. Longer propagation delay leads to complicated communication and collision problems. To solve collision problems, some studies have proposed waiting mechanisms; however, long waiting mechanisms result in low bandwidth utilization. To improve throughput, this study proposes a slotted medium access control protocol to enhance bandwidth utilization in UASNs. The proposed mechanism increases communication by exploiting temporal and spatial resources that are typically idle in order to protect communication against interference. By reducing wait time, network performance and energy consumption can be improved. A performance evaluation demonstrates that when the data packets are large or sensor deployment is dense, the energy consumption of proposed protocol is less than that of existing protocols as well as the throughput is higher than that of existing protocols.

Effects of adjusting cropping systems on utilization efficiency of climatic resources in Northeast China under future climate scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jianping; Zhao, Junfang; Xu, Yanhong; Chu, Zheng; Mu, Jia; Zhao, Qian

Quantitatively evaluating the effects of adjusting cropping systems on the utilization efficiency of climatic resources under climate change is an important task for assessing food security in China. To understand these effects, we used daily climate variables obtained from the regional climate model RegCM3 from 1981 to 2100 under the A1B scenario and crop observations from 53 agro-meteorological experimental stations from 1981 to 2010 in Northeast China. Three one-grade zones of cropping systems were divided by heat, water, topography and crop-type, including the semi-arid areas of the northeast and northwest (III), the one crop area of warm-cool plants in semi-humid plain or hilly regions of the northeast (IV), and the two crop area in irrigated farmland in the Huanghuaihai Plain (VI). An agro-ecological zone model was used to calculate climatic potential productivities. The effects of adjusting cropping systems on climate resource utilization in Northeast China under the A1B scenario were assessed. The results indicated that from 1981 to 2100 in the III, IV and VI areas, the planting boundaries of different cropping systems in Northeast China obviously shifted toward the north and the east based on comprehensively considering the heat and precipitation resources. However, due to high temperature stress, the climatic potential productivity of spring maize was reduced in the future. Therefore, adjusting the cropping system is an effective way to improve the climatic potential productivity and climate resource utilization. Replacing the one crop in one year model (spring maize) by the two crops in one year model (winter wheat and summer maize) significantly increased the total climatic potential productivity and average utilization efficiencies. During the periods of 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100, the average total climatic potential productivities of winter wheat and summer maize increased by 9.36%, 11.88% and 12.13% compared to that of spring maize, respectively. Additionally, compared with spring maize, the average utilization efficiencies of thermal resources of winter wheat and summer maize dramatically increased by 9.2%, 12.1% and 12.0%, respectively. The increases in the average utilization efficiencies of precipitation resources of winter wheat and summer maize were 1.78 kg hm-2 mm-1, 2.07 kg hm-2 mm-1 and 1.92 kg hm-2 mm-1 during 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100, respectively. Our findings highlight that adjusting cropping systems can dominantly contribute to utilization efficiency increases of agricultural climatic resources in Northeast China in the future.

User-centered design to improve clinical decision support in primary care.

PubMed

Brunner, Julian; Chuang, Emmeline; Goldzweig, Caroline; Cain, Cindy L; Sugar, Catherine; Yano, Elizabeth M

2017-08-01

A growing literature has demonstrated the ability of user-centered design to make clinical decision support systems more effective and easier to use. However, studies of user-centered design have rarely examined more than a handful of sites at a time, and have frequently neglected the implementation climate and organizational resources that influence clinical decision support. The inclusion of such factors was identified by a systematic review as "the most important improvement that can be made in health IT evaluations." (1) Identify the prevalence of four user-centered design practices at United States Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care clinics and assess the perceived utility of clinical decision support at those clinics; (2) Evaluate the association between those user-centered design practices and the perceived utility of clinical decision support. We analyzed clinic-level survey data collected in 2006-2007 from 170 VA primary care clinics. We examined four user-centered design practices: 1) pilot testing, 2) provider satisfaction assessment, 3) formal usability assessment, and 4) analysis of impact on performance improvement. We used a regression model to evaluate the association between user-centered design practices and the perceived utility of clinical decision support, while accounting for other important factors at those clinics, including implementation climate, available resources, and structural characteristics. We also examined associations separately at community-based clinics and at hospital-based clinics. User-centered design practices for clinical decision support varied across clinics: 74% conducted pilot testing, 62% conducted provider satisfaction assessment, 36% conducted a formal usability assessment, and 79% conducted an analysis of impact on performance improvement. Overall perceived utility of clinical decision support was high, with a mean rating of 4.17 (±.67) out of 5 on a composite measure. "Analysis of impact on performance improvement" was the only user-centered design practice significantly associated with perceived utility of clinical decision support, b=.47 (p<.001). This association was present in hospital-based clinics, b=.34 (p<.05), but was stronger at community-based clinics, b=.61 (p<.001). Our findings are highly supportive of the practice of analyzing the impact of clinical decision support on performance metrics. This was the most common user-centered design practice in our study, and was the practice associated with higher perceived utility of clinical decision support. This practice may be particularly helpful at community-based clinics, which are typically less connected to VA medical center resources. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Real-time information management environment (RIME)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeCleene, Brian T.; Griffin, Sean; Matchett, Garry; Niejadlik, Richard

2000-08-01

Whereas data mining and exploitation improve the quality and quantity of information available to the user, there remains a mission requirement to assist the end-user in managing the access to this information and ensuring that the appropriate information is delivered to the right user in time to make decisions and take action. This paper discusses TASC's federated architecture to next- generation information management, contrasts the approach against emerging technologies, and quantifies the performance gains. This architecture and implementation, known as Real-time Information Management Environment (RIME), is based on two key concepts: information utility and content-based channelization. The introduction of utility allows users to express the importance and delivery requirements of their information needs in the context of their mission. Rather than competing for resources on a first-come/first-served basis, the infrastructure employs these utility functions to dynamically react to unanticipated loading by optimizing the delivered information utility. Furthermore, commander's resource policies shape these functions to ensure that resources are allocated according to military doctrine. Using information about the desired content, channelization identifies opportunities to aggregate users onto shared channels reducing redundant transmissions. Hence, channelization increases the information throughput of the system and balances sender/receiver processing load.

2005 8th Annual Systems Engineering Conference. Volume 4, Thursday

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-10-27

requirements, allocation , and utilization statistics Operations Decisions Acquisition Decisions Resource Management — Integrated Requirements/ Allocation ...Quality Improvement Consultants, Inc. “Automated Software Testing Increases Test Quality and Coverage Resulting in Improved Software Reliability.”, Mr...Steven Ligon, SAIC The Return of Discipline, Ms. Jacqueline Townsend, Air Force Materiel Command Track 4 - Net Centric Operations: Testing Net-Centric

Assessing In-Hospital Outcomes and Resource Utilization After Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty Among Underweight Patients.

PubMed

Anoushiravani, Afshin A; Sayeed, Zain; Chambers, Monique C; Gilbert, Theodore J; Scaife, Steven L; El-Othmani, Mouhanad M; Saleh, Khaled J

2016-07-01

Poor nutritional status is a preventable condition frequently associated with low body mass index (BMI). The purpose of this study is to comparatively analyze low (≤19 kg/m(2)) and normal (19-24.9 kg/m(2)) BMI cohorts, examining if a correlation between BMI, postoperative outcomes, and resource utilization exists. Discharge data from the 2006-2012 National Inpatient Sample were used for this study. A total of 3550 total hip arthroplasty (THA) and 1315 total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patient samples were divided into 2 cohorts, underweight (≤19 kg/m(2)) and normal BMI (19-24.9 kg/m(2)). Using the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index, all cohorts were matched for 27 comorbidities. In-hospital postoperative outcomes and resource utilization among the cohorts was then comparatively analyzed. Multivariate analyses and chi-squared tests were generated using SAS software. Significance was assigned at P < .05. Underweight patients undergoing THA were at higher risk of developing postoperative anemia and sustaining cardiac complications. In addition, underweight patients had a decreased risk of developing postoperative infection. Resource utilization in terms of length of stay and hospital charge were all higher in the underweight THA cohort. Similarly, in the underweight TKA cohort, a greater risk for the development of hematoma/seroma and postoperative anemia was observed. Underweight TKA patients incurred higher hospital charge and were more likely to be discharged to skilled nursing facilities. Our results indicate that low-BMI patients were more likely to have postoperative complications and greater resource utilization. This serves a purpose in allowing orthopedic surgeons to better predict patient outcomes and improve treatment pathways designed toward helping various patient demographics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resource Utilization Associated with Extracardiac Co-morbid Conditions Following Congenital Heart Surgery in Infancy.

PubMed

Tuomela, Krista E; Gordon, John B; Cassidy, Laura D; Johaningsmeir, Sarah; Ghanayem, Nancy S

2017-06-01

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is often associated with chronic extracardiac co-morbid conditions (ECC). The presence of ECC has been associated with greater resource utilization during the operative period; however, the impact beyond hospital discharge has not been described. This study sought to understand the scope of chronic ECC in infants with CHD as well as to describe the impact of ECC on resource utilization after discharge from the index cardiac procedure. IRB approved this retrospective study of infants <1 year who had cardiac surgery from 2006 and 2011. Demographics, diagnoses, procedures, STAT score, and ECC were extracted from the medical record. Administrative data provided frequency of clinic and emergency room visits, admissions, cumulative hospital days, and hospital charges for 2 years after discharge from the index procedure. Data were compared using Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test with p < 0.05 considered significant. ECC occurred in 55% (481/876) of infants. Median STAT score was higher in the group with ECC (3 vs. 2, p < 0.001). Resource utilization after discharge from the index procedure as defined by median hospital charges (78 vs. 10 K, p < 0.001 and unplanned hospital days 4 vs. 0, p < 0.001) was higher in those with ECC, and increased with the greater number of ECC, even after accounting for surgical complexity. STAT score and the presence of multiple ECC were associated with higher resource utilization following the index cardiac surgical procedure. These data may be helpful in deciding which children might benefit from a cardiac complex care program that partners families and providers to improve health and decrease healthcare costs.

Dialysis facility and patient characteristics associated with utilization of home dialysis.

PubMed

Walker, David R; Inglese, Gary W; Sloand, James A; Just, Paul M

2010-09-01

Nonmedical factors influencing utilization of home dialysis at the facility level are poorly quantified. Home dialysis is comparably effective and safe but less expensive to society and Medicare than in-center hemodialysis. Elimination of modifiable practice variation unrelated to medical factors could contribute to improvements in patient outcomes and use of scarce resources. Prevalent dialysis patient data by facility were collected from the 2007 ESRD Network's annual reports. Facility characteristic data were collected from Medicare's Dialysis Facility Compare file. A multivariate regression model was used to evaluate associations between the use of home dialysis and facility characteristics. The utilization of home dialysis was positively associated with facility size, percent patients employed full- or part-time, younger population, and years a facility was Medicare certified. Variables negatively associated include an increased number of hemodialysis patients per hemodialysis station, chain association, rural location, more densely populated zip code, a late dialysis work shift, and greater percent of black patients within a zip code. Improved understanding of factors affecting the frequency of use of home dialysis may help explain practice variations across the United States that result in an imbalanced use of medical resources within the ESRD population. In turn, this may improve the delivery of healthcare and extend the ability of an increasingly overburdened medical financing system to survive.

BESIII physical offline data analysis on virtualization platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Q.; Li, H.; Kan, B.; Shi, J.; Lei, X.

2015-12-01

In this contribution, we present an ongoing work, which aims at benefiting BESIII computing system for higher resource utilization and more efficient job operations brought by cloud and virtualization technology with Openstack and KVM. We begin with the architecture of BESIII offline software to understand how it works. We mainly report the KVM performance evaluation and optimization from various factors in hardware and kernel. Experimental results show the CPU performance penalty of KVM can be approximately decreased to 3%. In addition, the performance comparison between KVM and physical machines in aspect of CPU, disk IO and network IO is also presented. Finally, we present our development work, an adaptive cloud scheduler, which allocates and reclaims VMs dynamically according to the status of TORQUE queue and the size of resource pool to improve resource utilization and job processing efficiency.

Expansion of the Gene Ontology knowledgebase and resources

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The Gene Ontology (GO) is a comprehensive resource of computable knowledge regarding the functions of genes and gene products. As such, it is extensively used by the biomedical research community for the analysis of -omics and related data. Our continued focus is on improving the quality and utility of the GO resources, and we welcome and encourage input from researchers in all areas of biology. In this update, we summarize the current contents of the GO knowledgebase, and present several new features and improvements that have been made to the ontology, the annotations and the tools. Among the highlights are 1) developments that facilitate access to, and application of, the GO knowledgebase, and 2) extensions to the resource as well as increasing support for descriptions of causal models of biological systems and network biology. To learn more, visit http://geneontology.org/. PMID:27899567

Robust Models for Operator Workload Estimation

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

piloted aircraft (RPA) simultaneously, a vast improvement in resource utilization compared to existing operations that require several operators per...into distinct cognitive channels (visual, auditory, spatial, etc.) based on our ability to multitask effectively as long as no one channel is

Commonsense Investments in a Shared Future: Business Support of Public Schools. The New School Finance Research Agenda: Resource Utilization and School Districts. Finance Collaborative Working Paper #6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Mary Ellen James

A decade ago, the business community began to pursue tentative, new relationships with schools; the focus was on long-term educational improvement, frequently targeted to core academic subjects. Now partnerships are everywhere, involving thousands of schools and hundreds of thousands of local people. This essay discusses the resources brought to…

Policy Analysis of Surgical Utilization at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-09

orthopedics/podiatry, eyes/ears/nose/throat (EENT), general surgery , and specialized clinics in optical refractory care and bariatric surgery . Patients that...numbers of surgeries , and the access to care. The first three courses of action show improvement with these projected outcomes, however, the... surgery , surgical, utilization, in room time, resource sharing, swing shift 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: a. REPORT U b. ABSTRACT U c. THIS PAGE U

Assessment and comparison of three high-aluminum fly ash utilization scenarios in Inner Mongolia, China using an eco-efficiency indicator.

PubMed

Yang, Shuo; Lin, Ling; Li, Shao Peng; Li, Qiang; Wang, Xiu Teng; Sun, Liang

2017-05-01

Utilization of fly ash is of great importance in China in the context of resource and environmental crises. Different fly ash utilization processes are proposed, and some have been practically applied. However, none of these fly ash utilization pathways has been evaluated comprehensively by integrating both environmental and economic perspectives. In this study, three high-aluminum fly ash utilization methods in Mongolia were assessed and compared based on the concept of eco-efficiency. The environmental assessment was conducted in accordance with life-cycle assessment principles, and a monetization-weighting approach was applied to obtain social willingness-to-pay as a reflection of environmental impact. The environmental assessment results revealed that the reuse of fly ash had significant advantage for saving primary resource, while solid waste, depletion of water, and global warming were the three highest environmental impacts from the life cycle perspective. The economic performance assessment showed positive net profits for fly ash utilization, but high value-added products were not necessarily indicative of better economic performance due to the relatively high operation cost. Comparison of the eco-efficiency indicators (EEIs) implied that the process of scenario 1#, which produced mullite ceramic and active calcium silicate, was the most recommended out of the three scenarios on the present scale. This judgment was consistent with the evaluation of the resource utilization rate. The present study showed that the EEI could be used to compare different fly ash utilization processes in a comprehensive and objective manner, thus providing definitive and insightful suggestions for decision-making and technical improvement.

Load Forecasting in Electric Utility Integrated Resource Planning

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

Carvallo, Juan Pablo; Larsen, Peter H.; Sanstad, Alan H

Integrated resource planning (IRP) is a process used by many vertically-integrated U.S. electric utilities to determine least-cost/risk supply and demand-side resources that meet government policy objectives and future obligations to customers and, in many cases, shareholders. Forecasts of energy and peak demand are a critical component of the IRP process. There have been few, if any, quantitative studies of IRP long-run (planning horizons of two decades) load forecast performance and its relationship to resource planning and actual procurement decisions. In this paper, we evaluate load forecasting methods, assumptions, and outcomes for 12 Western U.S. utilities by examining and comparing plansmore » filed in the early 2000s against recent plans, up to year 2014. We find a convergence in the methods and data sources used. We also find that forecasts in more recent IRPs generally took account of new information, but that there continued to be a systematic over-estimation of load growth rates during the period studied. We compare planned and procured resource expansion against customer load and year-to-year load growth rates, but do not find a direct relationship. Load sensitivities performed in resource plans do not appear to be related to later procurement strategies even in the presence of large forecast errors. These findings suggest that resource procurement decisions may be driven by other factors than customer load growth. Our results have important implications for the integrated resource planning process, namely that load forecast accuracy may not be as important for resource procurement as is generally believed, that load forecast sensitivities could be used to improve the procurement process, and that management of load uncertainty should be prioritized over more complex forecasting techniques.« less

Overview of NASA Technology Development for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linne, Diane L.; Sanders, Gerald B.; Starr, Stanley O.; Eisenman, David J.; Suzuki, Nantel H.; Anderson, Molly S.; O'Malley, Terrence F.; Araghi, Koorosh R.

2017-01-01

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) encompasses a broad range of systems that enable the production and use of extraterrestrial resources in support of future exploration missions. It has the potential to greatly reduce the dependency on resources transported from Earth (e.g., propellants, life support consumables), thereby significantly improving the ability to conduct future missions. Recognizing the critical importance of ISRU for the future, NASA is currently conducting technology development projects in two of its four mission directorates. The Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Agency's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate has initiated a new project for ISRU Technology focused on component, subsystem, and system maturation in the areas of water volatiles resource acquisition, and water volatiles and atmospheric processing into propellants and other consumable products. The Space Technology Mission Directorate is supporting development of ISRU component technologies in the areas of Mars atmosphere acquisition, including dust management, and oxygen production from Mars atmosphere for propellant and life support consumables. Together, these two coordinated projects are working towards a common goal of demonstrating ISRU technology and systems in preparation for future flight applications.

Grid accounting service: state and future development

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

Levshina, T.; Sehgal, C.; Bockelman, B.

2014-01-01

During the last decade, large-scale federated distributed infrastructures have been continually developed and expanded. One of the crucial components of a cyber-infrastructure is an accounting service that collects data related to resource utilization and identity of users using resources. The accounting service is important for verifying pledged resource allocation per particular groups and users, providing reports for funding agencies and resource providers, and understanding hardware provisioning requirements. It can also be used for end-to-end troubleshooting as well as billing purposes. In this work we describe Gratia, a federated accounting service jointly developed at Fermilab and Holland Computing Center at Universitymore » of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Open Science Grid, Fermilab, HCC, and several other institutions have used Gratia in production for several years. The current development activities include expanding Virtual Machines provisioning information, XSEDE allocation usage accounting, and Campus Grids resource utilization. We also identify the direction of future work: improvement and expansion of Cloud accounting, persistent and elastic storage space allocation, and the incorporation of WAN and LAN network metrics.« less

The role of information and communication technology in developing smart education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roslina; Zarlis, Muhammad; Mawengkang, Herman; Sembiring, R. W.

2017-09-01

The right to get a proper education for every citizen had been regulated by the government, but not all citizens have the same opportunity. This is due to the other factors in the nation's infrastructure, Frontier, Outermost, and Disadvantaged (3T) which have not beenaccomodatedto access information and communication technology (ICT), and the ideal learning environment in order to pursue knowledge. This condition could be achieved by reforming higher education. Such reforms include the provision of educational services in the form of a flexible learner-oriented, and to change the curriculum with market based.These changes would include the provision of lecturers, professors, and professional teaching force. Another important effort is to update the quality of higher education with resource utilization. This paper proposes a new education business model to realize the Smart Education (SE), with an orientation on the proven skills and competitive.SE is the higher education system to optimize output (outcome) learning with combine individual learning and collaboration techniques based network system, informal practice learning and formal theory. UtilizingICT resources can improve the quality and access to higher education in supporting activities of higher education.This paper shows that ICT resources can support virtual connected with the use of shared resources, such as resource of information, learning resources, computing resources, and human resources.

Analysis of Water Resource Utilization Potential for Jiangsu Coastal Area ' in Nantong City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Li; Liu, Jin-Tao; Ni, Jian-Jun

2015-04-01

Along with the advance of the growth of population and social economy, requirements for water quality and quantity in coastal areas is getting higher and higher, but due to the uneven distribution of rainfall years and water exploitation, use and management level, the influence of the shortage of water resources is increasingly prominent, seriously restricting the social and economic sustainable development in this region. Accordingly, water resource utilization potential in Jiangsu coastal region is vital for water security in the region. Taking Nantong City as the study area, the regional water resources development and utilization status were evaluated. In this paper, the meaning of water resources, water resources development and utilization, and water resources development and utilization of the three stages of concepts such as system were discussed. Then the development and utilization of regional water resource evaluation were carried out, and the significance of regional society, economy, resources and environment and its development status quo of water resources were exploited. According to conditions and area source, an evaluation index system for development and utilization of water resources of Nantong was built up. The index layer was composed of 16 indicators. In this study, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to determine of weights of indicators at all levels in the index system. Multistage fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model was selected to evaluate the water resources development and utilization status of Nantong, and then water resource utilization potential of Nantong was analyzed.

Contingency Planning for Planetary Rovers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dearden, Richard; Meuleau, Nicolas; Ramakrishnan, Sailesh; Smith, David; Washington, Rich; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

There has been considerable work in AI on planning under uncertainty. But this work generally assumes an extremely simple model of action that does not consider continuous time and resources. These assumptions are not reasonable for a Mars rover, which must cope with uncertainty about the duration of tasks, the power required, the data storage necessary, along with its position and orientation. In this paper, we outline an approach to generating contingency plans when the sources of uncertainty involve continuous quantities such as time and resources. The approach involves first constructing a "seed" plan, and then incrementally adding contingent branches to this plan in order to improve utility. The challenge is to figure out the best places to insert contingency branches. This requires an estimate of how much utility could be gained by building a contingent branch at any given place in the seed plan. Computing this utility exactly is intractable, but we outline an approximation method that back propagates utility distributions through a graph structure similar to that of a plan graph.

Incremental Contingency Planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dearden, Richard; Meuleau, Nicolas; Ramakrishnan, Sailesh; Smith, David E.; Washington, Rich

2003-01-01

There has been considerable work in AI on planning under uncertainty. However, this work generally assumes an extremely simple model of action that does not consider continuous time and resources. These assumptions are not reasonable for a Mars rover, which must cope with uncertainty about the duration of tasks, the energy required, the data storage necessary, and its current position and orientation. In this paper, we outline an approach to generating contingency plans when the sources of uncertainty involve continuous quantities such as time and resources. The approach involves first constructing a "seed" plan, and then incrementally adding contingent branches to this plan in order to improve utility. The challenge is to figure out the best places to insert contingency branches. This requires an estimate of how much utility could be gained by building a contingent branch at any given place in the seed plan. Computing this utility exactly is intractable, but we outline an approximation method that back propagates utility distributions through a graph structure similar to that of a plan graph.

Information Processing and Retrieval in Arab Countries: Traditional Approaches and Modern Potentials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madkour, M. A. K.

1980-01-01

Discusses underlying assumptions and prerequisites for information development in Arab countries. Administrative and environmental impediments which hinder the optimum utilization of available resources and suggestions for improvements are outlined. A brief bibliography is provided. (Author/RAA)

Black walnut as a crop, Black Walnut Symposium, Carbondale, Illinois, August 4-15, 1973.

Treesearch

USDA FS

1973-01-01

Contains 30 papers on black walnut presented at a symposium in Carbondale, Illinois, in August 1973. Subjects covered include black walnut resources, utilization, and marketing; silviculture; tree improvement; nut culture and production; protection; and economics.

A Greedy Double Auction Mechanism for Grid Resource Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Ding; Luo, Siwei; Gao, Zhan

To improve the resource utilization and satisfy more users, a Greedy Double Auction Mechanism(GDAM) is proposed to allocate resources in grid environments. GDAM trades resources at discriminatory price instead of uniform price, reflecting the variance in requirements for profits and quantities. Moreover, GDAM applies different auction rules to different cases, over-demand, over-supply and equilibrium of demand and supply. As a new mechanism for grid resource allocation, GDAM is proved to be strategy-proof, economically efficient, weakly budget-balanced and individual rational. Simulation results also confirm that GDAM outperforms the traditional one on both the total trade amount and the user satisfaction percentage, specially as more users are involved in the auction market.

Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool: Clinical utility for inpatient rehabilitation.

PubMed

Darzins, Susan W; Imms, Christine; Stefano, Marilyn Di; Radia-George, Camilla A

2016-10-01

Evidence supports validity of the Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool (PC-PART), but clinical utility remains unverified. This study aimed to investigate occupational therapists' perceptions about the PC-PART's clinical utility for inpatient rehabilitation. Using mixed methods, occupational therapists who had used the PC-PART as part of a research study in an inpatient rehabilitation setting completed a questionnaire ( n = 9) and participated in a focus group ( n = 6) to explore their perspectives about its clinical utility. Quantitative data were summarized and qualitative data analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Quantitative data highlighted both positive and negative aspects of the PC-PART's clinical utility. Five themes emerged from the qualitative data: nature of information gathered; familiarity with the instrument; perceived time and effort; item phrasing, interpretation, and presentation; and external influences on clinical use. The PC-PART was perceived to support gathering of clinically useful information, helpful to intervention and discharge planning. Recommendations for improving some item phrasing, operational definitions, and instructions were identified. Although standardized assessments were valued, use in routine practice was challenging, requiring a knowledge translation strategy.

Do efforts to standardize, assess and improve the quality of health service provision to adolescents by government-run health services in low and middle income countries, lead to improvements in service-quality and service-utilization by adolescents?

PubMed

Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman; Chatterjee, Subidita; Bose, Krishna

2016-02-06

Researchers and implementers working in adolescent health, and adolescents themselves question whether government-run health services in conservative and resource-constrained settings can be made adolescent friendly. This paper aims to find out what selected low and middle income country (LMIC) governments have set out to do to improve the quality of health service provision to adolescents; whether their efforts led to measurable improvements in quality and to increased health service-utilization by adolescents. We gathered normative guidance and reports from eight LMICs in Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Pacific. We analysed national quality standards for adolescent friendly health services, findings from the assessments of the quality of health service provision, and findings on the utilization of health services. Governments of LMICs have set out to improve the accessibility, acceptability, equity, appropriateness and effectiveness of health service provision to adolescents by defining standards and actions to achieve them. Their actions have led to measurable improvements in quality and to increases in health service utilisation by adolescents. With support, government-run health facilities in LMICs can improve the quality of health services and their utilization by adolescents.

Ring Shake in Eastern Hemlock: Frequency and Relationship to Tree Attributes

Treesearch

John E. Baumgras; Paul E. Sendak; David L. Sonderman; David L. Sonderman

2000-01-01

Ring shake is a barrier to improved utilization of eastern hemlock, an important component of the total softwood timber resource in the Eastern United States and Canada. Ring shake is the lengthwise separation of wood that occurs between and parallel to growth rings, diminishing lumber yields and values. Evaluating the potential for ring shake is essential to improving...

Ring shake in eastern hemlock: frequency and relationship to tree attributes

Treesearch

John E. Baumgras; Paul E. Sendak; David L. Sonderman

2000-01-01

Ring shake is a barrier to improved utilization of eastern hemlock, an important component of the total softwood timber resource in the Eastern United States and Canada. Ring shake is the lengthwise separation of wood that occurs between and parallel to growth rings, diminishing lumber yields and values. Evaluating the potential for ring shake is essential to improving...

Improving Science, Technology and Mathematics Education in Nigeria: A Case Study of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alaba, Sofowora Olaniyi; Adekomi, Bimbo

2012-01-01

The study assessed the impact of a World Bank Assisted Project "STEP-B" on teaching and learning of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STM) in Nigeria. It also described the contribution of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to the improvement of STM through research development, utilization of ICT, human resources and…

Exploiting Untapped Information Resources in Earth Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramachandran, R.; Fox, P. A.; Kempler, S.; Maskey, M.

2015-12-01

One of the continuing challenges in any Earth science investigation is the amount of time and effort required for data preparation before analysis can begin. Current Earth science data and information systems have their own shortcomings. For example, the current data search systems are designed with the assumption that researchers find data primarily by metadata searches on instrument or geophysical keywords, assuming that users have sufficient knowledge of the domain vocabulary to be able to effectively utilize the search catalogs. These systems lack support for new or interdisciplinary researchers who may be unfamiliar with the domain vocabulary or the breadth of relevant data available. There is clearly a need to innovate and evolve current data and information systems in order to improve data discovery and exploration capabilities to substantially reduce the data preparation time and effort. We assert that Earth science metadata assets are dark resources, information resources that organizations collect, process, and store for regular business or operational activities but fail to utilize for other purposes. The challenge for any organization is to recognize, identify and effectively utilize the dark data stores in their institutional repositories to better serve their stakeholders. NASA Earth science metadata catalogs contain dark resources consisting of structured information, free form descriptions of data and pre-generated images. With the addition of emerging semantic technologies, such catalogs can be fully utilized beyond their original design intent of supporting current search functionality. In this presentation, we will describe our approach of exploiting these information resources to provide novel data discovery and exploration pathways to science and education communities

Supporting evidence-based practice for nurses through information technologies.

PubMed

Doran, Diane M; Haynes, R Brian; Kushniruk, André; Straus, Sharon; Grimshaw, Jeremy; Hall, Linda McGillis; Dubrowski, Adam; Di Pietro, Tammie; Newman, Kristine; Almost, Joan; Nguyen, Ha; Carryer, Jennifer; Jedras, Dawn

2010-03-01

To evaluate the usability of mobile information terminals, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) or Tablet personal computers, to improve access to information resources for nurses and to explore the relationship between PDA or Tablet-supported information resources and outcomes. The authors evaluated an initiative of the Nursing Secretariat, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, which provided nurses with PDAs and Tablet PCs, to enable Internet access to information resources. Nurses had access to drug and medical reference information, best practice guidelines (BPGs), and to abstracts of recent research studies. The authors took place over a 12-month period. Diffusion of Innovation theory and the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) model guided the selection of variables for study. A longitudinal design involving questionnaires was used to evaluate the impact of the mobile technologies on barriers to research utilization, perceived quality of care, and on nurses' job satisfaction. The setting was 29 acute care, long-term care, home care, and correctional organizations in Ontario, Canada. The sample consisted of 488 frontline-nurses. Nurses most frequently consulted drug and medical reference information, Google, and Nursing PLUS. Overall, nurses were most satisfied with the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) BPGs and rated the RNAO BPGs as the easiest resource to use. Among the PDA and Tablet users, there was a significant improvement in research awareness/values, and in communication of research. There was also, for the PDA users only, a significant improvement over time in perceived quality of care and job satisfaction, but primarily in long-term care settings. It is feasible to provide nurses with access to evidence-based practice resources via mobile information technologies to reduce the barriers to research utilization.

Impact of ranolazine on clinical outcomes and healthcare resource utilization in patients with refractory angina pectoris.

PubMed

Ling, Hua; Packard, Kathleen A; Burns, Tammy L; Hilleman, Daniel E

2013-12-01

Ranolazine is a novel antianginal medication approved for the treatment of chronic angina. There are only limited data concerning the efficacy of ranolazine in reducing healthcare resource utilization in patients with refractory angina pectoris. The primary objective of this analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ranolazine in refractory angina pectoris. In addition, the impact of ranolazine on healthcare resource utilization was assessed. Consecutive patients with refractory angina pectoris treated with ranolazine at two cardiology practices in the state of Nebraska were included in this analysis. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) angina class and frequency and type of healthcare resource consumption were determined during the 12 months prior to and the 12 months after initiation of ranolazine. A total of 150 pts (64 % men) with a mean age of 66 ± 12 years were included in this analysis. All patients had previously undergone coronary revascularization. Nitrates, β-adrenoceptor antagonists (β-blockers), and calcium antagonists (calcium channel blockers) were being used in 83, 97, and 75 % of patients, respectively. During ranolazine treatment, a significant improvement in CCS angina class was observed, with 23 patients improving by one class and no patient experiencing a deterioration in functional class (p = 0.025). A total of 53 side effects occurred in 28 (19 %) patients receiving ranolazine. Of those patients with side effects, four required dose reduction and seven required drug discontinuation. The frequency of clinic visits and emergency room visits was lower during ranolazine treatment, but the differences in frequency were not significant. The number of patients hospitalized and the number of hospitalizations were significantly lower during ranolazine therapy than in the pre-ranolazine study period (p = 0.002). Ranolazine improved the CCS angina class and reduced hospitalizations over a 12-month follow-up period in a group of patients with difficult-to-treat refractory angina pectoris.

Improved outcomes after successful implementation of a pediatric early warning system (PEWS) in a resource-limited pediatric oncology hospital.

PubMed

Agulnik, Asya; Mora Robles, Lupe Nataly; Forbes, Peter W; Soberanis Vasquez, Doris Judith; Mack, Ricardo; Antillon-Klussmann, Federico; Kleinman, Monica; Rodriguez-Galindo, Carlos

2017-08-01

Hospitalized pediatric oncology patients are at high risk of clinical decline and mortality, particularly in resource-limited settings. Pediatric early warning systems (PEWS) aid in the early identification of clinical deterioration; however, there are limited data regarding their feasibility or impact in low-resource settings. This study describes the successful implementation of PEWS at the Unidad Nacional de Oncología Pediátrica (UNOP), a pediatric oncology hospital in Guatemala, resulting in improved inpatient outcomes. A modified PEWS was implemented at UNOP with systems to track errors, transfers to a higher level of care, and high scores. A retrospective cohort study was used to evaluate clinical deterioration events in the year before and after PEWS implementation. After PEWS implementation at UNOP, there was 100% compliance with PEWS documentation and an error rate of <10%. Implementation resulted in 5 high PEWS per week, with 30% of patients transferring to a higher level of care. Among patients requiring transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), 93% had an abnormal PEWS before transfer. The rate of clinical deterioration events decreased after PEWS implementation (9.3 vs 6.5 per 1000-hospitalpatient-days, p = .003). Despite an 18% increase in total hospital patient-days, PICU utilization for inpatient transfers decreased from 1376 to 1088 PICU patient-days per year (21% decrease; P<.001). This study describes the successful implementation of PEWS in a pediatric oncology hospital in Guatemala, resulting in decreased inpatient clinical deterioration events and PICU utilization. This work demonstrates that PEWS is a feasible and effective quality improvement measure to improve hospital care for children with cancer in hospitals with limited resources. Cancer 2017;123:2965-74. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Closing the cycle on food and energy resource flows in order to create a more sustainable rural economy in Nicaragua

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casillas, C. E.

2009-12-01

The ecologically sustainable development of economies is often discussed at the urban scale and framed in terms of the environmental threats that accompany rapid growth. The dynamics of rural economies are less complex and provide valuable insights into how resource flows may be better utilized, as well what are the critical roles and relationships of government and society. This paper will present a case study of economic and ecologically appropriate innovations that can be made to the production and consumption behavior within a community on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Orinoco is a small Garifuna community situated on the Pearl Lagoon basin. It has a population of over 1000 people and its economy is primarily based on the exploitation of declining shrimp and fish resources. This paper will quantify the monetary and material resource flows comprising the current economy, and present technically viable alternatives that would utilize the abundant natural resources in a more ecologically sustainable manner, while decreasing the dependence on imported food and fuels. Specifically, the paper will describe how recently implemented projects of energy conservation can be coupled with improved agricultural and fishing practices in order to meet local and external market demands for fish and vegetable oil. Secondary products can be utilized to eliminate the dependence on imported liquid and gas fossil fuels for cooking and electricity generation.

Impact of standardized clinical assessment and management plans on resource utilization and costs in children after the arterial switch operation.

PubMed

Rathod, Rahul H; Jurgen, Brittney; Hamershock, Rose A; Friedman, Kevin G; Marshall, Audrey C; Samnaliev, Mihail; Graham, Dionne A; Jenkins, Kathy; Lock, James E; Powell, Andrew J

2017-12-01

Standardized Clinical Assessment and Management Plans (SCAMPs) are a quality improvement initiative designed to reduce unnecessary utilization, decrease practice variation, and improve patient outcomes. We created a novel methodology, the SCAMP managed episode of care (SMEOC), which encompasses multiple encounters to assess the impact of the arterial switch operation (ASO) SCAMP on total costs. All ASO SCAMP patients (dates March 2009 to July 2015) were compared to a control group of ASO patients (January 2001 to February 2009). Patients were divided into "younger" (<2 years) and "older" (2-18 years) subgroups. Utilization included all cardiology visits, tests, and procedures. Standardized costs were applied to each unit of utilization. There were 100 historical and 63 SCAMP patients in the younger subgroup, and 163 historical and 165 SCAMP patients in the older subgroup. In the younger subgroup, the SCAMP had a 28% reduction in outpatient clinic visits (P < .001), a 52% reduction in chest radiographs (P < .001), a 21% reduction in electrocardiograms (P < .001), and a 30% total reduction in costs. In the older subgroup, the SCAMP had a 21% reduction in outpatient clinic visits (P < .001), a 20% reduction in chest radiographs (P = .05), a 10% reduction in echocardiograms (P = .05), a 25% reduction in exercise stress tests (P = .01), and a 14% total reduction in costs. The total cost savings of the ASO SCAMP was $216 649 in the first 6 years of the SCAMP. There was no difference in clinical outcomes between the historical and SCAMP cohorts. SCAMPs can improve resource utilization and reduce costs after the ASO operation while maintaining quality of care. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A randomized trial of treatments for high-utilizing somatizing patients.

PubMed

Barsky, Arthur J; Ahern, David K; Bauer, Mark R; Nolido, Nyryan; Orav, E John

2013-11-01

Somatization and hypochondriacal health anxiety are common sources of distress, impairment, and costly medical utilization in primary care practice. A range of interventions is needed to improve the care of these patients. To determine the effectiveness of two cognitive behavioral interventions for high-utilizing, somatizing patients, using the resources found in a routine care setting. Patients were randomly assigned to a two-step cognitive behavioral treatment program accompanied by a training seminar for their primary care physicians, or to relaxation training. Providers routinely working in these patients' primary care practices delivered the cognitive behavior therapy and relaxation training. A follow-up assessment was completed immediately prior to treatment and 6 and 12 months later. Eighty-nine medical outpatients with elevated levels of somatization, hypochondriacal health anxiety, and medical care utilization. Somatization and hypochondriasis, overall psychiatric distress, and role impairment were assessed with well-validated, self-report questionnaires. Outpatient visits and medical care costs before and after the intervention were obtained from the encounter claims database. At 6 month and 12 month follow-up, both intervention groups showed significant improvements in somatization (p < 0.01), hypochondriacal symptoms (p < 0.01), overall psychiatric distress (p < 0.01), and role impairment (p < 0.01). Outcomes did not differ significantly between the two groups. When both groups were combined, ambulatory visits declined from 10.3 to 8.8 (p = 0.036), and mean ambulatory costs decreased from $3,574 to $2,991 (pp = 0.028) in the year preceding versus the year following the interventions. Psychiatric visits and costs were unchanged. Two similar cognitive behavioral interventions, delivered with the resources available in routine primary care, improved somatization, hypochondriacal symptoms, overall psychiatric distress, and role function. They also reduced the ambulatory visits and costs of these high utilizing outpatients.

Predicting hospital visits from geo-tagged Internet search logs.

PubMed

Agarwal, Vibhu; Han, Lichy; Madan, Isaac; Saluja, Shaurya; Shidham, Aaditya; Shah, Nigam H

2016-01-01

The steady rise in healthcare costs has deprived over 45 million Americans of healthcare services (1, 2) and has encouraged healthcare providers to look for opportunities to improve their operational efficiency. Prior studies have shown that evidence of healthcare seeking intent in Internet searches correlates well with healthcare resource utilization. Given the ubiquitous nature of mobile Internet search, we hypothesized that analyzing geo-tagged mobile search logs could enable us to machine-learn predictors of future patient visits. Using a de-identified dataset of geo-tagged mobile Internet search logs, we mined text and location patterns that are predictors of healthcare resource utilization and built statistical models that predict the probability of a user's future visit to a medical facility. Our efforts will enable the development of innovative methods for modeling and optimizing the use of healthcare resources-a crucial prerequisite for securing healthcare access for everyone in the days to come.

Scrutinizing data helps team target high-cost DRGs, improve costly tracheostomy care.

PubMed

1997-10-01

Targeting high-cost DRGs using data collection, analysis: A hospital team analyzed DRGs with the highest excess charges and found DRG 483 (tracheostomy) had astronomical charges. Here's the step-by-step story of how they analyzed individual physician resource utilization, care progression through the hospital, and admission source to identify areas for clinical improvement, plus their findings and how they're putting them to use to improve care and reduce costs.

IgE-blocking therapy for difficult-to-treat asthma: a brief review.

PubMed

Marshall, Gailen D; Sorkness, Christine A

2004-03-01

To review the characteristics of difficult-to-treat asthma and describe patients who may benefit from therapy with the recently approved humanized monoclonal antiimmunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody, omalizumab. Up to 20 percent of patients have difficult-to-treat asthma. These patients consume a disproportionate share of asthma care resources. Clinical and economic outcomes can be improved via improved self-management, increased adherence to prescribed therapy, and better compliance to national asthma treatment guidelines. These patients also may benefit from therapies that directly target mechanisms responsible for persistent airway inflammation and elicit favorable clinical responses. Effective asthma control remains difficult in a small cohort of patients with persistent, severe airway inflammation. Management strategies that improve asthma control and reduce exacerbations can improve clinical outcomes and minimize health care resource utilization.

Development, evaluation, and utility of a peer evaluation form for online teaching.

PubMed

Gaskamp, Carol D; Kintner, Eileen

2014-01-01

Formative assessment of teaching by peers is an important component of quality improvement for educators. Teaching portfolios submitted for promotion and tenure are expected to include peer evaluations. Faculty resources designed for peer evaluation of classroom teaching are often inadequate for evaluating online teaching. The authors describe development, evaluation, and utility of a new peer evaluation form for formative assessment of online teaching deemed relevant, sound, feasible, and beneficial.

Testing the utility of the 3-PG model for growth of Eucalyptus grandis x urophylla with natural and manipulated supplies of water and nutrients

Treesearch

Jose Luiz Stape; Michael G. Ryan; Dan Binkley

2004-01-01

The productivity of fast-growing tropical plantations depends, in part, on the ability of trees to obtain and utilize site resources, and the allocation of fixed carbon (C) to wood production. Simulation models can represent these processes and interactions, but the value of these models depends on their ability to improve predictions of stand growth relative to...

Coordinative Voltage Control Strategy with Multiple Resources for Distribution Systems of High PV Penetration: Preprint

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

Zhu, Xiangqi; Zhang, Yingchen

This paper presents an optimal voltage control methodology with coordination among different voltage-regulating resources, including controllable loads, distributed energy resources such as energy storage and photovoltaics (PV), and utility voltage-regulating devices such as voltage regulators and capacitors. The proposed methodology could effectively tackle the overvoltage and voltage regulation device distortion problems brought by high penetrations of PV to improve grid operation reliability. A voltage-load sensitivity matrix and voltage-regulator sensitivity matrix are used to deploy the resources along the feeder to achieve the control objectives. Mixed-integer nonlinear programming is used to solve the formulated optimization control problem. The methodology has beenmore » tested on the IEEE 123-feeder test system, and the results demonstrate that the proposed approach could actively tackle the voltage problem brought about by high penetrations of PV and improve the reliability of distribution system operation.« less

Validation of the Integrated Medical Model Using Historical Space Flight Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerstman, Eric L.; Minard, Charles G.; FreiredeCarvalho, Mary H.; Walton, Marlei E.; Myers, Jerry G., Jr.; Saile, Lynn G.; Lopez, Vilma; Butler, Douglas J.; Johnson-Throop, Kathy A.

2010-01-01

The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) utilizes Monte Carlo methodologies to predict the occurrence of medical events, utilization of resources, and clinical outcomes during space flight. Real-world data may be used to demonstrate the accuracy of the model. For this analysis, IMM predictions were compared to data from historical shuttle missions, not yet included as model source input. Initial goodness of fit test-ing on International Space Station data suggests that the IMM may overestimate the number of occurrences for three of the 83 medical conditions in the model. The IMM did not underestimate the occurrence of any medical condition. Initial comparisons with shuttle data demonstrate the importance of understanding crew preference (i.e., preferred analgesic) for accurately predicting the utilization of re-sources. The initial analysis demonstrates the validity of the IMM for its intended use and highlights areas for improvement.

The equivalence of numbers: The social value of avoiding health decline: An experimental web-based study

PubMed Central

Schwappach, David LB

2002-01-01

Background Health economic analysis aimed at informing policy makers and supporting resource allocation decisions has to evaluate not only improvements in health but also avoided decline. Little is known however, whether the "direction" in which changes in health are experienced is important for the public in prioritizing among patients. This experimental study investigates the social value people place on avoiding (further) health decline when directly compared to curative treatments in resource allocation decisions. Methods 127 individuals completed an interactive survey that was published in the World Wide Web. They were confronted with a standard gamble (SG) and three person trade-off tasks, either comparing improvements in health (PTO-Up), avoided decline (PTO-Down), or both, contrasting health changes of equal magnitude differing in the direction in which they are experienced (PTO-WAD). Finally, a direct priority ranking of various interventions was obtained. Results Participants strongly prioritized improving patients' health rather than avoiding decline. The mean substitution rate between health improvements and avoided decline (WAD) ranged between 0.47 and 0.64 dependent on the intervention. Weighting PTO values according to the direction in which changes in health are experienced improved their accuracy in predicting a direct prioritization ranking. Health state utilities obtained by the standard gamble method seem not to reflect social values in resource allocation contexts. Conclusion Results suggest that the utility of being cured of a given health state might not be a good approximation for the societal value of avoiding this health state, especially in cases of competition between preventive and curative interventions. PMID:11879529

Utilizing New Audiovisual Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Glen

1975-01-01

The University of Arizona's Agriculture Department has found that video cassette systems and 8 mm films are excellent audiovisual aids to classroom instruction at the high school level in small gasoline engines. Each system is capable of improving the instructional process for motor skill development. (MW)

Crucial Issues in Secondary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Til, William

1976-01-01

Nine crucial issues in secondary education are identified: (1) self-actualization skills, (2) humane values, (3) social survival skills, (4) transfer of social heritage, (5) utilization of total environment, (6) program content, (7) organizational renewal, (8) optimum resource usage, (9) societal participation in educational improvement. (MB)

Fly Ash: From Cradle to Grave

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellis, Margaret S.; Affolter, Ronald H.

2007-01-01

The Energy Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey promotes and supports coal research to improve the understanding of the coal endowment of the United States. This results in geologically based, non-biased energy information products for policy and decision makers, land and resource managers, other federal and state agencies, the domestic energy industry, foreign governments, nongovernmental groups, academia, and other scientists. A more integrated approach to our coal quality work involves what we call a 'cradle to grave' approach. These types of studies focus not on just one aspect of the coal but rather on how or where different quality parameters form and (or) occur and what happens to them through the mining, production, transport, utilization and waste disposal process. An extensive suite of coal quality analyses, mineralogical, petrology, and leaching investigations are determined on samples taken from the different phases of the coal utilization process. This report consists of a tutorial that was given on June 10, 2007 at the 32nd International Technical Conference on Coal Utilization & Fuel Systems, The Power of Coal, Clearwater Coal Conference in Clearwater, Florida, USA. This tutorial covers how these studies are conducted and the importance of providing improved, comprehensive, science-based data sets for policy and decision makers.

Resource Utilization for Initial Hospitalization in Pediatric Heart Transplantation in the United States.

PubMed

Boucek, Dana M; Lal, Ashwin K; Eckhauser, Aaron W; Weng, Hsin-Yi Cindy; Sheng, Xiaoming; Wilkes, Jacob F; Pinto, Nelangi M; Menon, Shaji C

2018-04-15

Pediatric heart transplantation (HT) is resource intensive. Event-driven pediatric databases do not capture data on resource use. The objective of this study was to evaluate resource utilization and identify associated factors during initial hospitalization for pediatric HT. This multicenter retrospective cohort study utilized the Pediatric Health Information Systems database (43 children's hospitals in the United States) of children ≤19 years of age who underwent transplant between January 2007 and July 2013. Demographic variables including site, payer, distance and time to center, clinical pre- and post-transplant variables, mortality, cost, and charge were the data collected. Total length of stay (LOS) and charge for the initial hospitalization were used as surrogates for resource use. Charges were inflation adjusted to 2013 dollars. Of 1,629 subjects, 54% were male, and the median age at HT was 5 years (IQR [interquartile range] 0 to 13). The median total and intensive care unit LOS were 51 (IQR 23 to 98) and 23 (IQR 9 to 58) days, respectively. Total charge and cost for hospitalization were $852,713 ($464,900 to $1,609,300) and $383,600 ($214,900 to $681,000) respectively. Younger age, lower volume center, southern region, and co-morbidities before transplant were associated with higher resource use. In later years, charges increased despite shorter LOS. In conclusion, this large multicenter study provides novel insight into factors associated with resource use in pediatric patients having HT. Peritransplant morbidities are associated with increased cost and LOS. Reducing costs in line with LOS will improve health-care value. Regional and center volume differences need further investigation for optimizing value-based care and efficient use of scarce resources. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measuring Resource Utilization: A Systematic Review of Validated Self-Reported Questionnaires.

PubMed

Leggett, Laura E; Khadaroo, Rachel G; Holroyd-Leduc, Jayna; Lorenzetti, Diane L; Hanson, Heather; Wagg, Adrian; Padwal, Raj; Clement, Fiona

2016-03-01

A variety of methods may be used to obtain costing data. Although administrative data are most commonly used, the data available in these datasets are often limited. An alternative method of obtaining costing is through self-reported questionnaires. Currently, there are no systematic reviews that summarize self-reported resource utilization instruments from the published literature.The aim of the study was to identify validated self-report healthcare resource use instruments and to map their attributes.A systematic review was conducted. The search identified articles using terms like "healthcare utilization" and "questionnaire." All abstracts and full texts were considered in duplicate. For inclusion, studies had to assess the validity of a self-reported resource use questionnaire, to report original data, include adult populations, and the questionnaire had to be publically available. Data such as type of resource utilization assessed by each questionnaire, and validation findings were extracted from each study.In all, 2343 unique citations were retrieved; 2297 were excluded during abstract review. Forty-six studies were reviewed in full text, and 15 studies were included in this systematic review. Six assessed resource utilization of patients with chronic conditions; 5 assessed mental health service utilization; 3 assessed resource utilization by a general population; and 1 assessed utilization in older populations. The most frequently measured resources included visits to general practitioners and inpatient stays; nonmedical resources were least frequently measured. Self-reported questionnaires on resource utilization had good agreement with administrative data, although, visits to general practitioners, outpatient days, and nurse visits had poorer agreement.Self-reported questionnaires are a valid method of collecting data on healthcare resource utilization.

CloVR: a virtual machine for automated and portable sequence analysis from the desktop using cloud computing.

PubMed

Angiuoli, Samuel V; Matalka, Malcolm; Gussman, Aaron; Galens, Kevin; Vangala, Mahesh; Riley, David R; Arze, Cesar; White, James R; White, Owen; Fricke, W Florian

2011-08-30

Next-generation sequencing technologies have decentralized sequence acquisition, increasing the demand for new bioinformatics tools that are easy to use, portable across multiple platforms, and scalable for high-throughput applications. Cloud computing platforms provide on-demand access to computing infrastructure over the Internet and can be used in combination with custom built virtual machines to distribute pre-packaged with pre-configured software. We describe the Cloud Virtual Resource, CloVR, a new desktop application for push-button automated sequence analysis that can utilize cloud computing resources. CloVR is implemented as a single portable virtual machine (VM) that provides several automated analysis pipelines for microbial genomics, including 16S, whole genome and metagenome sequence analysis. The CloVR VM runs on a personal computer, utilizes local computer resources and requires minimal installation, addressing key challenges in deploying bioinformatics workflows. In addition CloVR supports use of remote cloud computing resources to improve performance for large-scale sequence processing. In a case study, we demonstrate the use of CloVR to automatically process next-generation sequencing data on multiple cloud computing platforms. The CloVR VM and associated architecture lowers the barrier of entry for utilizing complex analysis protocols on both local single- and multi-core computers and cloud systems for high throughput data processing.

A Report of the Efforts of the Veterans Health Administration National Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative.

PubMed

Kelly, Allison A; Jones, Makoto M; Echevarria, Kelly L; Kralovic, Stephen M; Samore, Matthew H; Goetz, Matthew B; Madaras-Kelly, Karl J; Simbartl, Loretta A; Morreale, Anthony P; Neuhauser, Melinda M; Roselle, Gary A

2017-05-01

OBJECTIVE To detail the activities of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative and evaluate outcomes of the program. DESIGN Observational analysis. SETTING The VHA is a large integrated healthcare system serving approximately 6 million individuals annually at more than 140 medical facilities. METHODS Utilization of nationally developed resources, proportional distribution of antibiotics, changes in stewardship practices and patient safety measures were reported. In addition, inpatient antimicrobial use was evaluated before and after implementation of national stewardship activities. RESULTS Nationally developed stewardship resources were well utilized, and many stewardship practices significantly increased, including development of written stewardship policies at 92% of facilities by 2015 (P<.05). While the proportional distribution of antibiotics did not change, inpatient antibiotic use significantly decreased after VHA Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative activities began (P<.0001). A 12% decrease in antibiotic use was noted overall. The VHA has also noted significantly declining use of antimicrobials prescribed for resistant Gram-negative organisms, including carbapenems, as well as declining hospital readmission and mortality rates. Concurrently, the VHA reported decreasing rates of Clostridium difficile infection. CONCLUSIONS The VHA National Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative includes continuing education, disease-specific guidelines, and development of example policies in addition to other highly utilized resources. While no specific ideal level of antimicrobial utilization has been established, the VHA has shown that improving antimicrobial usage in a large healthcare system may be achieved through national guidance and resources with local implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:513-520.

Predictors of resource utilization in transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing disease.

PubMed

Little, Andrew S; Chapple, Kristina

2013-08-01

The short-term cost associated with subspecialized surgical care is an increasingly important metric and economic concern. This study sought to determine factors associated with hospital charges in patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing disease in an effort to identify the drivers of resource utilization. The authors analyzed the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) hospital discharge database from 2007 to 2009 to determine factors that influenced hospital charges in patients who had undergone transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing disease. The NIS discharge database approximates a 20% sample of all inpatient admissions to nonfederal US hospitals. A multistep regression model was developed that adjusted for patient demographics, acuity measures, comorbidities, hospital characteristics, and complications. In 116 hospitals, 454 transsphenoidal operations were performed. The mean hospital charge was $48,272 ± $32,060. A multivariate regression model suggested that the primary driver of resource utilization was length of stay (LOS), followed by surgeon volume, hospital characteristics, and postoperative complications. A 1% increase in LOS increased hospital charges by 0.60%. Patient charges were 13% lower when performed by high-volume surgeons compared with low-volume surgeons and 22% lower in large hospitals compared with small hospitals. Hospital charges were 12% lower in cases with no postoperative neurological complications. The proposed model accounted for 46% of hospital charge variance. This analysis of hospital charges in transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing disease suggested that LOS, hospital characteristics, surgeon volume, and postoperative complications are important predictors of resource utilization. These findings may suggest opportunities for improvement.

Dialysis Facility and Patient Characteristics Associated with Utilization of Home Dialysis

PubMed Central

Walker, David R.; Inglese, Gary W.; Sloand, James A.

2010-01-01

Background and objectives: Nonmedical factors influencing utilization of home dialysis at the facility level are poorly quantified. Home dialysis is comparably effective and safe but less expensive to society and Medicare than in-center hemodialysis. Elimination of modifiable practice variation unrelated to medical factors could contribute to improvements in patient outcomes and use of scarce resources. Design, setting, participants, & measurements: Prevalent dialysis patient data by facility were collected from the 2007 ESRD Network’s annual reports. Facility characteristic data were collected from Medicare’s Dialysis Facility Compare file. A multivariate regression model was used to evaluate associations between the use of home dialysis and facility characteristics. Results: The utilization of home dialysis was positively associated with facility size, percent patients employed full- or part-time, younger population, and years a facility was Medicare certified. Variables negatively associated include an increased number of hemodialysis patients per hemodialysis station, chain association, rural location, more densely populated zip code, a late dialysis work shift, and greater percent of black patients within a zip code. Conclusions: Improved understanding of factors affecting the frequency of use of home dialysis may help explain practice variations across the United States that result in an imbalanced use of medical resources within the ESRD population. In turn, this may improve the delivery of healthcare and extend the ability of an increasingly overburdened medical financing system to survive. PMID:20634324

Pharmacist managed diabetes and cardiovascular risk reduction clinic in kidney transplant recipients: bridging the gap in care transition.

PubMed

Pinelli, Nicole R; Clark, Lindsey M; Carrington, Anne C; Carrington, Julia L; Malinzak, Lauren; Patel, Anita

2014-12-01

The purpose was to assess the feasibility of a care transition intervention for kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with diabetes. Results document improved quality indicators and reduced resource utilization. These findings imply that a care transition intervention for KTRs with diabetes is feasible and associated with improved patient outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Challenges for Data Managment in Genebanks

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The use of genetic resources for crop improvement has undergone a fundamental shift. Continued progress will be dependent upon the natural variation contained within the world’s gene banks. Gene banks must manage their collections in ways that promote their utilization by increasing access to not ...

Law of Large Numbers: The Theory, Applications and Technology-Based Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dinov, Ivo D.; Christou, Nicolas; Gould, Robert

2009-01-01

Modern approaches for technology-based blended education utilize a variety of recently developed novel pedagogical, computational and network resources. Such attempts employ technology to deliver integrated, dynamically-linked, interactive-content and heterogeneous learning environments, which may improve student comprehension and information…

The ten years (2004-2014): Progress in peanut genetics and genomics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant breeding, genetics, and genomics play a critical role in sustainable agriculture specifically in improving crop productivity, quality, and resistance to pests and diseases. The germplasm collections have been treasures of crop genetic resources. Utilization of the collections of wild peanut sp...

Carcinogenicity and Mutagenicity Data: New Initiatives to Improve Access and Utility for Modeling

EPA Science Inventory

Currents models for prediction of chemical carcinogenicity and mutagenicity rely upon a relatively small number of publicly available data resources, where the data being modeled are highly summarized and aggregated representations of the actual experimental results. A number of...

Health Worker mHealth Utilization: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

White, Alice; Thomas, Deborah S.K.; Ezeanochie, Nnamdi; Bull, Sheana

2016-01-01

This systematic review describes mHealth interventions directed at healthcare workers in low resource settings from the PubMed database from March, 2009 to May, 2015. Thirty-one articles were selected for final review. Four categories emerged from the reviewed articles: data collection during patient visits; communication between health workers and patients; communication between health workers; and public health surveillance. Most studies used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess acceptability of use, barriers to use, changes in healthcare delivery, and improved health outcomes. Few papers included theory explicitly to guide development and evaluation of their mHealth programs. Overall, evidence indicated that mobile technology tools, such as smartphones and tablets, substantially benefit healthcare workers, their patients, and health care delivery. Limitations to mHealth tools included insufficient program use and sustainability, unreliable Internet and electricity, and security issues. Despite these limitations, this systematic review demonstrates the utility of using mHealth in low-resource settings and the potential for widespread health system improvements using technology. PMID:26955009

The influence of a Vascular Surgery Hospitalist program on physician and patient satisfaction, resident education, and resource utilization.

PubMed

Cull, David L; Langan, Eugene M; Taylor, Spence M; Carsten, Christopher G; Tong, Angie; Johnson, Brent

2013-10-01

A number of surgery practice models have been developed to address general and trauma surgeon workforce shortages and on-call issues and to improve surgeon satisfaction. These include the creation of acute or urgent care surgery services and "surgical hospitalist" programs. To date, no practice models corresponding to those developed for general and trauma surgeons have been proposed to address these same issues among vascular surgeons or other surgical subspecialists. In 2003, our practice established a Vascular Surgery Hospitalist program. Since its inception nearly a decade ago, it has undergone several modifications. We reviewed hospital administrative databases and surveys of faculty, residents, and patients to evaluate the program's impact. Benefits of the Vascular Surgery Hospitalist program include improved surgeon satisfaction, resource utilization, timeliness of patient care, communication among referring physicians and ancillary staff, and resident teaching/supervision. Elements of this program may be applicable to a variety of surgical subspecialty settings. Copyright © 2013 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

An Analysis of Organizational Performance Based on Hospital Specialization Level and Strategy Type

PubMed Central

Kim, Han-Sung; Kim, Young-Hoon; Woo, Jung-Sik; Hyun, Sook-Jung

2015-01-01

Introduction Hospitals are studying the focused factory concept and attempting to increase their power in a competitive industry by becoming more specialized. Methodology This study uses the information theory index (ITI) and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) to analyze the extent of specialization by Korean hospitals that receive national health insurance reimbursements. Hierarchical regression analysis is used to assess the impact of hospital specialization on the following four aspects of operational performance: productivity, profitability, efficiency and quality of care. Study Results The results show that a focused strategy (high HHI) improves the income and adjusted number of patients per specialist through the efficient utilization of human resources. However, a diversified strategy (high ITI) improves the hospital utilization ratio, income per bed and adjusted number of patients per bed (controlling for material resources such as beds). In addition, as the concentration index increases, case-mix mortality rates and referral rates decrease, indicating that specialization has a positive relationship with quality of care. PMID:26218570

An Analysis of Organizational Performance Based on Hospital Specialization Level and Strategy Type.

PubMed

Kim, Han-Sung; Kim, Young-Hoon; Woo, Jung-Sik; Hyun, Sook-Jung

2015-01-01

Hospitals are studying the focused factory concept and attempting to increase their power in a competitive industry by becoming more specialized. This study uses the information theory index (ITI) and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) to analyze the extent of specialization by Korean hospitals that receive national health insurance reimbursements. Hierarchical regression analysis is used to assess the impact of hospital specialization on the following four aspects of operational performance: productivity, profitability, efficiency and quality of care. The results show that a focused strategy (high HHI) improves the income and adjusted number of patients per specialist through the efficient utilization of human resources. However, a diversified strategy (high ITI) improves the hospital utilization ratio, income per bed and adjusted number of patients per bed (controlling for material resources such as beds). In addition, as the concentration index increases, case-mix mortality rates and referral rates decrease, indicating that specialization has a positive relationship with quality of care.

Research on monitoring system of water resources in Shiyang River Basin based on Multi-agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, T. H.; Yin, Z.; Song, Y. Z.

2012-11-01

The Shiyang River Basin is the most populous, economy relatively develop, the highest degree of development and utilization of water resources, water conflicts the most prominent, ecological environment problems of the worst hit areas in Hexi inland river basin in Gansu province. the contradiction between people and water is aggravated constantly in the basin. This text combines multi-Agent technology with monitoring system of water resource, the establishment of a management center, telemetry Agent Federation, as well as the communication network between the composition of the Shiyang River Basin water resources monitoring system. By taking advantage of multi-agent system intelligence and communications coordination to improve the timeliness of the basin water resources monitoring.

The utility of Landsat-D for water-resources studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salomonson, V. V.

1980-01-01

The paper discusses applications of the Landsat-D remote sensing observations to hydrology and management of water resources. It is expected that the Landsat-D thematic mapper will provide spatial resolution of 30 m vs 79 m in the reflected solar radiation bands; additional spectral resolution in the 0.5 to 1.0 micron region and new bands covering regions in the 0.45 to 2.35 micron range will be available. The thematic mapper produces data at an 85 megabit/sec rate; an advanced data processing system will be used for improved monitoring of earth resources.

Recovery and Utilization of Extraterrestrial Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This special bibliography includes the extraction, processing, and utilization of lunar, planetary, and asteroid resources; mining and excavation equipment, oxygen and propellant production; and in situ resource utilization.

The internet and the physician-patient relationship.

PubMed

Sechrest, Randale C

2010-10-01

Since the emergence of the public Internet in the early 1990s, the healthcare industry has been struggling to understand how best to utilize this resource. During the last decade there has been an increase in both the interest and participation by healthcare providers in the Internet space, but many observers continue to push for more development of healthcare resources to better support the provider-patient relationship. This paper will review the historical development of the Internet, the core concepts that have driven the emergence and evolution of the Internet as a mass medium of information exchange, and how the healthcare industry can harness the Internet to improve the provider patient relationship. WHERE ARE WE NOW?: The healthcare industry continues to lag behind other industries that have been transformed by the Internet. Numerous industries including travel, real estate, retail sales, and banking have migrated both comprehensive information resources and transactions to the Internet in order to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. That same process is occurring now in the healthcare industry. Credible and comprehensive Information resources are beginning to mature. Transactions are still in their infancy, reflecting a continued concern about privacy and security. WHERE DO WE NEED TO GO?: We need to improve information resources to educate and inform patients. Improving the availability and credibility of information resources will empower patients to make better healthcare decisions and I contend will ultimately reduce the cost of delivering care. HOW DO WE GET THERE?: Orthopaedists must first recognize the value of information resources to the patient. Effective communication with patients is a critical component of providing healthcare services. All healthcare providers should reflect on the importance of developing an effective communications strategy for their own practice and consider the benefits of participating in efforts by professional organizations to improve existing information resources.

Procurement engineering - the productivity factor

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

Bargerstock, S.B.

1993-01-01

The industry is several years on the road to implementation of the Nuclear Management and Resources Council (NUMARC) initiatives on commercial-grade item dedication and procurement. Utilities have taken several approaches to involve engineering in the procurement process. A common result for the approaches is the additional operations and maintenance (O M) cost imposed by the added resource requirements. Procurement engineering productivity is a key element in controlling this business area. Experience shows that 400 to 500% improvements in productivity are possible with a 2-yr period. Improving the productivity of the procurement engineering function is important in today's competitive utility environment.more » Procurement engineering typically involves four distinct technical evaluation responsibilities along with several administrative areas. Technical evaluations include the functionally based safety classification of replacement components and parts (lacking a master parts list), the determination of dedication requirements for safety-related commercial-grade items, the preparation of a procurement specification to maintain the licensed design bases, and the equivalency evaluation of alternate items not requiring the design-change process. Administrative duties include obtaining technical review of vendor-supplied documentation, identifying obsolete parts and components, resolving material nonconformances, initiating the design-change process for replacement items (as needed), and providing technical support to O M. Although most utilities may not perform or require all the noted activities, a large percentage will apply to each utility station.« less

Nonprofit, payload process improvement through lean management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sampson, Melissa

Organizations that are successful and competitive long-term have learned to efficiently utilize their resources, such as money, people, facilities, and time. Over the last half-century, there have been a variety of theories and techniques put forth on how to do this. One recent theory applied in the aerospace industry is Lean Management (LM), which emphasizes a customer focus and a rigorous elimination of activities that do not add value from the customer's perspective. LM has not, until now, been evaluated for small, nonprofit, one-off production organizations (NOPOs). Previous research on LM focused on for-profit companies and large-scale production organizations, producing relatively similar products repetitively (e.g. automobiles, commercial satellites, aircraft, and launch vehicles). One-off production organizations typically create one-of-a-kind products. The purpose of this research is to examine the applicability of LM to a NOPO. LM will improve resource utilization and thereby competitiveness, as well as exploring a new area of knowledge and research. The research methodology consists of conducting case studies, formal and informal interviews, observation and analysis in order to assess whether and how LM may be beneficial. The research focuses on one particular NOPO, BioServe Space Technologies (BST): a nonprofit, payload development organization. Additional NOPOs were interviewed in order to draw more generalized conclusions about LM benefits. The research demonstrates that LM is applicable to NOPOs, thus providing a tool to improve efficiency and competitiveness. Results from this research are guidelines for payload development organizations to implement LM, and highlighting potential LM weaknesses. A major conclusion is that LM needs some minor modifications to be applicable and useful to NOPOs, particularly in terms of value stream mapping. The LM implementation roadmap developed for NOPOs introduces customized metrics, as well as including standard LM ideas. The metrics address efficiency; customer and stakeholder satisfaction; research value; and employee education. LM will improve resource utilization, while retaining the NOPO's hallmarks of adaptability and flexibility.

Efficient Resources Provisioning Based on Load Forecasting in Cloud

PubMed Central

Hu, Rongdong; Jiang, Jingfei; Liu, Guangming; Wang, Lixin

2014-01-01

Cloud providers should ensure QoS while maximizing resources utilization. One optimal strategy is to timely allocate resources in a fine-grained mode according to application's actual resources demand. The necessary precondition of this strategy is obtaining future load information in advance. We propose a multi-step-ahead load forecasting method, KSwSVR, based on statistical learning theory which is suitable for the complex and dynamic characteristics of the cloud computing environment. It integrates an improved support vector regression algorithm and Kalman smoother. Public trace data taken from multitypes of resources were used to verify its prediction accuracy, stability, and adaptability, comparing with AR, BPNN, and standard SVR. Subsequently, based on the predicted results, a simple and efficient strategy is proposed for resource provisioning. CPU allocation experiment indicated it can effectively reduce resources consumption while meeting service level agreements requirements. PMID:24701160

Ethanol production from renewable resources.

PubMed

Gong, C S; Cao, N J; Du, J; Tsao, G T

1999-01-01

Vast amounts of renewable biomass are available for conversion to liquid fuel, ethanol. In order to convert biomass to ethanol, the efficient utilization of both cellulose-derived and hemicellulose-derived carbohydrates is essential. Six-carbon sugars are readily utilized for this purpose. Pentoses, on the other hand, are more difficult to convert. Several metabolic factors limit the efficient utilization of pentoses (xylose and arabinose). Recent developments in the improvement of microbial cultures provide the versatility of conversion of both hexoses and pentoses to ethanol more efficiently. In addition, novel bioprocess technologies offer a promising prospective for the efficient conversion of biomass and recovery of ethanol.

Demand-Side Management and Integrated Resource Planning: Findings from a Survey of 24 Electric Utilities

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

Schweitzer, M.

1991-01-01

Integrated resource planning differs from traditional utility planning practices primarily in its increased attention to demand-side management (DSM) programs and its integration of supply- and demand-side resources into a combined resource portfolio. This report details the findings from an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) survey of 24 electric utilities that have well-developed integrated planning processes. These utilities account for roughly one-third of total capacity, electricity generation, and DSM-program expenditures nationwide. The ORNL survey was designed to obtain descriptive data on a national sample of utilities and to test a number of hypothesized relationships between selected utility characteristics and the mixmore » of resources selected for the integrated plan, with an emphasis on the use of DSM resources and the processes by which they are chosen. The survey solicited information on each utility's current and projected resource mix, operating environment, procedures used to screen potential DSM resources, techniques used to obtain public input and to integrate supply- and demand-side options into a unified plan, and procedures used in the final selection of resources for the plan.« less

Manpower and Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc., New York, NY.

In recent years emphasis has shifted from physical to human capital as a key factor in economic growth. Both government and business have intensified efforts at manpower planning to improve the utilization of human resources. These papers by representatives of government and business cover various aspects of labor market efficiency. The nine…

Protecting water and wastewater infrastructure from cyber attacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panguluri, Srinivas; Phillips, William; Cusimano, John

2011-12-01

Multiple organizations over the years have collected and analyzed data on cyber attacks and they all agree on one conclusion: cyber attacks are real and can cause significant damages. This paper presents some recent statistics on cyber attacks and resulting damages. Water and wastewater utilities must adopt countermeasures to prevent or minimize the damage in case of such attacks. Many unique challenges are faced by the water and wastewater industry while selecting and implementing security countermeasures; the key challenges are: 1) the increasing interconnection of their business and control system networks, 2) large variation of proprietary industrial control equipment utilized, 3) multitude of cross-sector cyber-security standards, and 4) the differences in the equipment vendor's approaches to meet these security standards. The utilities can meet these challenges by voluntarily selecting and adopting security standards, conducting a gap analysis, performing vulnerability/risk analysis, and undertaking countermeasures that best meets their security and organizational requirements. Utilities should optimally utilize their limited resources to prepare and implement necessary programs that are designed to increase cyber-security over the years. Implementing cyber security does not necessarily have to be expensive, substantial improvements can be accomplished through policy, procedure, training and awareness. Utilities can also get creative and allocate more funding through annual budgets and reduce dependence upon capital improvement programs to achieve improvements in cyber-security.

FPGA implementation for real-time background subtraction based on Horprasert model.

PubMed

Rodriguez-Gomez, Rafael; Fernandez-Sanchez, Enrique J; Diaz, Javier; Ros, Eduardo

2012-01-01

Background subtraction is considered the first processing stage in video surveillance systems, and consists of determining objects in movement in a scene captured by a static camera. It is an intensive task with a high computational cost. This work proposes an embedded novel architecture on FPGA which is able to extract the background on resource-limited environments and offers low degradation (produced because of the hardware-friendly model modification). In addition, the original model is extended in order to detect shadows and improve the quality of the segmentation of the moving objects. We have analyzed the resource consumption and performance in Spartan3 Xilinx FPGAs and compared to others works available on the literature, showing that the current architecture is a good trade-off in terms of accuracy, performance and resources utilization. With less than a 65% of the resources utilization of a XC3SD3400 Spartan-3A low-cost family FPGA, the system achieves a frequency of 66.5 MHz reaching 32.8 fps with resolution 1,024 × 1,024 pixels, and an estimated power consumption of 5.76 W.

LaRC local area networks to support distributed computing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riddle, E. P.

1984-01-01

The Langley Research Center's (LaRC) Local Area Network (LAN) effort is discussed. LaRC initiated the development of a LAN to support a growing distributed computing environment at the Center. The purpose of the network is to provide an improved capability (over inteactive and RJE terminal access) for sharing multivendor computer resources. Specifically, the network will provide a data highway for the transfer of files between mainframe computers, minicomputers, work stations, and personal computers. An important influence on the overall network design was the vital need of LaRC researchers to efficiently utilize the large CDC mainframe computers in the central scientific computing facility. Although there was a steady migration from a centralized to a distributed computing environment at LaRC in recent years, the work load on the central resources increased. Major emphasis in the network design was on communication with the central resources within the distributed environment. The network to be implemented will allow researchers to utilize the central resources, distributed minicomputers, work stations, and personal computers to obtain the proper level of computing power to efficiently perform their jobs.

Smart City: Utilization of IT resources to encounter natural disaster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartama, D.; Mawengkang, Herman; Zarlis, M.; Sembiring, R. W.

2017-09-01

This study proposes a framework for the utilization of IT resources in the face of natural disasters with the concept of Smart City in urban areas, which often face the earthquake, particularly in the city of North Sumatra and Aceh. Smart City is a city that integrates social development, capital, civic participation, and transportation with the use of information technology to support the preservation of natural resources and improved quality of life. Changes in the climate and environment have an impact on the occurrence of natural disasters, which tend to increase in recent decades, thus providing socio-economic impacts for the community. This study suggests a new approach that combines the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Mobile IT-based Android in the form of Geospatial information to encounter disaster. Resources and IT Infrastructure in implementing the Smart Mobility with Mobile service can make urban areas as a Smart City. This study describes the urban growth using the Smart City concept and considers how a GIS and Mobile Systems can increase Disaster Management, which consists of Preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery for recovery from natural disasters.

Application and utility of a low-cost unmanned aerial system to manage and conserve aquatic resources in four Texas rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Birdsong, Timothy W.; Bean, Megan; Grabowski, Timothy B.; Hardy, Thomas B.; Heard, Thomas; Holdstock, Derrick; Kollaus, Kristy; Magnelia, Stephan J.; Tolman, Kristina

2015-01-01

Low-cost unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have recently gained increasing attention in natural resources management due to their versatility and demonstrated utility in collection of high-resolution, temporally-specific geospatial data. This study applied low-cost UAS to support the geospatial data needs of aquatic resources management projects in four Texas rivers. Specifically, a UAS was used to (1) map invasive salt cedar (multiple species in the genus Tamarix) that have degraded instream habitat conditions in the Pease River, (2) map instream meso-habitats and structural habitat features (e.g., boulders, woody debris) in the South Llano River as a baseline prior to watershed-scale habitat improvements, (3) map enduring pools in the Blanco River during drought conditions to guide smallmouth bass removal efforts, and (4) quantify river use by anglers in the Guadalupe River. These four case studies represent an initial step toward assessing the full range of UAS applications in aquatic resources management, including their ability to offer potential cost savings, time efficiencies, and higher quality data over traditional survey methods.

FPGA Implementation for Real-Time Background Subtraction Based on Horprasert Model

PubMed Central

Rodriguez-Gomez, Rafael; Fernandez-Sanchez, Enrique J.; Diaz, Javier; Ros, Eduardo

2012-01-01

Background subtraction is considered the first processing stage in video surveillance systems, and consists of determining objects in movement in a scene captured by a static camera. It is an intensive task with a high computational cost. This work proposes an embedded novel architecture on FPGA which is able to extract the background on resource-limited environments and offers low degradation (produced because of the hardware-friendly model modification). In addition, the original model is extended in order to detect shadows and improve the quality of the segmentation of the moving objects. We have analyzed the resource consumption and performance in Spartan3 Xilinx FPGAs and compared to others works available on the literature, showing that the current architecture is a good trade-off in terms of accuracy, performance and resources utilization. With less than a 65% of the resources utilization of a XC3SD3400 Spartan-3A low-cost family FPGA, the system achieves a frequency of 66.5 MHz reaching 32.8 fps with resolution 1,024 × 1,024 pixels, and an estimated power consumption of 5.76 W. PMID:22368487

Using a geographic information system to enhance patient access to point-of-care diagnostics in a limited-resource setting.

PubMed

Ferguson, William J; Kemp, Karen; Kost, Gerald

2016-03-01

Rapid and accurate diagnosis drives evidence-based care in health. Point-of-care testing (POCT) aids diagnosis by bringing advanced technologies closer to patients. Health small-world networks are constrained by natural connectivity in the interactions between geography of resources and social forces. Using a geographic information system (GIS) we can understand how populations utilize their health networks, visualize their inefficiencies, and compare alternatives. This project focuses on cardiac care resource in rural Isaan, Thailand. A health care access analysis was created using ArcGIS Network Analyst 10.1 from data representing aggregated population, roads, health resource facilities, and diagnostic technologies. The analysis quantified cardiac health care access and identified ways to improve it using both widespread and resource-limited strategies. Results indicated that having diagnostic technologies closer to populations streamlines critical care paths. GIS allowed us to compare the effectiveness of the implementation strategies and put into perspective the benefits of adopting rapid POCT within health networks. Geospatial analyses derive high impact by improving alternative diagnostic placement strategies in limited-resource settings and by revealing deficiencies in health care access pathways. Additionally, the GIS provides a platform for comparing relative costs, assessing benefits, and improving outcomes. This approach can be implemented effectively by health ministries seeking to enhance cardiac care despite limited resources.

Energy-water-food nexus under financial constraint environment: good, the bad, and the ugly sustainability reforms in sub-Saharan African countries.

PubMed

Zaman, Khalid; Shamsuddin, Sadaf; Ahmad, Mehboob

2017-05-01

Environmental sustainability agenda are generally compromised by energy, water, and food production resources, while in the recent waves of global financial crisis, it mediates to increase the intensity of air pollutants, which largely affected the less developing countries due to their ease of environmental regulation policies and lack of optimal utilization of economic resources. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are no exception that majorly hit by the recent global financial crisis, which affected the country's natural environment through the channel of unsustainable energy-water-food production. The study employed panel random effect model that addresses the country-specific time-invariant shocks to examine the non-linear relationship between water-energy-food resources and air pollutants in a panel of 19 selected SSA countries, for a period of 2000-2014. The results confirmed the carbon-fossil-methane environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) that turned into inverted U-shaped relationships in a panel of selected SSA countries. Food resources largely affected greenhouse gas (GHG), methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions while water resource decreases carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), fossil fuel, and CH 4 emissions in a region. Energy efficiency improves air quality indicators while industry value added increases CO 2 emissions, fossil fuel energy, and GHG emissions. Global financial crisis increases the risk of climate change across countries. The study concludes that although SSA countries strive hard to take some "good" initiatives to reduce environmental degradation in a form of improved water and energy sources, however, due to lack of optimal utilization of food resources and global financial constraints, it leads to "the bad" and "the ugly" sustainability reforms in a region.

Distribution system model calibration with big data from AMI and PV inverters

DOE PAGES

Peppanen, Jouni; Reno, Matthew J.; Broderick, Robert J.; ...

2016-03-03

Efficient management and coordination of distributed energy resources with advanced automation schemes requires accurate distribution system modeling and monitoring. Big data from smart meters and photovoltaic (PV) micro-inverters can be leveraged to calibrate existing utility models. This paper presents computationally efficient distribution system parameter estimation algorithms to improve the accuracy of existing utility feeder radial secondary circuit model parameters. The method is demonstrated using a real utility feeder model with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and PV micro-inverters, along with alternative parameter estimation approaches that can be used to improve secondary circuit models when limited measurement data is available. Lastly, themore » parameter estimation accuracy is demonstrated for both a three-phase test circuit with typical secondary circuit topologies and single-phase secondary circuits in a real mixed-phase test system.« less

Distribution system model calibration with big data from AMI and PV inverters

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

Peppanen, Jouni; Reno, Matthew J.; Broderick, Robert J.

Efficient management and coordination of distributed energy resources with advanced automation schemes requires accurate distribution system modeling and monitoring. Big data from smart meters and photovoltaic (PV) micro-inverters can be leveraged to calibrate existing utility models. This paper presents computationally efficient distribution system parameter estimation algorithms to improve the accuracy of existing utility feeder radial secondary circuit model parameters. The method is demonstrated using a real utility feeder model with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and PV micro-inverters, along with alternative parameter estimation approaches that can be used to improve secondary circuit models when limited measurement data is available. Lastly, themore » parameter estimation accuracy is demonstrated for both a three-phase test circuit with typical secondary circuit topologies and single-phase secondary circuits in a real mixed-phase test system.« less

Integrating Reservations and Queuing in Remote Laboratory Scheduling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowe, D.

2013-01-01

Remote laboratories (RLs) have become increasingly seen as a useful tool in supporting flexible shared access to scarce laboratory resources. An important element in supporting shared access is coordinating the scheduling of the laboratory usage. Optimized scheduling can significantly decrease access waiting times and improve the utilization level…

The Effects of Integrating On-Going Training for Technical Documentation Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Catanio, Joseph T.; Catanio, Teri L.

2010-01-01

The tools and techniques utilized in the technical communications profession are constantly improving and changing. Information Technology (IT) organizations devote the necessary resources to equip and train engineering, marketing, and sales teams, but often fail to do so for technical documentation teams. Many IT organizations tend to view…

Revenue Forecasting to Integrate CCC Planning and Resource Allocation for Transformative Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hovey, Ann

2012-01-01

In recent years the majority of California community colleges evaluated for re-accreditation received sanctions requiring documented improvement in the integration of college planning and budgeting processes. This study explores the challenges colleges face and the best practices utilized by successful colleges in implementing integrated…

Targeting Obesity through Health Promotion Programs for School Staff

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herbert, Patrick C.; Lohrmann, David K.; Hall, Cougar

2017-01-01

Health promotion programs for school staff are an overlooked and under-utilized resource that can lead to reductions in overweight and obesity among teachers and other staff members if implemented properly. In addition to increasing the overall staff wellness, boosting morale, increasing productivity, improving academic achievement, providing…

SMALL MAMMALS: CONSEQUENCES OF STOCHASTIC DATA VARIATION FOR MODELING INDICATORS OF HABITAT SUITABILITY FOR A WELL-STUDIED RESOURCE

EPA Science Inventory

Increasingly, models of physical habitat variables (i.e. vegetation, soil) are utilized as indicators of small mammal habitat suitability or quality. Presumably, use of physical habitat models indicating habitat suitability or quality would be improved and enhanced by the extens...

Conservation priorities for tree crop wild relatives in the United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Our native crop wild relatives have proved useful as genetic resources in breeding more productive, nutritious, and resilient crops. Their utilization is expected only to increase with better information on the species and improving breeding tools, but may well be constrained by their limited repres...

25 CFR 161.204 - How are carrying capacities and stocking rates established?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... be based on forage production, range utilization, the application of land management practices, and range improvements in place to achieve uniformity of grazing under sustained yield management principles... agricultural resource management plan and range unit management plan. (b) BIA, with the concurrence of the...

Should "standard gamble" and "'time trade off" utility measurement be used more in mental health research?

PubMed

Flood, Chris

2010-06-01

This review and discussion paper demonstrates that utility and preference measurement in mental health research is increasing. However there is still a general reluctance around using the methods due to methodological challenges and concerns around the capacity of users to understand utility methods during the research process. This paper sets out to describe and review some of the previously documented difficulties of using utility measurements in mental health services research and to highlight where they have been used successfully as measures. Additionally the paper aims to discuss a means of improving the methods used to capture service user utility and preference measurement and why decision making would be better informed as a result. International literature on utility measurement is reviewed, specifically examining the use of standard gamble and time trade off methods in mental health. Utility measurement in mental health is increasing though as the review demonstrates, concerns still exist over its application. A number of methods can be used to improve the approach overall and these are discussed as well as specific areas worthy of utility measurement including 'disutility' of admission, medication and medication side effects. Overall this paper argues that it is necessary to persist with efforts to conduct utility measurement calculation albeit with a critical eye on the methods in an attempt to ensure improvements are continually made. Utility and preference scores may be limited in that they only provide a rough score but they are defended as a means of providing some form of strength of preference for health states. The review is limited to English only texts. The debate on whether to use standard gamble and time trade off has implications for health services resource allocations, decision making, health economics research, policy making and health services research generally involving psychiatric service users. The paper argues that the absence of utility measurement in mental health runs the risk of mental health being disadvantaged in decisions around resource allocation. Institutions involved in decision making like the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, would be better served in their decision making and calculation of Quality Adjusted Life Years if more utility measurement in psychiatric research was carried out. Other arguments for using utility measurement include the desirability of using utility measurement to elicit a patient dimension of risk. Future utility research should aim for better involvement of service users in the design stage, the changing of time frames offered to users in health state scenarios used, a greater need for comparative work of utilities scoring across illness and between standard gamble and time trade off and more staff training in the use of utility methodology with mental health service users.

RTDS-Based Design and Simulation of Distributed P-Q Power Resources in Smart Grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Zachariah David

In this Thesis, we propose to utilize a battery system together with its power electronics interfaces and bidirectional charger as a distributed P-Q resource in power distribution networks. First, we present an optimization-based approach to operate such distributed P-Q resources based on the characteristics of the battery and charger system as well as the features and needs of the power distribution network. Then, we use the RTDS Simulator, which is an industry-standard simulation tool of power systems, to develop two RTDS-based design approaches. The first design is based on an ideal four-quadrant distributed P-Q power resource. The second design is based on a detailed four-quadrant distributed P-Q power resource that is developed using power electronics components. The hardware and power electronics circuitry as well as the control units are explained for the second design. After that, given the two-RTDS designs, we conducted extensive RTDS simulations to assess the performance of the designed distributed P-Q Power Resource in an IEEE 13 bus test system. We observed that the proposed design can noticeably improve the operational performance of the power distribution grid in at least four key aspects: reducing power loss, active power peak load shaving at substation, reactive power peak load shaving at substation, and voltage regulation. We examine these performance measures across three design cases: Case 1: There is no P-Q Power Resource available on the power distribution network. Case 2: The installed P-Q Power Resource only supports active power, i.e., it only utilizes its battery component. Case 3: The installed P-Q Power Resource supports both active and reactive power, i.e., it utilizes both its battery component and its power electronics charger component. In the end, we present insightful interpretations on the simulation results and suggest some future works.

MIUS community conceptual design study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fulbright, B. E.

1976-01-01

The feasibility, practicality, and applicability of the modular integrated utility systems (MIUS) concept to a satellite new-community development with a population of approximately 100,000 were analyzed. Two MIUS design options, the 29-MIUS-unit (option 1) and the 8-MIUS-unit (option 2) facilities were considered. Each resulted in considerable resource savings when compared to a conventional utility system. Economic analyses indicated that the total cash outlay and operations and maintenance costs for these two options were considerably less than for a conventional system. Computer analyses performed in support of this study provided corroborative data for the study group. An environmental impact assessment was performed to determine whether the MIUS meets or will meet necessary environmental standards. The MIUS can provide improved efficiency in the conservation of natural resources while not adversely affecting the physical environment.

An Internet supported workflow for the publication process in UMVF (French Virtual Medical University).

PubMed

Renard, Jean-Marie; Bourde, Annabel; Cuggia, Marc; Garcelon, Nicolas; Souf, Nathalie; Darmoni, Stephan; Beuscart, Régis; Brunetaud, Jean-Marc

2007-01-01

The " Université Médicale Virtuelle Francophone" (UMVF) is a federation of French medical schools. Its main goal is to share the production and use of pedagogic medical resources generated by academic medical teachers. We developed an Open-Source application based upon a workflow system, which provides an improved publication process for the UMVF. For teachers, the tool permits easy and efficient upload of new educational resources. For web masters it provides a mechanism to easily locate and validate the resources. For librarian it provide a way to improve the efficiency of indexation. For all, the utility provides a workflow system to control the publication process. On the students side, the application improves the value of the UMVF repository by facilitating the publication of new resources and by providing an easy way to find a detailed description of a resource and to check any resource from the UMVF to ascertain its quality and integrity, even if the resource is an old deprecated version. The server tier of the application is used to implement the main workflow functionalities and is deployed on certified UMVF servers using the PHP language, an LDAP directory and an SQL database. The client tier of the application provides both the workflow and the search and check functionalities. A unique signature for each resource, was needed to provide security functionality and is implemented using a Digest algorithm. The testing performed by Rennes and Lille verified the functionality and conformity with our specifications.

Application of the WHO keys of safer food to improve food handling practices of food vendors in a poor resource community in Ghana.

PubMed

Donkor, Eric S; Kayang, Boniface B; Quaye, Jonathan; Akyeh, Moses L

2009-11-01

Data was collected from food vendors in a poor resource community in Ghana, which showed that the vendors constituted an important source of oro-faecal transmission. Following this, the WHO five keys of safer food were utilized in an evidence based training programme for the vendors to improve their food handling practices. Impact assessment of the food safety training showed that 67.6% of the vendors had acquired some knowledge from the workshop and were putting it into practice. Lack of food safety equipment was a major hinderance to behavioral change among the vendors as far food handling practices are concerned.

Bacterial Artificial Chromosome Libraries of Pulse Crops: Characteristics and Applications

PubMed Central

Yu, Kangfu

2012-01-01

Pulse crops are considered minor on a global scale despite their nutritional value for human consumption. Therefore, they are relatively less extensively studied in comparison with the major crops. The need to improve pulse crop production and quality will increase with the increasing global demand for food security and people's awareness of nutritious food. The improvement of pulse crops will require fully utilizing all their genetic resources. Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries of pulse crops are essential genomic resources that have the potential to accelerate gene discovery and enhance molecular breeding in these crops. Here, we review the availability, characteristics, applications, and potential applications of the BAC libraries of pulse crops. PMID:21811383

Packets Distributing Evolutionary Algorithm Based on PSO for Ad Hoc Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Xiao-Feng

2018-03-01

Wireless communication network has such features as limited bandwidth, changeful channel and dynamic topology, etc. Ad hoc network has lots of difficulties in accessing control, bandwidth distribution, resource assign and congestion control. Therefore, a wireless packets distributing Evolutionary algorithm based on PSO (DPSO)for Ad Hoc Network is proposed. Firstly, parameters impact on performance of network are analyzed and researched to obtain network performance effective function. Secondly, the improved PSO Evolutionary Algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem from local to global in the process of network packets distributing. The simulation results show that the algorithm can ensure fairness and timeliness of network transmission, as well as improve ad hoc network resource integrated utilization efficiency.

Research on evaluating water resource resilience based on projection pursuit classification model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Dong; Zhao, Dan; Liang, Xu; Wu, Qiuchen

2016-03-01

Water is a fundamental natural resource while agriculture water guarantees the grain output, which shows that the utilization and management of water resource have a significant practical meaning. Regional agricultural water resource system features with unpredictable, self-organization, and non-linear which lays a certain difficulty on the evaluation of regional agriculture water resource resilience. The current research on water resource resilience remains to focus on qualitative analysis and the quantitative analysis is still in the primary stage, thus, according to the above issues, projection pursuit classification model is brought forward. With the help of artificial fish-swarm algorithm (AFSA), it optimizes the projection index function, seeks for the optimal projection direction, and improves AFSA with the application of self-adaptive artificial fish step and crowding factor. Taking Hongxinglong Administration of Heilongjiang as the research base and on the basis of improving AFSA, it established the evaluation of projection pursuit classification model to agriculture water resource system resilience besides the proceeding analysis of projection pursuit classification model on accelerating genetic algorithm. The research shows that the water resource resilience of Hongxinglong is the best than Raohe Farm, and the last 597 Farm. And the further analysis shows that the key driving factors influencing agricultural water resource resilience are precipitation and agriculture water consumption. The research result reveals the restoring situation of the local water resource system, providing foundation for agriculture water resource management.

A Case-Study of the Resources and Functioning of Two Research Ethics Committees in Western India.

PubMed

Chenneville, Tiffany; Menezes, Lynette; Kosambiya, Jayendrakumar; Baxi, Rajendra

2016-12-01

Assessing the resources and functioning of research ethics committees (RECs) in low-resource settings poses many challenges. We conducted a case study of two medical college RECs (A and B) in Western India utilizing the Research Ethics Committee Quality Assurance Self-Assessment Tool (RECQASAT) as well as in-depth interviews with representative members to evaluate REC effectiveness. REC A and B obtained 62% and 67% of allowable points on the RECQASAT. These scores together with findings from the in-depth interviews suggest the need for significant improvement in REC effectiveness particularly in the areas of membership and educational training, organizational aspects, recording minutes, communicating decisions, and REC resources. Developing evidence-based best practices and strengthening infrastructure are essential to enhancing REC efficacy in low-resource countries.

CloVR: A virtual machine for automated and portable sequence analysis from the desktop using cloud computing

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Next-generation sequencing technologies have decentralized sequence acquisition, increasing the demand for new bioinformatics tools that are easy to use, portable across multiple platforms, and scalable for high-throughput applications. Cloud computing platforms provide on-demand access to computing infrastructure over the Internet and can be used in combination with custom built virtual machines to distribute pre-packaged with pre-configured software. Results We describe the Cloud Virtual Resource, CloVR, a new desktop application for push-button automated sequence analysis that can utilize cloud computing resources. CloVR is implemented as a single portable virtual machine (VM) that provides several automated analysis pipelines for microbial genomics, including 16S, whole genome and metagenome sequence analysis. The CloVR VM runs on a personal computer, utilizes local computer resources and requires minimal installation, addressing key challenges in deploying bioinformatics workflows. In addition CloVR supports use of remote cloud computing resources to improve performance for large-scale sequence processing. In a case study, we demonstrate the use of CloVR to automatically process next-generation sequencing data on multiple cloud computing platforms. Conclusion The CloVR VM and associated architecture lowers the barrier of entry for utilizing complex analysis protocols on both local single- and multi-core computers and cloud systems for high throughput data processing. PMID:21878105

Component corneal surgery: An update

PubMed Central

Maharana, Prafulla K.; Sahay, Pranita; Singhal, Deepali; Garg, Itika; Titiyal, Jeewan S.; Sharma, Namrata

2017-01-01

Several decades ago, penetrating keratoplasty was a challenge to corneal surgeons. Constant effort by the corneal surgeon to improve the outcomes as well as utilization of the available resources has led to a revolutionary change in the field of keratoplasty. All these efforts have led to the evolution of techniques that allow a corneal surgeon to disease-specific transplant of individual layers of corneal “so-called component corneal surgery” depending on the layer of cornea affected. This has led to an improvement in corneal graft survival as well as a better utilization of corneal tissues. This article reviews the currently available literature on component corneal surgeries and provides an update on the available techniques. PMID:28820150

Development and Application of Climate Services for Water Resources Planning and Management within the Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raff, D. A.; Morgan, A.; Brekke, L. D.

2014-12-01

The Bureau of Reclamation is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydropower. Reclamation operates 337 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 245 million acre-feet and operates 53 hydroelectric powerplants that annually produce, on average for the past 10 years, 40 billion kilowatt-hours. Reclamation is adapting to the impacts and future challenges posed by the changing climate through the development of new climate services as well as through cooperation with Federal, state, local, tribal, academic, and non-governmental partners in the use of climate and water resource information that may be available. Reclamation is utilizing this information within a strategy that has four goals: 1) Increase Water Management Flexibility, 2) Enhance Climate Adaptation Planning, 3) Improve Infrastructure Resiliency, and 4) Expand Information Sharing. Within this presentation we will focus on the utilization of climate services within each of these key goals of Reclamation's strategy. This includes the utilization of climate information to track and potentially improve reservoir management to increase water management flexibility, the development of climate informed hydrology that supports climate adaptation planning, use of climate information to inform decisions of infrastructure resilience, and climate services use for jointly informed water management decisions through education and web based services.

Remote monitoring of implantable cardiac devices: current state and future directions.

PubMed

Ganeshan, Raj; Enriquez, Alan D; Freeman, James V

2018-01-01

Recent evidence has demonstrated substantial benefits associated with remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), and treatment guidelines have endorsed the use of remote monitoring. Familiarity with the features of remote monitoring systems and the data supporting its use are vital for physicians' care for patients with CEIDs. Remote monitoring remains underutilized, but its use is expanding including in new practice settings including emergency departments. Patient experience and outcomes are positive, with earlier detection of clinical events such as atrial fibrillation, reductions in inappropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks and potentially a decrease in mortality with frequent remote monitoring utilizaiton. Rates of hospitalization are reduced among remote monitoring users, and the replacement of outpatient follow-up visits with remote monitoring transmissions has been shown to be well tolerated. In addition, health resource utilization is lower and remote monitoring has been associated with considerable cost savings. A dose relationship exists between use of remote monitoring and patient outcomes, and those with early and high transmission rates have superior outcomes. Remote monitoring provides clinicians with the ability to provide comprehensive follow-up care for patients with CIEDs. Patient outcomes are improved, and resource utilization is decreased with appropriate use of remote monitoring. Future efforts must focus on improving the utilization and efficiency of remote monitoring.

A review of initial investigations to utilize ERTS-1 data in determining the availability and distribution of living marine resources. [harvest and management of fisheries resources in Mississippi Sound and Gulf waters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stevenson, W. H.; Kemmerer, A. J.; Atwell, B. H.; Maughan, P. M.

1974-01-01

The National Marine Fisheries Service has been studying the application of aerospace remote sensing to fisheries management and utilization for many years. The 15-month ERTS study began in July 1972 to: (1) determine the reliability of satellite and high altitude sensors to provide oceanographic parameters in coastal waters; (2) demonstrate the use of remotely-sensed oceanographic information to predict the distribution and abundance of adult menhaden; and (3) demonstrate the potential use of satellites for acquiring information for improving the harvest and management of fisheries resources. The study focused on a coastal area in the north-central portion of the Gulf of Mexico, including parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The test area used in the final analysis was the Mississippi Sound and the area outside the barrier islands to approximately the 18-meter (10-fathom) curve.

A Healthcare Utilization Analysis Framework for Hot Spotting and Contextual Anomaly Detection

PubMed Central

Hu, Jianying; Wang, Fei; Sun, Jimeng; Sorrentino, Robert; Ebadollahi, Shahram

2012-01-01

Patient medical records today contain vast amount of information regarding patient conditions along with treatment and procedure records. Systematic healthcare resource utilization analysis leveraging such observational data can provide critical insights to guide resource planning and improve the quality of care delivery while reducing cost. Of particular interest to providers are hot spotting: the ability to identify in a timely manner heavy users of the systems and their patterns of utilization so that targeted intervention programs can be instituted, and anomaly detection: the ability to identify anomalous utilization cases where the patients incurred levels of utilization that are unexpected given their clinical characteristics which may require corrective actions. Past work on medical utilization pattern analysis has focused on disease specific studies. We present a framework for utilization analysis that can be easily applied to any patient population. The framework includes two main components: utilization profiling and hot spotting, where we use a vector space model to represent patient utilization profiles, and apply clustering techniques to identify utilization groups within a given population and isolate high utilizers of different types; and contextual anomaly detection for utilization, where models that map patient’s clinical characteristics to the utilization level are built in order to quantify the deviation between the expected and actual utilization levels and identify anomalies. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework using claims data collected from a population of 7667 diabetes patients. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed approaches in identifying clinically meaningful instances for both hot spotting and anomaly detection. In future work we plan to incorporate additional sources of observational data including EMRs and disease registries, and develop analytics models to leverage temporal relationships among medical encounters to provide more in-depth insights. PMID:23304306

A healthcare utilization analysis framework for hot spotting and contextual anomaly detection.

PubMed

Hu, Jianying; Wang, Fei; Sun, Jimeng; Sorrentino, Robert; Ebadollahi, Shahram

2012-01-01

Patient medical records today contain vast amount of information regarding patient conditions along with treatment and procedure records. Systematic healthcare resource utilization analysis leveraging such observational data can provide critical insights to guide resource planning and improve the quality of care delivery while reducing cost. Of particular interest to providers are hot spotting: the ability to identify in a timely manner heavy users of the systems and their patterns of utilization so that targeted intervention programs can be instituted, and anomaly detection: the ability to identify anomalous utilization cases where the patients incurred levels of utilization that are unexpected given their clinical characteristics which may require corrective actions. Past work on medical utilization pattern analysis has focused on disease specific studies. We present a framework for utilization analysis that can be easily applied to any patient population. The framework includes two main components: utilization profiling and hot spotting, where we use a vector space model to represent patient utilization profiles, and apply clustering techniques to identify utilization groups within a given population and isolate high utilizers of different types; and contextual anomaly detection for utilization, where models that map patient's clinical characteristics to the utilization level are built in order to quantify the deviation between the expected and actual utilization levels and identify anomalies. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework using claims data collected from a population of 7667 diabetes patients. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed approaches in identifying clinically meaningful instances for both hot spotting and anomaly detection. In future work we plan to incorporate additional sources of observational data including EMRs and disease registries, and develop analytics models to leverage temporal relationships among medical encounters to provide more in-depth insights.

Are prenatal care resources distributed efficiently across high-risk and low-risk mothers?

PubMed

Mukhopadhyay, Sankar; Wendel, Jeanne

2008-09-01

The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement recommends reducing the number of prenatal care visits recommended for low-risk women, citing evidence from a randomized clinical trial indicating that the reduction would not adversely impact infant health. We investigate the implicit hypothesis that prenatal care resources are not distributed efficiently across high-risk and low-risk women. Using clinic-reported prenatal care and an inclusive measure of infant health, we report evidence indicating inefficient resource utilization: prenatal care only boosts infant health when mothers have specific pre-existing diagnoses, but women with high potential to benefit from care do not obtain more care than other women.

Global Health Initiatives of the International Oncology Community.

PubMed

Al-Sukhun, Sana; de Lima Lopes, Gilberto; Gospodarowicz, Mary; Ginsburg, Ophira; Yu, Peter Paul

2017-01-01

Cancer has become one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 60% of the world's total new cases are diagnosed. The challenge for effective control of cancer is multifaceted. It mandates integration of effective cancer prevention, encouraging early detection, and utilization of resource-adapted therapeutic and supportive interventions. In the resource-constrained setting, it becomes challenging to deliver each service optimally, and efficient allocation of resources is the best way to improve the outcome. This concept was translated into action through development of resource-stratified guidelines, pioneered by the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), and later adopted by most oncology societies in an attempt to help physicians deliver the best possible care in a limited-resource setting. Improving outcome entails collaboration between key stakeholders, including the pharmaceutical industry, local and national health authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other nonprofit, patient-oriented organizations. Therefore, we started to observe global health initiatives-led by ASCO, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), and the WHO-to address these challenges at the international level. This article discusses some of these initiatives.

Comprehensive techno-economic analysis of wastewater-based algal biofuel production: A case study.

PubMed

Xin, Chunhua; Addy, Min M; Zhao, Jinyu; Cheng, Yanling; Cheng, Sibo; Mu, Dongyan; Liu, Yuhuan; Ding, Rijia; Chen, Paul; Ruan, Roger

2016-07-01

Combining algae cultivation and wastewater treatment for biofuel production is considered the feasible way for resource utilization. An updated comprehensive techno-economic analysis method that integrates resources availability into techno-economic analysis was employed to evaluate the wastewater-based algal biofuel production with the consideration of wastewater treatment improvement, greenhouse gases emissions, biofuel production costs, and coproduct utilization. An innovative approach consisting of microalgae cultivation on centrate wastewater, microalgae harvest through flocculation, solar drying of biomass, pyrolysis of biomass to bio-oil, and utilization of co-products, was analyzed and shown to yield profound positive results in comparison with others. The estimated break even selling price of biofuel ($2.23/gallon) is very close to the acceptable level. The approach would have better overall benefits and the internal rate of return would increase up to 18.7% if three critical components, namely cultivation, harvest, and downstream conversion could achieve breakthroughs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Will the Needs-Based Planning of Health Human Resources Currently Undertaken in Several Countries Lead to Excess Supply and Inefficiency?

PubMed

Basu, Kisalaya; Pak, Maxwell

2016-01-01

Recently, the emphasis on health human resources (HHR) planning has shifted away from a utilization-based approach toward a needs-based one in which planning is based on the projected health needs of the population. However, needs-based models that are currently in use rely on a definition of 'needs' that include only the medical circumstances of individuals and not personal preferences or other socio-economic factors. We examine whether planning based on such a narrow definition will maximize social welfare. We show that, in a publicly funded healthcare system, if the planner seeks to meet the aggregate need without taking utilization into consideration, then oversupply of HHR is likely because 'needs' do not necessarily translate into 'usage.' Our result suggests that HHR planning should track the healthcare system as access gradually improves because, even if health care is fully accessible, individuals may not fully utilize it to the degree prescribed by their medical circumstances. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[Application of synthetic biology to sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources].

PubMed

Huang, Lu-Qi; Gao, Wei; Zhou, Yong-Jin

2014-01-01

Bioactive natural products are the material bases of Chinese materia medica resources. With successful applications of synthetic biology strategies to the researches and productions of taxol, artemisinin and tanshinone, etc, the potential ability of synthetic biology in the sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources has been attracted by many researchers. This paper reviews the development of synthetic biology, the opportunities of sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources, and the progress of synthetic biology applied to the researches of bioactive natural products. Furthermore, this paper also analyzes how to apply synthetic biology to sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources and what the crucial factors are. Production of bioactive natural products with synthetic biology strategies will become a significant approach for the sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources.

Scoping study of integrated resource planning needs in the public utility sector

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

Garrick, C J; Garrick, J M; Rue, D R

Integrated resource planning (IRP) is an approach to utility resource planning that integrates the evaluation of supply- and demand-site options for providing energy services at the least cost. Many utilities practice IRP; however, most studies about IRP focus on investor-owned utilities (IOUs). This scoping study investigates the IRP activities and needs of public utilities (not-for-profit utilities, including federal, state, municipal, and cooperative utilities). This study (1) profiles IRP-related characteristics of the public utility sector, (2) articulates the needs of public utilities in understanding and implementing IRP, and (3) identifies strategies to advance IRP principles in public utility planning.

Determinants of resource needs and utilization among refugees over time.

PubMed

Wright, A Michelle; Aldhalimi, Abir; Lumley, Mark A; Jamil, Hikmet; Pole, Nnamdi; Arnetz, Judith E; Arnetz, Bengt B

2016-04-01

This study examined refugees' resource needs and utilization over time, investigated the relationships between pre-displacement/socio-demographic variables and resource needs and utilization, and explored the role of resource needs and utilization on psychiatric symptom trajectories. Iraqi refugees to the United States (N = 298) were assessed upon arrival and at 1-year intervals for 2 years for socio-demographic variables and pre-displacement trauma experiences, their need for and utilization of 14 different resources, and PTSD and depressive symptoms. Although refugees reported reduction of some needs over time (e.g., need for cash assistance declined from 99 to 71 %), other needs remained high (e.g., 99 % of refugees reported a need for health care at the 2-year interview). Generally, the lowest needs were reported after 2 years, and the highest utilization occurred during the first year post-arrival. Pre-displacement trauma exposure predicted high health care needs but not high health care utilization. Both high need for and use of health care predicted increasing PTSD and depressive symptoms. Specifically, increased use of psychological care across the three measurement waves predicted more PTSD and depression symptoms at the 2-year interview. Differences emerged between need for and actual use of resources, especially for highly trauma-exposed refugees. Resettlement agencies and assistance programs should consider the complex relationships between resource needs, resource utilization, and mental health during the early resettlement period.

Determinants of Resource Needs and Utilization Among Refugees Over Time

PubMed Central

Wright, A. Michelle; Aldhalimi, Abir; Lumley, Mark A.; Jamil, Hikmet; Pole, Nnamdi; Arnetz, Judith E.; Arnetz, Bengt B.

2015-01-01

Purpose This study examined refugees’ resource needs and utilization over time, investigated the relationships between pre-displacement/socio-demographic variables and resource needs and utilization, and explored the role of resource needs and utilization on psychiatric symptom trajectories. Methods Iraqi refugees to the United States (N=298) were assessed upon arrival and at 1-year intervals for two years for socio-demographic variables and pre-displacement trauma experiences, their need for and utilization of 14 different resources, and PTSD and depressive symptoms. Results Although refugees reported reduction of some needs over time (e.g., need for cash assistance declined from 99% to 71%), other needs remained high (e.g., 99% of refugees reported a need for health care at the 2-year interview). Generally, the lowest needs were reported after 2 years, and the highest utilization occurred during the first year post-arrival. Pre-displacement trauma exposure predicted high health care needs but not high health care utilization. Both high need for and use of health care predicted increasing PTSD and depressive symptoms. Specifically, increased use of psychological care across the three measurement waves predicted more PTSD and depression symptoms at the 2-year interview. Conclusions Differences emerged between need for and actual use of resources, especially for highly trauma-exposed refugees. Resettlement agencies and assistance programs should consider the complex relationships between resource needs, resource utilization, and mental health during the early resettlement period. PMID:26370213

The NSF/RANN FY 1975 program for geothermal resources research and technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kruger, P.

1974-01-01

The specific goal of the NSF geothermal program is the rapid development by industry of the nation's geothermal resources that can be demonstrated to be commercially, environmentally and socially acceptable as alternate energy sources. NSF, as the lead agency for the federal geothermal energy research program, is expediting a program which encompasses the objectives necessary for significant utilization. These include: acceleration of exploration and assessment methods to identify commercial geothermal resources; development of innovative and improved technology to achieve economic feasibility; evaluation of policy options to resolve environmental, legal, and institutional problems; and support of experimental research facilities for each type of geothermal resource. Specific projects in each of these four objective areas are part of the NSF program for fiscal year 1975.

Remote sensing in Michigan for land resource management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lowe, D. S.; Istvan, L. B.; Roller, N. E. G.; Sellman, A. N.; Wagner, T. W.

1975-01-01

The utilization of NASA earth resource survey technology as an important aid in the solution of current problems in resource management and environmental protection in Michigan is discussed. Remote sensing techniques to aid Michigan government agencies were used to achieve the following results: (1) provide data on Great Lakes beach recession rates to establish shoreline zoning ordinances; (2) supply technical justification for public acquisition of land to establish the St. John's Marshland Recreation Area; (3) establish economical and effective methods for performing a statewide wetlands survey; (4) accomplish a variety of regional resource management actions in the Upper Peninsula; and (5) demonstrate improved soil survey methods. The project disseminated information on remote sensing technology and provided advice and assistance to a number of users in Michigan.

The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Resource and Tool ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a relatively new and rapidly emerging field in the U.S. An inventory of available HIA resources and tools was conducted, with a primary focus on resources developed in the U.S. The resources and tools available to HIA practitioners in the conduct of their work were identified through multiple methods and compiled into a comprehensive list. The compilation includes tools and resources related to the HIA process itself and those that can be used to collect and analyze data, establish a baseline profile, assess potential health impacts, and establish benchmarks and indicators for monitoring and evaluation. These resources include literature and evidence bases, data and statistics, guidelines, benchmarks, decision and economic analysis tools, scientific models, methods, frameworks, indices, mapping, and various data collection tools. Understanding the data, tools, models, methods, and other resources available to perform HIAs will help to advance the HIA community of practice in the U.S., improve the quality and rigor of assessments upon which stakeholder and policy decisions are based, and potentially improve the overall effectiveness of HIA to promote healthy and sustainable communities. The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Resource and Tool Compilation is a comprehensive list of resources and tools that can be utilized by HIA practitioners with all levels of HIA experience to guide them throughout the HIA process. The HIA Resource

PVT: An Efficient Computational Procedure to Speed up Next-generation Sequence Analysis

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background High-throughput Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques are advancing genomics and molecular biology research. This technology generates substantially large data which puts up a major challenge to the scientists for an efficient, cost and time effective solution to analyse such data. Further, for the different types of NGS data, there are certain common challenging steps involved in analysing those data. Spliced alignment is one such fundamental step in NGS data analysis which is extremely computational intensive as well as time consuming. There exists serious problem even with the most widely used spliced alignment tools. TopHat is one such widely used spliced alignment tools which although supports multithreading, does not efficiently utilize computational resources in terms of CPU utilization and memory. Here we have introduced PVT (Pipelined Version of TopHat) where we take up a modular approach by breaking TopHat’s serial execution into a pipeline of multiple stages, thereby increasing the degree of parallelization and computational resource utilization. Thus we address the discrepancies in TopHat so as to analyze large NGS data efficiently. Results We analysed the SRA dataset (SRX026839 and SRX026838) consisting of single end reads and SRA data SRR1027730 consisting of paired-end reads. We used TopHat v2.0.8 to analyse these datasets and noted the CPU usage, memory footprint and execution time during spliced alignment. With this basic information, we designed PVT, a pipelined version of TopHat that removes the redundant computational steps during ‘spliced alignment’ and breaks the job into a pipeline of multiple stages (each comprising of different step(s)) to improve its resource utilization, thus reducing the execution time. Conclusions PVT provides an improvement over TopHat for spliced alignment of NGS data analysis. PVT thus resulted in the reduction of the execution time to ~23% for the single end read dataset. Further, PVT designed for paired end reads showed an improved performance of ~41% over TopHat (for the chosen data) with respect to execution time. Moreover we propose PVT-Cloud which implements PVT pipeline in cloud computing system. PMID:24894600

PVT: an efficient computational procedure to speed up next-generation sequence analysis.

PubMed

Maji, Ranjan Kumar; Sarkar, Arijita; Khatua, Sunirmal; Dasgupta, Subhasis; Ghosh, Zhumur

2014-06-04

High-throughput Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques are advancing genomics and molecular biology research. This technology generates substantially large data which puts up a major challenge to the scientists for an efficient, cost and time effective solution to analyse such data. Further, for the different types of NGS data, there are certain common challenging steps involved in analysing those data. Spliced alignment is one such fundamental step in NGS data analysis which is extremely computational intensive as well as time consuming. There exists serious problem even with the most widely used spliced alignment tools. TopHat is one such widely used spliced alignment tools which although supports multithreading, does not efficiently utilize computational resources in terms of CPU utilization and memory. Here we have introduced PVT (Pipelined Version of TopHat) where we take up a modular approach by breaking TopHat's serial execution into a pipeline of multiple stages, thereby increasing the degree of parallelization and computational resource utilization. Thus we address the discrepancies in TopHat so as to analyze large NGS data efficiently. We analysed the SRA dataset (SRX026839 and SRX026838) consisting of single end reads and SRA data SRR1027730 consisting of paired-end reads. We used TopHat v2.0.8 to analyse these datasets and noted the CPU usage, memory footprint and execution time during spliced alignment. With this basic information, we designed PVT, a pipelined version of TopHat that removes the redundant computational steps during 'spliced alignment' and breaks the job into a pipeline of multiple stages (each comprising of different step(s)) to improve its resource utilization, thus reducing the execution time. PVT provides an improvement over TopHat for spliced alignment of NGS data analysis. PVT thus resulted in the reduction of the execution time to ~23% for the single end read dataset. Further, PVT designed for paired end reads showed an improved performance of ~41% over TopHat (for the chosen data) with respect to execution time. Moreover we propose PVT-Cloud which implements PVT pipeline in cloud computing system.

Resource Management for Real-Time Adaptive Agents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welch, Lonnie; Chelberg, David; Pfarr, Barbara; Fleeman, David; Parrott, David; Tan, Zhen-Yu; Jain, Shikha; Drews, Frank; Bruggeman, Carl; Shuler, Chris

2003-01-01

Increased autonomy and automation in onboard flight systems offer numerous potential benefits, including cost reduction and greater flexibility. The existence of generic mechanisms for automation is critical for handling unanticipated science events and anomalies where limitations in traditional control software with fixed, predetermined algorithms can mean loss of science data and missed opportunities for observing important terrestrial events. We have developed such a mechanism by adding a Hierarchical Agent-based ReaLTime technology (HART) extension to our Dynamic Resource Management (DRM) middleware. Traditional DRM provides mechanisms to monitor the realtime performance of distributed applications and to move applications among processors to improve real-time performance. In the HART project we have designed and implemented a performance adaptation mechanism to improve reaktime performance. To use this mechanism, applications are developed that can run at various levels of quality. The DRM can choose a setting for the quality level of an application dynamically at run-time in order to manage satellite resource usage more effectively. A groundbased prototype of a satellite system that captures and processes images has also been developed as part of this project to be used as a benchmark for evaluating the resource management framework A significant enhancement of this generic mission-independent framework allows scientists to specify the utility, or "scientific benefit," of science observations under various conditions like cloud cover and compression method. The resource manager then uses these benefit tables to determine in redtime how to set the quality levels for applications to maximize overall system utility as defined by the scientists running the mission. We also show how maintenance functions llke health and safety data can be integrated into the utility framework. Once thls framework has been certified for missions and successfully flight tested it can be reused with little development overhead for other missions. In contrast, current space missions llke Swift manage similar types of resource trade -off completely with the scientific application code itself, and such code must be re-certified and tested for each mission even if a large portion of the code base is shared. This final report discusses some of the major issues motivating this research effort, provides a literature review of the related work, discusses the resource management framework and ground-based satellite system prototype that has been developed, indicates what work is yet to be performed, and provides a list of publications resulting from this work.

Is it time to revisit the log-sort yard?

Treesearch

John Dramm; Gerry Jackson

2000-01-01

Log-sort yards provide better utilization and marketing with improved value recovery of currently available timber resources in North America. Log-sort yards provide many services in marketing wood and fiber by concentrating, merchandising, manufacturing, sorting, and adding value to logs. Such operations supply forest products firms with desired raw materials, which...

Enhancing MPLS Protection Method with Adaptive Segment Repair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chin-Ling

We propose a novel adaptive segment repair mechanism to improve traditional MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) failure recovery. The proposed mechanism protects one or more contiguous high failure probability links by dynamic setup of segment protection. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed mechanism reduces failure recovery time while also increasing network resource utilization.

Properties of bio-based medium density fiberboard

Treesearch

Sangyeob Lee; Todd F. Shupe; Chung Y. Hse

2006-01-01

In order to utilize agricultural waste fibers as an alternative resource for composites, a number of variables were investigated to determine whether the mechanical and physical properties of agro-based fiberboard could be improved. Fibers were classified into four different mesh sizes and used to evaluated the effect of fiber size on the mechanical and physical...

Pricing: A Normative Strategy in the Delivery of Human Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Stephen T.

1995-01-01

Discusses a normative strategy toward pricing human services, which will allow providers to develop pricing strategies within the context of organizational missions, goals, and values. Pricing is an effective tool for distributing resources and improving efficiency, and can be used as a tool for encouraging desired patterns of service utilization.…

Mechanical and physical properties of agro-based fiberboard

Treesearch

S. Lee; T.F. Shupe; C.Y. Hse

2006-01-01

In order to better utilize agricultural fibers as an alternative resource for composite panels, several variables were investigated to improve mechanical and physical properties of agm-based fiberboard. This study focused on the effect of fiber morphology, slenderness ratios (UD), and fiber mixing combinations on panel properties. The panel construction types were also...

The Nature of Teacher Leadership in a Boston Pilot School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chesson, Laura S.

2011-01-01

As the pressure on schools to meet higher and higher expectations with less and less resources increases, educators seek to explore school models which are centered on reforms that increased the likelihood of meeting this challenge. One reform initiative which has received much attention is the utilization of teacher leadership to improve school…

Lunar Soil Particle Separator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berggren, Mark

2010-01-01

The Lunar Soil Particle Separator (LSPS) beneficiates soil prior to in situ resource utilization (ISRU). It can improve ISRU oxygen yield by boosting the concentration of ilmenite, or other iron-oxide-bearing materials found in lunar soils, which can substantially reduce hydrogen reduction reactor size, as well as drastically decreasing the power input required for soil heating

Knowledge Management and the Competitive Strategy of the Firm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halawi, Leila A.; McCarthy, Richard V.; Aronson, Jay E.

2006-01-01

Purpose: Knowledge management (KM) has emerged as a strategy to improve organizational competitiveness. Our purpose is to identify the relationship between KM and the firm's competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: We review the existing literature on KM and strategy formulation. We utilize the resource-based view approach as a lens for…

National Conference on Cooperative Education (Washington, D.C., April 3-5, 1973).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC. Div. of Vocational and Technical Education.

The three-day conference focused on giving clearer direction and visibility to community resources utilization in preparing persons for employment. It sought to clarify the scope of cooperative education as a plan for delivering occupational skills and to examine selected issues which would serve to stimulate expansion, improve practices, and…

Estimating the Value of Improved Distributed Photovoltaic Adoption Forecasts for Utility Resource Planning

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

Gagnon, Pieter J

Misforecasting the adoption of customer-owned distributed photovoltaics (DPV) can have operational and financial implications for utilities - forecasting capabilities can be improved, but generally at a cost. This paper informs this decision-space by quantifying the costs of misforecasting across a wide range of DPV growth rates and misforecast severities. Using a simplified probabilistic method presented within, an analyst can make a first-order estimate of the financial benefit of improving a utility's forecasting capabilities, and thus be better informed about whether to make such an investment. For example, we show that a utility with 10 TWh per year of retail electricmore » sales who initially estimates that the increase in DPV's contribution to total generation could range from 2 to 7.5 percent over the next 15 years could expect total present-value savings of approximately 4 million dollars if they could keep the severity of successive five-year misforecasts within plus or minus 25 percent. We also have more general discussions about how misforecasting DPV impacts the buildout and operation of the bulk power system - for example, we observed that misforecasting DPV most strongly influenced the amount of utility-scale PV that gets built, due to the similarity in the energy and capacity services offered by the two solar technologies.« less

Estimating the Value of Improved Distributed Photovoltaic Adoption Forecasts for Utility Resource Planning

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

Gagnon, Pieter J; Stoll, Brady; Mai, Trieu T

Misforecasting the adoption of customer-owned distributed photovoltaics (DPV) can have operational and financial implications for utilities - forecasting capabilities can be improved, but generally at a cost.This paper informs this decision-space by quantifying the costs of misforecasting across a wide range of DPV growth rates and misforecast severities. Using a simplified probabilistic method presented within, an analyst can make a first-order estimate of the financial benefit of improving a utility's forecasting capabilities, and thus be better informed about whether to make such an investment. For example, we show that a utility with 10 TWh per year of retail electric salesmore » who initially estimates that the increase in DPV's contribution to total generation could range from 2 percent to 7.5 percent over the next 15 years could expect total present-value savings of approximately $4 million if they could keep the severity of successive five-year misforecasts within +/- 25 percent. We also have more general discussions about how misforecasting DPV impacts the buildout and operation of the bulk power system - for example, we observed that misforecasting DPV most strongly influenced the amount of utility-scale PV that gets built, due to the similarity in the energy and capacity services offered by the two solar technologies.« less

Influences of Different Conditioners on Dehydration Ratio of Activated Sludge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuo, Qiongfang; Zheng, Wenli; Yi, Hao; Chen, Sili; Xu, Zhencheng; Jin, Zhong; Lan, Yongzhe; Guo, Qingwei

2017-11-01

Excess sludge contains a large quantity of water with water content reaching about 97%-99%. Besides microorganisms and germs, the sludge is of complicated composition, including heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, PPCPs, endocrine disrupters, etc. It covers a large area with harmfulness, so it needs further treatment. However, due to existence of extracellular polymeric substances in the sludge, the sludge has poor dehydration property, so how to improve dehydration of sludge is a difficult point in water treatment industry. Chemical conditioning—mechanical dehydration method is sludge dehydration technology which has been widely applied in China. Most sludge treatment plants use organic and inorganic conditioners like polyacrylamide (PAM), polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and polymerized ferrous sulfate (PFS), etc. With characteristics of low toxicity and degradation resistance, these conditioners pose potential risks to the environment and they are adverse to follow-up resource utilization. Therefore, influences of 17 conditioners on sludge dehydration ratio were discussed in this paper, expecting to seek for green, environmentally friendly and highly efficient conditioner so as to improve resource utilization ratio of sludge.

The feasibility of applying geopressured-geothermal resources to direct uses

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

Lunis, B.C.; Negus-de Wys, J.; Plum, M.M.

1991-09-01

This study concludes that direct use technologies, especially desalinated water production, can contribute significantly to the value added process and the overall economic viability in developing a geopressured resource. Although agriculture and aquaculture applications are marginal projects when they are the only use of a geopressured well, the small margin of profitability can contribute to improving the overall economics of the direct use development. The added complexity from a technical and management aspect may add to the overall risk and unpredictability of the project. Six combination of direct uses received economic evaluation that resulted in 15% discounted payback periods rangingmore » from 4 to over 10 years. Many other combinations are possible depending on the resource and market variables. Selection of appropriate technologies and sizes of applications will be established by the developer that engages in geopressured resource utilization. Currently, many areas of the country where geopressured resources are located also have surplus electrical capacity and generation, thus power utilities have been selling power for less than 2 cents per kWH, well below a reasonable breakeven value for geopressured produced electricity. However, when the energy demand of the integrated geopressured facility is large enough to install power generation equipment, operating expenses can be reduced by not paying the 10 to 12 cents per kWH utility rate. The study includes an analysis of a geothermal turbine unit installed with a desalination and an agriculture/aquaculture facility, taking advantage of the cascading energy values. Results suggest that this scenario becomes profitable only where the market price for electricity exceeds five cents per kWH.« less

The feasibility of applying geopressured-geothermal resources to direct uses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lunis, Ben C.; Dewys, Jane Negus; Plum, Martin M.; Lienau, Paul J.; Spencer, F. J.; Nitschke, George F.

1991-09-01

This study concludes that direct use technologies, especially desalinated water production, can contribute significantly to the value added process and the overall economic viability in developing a geopressured resource. Although agriculture and aquaculture applications are marginal projects when they are the only use of a geopressured well, the small margin of profitability can contribute to improving the overall economics of the direct use development. The added complexity from a technical and management aspect may add to the overall risk and unpredictability of the project. Six combinations of direct uses received economic evaluation that resulted in 15 percent discounted payback periods ranging from 4 to over 10 years. Many other combinations are possible depending on the resource and market variables. Selection of appropriate technologies and sizes of applications will be established by the developer that engages in geopressured resource utilization. Currently, many areas of the country where geopressured resources are located also have surplus electrical capacity and generation; thus power utilities have been selling power for less than two cents per kWH, well below a reasonable breakeven value for geopressured produced electricity. However, when the energy demand of the integrated geopressured facility is large enough to install power generation equipment, operating expenses can be reduced by not paying the 10 to 12 cents per kWH utility rate. The study includes an analysis of a geothermal turbine unit installed with a desalination and an agriculture/aquaculture facility, taking advantage of the cascading energy values. Results suggest that this scenario becomes profitable only where the market price for electricity exceeds five cents per kWH.

Maternal autonomy and child health care utilization in India: results from the National Family Health Survey.

PubMed

Malhotra, Chetna; Malhotra, Rahul; Østbye, Truls; Subramanian, S V

2014-07-01

The objective of this study was to examine the association of maternal autonomy with preventive and curative child health care utilization in India. Data from the National Family Health Survey 2005-2006 were used to ascertain association of maternal autonomy (in 3 dimensions: decision making, access to financial resources, freedom of movement) with child's primary immunization status (indicative of preventive health care use) and treatment seeking for child's acute respiratory infection (indicative of curative health care use). Low maternal freedom of movement was associated with higher odds of incomplete primary immunization of the child and for not seeking treatment for the child's acute respiratory infection. Low maternal financial access was associated with increased odds for incomplete primary immunization of the child. The findings show that improvement in autonomy of Indian mothers, especially their freedom of movement, may help improve utilization of health care for their children. © 2012 APJPH.

An Improved Publication Process for the UMVF.

PubMed

Renard, Jean-Marie; Brunetaud, Jean-Marc; Cuggia, Marc; Darmoni, Stephan; Lebeux, Pierre; Beuscart, Régis

2005-01-01

The "Université Médicale Virtuelle Francophone" (UMVF) is a federation of French medical schools. Its main goal is to share the production and use of pedagogic medical resources generated by academic medical teachers. We developed an Open-Source application based upon a workflow system which provides an improved publication process for the UMVF. For teachers, the tool permits easy and efficient upload of new educational resources. For web masters it provides a mechanism to easily locate and validate the resources. For both the teachers and the web masters, the utility provides the control and communication functions that define a workflow system.For all users, students in particular, the application improves the value of the UMVF repository by providing an easy way to find a detailed description of a resource and to check any resource from the UMVF to ascertain its quality and integrity, even if the resource is an old deprecated version. The server tier of the application is used to implement the main workflow functionalities and is deployed on certified UMVF servers using the PHP language, an LDAP directory and an SQL database. The client tier of the application provides both the workflow and the search and check functionalities and is implemented using a Java applet through a W3C compliant web browser. A unique signature for each resource, was needed to provide security functionality and is implemented using the MD5 Digest algorithm. The testing performed by Rennes and Lille verified the functionality and conformity with our specifications.

Water Utility Management Strategies in Turkey: The current situation and the challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alp, E.; Aksoy, M. N.; Koçer, B.

2013-12-01

As the effects of climate change becomes more prominent, current challenges related to water and wastewater management is becoming more serious. Providing water that satisfies environmental and safety standards in terms of quantity and quality is needed to maintain human life without compromising the need of future generations. Besides providing safe and affordable water, necessary treatment should be achieved according to several important factors such as receiving body standards, discharge standards, water reuse options. Therefore, management of water becomes more crucial than ever that states have to provide accessibility of safe water with affordable cost to its citizens with the means of effective utility management, including water treatment facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, water supply facilities and water distribution systems. Water utilities encounter with several challenges related to cost, infrastructure, population, legislation, workforce and resource. This study aims to determine the current situation and the necessary strategies to improve utility management in Turkish municipalities in a sustainable manner. US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has formed a tool on effective utility management that assists utilities to provide a solution for both current and future challenges. In this study, we used EPA's guidelines and developed a survey consists of 60 questions under 10 sub-topics (Product Quality, Employee & Leadership Development, Stakeholder Understanding & Support, Operational Optimization, Infrastructure Stability, Financial Viability, Community Sustainability, Customer Satisfaction, Operational Resiliency, and Water Resource Adequacy). This survey was sent to the managers of 25 metropolitan municipalities in Turkey to assess the current condition of municipalities. After the evaluation of the survey results for each topic, including the importance given by managers, facilities were rated according to their level of achievement. The scores were given for Rate Achievement from 1 to 5 and Rank Importance from 1 to 10 to the survey outcomes for each topic. Then, rating and ranking matrix was constructed according to score ranges. Results show that Product Quality, Stakeholder Understanding & Support, Infrastructure Stability and Customer Satisfaction are the major topics that needs to be improved according to the utility managers in Turkey. According to the outcomes of the study, water losses and unbilled unmetered consumption of water appeared to be the most important issues with the utility management. The utility managers also think there is still room for improvement to satisfy the needs of the users. Even though the rehabilitation of the infrastructure is a costly investment, it can be compensated with the help of the increased revenues as a result of improvement in water loss and unbilled water use. Suggestions given as a result of this study aim to aid decision makers and local authorities to overcome the significant problems faced during management and to achieve a sustainable utility management.

WormClassroom.org: An Inquiry-rich Educational Web Portal for Research Resources of Caenorhabditis elegans

PubMed Central

Lu, Fong-Mei; Stewart, James; White, John G.

2007-01-01

The utilization of biology research resources, coupled with a “learning by inquiry” approach, has great potential to aid students in gaining an understanding of fundamental biological principles. To help realize this potential, we have developed a Web portal for undergraduate biology education, WormClassroom.org, based on current research resources of a model research organism, Caenorhabditis elegans. This portal is intended to serve as a resource gateway for students to learn biological concepts using C. elegans research material. The driving forces behind the WormClassroom website were the strengths of C. elegans as a teaching organism, getting researchers and educators to work together to develop instructional materials, and the 3 P's (problem posing, problem solving, and peer persuasion) approach for inquiry learning. Iterative assessment is an important aspect of the WormClassroom site development because it not only ensures that content is up-to-date and accurate, but also verifies that it does, in fact, aid student learning. A primary assessment was performed to refine the WormClassroom website utilizing undergraduate biology students and nonstudent experts such as C. elegans researchers; results and comments were used for site improvement. We are actively encouraging continued resource contributions from the C. elegans research and education community for the further development of WormClassroom. PMID:17548872

Corporate sustainability: the environmental design and human resource management interface in healthcare settings.

PubMed

Sadatsafavi, Hessam; Walewski, John

2013-01-01

Purpose of the Paper: The purpose of this study is to provide healthcare organizations with a new perspective for developing strategies to enrich their human resource capabilities and improve their performance outcomes. The focus of this study is on leveraging the synergy between organizational management strategies and environmental design interventions. This paper proposes a framework for linking the built environment with the human resource management system of healthcare organizations. The framework focuses on the impact of the built environment regarding job attitudes and behaviors of healthcare workers. Research from the disciplines of strategic human resource management, resource-based view of firms, evidence-based design, and green building are utilized to develop the framework. The positive influence of human resource practices on job attitudes and behaviors of employees is one mechanism to improve organizational performance outcomes. Organizational psychologists suggest that human resource practices are effective because they convey that the organization values employee contributions and cares about their well-being. Attention to employee socio-emotional needs can be reciprocated with higher levels of motivation and commitment toward the organization. In line with these findings, healthcare environmental studies imply that physical settings and features can have a positive influence on job attitudes and the behavior of caregivers by providing for their physical and socio-emotional needs. Adding the physical environment as a complementary resource to the array of human resource practices creates synergy in improving caregivers' job attitudes and behaviors and enhances the human capital of healthcare firms. Staff, evidence-based design, interdisciplinary, modeling, perceived organizational supportPreferred Citation: Sadatsafavi, H., & Walewski, J. (2013). Corporate sustainability: The environmental design and human resource management interface in healthcare settings. Health Environments Research & Design Journal 6(2), pp 98-118.

Recent Progress in Energy-Driven Water Splitting.

PubMed

Tee, Si Yin; Win, Khin Yin; Teo, Wee Siang; Koh, Leng-Duei; Liu, Shuhua; Teng, Choon Peng; Han, Ming-Yong

2017-05-01

Hydrogen is readily obtained from renewable and non-renewable resources via water splitting by using thermal, electrical, photonic and biochemical energy. The major hydrogen production is generated from thermal energy through steam reforming/gasification of fossil fuel. As the commonly used non-renewable resources will be depleted in the long run, there is great demand to utilize renewable energy resources for hydrogen production. Most of the renewable resources may be used to produce electricity for driving water splitting while challenges remain to improve cost-effectiveness. As the most abundant energy resource, the direct conversion of solar energy to hydrogen is considered the most sustainable energy production method without causing pollutions to the environment. In overall, this review briefly summarizes thermolytic, electrolytic, photolytic and biolytic water splitting. It highlights photonic and electrical driven water splitting together with photovoltaic-integrated solar-driven water electrolysis.

Recent Progress in Energy‐Driven Water Splitting

PubMed Central

Tee, Si Yin; Win, Khin Yin; Teo, Wee Siang; Koh, Leng‐Duei; Liu, Shuhua; Teng, Choon Peng

2017-01-01

Hydrogen is readily obtained from renewable and non‐renewable resources via water splitting by using thermal, electrical, photonic and biochemical energy. The major hydrogen production is generated from thermal energy through steam reforming/gasification of fossil fuel. As the commonly used non‐renewable resources will be depleted in the long run, there is great demand to utilize renewable energy resources for hydrogen production. Most of the renewable resources may be used to produce electricity for driving water splitting while challenges remain to improve cost‐effectiveness. As the most abundant energy resource, the direct conversion of solar energy to hydrogen is considered the most sustainable energy production method without causing pollutions to the environment. In overall, this review briefly summarizes thermolytic, electrolytic, photolytic and biolytic water splitting. It highlights photonic and electrical driven water splitting together with photovoltaic‐integrated solar‐driven water electrolysis. PMID:28546906

Feasibility of large-scale power plants based on thermoelectric effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Liping

2014-12-01

Heat resources of small temperature difference are easily accessible, free and enormous on the Earth. Thermoelectric effects provide the technology for converting these heat resources directly into electricity. We present designs for electricity generators based on thermoelectric effects that utilize heat resources of small temperature difference, e.g., ocean water at different depths and geothermal resources, and conclude that large-scale power plants based on thermoelectric effects are feasible and economically competitive. The key observation is that the power factor of thermoelectric materials, unlike the figure of merit, can be improved by orders of magnitude upon laminating good conductors and good thermoelectric materials. The predicted large-scale power generators based on thermoelectric effects, if validated, will have the advantages of the scalability, renewability, and free supply of heat resources of small temperature difference on the Earth.

Improving Shipboard Decision Making in the CBR-D (Chemical/Biological Radiological Defense) Environment: Concepts of Use for and Functional Description of a Decision Aid/Training System (DECAID)

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-19

take place over the period of several days. Decisions regarding MOPP level or resource allocation made on day I may have no immediate impact, but a...present -- conditions, and manage a resource library to assist the DCA in making decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Several areas of utilization are...students work through a scenario, the device couid then display the consequences of those decisions or provide optimal decision recommendations

Costs and financing of improvements in the quality of maternal health services through the Bamako Initiative in Nigeria.

PubMed

Ogunbekun, I; Adeyi, O; Wouters, A; Morrow, R H

1996-12-01

This paper reports on a study to assess the quality of maternal health care in public health facilities in Nigeria and to identify the resource implications of making the necessary quality improvements. Drawing upon unifying themes from quality assurance, basic microeconomics and the Bamako Initiative, locally defined norms were used to estimate resource requirements for improving the quality of maternal health care. Wide gaps existed between what is required (the norm) and what was available in terms of fixed and variable resources required for the delivery of maternal health services in public facilities implementing the Bamako Initiative in the Local Government Areas studied. Given such constraints, it was highly unlikely that technically acceptable standards of care could be met without additional resource inputs to meet the norm. This is part of the cost of doing business and merits serious policy dialogue. Revenue generation from health services was poor and appeared to be more related to inadequate supply of essential drugs and consumables than to the use of uneconomic fee scales. It is likely that user fees will be necessary to supplement scarce government budgets, especially to fund the most critical variable inputs associated with quality improvements. However, any user fee system, especially one that raises fees to patients, will have to be accompanied by immediate and visible quality improvements. Without such quality improvements, cost recovery will result in even lower utilization and attempts to generate new revenues are unlikely to succeed.

Modernizing Distribution System Restoration to Achieve Grid Resiliency Against Extreme Weather Events: An Integrated Solution

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

Chen, Chen; Wang, Jianhui; Ton, Dan

Recent severe power outages caused by extreme weather hazards have highlighted the importance and urgency of improving the resilience of the electric power grid. As the distribution grids still remain vulnerable to natural disasters, the power industry has focused on methods of restoring distribution systems after disasters in an effective and quick manner. The current distribution system restoration practice for utilities is mainly based on predetermined priorities and tends to be inefficient and suboptimal, and the lack of situational awareness after the hazard significantly delays the restoration process. As a result, customers may experience an extended blackout, which causes largemore » economic loss. On the other hand, the emerging advanced devices and technologies enabled through grid modernization efforts have the potential to improve the distribution system restoration strategy. However, utilizing these resources to aid the utilities in better distribution system restoration decision-making in response to extreme weather events is a challenging task. Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated solution: a distribution system restoration decision support tool designed by leveraging resources developed for grid modernization. We first review the current distribution restoration practice and discuss why it is inadequate in response to extreme weather events. Then we describe how the grid modernization efforts could benefit distribution system restoration, and we propose an integrated solution in the form of a decision support tool to achieve the goal. The advantages of the solution include improving situational awareness of the system damage status and facilitating survivability for customers. The paper provides a comprehensive review of how the existing methodologies in the literature could be leveraged to achieve the key advantages. The benefits of the developed system restoration decision support tool include the optimal and efficient allocation of repair crews and resources, the expediting of the restoration process, and the reduction of outage durations for customers, in response to severe blackouts due to extreme weather hazards.« less

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Capability Roadmap Progress Review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald B.; Duke, Michael

2005-01-01

A progress review on In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) capability is presented. The topics include: 1) In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Capability Roadmap: Level 1; 2) ISRU Emphasized Architecture Overview; 3) ISRU Capability Elements: Level 2 and below; and 4) ISRU Capability Roadmap Wrap-up.

Smart City Energy Interconnection Technology Framework Preliminary Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Guotai; Zhao, Baoguo; Zhao, Xin; Li, Hao; Huo, Xianxu; Li, Wen; Xia, Yu

2018-01-01

to improve urban energy efficiency, improve the absorptive ratio of new energy resources and renewable energy sources, and reduce environmental pollution and other energy supply and consumption technology framework matched with future energy restriction conditions and applied technology level are required to be studied. Relative to traditional energy supply system, advanced information technology-based “Energy Internet” technical framework may give play to energy integrated application and load side interactive technology advantages, as a whole optimize energy supply and consumption and improve the overall utilization efficiency of energy.

Library Service to the People of New York State. A Long-Range Program, October 1, 1983-September 30, 1988, for the Improvement of Library Services Utilizing Local, State, and Federal Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Library, Albany.

This annual report on the comprehensive 5-year program for the enhancement of library services in New York State (1) provides a benchmark for the continuing planning, development, and evaluation of state library services; (2) summarizes the objectives, policies, and programs undertaken for the improvement of those services; (3) serves as a guide…

Library Service to the People of New York State: A Long-Range Program October 1, 1984-September 30, 1989 for the Improvement of Library Services Utilizing Local, State, and Federal Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Library, Albany.

This annual report on the comprehensive 5-year program for the enhancement of library services in New York State (1) provides a benchmark for the continuing planning, development, and evaluation of state library services; (2) summarizes the objectives, policies, and programs undertaken for the improvement of those services; (3) serves as a guide…

Library Service to the People of New York State. A Long-Range Program October 1, 1982-September 30, 1987, for the Improvement of Library Services Utilizing Local, State, and Federal Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Library, Albany.

The comprehensive 5-year program for the enhancement of library services in New York State which is described (1) provides a benchmark for the continuing planning, development, and evaluation of state library services; (2) summarizes the objectives, policies, and programs undertaken for the improvement of those services; (3) serves as a guide to…

Library Service to the People of New York State. A Long-Range Program, October 1, 1986-September 30, 1991, for the Improvement of Library Services Utilizing Local, State, and Federal Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Library, Albany.

This annual report on the comprehensive 5-year program for the enhancement of libraries in New York State (1) provides a benchmark for the continuing planning, development, and evaluation of state library services; (2) summarizes the objectives, policies, and programs undertaken for the improvement of those services; (3) serves as a guide to…

Symbiosis of sea anemones and hermit crabs: different resource utilization patterns in the Aegean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vafeiadou, Anna-Maria; Antoniadou, Chryssanthi; Chintiroglou, Chariton

2012-09-01

The small-scale distribution and resource utilization patterns of hermit crabs living in symbiosis with sea anemones were investigated in the Aegean Sea. Four hermit crab species, occupying shells of nine gastropod species, were found in symbiosis with the sea anemone Calliactis parasitica. Shell resource utilization patterns varied among hermit crabs, with Dardanus species utilizing a wide variety of shells. The size structure of hermit crab populations also affected shell resource utilization, with small-sized individuals inhabiting a larger variety of shells. Sea anemone utilization patterns varied both among hermit crab species and among residence shells, with larger crabs and shells hosting an increased abundance and biomass of C. parasitica. The examined biometric relationships suggested that small-sized crabs carry, proportionally to their weight, heavier shells and increased anemone biomass than larger ones. Exceptions to the above patterns are related either to local resource availability or to other environmental factors.

Predictors of outpatient resource utilization following ventral and incisional hernia repair.

PubMed

Wade, Alex; Plymale, Margaret A; Davenport, Daniel L; Johnson, Sara E; Madabhushi, Vashisht V; Mastoroudis, Erica; Tancula, Charlie; Roth, John Scott

2018-04-01

Little is known about the predictors of increased ambulatory costs following open ventral and incisional hernia repair (VIHR); however, postoperative complications would be expected to be associated with an increased burden on outpatient resources. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of perioperative factors on outpatient resource utilization following VIHR. With IRB approval, the surgery scheduling system was queried to identify all cases of VIHR done at our institution over 3 years. Cases with other procedures done at time of VIHR were excluded. National Surgical Quality Improvement Program clinical data, physician billing data which included market and payor across cases, and medical record review data were combined and evaluated in order to quantify care and predictors of usage during the 6 months postoperatively. Data were analyzed for 308 patients. Median patient age was 52 years (SD = 13.3), and over half were female. The number of outpatient visits to the surgical office varied from 0 to 18 [median = 2; interquartile range (IQR) = 1-3]. CDC Wound Class >1 was associated with increase of mean 1.4 visits (IQR: 0.5-2.3); p = 0.003. Component separation, longer duration of operation, and increased mesh size were also predictive of increased number of office visits (p < 0.01). Postoperative infected seroma/seroma requiring drainage added a mean 2.3 visits (IQR: 1.3-3.3), (p < 0.001); and deep wound infection added a mean 3.9 visits (IQR: 1.9-5.9) (p < 0.001). Postoperative complications confer a significant burden for patients and to the outpatient surgical office. In an era in which improved quality and cost-efficiency has become imperative, measures to decrease risk of postoperative complications particularly for more complex VIHR would be expected to decrease resource utilization and increase value of care.

Direct medical costs and their predictors in the EMAR-II cohort: "Variability in the management of rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis in Spain".

PubMed

Leon, Leticia; Abasolo, Lydia; Fernandez-Gutierrez, Benjamin; Jover, Juan Angel; Hernandez-Garcia, Cesar

To analyze the resource utilization in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and predictive factors in and patients treated with biological drugs and biologic-naïve. A cross-sectional study was performed in a sample including all regions and hospitals throughout the country. Sociodemographic data, disease activity parameters and treatment data were obtained. Resource utilization for two years of study was recorded and we made costs imputation. Correlation analyzes were performed on all RA patients and those treated with biological and biological naïve, to estimate the differences in resource utilization. Factors associated with increased resources utilization (costs) attending to treatment was analyzed by linear regression models. We included 1,095 RA patients, 26% male, mean age of 62±14 years. Mean of direct medical costs per patient was €24,291±€45,382. Excluding biological drugs, the average cost per patient was €3,742±€3,711. After adjustment, factors associated with direct medical costs for all RA patients were biologic drugs (P=.02) and disease activity (P=.004). In the biologic-naïve group, the predictor of direct medical costs was comorbidity (P<.001). In the biologic treatment group predictors were follow-up length of the disease (P=.04), age (P=.02) and disease activity (P=.007). Our data show a remarkable economic impact of RA. It is important to identify and estimate the economic impact of the disease, compare data from other geographic samples and to develop improvement strategies to reduce these costs and increase the quality of care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. All rights reserved.

Facilities Utilization Program Implementation Handbook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

This Facilities Utilization Program Implementation Handbook (FUPIH) prescribes procedures for the review and the reporting on the utilization of NASA facilities. The Directors of NASA Field Installations should designate an Installation Official responsible for coordinating the assignment of buildings space and implementing the facilities utilization reviews and annual report preparation. The individual designated shall be known as the 'Facilities Utilization Officer (FUO).' Functional responsibilities of the FUO are detailed in NASA Management Instruction (NMI) 7234.1. It is recognized that titles used in the implementation of the Facilities Utilization Program may vary between field installations. The Facilities Utilization Program (FUP) is designed to provide a uniform and orderly process for meeting or addressing the following objectives: the establishment of sound facilities requirements to meet NASA's programmatic and institutional needs; the optimum allocation of available facilities and related resources to meet these requirements; and the early identification and request for required additional facilities resources. The detailed review and reporting system enacted by NMI 7234.1 should encourage more comprehensive utilization planning for all NASA facilities and ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that all such facilities are put to their highest and best use consistent with NASA programmatic and institutional priorities. A principal purpose of the FUP is the early identification of NASA facilities which may be or may become underutilized or excess to NASA needs and to provide a timely reference point from which corrective actions (i.e., consolidation, elimination of duplication, improved utilization of disposal) may be taken. Because the supply of this handbook is limited, distribution should be controlled at the field installation level.

An Architecture for Cross-Cloud System Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dodda, Ravi Teja; Smith, Chris; van Moorsel, Aad

The emergence of the cloud computing paradigm promises flexibility and adaptability through on-demand provisioning of compute resources. As the utilization of cloud resources extends beyond a single provider, for business as well as technical reasons, the issue of effectively managing such resources comes to the fore. Different providers expose different interfaces to their compute resources utilizing varied architectures and implementation technologies. This heterogeneity poses a significant system management problem, and can limit the extent to which the benefits of cross-cloud resource utilization can be realized. We address this problem through the definition of an architecture to facilitate the management of compute resources from different cloud providers in an homogenous manner. This preserves the flexibility and adaptability promised by the cloud computing paradigm, whilst enabling the benefits of cross-cloud resource utilization to be realized. The practical efficacy of the architecture is demonstrated through an implementation utilizing compute resources managed through different interfaces on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service. Additionally, we provide empirical results highlighting the performance differential of these different interfaces, and discuss the impact of this performance differential on efficiency and profitability.

Health economic evaluation: important principles and methodology.

PubMed

Rudmik, Luke; Drummond, Michael

2013-06-01

To discuss health economic evaluation and improve the understanding of common methodology. This article discusses the methodology for the following types of economic evaluations: cost-minimization, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, cost-benefit, and economic modeling. Topics include health-state utility measures, the quality-adjusted life year (QALY), uncertainty analysis, discounting, decision tree analysis, and Markov modeling. Economic evaluation is the comparative analysis of alternative courses of action in terms of both their costs and consequences. With increasing health care expenditure and limited resources, it is important for physicians to consider the economic impact of their interventions. Understanding common methodology involved in health economic evaluation will improve critical appraisal of the literature and optimize future economic evaluations. Copyright © 2012 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Land and Resource Management Issues Relevant to Deploying In-Situ Thermal Technologies

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

Keiter, Robert; Ruple, John; Tanana, Heather

2011-01-01

Utah is home to oil shale resources containing roughly 1.3 trillion barrels of oil equivalent and our nation’s richest oil sands resources. If economically feasible and environmentally responsible means of tapping these resources can be developed, these resources could provide a safe and stable domestic energy source for decades to come. In Utah, oil shale and oil sands resources underlay a patchwork of federal, state, private, and tribal lands that are subject to different regulatory schemes and conflicting management objectives. Evaluating the development potential of Utah’s oil shale and oil sands resources requires an understanding of jurisdictional issues and themore » challenges they present to deployment and efficient utilization of emerging technologies. The jurisdictional patchwork and divergent management requirements inhibit efficient, economic, and environmentally sustainable development. This report examines these barriers to resource development, methods of obtaining access to landlocked resources, and options for consolidating resource ownership. This report also examines recent legislative efforts to wrest control of western public lands from the federal government. If successful, these efforts could dramatically reshape resource control and access, though these efforts appear to fall far short of their stated goals. The unintended consequences of adversarial approaches to obtaining resource access may outweigh their benefits, hardening positions and increasing tensions to the detriment of overall coordination between resource managers. Federal land exchanges represent a more efficient and mutually beneficial means of consolidating management control and improving management efficiency. Independent of exchange proposals, resource managers must improve coordination, moving beyond mere consultation with neighboring landowners and sister agencies to coordinating actions with them.« less

Predisposing characteristics, enabling resources and need as predictors of utilization and clinical outcomes for veterans receiving mental health services.

PubMed

Fasoli, DiJon R; Glickman, Mark E; Eisen, Susan V

2010-04-01

Though demand for mental health services (MHS) among US veterans is increasing, MHS utilization per veteran is decreasing. With health and social service needs competing for limited resources, it is important to understand the association between patient factors, MHS utilization, and clinical outcomes. We use a framework based on Andersen's behavioral model of health service utilization to examine predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and clinical need as predictors of MHS utilization and clinical outcomes. This was a prospective observational study of veterans receiving inpatient or outpatient MHS through Veterans Administration programs. Clinician ratings (Global Assessment of Functioning [GAF]) and self-report assessments (Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale-24) were completed for 421 veterans at enrollment and 3 months later. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine: (1) predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and need as predictors of MHS inpatient, residential, and outpatient utilization and (2) the association between individual characteristics, utilization, and clinical outcomes. Being older, female, having greater clinical need, lack of enabling resources (employment, stable housing, and social support), and easy access to treatment significantly predicted greater MHS utilization at 3-month follow-up. Less clinical need and no inpatient psychiatric hospitalization predicted better GAF and Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale-24 scores. White race and residential treatment also predicted better GAF scores. Neither enabling resources, nor number of outpatient mental health visits predicted clinical outcomes. This application of Andersen's behavioral model of health service utilization confirmed associations between some predisposing characteristics, need, and enabling resources on MHS utilization but only predisposing characteristics, need, and utilization were associated with clinical outcomes.

Resource Utilization by Native and Invasive Earthworms and Their Effects on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in Puerto Rican Soils

Treesearch

Ching-Yu Huang; Grizelle Gonzalez; Paul F. Hendrix

2016-01-01

Resource utilization by earthworms affects soil C and N dynamics and further colonization of invasive earthworms. By applying 13C-labeled Tabebuia heterophylla leaves and 15N-labeled Andropogon glomeratus grass, we investigated resource utilization by three earthworm species (...

NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization Project-and Seals Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sacksteder, Kurt; Linne, Diane

2006-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on NASA's In-Situ Resource Utilization Project and Seals Challenges is shown. The topics include: 1) What Are Space Resources?; 2) Space Resource Utilization for Exploration; 3) ISRU Enables Affordable, Sustainable & Flexible Exploration; 4) Propellant from the Moon Could Revolutionize Space Transportation; 5) NASA ISRU Capability Roadmap Study, 2005; 6) Timeline for ISRU Capability Implementation; 7) Lunar ISRU Implementation Approach; 8) ISRU Technical-to-Mission Capability Roadmap; 9) ISRU Resources & Products of Interest; and 10) Challenging Seals Requirements for ISRU.

Structured patient handoff on an internal medicine ward: A cluster randomized control trial.

PubMed

Tam, Penny; Nijjar, Aman P; Fok, Mark; Little, Chris; Shingina, Alexandra; Bittman, Jesse; Raghavan, Rashmi; Khan, Nadia A

2018-01-01

The effect of a multi-faceted handoff strategy in a high volume internal medicine inpatient setting on process and patient outcomes has not been clearly established. We set out to determine if a multi-faceted handoff intervention consisting of education, standardized handoff procedures, including fixed time and location for face-to-face handoff would result in improved rates of handoff compared with usual practice. We also evaluated resident satisfaction, health resource utilization and clinical outcomes. This was a cluster randomized controlled trial in a large academic tertiary care center with 18 inpatient internal medicine ward teams from January-April 2013. We randomized nine inpatient teams to an intervention where they received an education session standardizing who and how to handoff patients, with practice and feedback from facilitators. The control group of 9 teams continued usual non-standardized handoffs. The primary process outcome was the rate of patients handed over per 1000 patient nights. Other process outcomes included perceptions of inadequate handoff by overnight physicians, resource utilization overnight and hospital length of stay. Clinical outcomes included medical errors, frequency of patients requiring higher level of care overnight, and in-hospital mortality. The intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in the rate of patients handed over to the overnight physician (62.90/1000 person-nights vs. 46.86/1000 person-nights, p = 0.002). There was no significant difference in other process outcomes except resource utilization was increased in the intervention group (26.35/1000 person-days vs. 17.57/1000 person-days, p-value = 0.01). There was no significant difference between groups in medical errors (4.8% vs. 4.1%), need for higher level of care or in hospital mortality. Limitations include a dependence of accurate record keeping by the overnight physician, the possibility of cross-contamination in the handoff process, analysis at the cluster level and an overall low number of clinical events. Implementation of a multi-faceted resident handoff intervention did not result in a significant improvement in patient safety although did improve number of patients handed off. Novel methods to improve handoff need to be explored. Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01796756.

Practical strategies for developing the business case for hospital glycemic control teams.

PubMed

Magee, Michelle F; Beck, Adam

2008-09-01

Many business models may be used to make the business case for support of a multidisciplinary team to implement targeted glucose control in the hospital. Models may be hospital-supported or self-supporting. In the former, the hospital provides financial support based on improved documentation opportunities, reduction in length of stay, and improved resource utilization. In the latter, clinical revenues for diabetes management offsets costs of salary, fringe benefits, and overheads. A combination of these strategies may also be used. The business plan presented to administration must justify return on investment. It is imperative to involve hospital administration, particularly representatives from coding, billing, and finance, in the development of the business plan. The business case for hospital support will be based on opportunities related to improving accuracy of documentation and coding for diabetes-related diagnoses, including level of control and complications present, on reduction in length of stay and on optimization of resource utilization through reduction in morbidity and mortality (cost aversion). The case for revenue generation through billing for clinical services will be based on opportunities to increase the provision of glycemic management services in the hospital. Examples from the literature and of analyses to support each of these models are presented. (c) 2008 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Diabetes in the African-American Medicare population. Morbidity, quality of care, and resource utilization.

PubMed

Chin, M H; Zhang, J X; Merrell, K

1998-07-01

To determine whether African-American Medicare recipients with diabetes are at increased risk for morbidity, poor quality of care, and high resource utilization. We analyzed 1,376 patients with diabetes who were > or = 65 years of age and in the 1993 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. Morbidity measures were the Katz Index of Activities of Daily Living, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, overall health perception, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, and diabetic complications. Quality of care standards were glycosylated hemoglobin measurements, ophthalmological visits, lipid testing, mammography, influenza vaccination, readmission within 30 days of hospital discharge, and outpatient visits within 4 weeks of hospital discharge. We stratified Medicare reimbursement by type of service and adjusted for sex, education, and age in multivariable analyses. Compared with white patients, African-American patients had worse health perception and lower quality of care. They were more likely to visit the emergency department and had fewer physician visits per year. African-Americans had higher reimbursement for home health services, but total reimbursement was similar after case-mix adjustment. Improved access to preventive care for older African-Americans with diabetes may improve health perception and use of the emergency department. The potential effect on total reimbursement is unclear. Future policy interventions to improve quality of care among Medicare patients with diabetes should especially target African-Americans.

Genomic Prediction and Association Mapping of Curd-Related Traits in Gene Bank Accessions of Cauliflower.

PubMed

Thorwarth, Patrick; Yousef, Eltohamy A A; Schmid, Karl J

2018-02-02

Genetic resources are an important source of genetic variation for plant breeding. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genomic prediction greatly facilitate the analysis and utilization of useful genetic diversity for improving complex phenotypic traits in crop plants. We explored the potential of GWAS and genomic prediction for improving curd-related traits in cauliflower ( Brassica oleracea var. botrytis ) by combining 174 randomly selected cauliflower gene bank accessions from two different gene banks. The collection was genotyped with genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and phenotyped for six curd-related traits at two locations and three growing seasons. A GWAS analysis based on 120,693 single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified a total of 24 significant associations for curd-related traits. The potential for genomic prediction was assessed with a genomic best linear unbiased prediction model and BayesB. Prediction abilities ranged from 0.10 to 0.66 for different traits and did not differ between prediction methods. Imputation of missing genotypes only slightly improved prediction ability. Our results demonstrate that GWAS and genomic prediction in combination with GBS and phenotyping of highly heritable traits can be used to identify useful quantitative trait loci and genotypes among genetically diverse gene bank material for subsequent utilization as genetic resources in cauliflower breeding. Copyright © 2018 Thorwarth et al.

The influence of campus experiences on the level of outness among trans-spectrum and queer-spectrum students.

PubMed

Garvey, Jason C; Rankin, Susan R

2015-01-01

This study utilized MANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression to examine the relationships between campus experiences and coming-out decisions among trans- and queer-spectrum undergraduates. Findings revealed higher levels of outness/disclosure for cisgender LGBQ women, and more negative perceptions of campus climate, classroom climate, and curriculum inclusivity and higher use of campus resources for trans-spectrum students. Results also revealed that higher levels of outness significantly related to poorer perceptions of campus responses and campus resources. Implications address the need to foster an encouraging and supportive campus and classroom climate and to improve the relationships with LGBTQ resource centers for trans- and queer-spectrum students.

Can focused trauma education initiatives reduce mortality or improve resource utilization in a low-resource setting?

PubMed

Petroze, Robin T; Byiringiro, Jean Claude; Ntakiyiruta, Georges; Briggs, Susan M; Deckelbaum, Dan L; Razek, Tarek; Riviello, Robert; Kyamanywa, Patrick; Reid, Jennifer; Sawyer, Robert G; Calland, J Forrest

2015-04-01

Over 90% of injury deaths occur in low-income countries. Evaluating the impact of focused trauma courses in these settings is challenging. We hypothesized that implementation of a focused trauma education initiative in a low-income country would result in measurable differences in injury-related outcomes and resource utilization. Two 3-day trauma education courses were conducted in the Rwandan capital over a one-month period (October-November, 2011). An ATLS provider demonstration course was delivered to 24 faculty surgeons and 15 Rwandan trauma nurse auditors, and a Canadian Network for International Surgery Trauma Team Training (TTT) course was delivered to 25 faculty, residents, and nurses. Trauma registry data over the 6 months prior to the courses were compared to the 6 months afterward with emergency department (ED) mortality as the primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints included radiology utilization and early procedural interventions. Univariate analyses were conducted using χ(2) and Fisher's exact test. A total of 798 and 575 patients were prospectively studied during the pre-intervention and post-intervention periods, respectively. Overall mortality of injured patients decreased after education implementation from 8.8 to 6.3%, but was not statistically significant (p = 0.09). Patients with an initial Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 3-8 had the highest injury-related mortality, which significantly decreased from 58.5% (n = 55) to 37.1% (n = 23), (p = 0.009, OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.22-0.81). There was no statistical difference in the rates of early intubation, cervical collar use, imaging studies, or transfusion in the overall cohort or the head injury subset. When further stratified by GCS, patients with an initial GCS of 3-5 in the post-intervention period had higher utilization of head CT scans and chest X-rays. The mortality of severely injured patients decreased after initiation of focused trauma education courses, but no significant increase in resource utilization was observed. The explanation may be complex and multi-factorial. Long-term multidisciplinary efforts that pair training with changes in resources and mentorship may be needed to produce broad and lasting changes in the overall care system.

[Estimating medicinal yield of Seutellaria baicalensis in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region based on 3S technology].

PubMed

Liu, Jin-xinp; Lu, Heng; Zeng, Yan; Yue, Jian-wei; Meng, Fan-yun; Zhang, Yi-guang

2012-09-01

Resources survey of traditional Chinese medicine and reserves estimation are found to be the most important issues for the protection and utilization of traditional Chinese medicine resources, this paper used multi-spatial resolution remote sensing images (RS) , geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS) , to establish Scutellaria resources survey of 3S data platform. Combined with the traditional field survey methods, small-scale habitat types were established based on different skullcap reserve estimation model, which can estimate reserves of the wild Scutellaria in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and improve the estimation accuracy. It can provide an important parameter for the fourth national survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources and traditional Chinese medicine reserves estimates based on 3S technology by multiple spatial scales model.

[Effects of cropping patterns on photosynthesis characteristics of summer maize and its utilization of solar and heat resources].

PubMed

Zhu, Yuan-Gang; Dong, Shu-Ting; Zhang, Ji-Wang; Liu, Peng; Yang, Jin-Sheng; Jia, Chun-Lan; Liu, Jing-Guo; Li, Deng-Hai

2010-06-01

In order to investigate the effects of interplanting and direct seeding on the photosynthesis characteristics of summer maize and its utilization of solar and heat resources, two summer maize cultivars (Zhengdan 958 and Denghai 661) were planted in the farmlands of Denghai Seed Co. Ltd in Laizhou City of Shandong Province, with 67500 plants x hm(-2) and three sowing dates. The above-ground biomass, plant growth rate, leaf area index, and net photosynthetic rate per ear leaf were measured to reveal the photosynthesis characteristics of test cultivars. In the meantime, the characters of grain-filling were simulated by Richards' model, and the solar resource utilization efficiency of the cultivars was calculated, in combining with meteorological data. Comparing with interplanting, direct seeding increased the grain yield by 1.17%-3.33%, but decreased the thousand-grain weight significantly. Growth stages were extended under earlier sowing. The leaf area index and net photosynthetic rate from flowering to 30 d after anthesis were significantly higher under direct seeding than under interplanting, but after then, they decreased faster. Direct seeding induced a higher accumulation of dry matter and a faster plant growth rate before and after flowering. Under direct seeding, the maximum grain-filling rate reached earlier, the starting potential was higher, but the grain-filling period, active grain-filling period, and W(max) were lower, compared with those under interplanting. Also under direct seeding, the total accumulative temperature and solar radiation during growth period decreased by 150-350 degrees C x d and 200-400 MJ x m(-2), respectively, but the solar resource utilization efficiency of grain increased by 10.5%-24.7%. All the results suggested that direct seeding was superior to interplanting for the summer maize production under field condition. In order to enhance solar and heat utilization efficiency and excavate yield potential, it would be essential to improve the leaf photosynthesis efficiency and postpone leaf aging.

A Proposal of a Method to Measure and Evaluate the Effect to Apply External Support Measures for Owners by Construction Management Method, etc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tada, Hiroshi; Miyatake, Ichiro; Mouri, Junji; Ajiki, Norihiko; Fueta, Toshiharu

In Japan, various approaches have been taken to ensure the quality of public works or to support the procurement regime of the governmental agencies, as a means to utilize external resources, which include the procurement support service or the construction management (CM) method. Although discussions on these measures to utilize external resources (hereinafter referred to as external support measure) have been going on, as well as the follow-up surveys showing the positive effects of such measures have been conducted, the surveys only deal with the matters concerning the overall effects of the external support measure on the whole, meaning that the effect of each item of the tasks have not been addressed, and that the extent it dealt with the expectations of the client is unknown. However, the effective use of the external support measure in future cannot be achieved without knowing what was the purpose to introduce the external support measure, and what effect was expected on each task item, and what extent the expectation fulfilled. Furthermore, it is important to clarify not only the effect as compared to the client's expectation (performance), but also the public benefit of this measure (value improvement). From this point of view, there is not an established method to figure out the effect of the client's measure to utilize external resources. In view of this background, this study takes the CM method as an example of the external support measure, and proposes a method to measure and evaluate the effect by each task item, and suggests the future issues and possible responses, in the aim of contributing the promotion, improvement, and proper implementation of the external support measures in future.

Two-dimensional priority-based dynamic resource allocation algorithm for QoS in WDM/TDM PON networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yixin; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Lijia; Xin, Xiangjun; Zhang, Qi; Rao, Lan

2018-01-01

Wavelength division multiplexing/time division multiplexing (WDM/TDM) passive optical networks (PON) is being viewed as a promising solution for delivering multiple services and applications. The hybrid WDM / TDM PON uses the wavelength and bandwidth allocation strategy to control the distribution of the wavelength channels in the uplink direction, so that it can ensure the high bandwidth requirements of multiple Optical Network Units (ONUs) while improving the wavelength resource utilization. Through the investigation of the presented dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms, these algorithms can't satisfy the requirements of different levels of service very well while adapting to the structural characteristics of mixed WDM / TDM PON system. This paper introduces a novel wavelength and bandwidth allocation algorithm to efficiently utilize the bandwidth and support QoS (Quality of Service) guarantees in WDM/TDM PON. Two priority based polling subcycles are introduced in order to increase system efficiency and improve system performance. The fixed priority polling subcycle and dynamic priority polling subcycle follow different principles to implement wavelength and bandwidth allocation according to the priority of different levels of service. A simulation was conducted to study the performance of the priority based polling in dynamic resource allocation algorithm in WDM/TDM PON. The results show that the performance of delay-sensitive services is greatly improved without degrading QoS guarantees for other services. Compared with the traditional dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms, this algorithm can meet bandwidth needs of different priority traffic class, achieve low loss rate performance, and ensure real-time of high priority traffic class in terms of overall traffic on the network.

Improving the performance of surgery-based clinical pathways: a simulation-optimization approach.

PubMed

Ozcan, Yasar A; Tànfani, Elena; Testi, Angela

2017-03-01

This paper aims to improve the performance of clinical processes using clinical pathways (CPs). The specific goal of this research is to develop a decision support tool, based on a simulation-optimization approach, which identify the proper adjustment and alignment of resources to achieve better performance for both the patients and the health-care facility. When multiple perspectives are present in a decision problem, critical issues arise and often require the balancing of goals. In our approach, meeting patients' clinical needs in a timely manner, and to avoid worsening of clinical conditions, we assess the level of appropriate resources. The simulation-optimization model seeks and evaluates alternative resource configurations aimed at balancing the two main objectives-meeting patient needs and optimal utilization of beds and operating rooms.Using primary data collected at a Department of Surgery of a public hospital located in Genoa, Italy. The simulation-optimization modelling approach in this study has been applied to evaluate the thyroid surgical treatment together with the other surgery-based CPs. The low rate of bed utilization and the long elective waiting lists of the specialty under study indicates that the wards were oversized while the operating room capacity was the bottleneck of the system. The model enables hospital managers determine which objective has to be given priority, as well as the corresponding opportunity costs.

Criteria-Based Resource Allocation: A Tool to Improve Public Health Impact.

PubMed

Graham, J Ross; Mackie, Christopher

2016-01-01

Resource allocation in local public health (LPH) has been reported as a significant challenge for practitioners and a Public Health Services and Systems Research priority. Ensuring available resources have maximum impact on community health and maintaining public confidence in the resource allocation process are key challenges. A popular strategy in health care settings to address these challenges is Program Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA). This case study used PBMA in an LPH setting to examine its appropriateness and utility. The criteria-based resource allocation process PBMA was implemented to guide the development of annual organizational budget in an attempt to maximize the impact of agency resources. Senior leaders and managers were surveyed postimplementation regarding process facilitators, challenges, and successes. Canada's largest autonomous LPH agency. PBMA was used to shift 3.4% of the agency budget from lower-impact areas (through 34 specific disinvestments) to higher-impact areas (26 specific reinvestments). Senior leaders and managers validated the process as a useful approach for improving the public health impact of agency resources. However, they also reported the process may have decreased frontline staff confidence in senior leadership. In this case study, PBMA was used successfully to reallocate a sizable portion of an LPH agency's budget toward higher-impact activities. PBMA warrants further study as a tool to support optimal resource allocation in LPH settings.

Earth resources sensor data handling system: NASA JSC version

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The design of the NASA JSC data handling system is presented. Data acquisition parameters and computer display formats and the flow of image data through the system, with recommendations for improving system efficiency are discussed along with modifications to existing data handling procedures which will allow utilization of data duplication techniques and the accurate identification of imagery.

Taking the Lead in Faculty Development: Teacher Educators Changing the Culture of University Faculty Development through Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Susan R.; Mix, Elizabeth K.

2014-01-01

As pedagogy experts, teacher educators should lead the charge for improved teaching and learning, but are under-utilized pedagogy resources in liberal arts universities. In this paper, the collaborators, one a teacher education assistant professor and the other an associate professor of art history, identify critical friendship group approaches…

Reinforcement of Wood Pallets with Metal Connector Plates

Treesearch

John W. Clarke; Thomas E. McLain; Marshall S. White; Philip A. Araman

1993-01-01

Reinforcement of the damage-prone areas of wood pallet stringers with metal connector plates (MCPs) may increase useful pallet life or permit use of less desirable wood species. This will improve the utilization of our timber resources and landfill space. Whole pallets and individual stringers, reinforced at the inner notches, were tested in static bending. Stringer...

Illiad, Rapid, and an Unmediated Solution to the Interlibrary Loan Textbook Dilemma

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeil, Erika Hanson

2017-01-01

As the cost of textbooks rises and discoverability of resources improves, students are turning more and more to interlibrary loan to meet their textbook needs. This article describes how systems can be utilized to streamline processes and allow for the canceling of textbook requests consistently and appropriately by taking full advantage of the…

An Examination of Instructional Interactions between Volunteer-Tutors and Students Who Show Differential Gains in Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newcomer, Laurie J.

2010-01-01

It is essential to provide high quality interventions designed to improve struggling readers' reading comprehension while making use of limited resources. This study explored, through an holistic, multiple-case study design, volunteer-student interactions and activities in an after school reading program utilizing minimally-trained volunteers. The…

User Feedback: Alumni on Workplace Presenting and Improving Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marcel, Mary

2017-01-01

Alumni are an underutilized resource for input on the oral presentation skills employees need at work and what should be taught in oral-presentation-focused business communication courses. Yet they are in a unique position to assess the utility of what they learned and recommend coursework changes. In survey responses, 1,610 business alumni who…

Opportunities for using bio-based fibers for value-added composites

Treesearch

Zhiyong Cai; Jerrold E. Winandy

2006-01-01

Efficient and economical utilization of various bio-based materials is an effective way to improve forest management, promote long-term sustainability, and restore native ecosystems. However, the dilemma is how to deal with lesser used, undervalued or no-value bio-resources such as small diameter trees, agricultural residues (wheat straw, rice straw, and corn stalk),...

The Role of Libraries in eHealth Service Delivery in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rao, Sarada

2009-01-01

eHealth is an emerging service sector which has great potential to improve health care delivery to rural and remote communities, facilitate health surveillance, and promote health education and research. Despite the critical need for eHealth services in Australia based on the challenges of distance and human resources, its utility has yet to be…

Economic Prosperity and Utilization of Human Resources in Iraqi Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Rubaiy, A.; And Others

Since Iraq gained independence in the 1930s and particularly since it became a republic in the 1950s and began earning oil revenue, efforts to improve Iraqi education have received increasing attention. By 1984 the educational system had achieved the ability to enroll every child reaching the age of six, and a national campaign to reduce…

Improving Library Services to Satellite Campuses: The Case of the University of Lethbridge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eva, Nicole C.

2012-01-01

A survey was done of instructors at two satellite campuses located at a distance from the main campus of the University of Lethbridge in order to ascertain both utilization and awareness of library resources and services. Results were enlightening, indicating that lack of awareness and communication is one of the biggest obstacles for these…

A Process Improvement Study on a Military System of Clinics to Manage Patient Demand and Resource Utilization Using Discrete-Event Simulation, Sensitivity Analysis, and Cost-Benefit Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-12

26 Table 3: Optometry Clinic Frequency Count... Optometry Clinic Frequency Count.................................................................. 86 Table 22: Probability Distribution Summary Table...Clinic, the Audiology Clinic, and the Optometry Clinic. Methodology Overview The overarching research goal is to identify feasible solutions to

Improving Emergency Department Triage Classification with Computerized Clinical Decision Support at a Pediatric Hospital

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kunisch, Joseph Martin

2012-01-01

Background: The Emergency Severity Index (ESI) is an emergency department (ED) triage classification system based on estimated patient-specific resource utilization. Rules for a computerized clinical decision support (CDS) system based on a patient's chief complaint were developed and tested using a stochastic model for predicting ESI scores.…

Smarter Software For Enhanced Vehicle Health Monitoring and Inter-Planetary Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larson, William E.; Goodrich, Charles H.; Steinrock, Todd (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The existing philosophy for space mission control was born in the early days of the space program when technology did not exist to put significant control responsibility onboard the spacecraft. NASA relied on a team of ground control experts to troubleshoot systems when problems occurred. As computing capability improved, more responsibility was handed over to the systems software. However, there is still a large contingent of both launch and flight controllers supporting each mission. New technology can update this philosophy to increase mission assurance and reduce the cost of inter-planetary exploration. The advent of model-based diagnosis and intelligent planning software enables spacecraft to handle most routine problems automatically and allocate resources in a flexible way to realize mission objectives. The manifests for recent missions include multiple subsystems and complex experiments. Spacecraft must operate at longer distances from earth where communications delays make earthbound command and control impractical. NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC) has demonstrated the utility of onboard diagnosis and planning with the Remote Agent experiment in 1999. KSC has pioneered model-based diagnosis and demonstrated its utility for ground support operations. KSC and ARC are cooperating in research to improve the state of the art of this technology. This paper highlights model-based reasoning applications for Moon and Mars missions including in-situ resource utilization and enhanced vehicle health monitoring.

The Conservation and Protection: The Development and Utilization of Human Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lippitt, Ronald

The three dimensions of the quality of the environment for human resource development are discussed as issues of opportunity versus deprivation, issues of growth inducing versus growth destroying interventions, and issues of utilization versus non-utilization of human resources. Both pathology and potential are illustrated by descriptions of our…

18 CFR 2.78 - Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... conservation of natural resources-natural gas. 2.78 Section 2.78 Conservation of Power and Water Resources... INTERPRETATIONS Statements of General Policy and Interpretations Under the Natural Gas Act § 2.78 Utilization and conservation of natural resources—natural gas. (a)(1) The national interests in the development and utilization...

Retention in care, resource utilization, and costs for adults receiving antiretroviral therapy in Zambia: a retrospective cohort study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Of the estimated 800,000 adults living with HIV in Zambia in 2011, roughly half were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). As treatment scale up continues, information on the care provided to patients after initiating ART can help guide decision-making. We estimated retention in care, the quantity of resources utilized, and costs for a retrospective cohort of adults initiating ART under routine clinical conditions in Zambia. Methods Data on resource utilization (antiretroviral [ARV] and non-ARV drugs, laboratory tests, outpatient clinic visits, and fixed resources) and retention in care were extracted from medical records for 846 patients who initiated ART at ≥15 years of age at six treatment sites between July 2007 and October 2008. Unit costs were estimated from the provider’s perspective using site- and country-level data and are reported in 2011 USD. Results Patients initiated ART at a median CD4 cell count of 145 cells/μL. Fifty-nine percent of patients initiated on a tenofovir-containing regimen, ranging from 15% to 86% depending on site. One year after ART initiation, 75% of patients were retained in care. The average cost per patient retained in care one year after ART initiation was $243 (95% CI, $194-$293), ranging from $184 (95% CI, $172-$195) to $304 (95% CI, $290-$319) depending on site. Patients retained in care one year after ART initiation received, on average, 11.4 months’ worth of ARV drugs, 1.5 CD4 tests, 1.3 blood chemistry tests, 1.4 full blood count tests, and 6.5 clinic visits with a doctor or clinical officer. At all sites, ARV drugs were the largest cost component, ranging from 38% to 84% of total costs, depending on site. Conclusions Patients initiate ART late in the course of disease progression and a large proportion drop out of care after initiation. The quantity of resources utilized and costs vary widely by site, and patients utilize a different mix of resources under routine clinical conditions than if they were receiving fully guideline-concordant care. Improving retention in care and guideline concordance, including increasing the use of tenofovir in first-line ART regimens, may lead to increases in overall treatment costs. PMID:24684772

Impact of solifenacin on resource utilization, work productivity and health utility in overactive bladder patients switching from tolterodine ER.

PubMed

Zinner, Norman; Noe, Les; Rasouliyan, Lawrence; Marshall, Thomas; Seifeldin, Raafat

2008-06-01

Assess changes in resource utilization, work and activity impairment, and health utility among OAB patients continuing to have urgency symptoms with tolterodine ER 4 mg and willing to try solifenacin 5/10 mg. This was an open-label, non-comparative, flexible-dosing, multicenter, 12-week study assessing the efficacy and safety of solifenacin 5/10 mg/day. Patients receiving tolterodine ER 4 mg/day for >/=4 weeks but continuing to experience residual urgency symptoms (>/=3 urgency episodes/24 h) were enrolled into the study. After a 14-day washout, patients began treatment with solifenacin 5 mg/day with dosing adjustments allowed at Weeks 4 and 8. Outcomes were assessed using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire - Specific Health Problem (WPAI-SHP), Health Utilities Index (HUI), and a resource utilization questionnaire administered at Pre-Washout and Week 12. Patients (n=440) reported significantly fewer physician office visits (p<0.0001), UTIs (p<0.0001), and pads/diapers (p=0.0009) during the study period while receiving solifenacin 5/10 mg/day, compared with the Pre-Washout period when receiving tolterodine ER 4 mg/day. After 12 weeks of treatment with solifenacin 5/10 mg/day, patients reported a reduction in work time missed (p=0.0017), less impairment while working (p<0.0001), less overall work impairment (p<0.0001) and a reduction in activity impairment (p<0.0001) compared to Pre-Washout. There was no significant difference in health utility scores. Treatment-emergent adverse events were mostly anticholinergic in nature, and were mild to moderate in severity. Overall, solifenacin 5/10 mg/day improved work productivity, activity participation, and reduced medical care use in OAB patients who continued to have urgency symptoms with tolterodine ER 4 mg/day and wished to switch to solifenacin 5/10 mg. This was an open-label, non-comparative study; therefore, further research is needed to confirm these results.

Reading the Tea Leaves: How Utilities in the West Are Managing Carbon Regulatory Risk in their Resource Plans

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

Barbose, Galen; Wiser, Ryan; Phadke, Amol

2008-02-01

The long economic lifetime and development lead-time of many electric infrastructure investments requires that utility resource planning consider potential costs and risks over a lengthy time horizon. One long-term -- and potentially far-reaching -- risk currently facing the electricity industry is the uncertain cost of future carbon dioxide (CO2) regulations. Recognizing the importance of this issue, many utilities (sometimes spurred by state regulatory requirements) are beginning to actively assess carbon regulatory risk within their resource planning processes, and to evaluate options for mitigating that risk. However, given the relatively recent emergence of this issue and the rapidly changing political landscape,more » methods and assumptions used to analyze carbon regulatory risk, and the impact of this analysis on the selection of a preferred resource portfolio, vary considerably across utilities. In this study, we examine the treatment of carbon regulatory risk in utility resource planning, through a comparison of the most-recent resource plans filed by fifteen investor-owned and publicly-owned utilities in the Western U.S. Together, these utilities account for approximately 60percent of retail electricity sales in the West, and cover nine of eleven Western states. This report has two related elements. First, we compare and assess utilities' approaches to addressing key analytical issues that arise when considering the risk of future carbon regulations. Second, we summarize the composition and carbon intensity of the preferred resource portfolios selected by these fifteen utilities and compare them to potential CO2 emission benchmark levels.« less

Study on the Water Resource Sustainable Utilization Evaluation Index System in Jiangsu Coast Reclamation Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, L.

2016-12-01

As a comprehensive system, there are many subsystems such as water resource subsystem, social subsystem, economic subsystem and ecological subsystem in water resource sustainable utilization system. In this paper, an evaluation system including three levels is set up according to the metric demands of sustainable water resource utilization in Jiangsu coast reclamation region, namely the target level, the rule level, and the index level. Considering the large number of the indexes, the analytic hierarchy process is used to determine the weights of all these subsystems in the total goal of water sustainable utilization. By analyzing these weights, the attributes of water resource itself is found to be the most important aspect for the evaluation of sustainable utilization in Jiangsu coast reclamation region, and the second important aspect is the situation of the eco-environment.

Optimizing Perioperative Decision Making: Improved Information for Clinical Workflow Planning

PubMed Central

Doebbeling, Bradley N.; Burton, Matthew M.; Wiebke, Eric A.; Miller, Spencer; Baxter, Laurence; Miller, Donald; Alvarez, Jorge; Pekny, Joseph

2012-01-01

Perioperative care is complex and involves multiple interconnected subsystems. Delayed starts, prolonged cases and overtime are common. Surgical procedures account for 40–70% of hospital revenues and 30–40% of total costs. Most planning and scheduling in healthcare is done without modern planning tools, which have potential for improving access by assisting in operations planning support. We identified key planning scenarios of interest to perioperative leaders, in order to examine the feasibility of applying combinatorial optimization software solving some of those planning issues in the operative setting. Perioperative leaders desire a broad range of tools for planning and assessing alternate solutions. Our modeled solutions generated feasible solutions that varied as expected, based on resource and policy assumptions and found better utilization of scarce resources. Combinatorial optimization modeling can effectively evaluate alternatives to support key decisions for planning clinical workflow and improving care efficiency and satisfaction. PMID:23304284

Optimizing perioperative decision making: improved information for clinical workflow planning.

PubMed

Doebbeling, Bradley N; Burton, Matthew M; Wiebke, Eric A; Miller, Spencer; Baxter, Laurence; Miller, Donald; Alvarez, Jorge; Pekny, Joseph

2012-01-01

Perioperative care is complex and involves multiple interconnected subsystems. Delayed starts, prolonged cases and overtime are common. Surgical procedures account for 40-70% of hospital revenues and 30-40% of total costs. Most planning and scheduling in healthcare is done without modern planning tools, which have potential for improving access by assisting in operations planning support. We identified key planning scenarios of interest to perioperative leaders, in order to examine the feasibility of applying combinatorial optimization software solving some of those planning issues in the operative setting. Perioperative leaders desire a broad range of tools for planning and assessing alternate solutions. Our modeled solutions generated feasible solutions that varied as expected, based on resource and policy assumptions and found better utilization of scarce resources. Combinatorial optimization modeling can effectively evaluate alternatives to support key decisions for planning clinical workflow and improving care efficiency and satisfaction.

Analysis of information systems for hydropower operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sohn, R. L.; Becker, L.; Estes, J.; Simonett, D.; Yeh, W. W. G.

1976-01-01

The operations of hydropower systems were analyzed with emphasis on water resource management, to determine how aerospace derived information system technologies can increase energy output. Better utilization of water resources was sought through improved reservoir inflow forecasting based on use of hydrometeorologic information systems with new or improved sensors, satellite data relay systems, and use of advanced scheduling techniques for water release. Specific mechanisms for increased energy output were determined, principally the use of more timely and accurate short term (0-7 days) inflow information to reduce spillage caused by unanticipated dynamic high inflow events. The hydrometeorologic models used in predicting inflows were examined to determine the sensitivity of inflow prediction accuracy to the many variables employed in the models, and the results used to establish information system requirements. Sensor and data handling system capabilities were reviewed and compared to the requirements, and an improved information system concept outlined.

Analysis of information systems for hydropower operations: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sohn, R. L.; Becker, L.; Estes, J.; Simonett, D.; Yeh, W.

1976-01-01

An analysis was performed of the operations of hydropower systems, with emphasis on water resource management, to determine how aerospace derived information system technologies can effectively increase energy output. Better utilization of water resources was sought through improved reservoir inflow forecasting based on use of hydrometeorologic information systems with new or improved sensors, satellite data relay systems, and use of advanced scheduling techniques for water release. Specific mechanisms for increased energy output were determined, principally the use of more timely and accurate short term (0-7 days) inflow information to reduce spillage caused by unanticipated dynamic high inflow events. The hydrometeorologic models used in predicting inflows were examined in detail to determine the sensitivity of inflow prediction accuracy to the many variables employed in the models, and the results were used to establish information system requirements. Sensor and data handling system capabilities were reviewed and compared to the requirements, and an improved information system concept was outlined.

COMPUTATIONAL RESOURCES FOR BIOFUEL FEEDSTOCK SPECIES

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

Buell, Carol Robin; Childs, Kevin L

2013-05-07

While current production of ethanol as a biofuel relies on starch and sugar inputs, it is anticipated that sustainable production of ethanol for biofuel use will utilize lignocellulosic feedstocks. Candidate plant species to be used for lignocellulosic ethanol production include a large number of species within the Grass, Pine and Birch plant families. For these biofuel feedstock species, there are variable amounts of genome sequence resources available, ranging from complete genome sequences (e.g. sorghum, poplar) to transcriptome data sets (e.g. switchgrass, pine). These data sets are not only dispersed in location but also disparate in content. It will be essentialmore » to leverage and improve these genomic data sets for the improvement of biofuel feedstock production. The objectives of this project were to provide computational tools and resources for data-mining genome sequence/annotation and large-scale functional genomic datasets available for biofuel feedstock species. We have created a Bioenergy Feedstock Genomics Resource that provides a web-based portal or clearing house for genomic data for plant species relevant to biofuel feedstock production. Sequence data from a total of 54 plant species are included in the Bioenergy Feedstock Genomics Resource including model plant species that permit leveraging of knowledge across taxa to biofuel feedstock species.We have generated additional computational analyses of these data, including uniform annotation, to facilitate genomic approaches to improved biofuel feedstock production. These data have been centralized in the publicly available Bioenergy Feedstock Genomics Resource (http://bfgr.plantbiology.msu.edu/).« less

A plan for the economic assessment of the benefits of improved meteorological forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhattacharyya, R.; Greenberg, J.

1975-01-01

Benefit-cost relationships for the development of meteorological satellites are outlined. The weather forecast capabilities of the various weather satellites (Tiros, SEOS, Nimbus) are discussed, and the development of additional satellite systems is examined. A rational approach is development that leads to the establishment of the economic benefits which may result from the utilization of meteorological satellite data. The economic and social impacts of improved weather forecasting for industries and resources management are discussed, and significant weather sensitive industries are listed.

Strategy community development based on local resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meirinawati; Prabawati, I.; Pradana, G. W.

2018-01-01

The problem of progressing regions is not far from economic problems and is often caused by the inability of the regions in response to changes in economic conditions that occur, so the need for community development programs implemented to solve various problems. Improved community effort required with the real conditions and needs of each region. Community development based on local resources process is very important, because it is an increase in human resource capability in the optimal utilization of local resource potential. In this case a strategy is needed in community development based on local resources. The community development strategy are as follows:(1) “Eight Line Equalization Plus” which explains the urgency of rural industrialization, (2) the construction of the village will be more successful when combining strategies are tailored to regional conditions, (3) the escort are positioning themselves as the Planner, supervisor, information giver, motivator, facilitator, connecting at once evaluators.

History of SO2 removal system at the Meramec plant of union electric.

PubMed

Dreifke, G E; McLaughlin, J F; Smith, J D

1975-01-01

In line with the then emerging air pollution control regulations Union Electric installed a limestone injection wet scrubber sulfur dioxide removal system on an intermediate size coal-fired utility boiler at its Meramec Power Plant on an experimental basis in September, 1968. Approximately 3 years of operation many difficulties were encountered with plugging and scaling of various system components by calcium sulphate. As a result of this experience along with related experiences by other utilities employing similar systems, the experiment was terminated in June, 1971. As a result of the experiences gained, however, second generation experiments in sulfur dioxide removal have been initiated elsewhere with the hope of improved performance. A number of experimental projects are still under tests. Costs in resources, reliability, and disposal of residual by-products are matters of great concern. The ture cost of sulfur dioxide removal systems in dollars and resources is not well known and perhaps a reevaluation of current and future SO2 removal projects is in order at this time before additional resources are committed.

Effects of Home Energy Management Systems on Distribution Utilities and Feeders Under Various Market Structures: Preprint

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

Ruth, Mark; Pratt, Annabelle; Lunacek, Monte

2015-07-17

The combination of distributed energy resources (DER) and retail tariff structures to provide benefits to both utility consumers and the utilities is poorly understood. To improve understanding, an Integrated Energy System Model (IESM) is being developed to simulate the physical and economic aspects of DER technologies, the buildings where they reside, and feeders servicing them. The IESM was used to simulate 20 houses with home energy management systems on a single feeder under a time of use tariff to estimate economic and physical impacts on both the households and the distribution utilities. HEMS reduce consumers’ electric bills by precooling housesmore » in the hours before peak electricity pricing. Household savings are greater than the reduction utility net revenue indicating that HEMS can provide a societal benefit providing tariffs are structured so that utilities remain solvent. Utilization of HEMS reduce peak loads during high price hours but shifts it to hours with off-peak and shoulder prices and resulting in a higher peak load.« less

[Utilization suitability of forest resources in typical forest zone of Changbai Mountains].

PubMed

Hao, Zhanqing; Yu, Deyong; Xiong, Zaiping; Ye, Ji

2004-10-01

Conservation of natural forest does not simply equal to no logging. The Northeast China Forest Region has a logging quota of mature forest as part of natural forest conservation project. How to determine the logging spots rationally and scientifically is very important. Recent scientific theories of forest resources management advocate that the utilization of forest resources should stick to the principle of sustaining use, and pay attention to the ecological function of forest resources. According to the logging standards, RS and GIS techniques can be used to detect the precise location of forest resources and obtain information of forest areas and types, and thus, provide more rational and scientific support for space choice about future utilization of forest resources. In this paper, the Lushuihe Forest Bureau was selected as a typical case in Changbai Mountains Forest Region to assess the utilization conditions of forest resources, and some advices on spatial choice for future management of forest resources in the study area were offered.

The utilization of poisons information resources in Australasia.

PubMed

Fountain, J S; Reith, D M; Holt, A

2014-02-01

To identify poisons information resources most commonly utilized by Australasian Emergency Department staff, and examine attitudes regarding the benefits and user experience of the electronic products used. A survey tool was mailed to six Emergency Departments each in New Zealand and Australia to be answered by medical and nursing staff. Eighty six (71.7%) responses were received from the 120 survey forms sent: 70 (81%) responders were medical staff, the remainder nursing. Electronic resources were the most accessed poisons information resource in New Zealand; Australians preferring discussion with a colleague; Poisons Information Centers were the least utilized resource in both countries. With regard to electronic resources, further differences were recognized between countries in: ease of access, ease of use, quality of information and quantity of information, with New Zealand better in all four themes. New Zealand ED staff favored electronic poisons information resources while Australians preferred discussion with a colleague. That Poisons Information Centers were the least utilized resource was surprising. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental auditing: Capabilities and management utility of recreation impact monitoring programs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marion, J.L.

1995-01-01

A recreation impact monitoring system was developed and applied in 1984?1986 and in 1991 to all backcountry river-accessed campsites within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Results suggest that actions implemented by park managers in response to problems identified by the initial survey were highly effective in reducing resource degradation caused by camping. In particular, the elimination of some designated campsites and installation of anchored firegrates reduced the total area of disturbance by 50%. Firegrate installation provided a focal point that increased the concentration of camping activities, allowing peripheral areas to recover. As suggested by predictive models, additional resource degradation caused by increased camping intensities is more than offset by improvements in the condition of areas where use is eliminated. The capabilities and management utility of recreation impact monitoring programs, illustrated by the Delaware Water Gap monitoring program, are also presented and discussed.

Syncope Best Practices: A Syncope Clinical Practice Guideline to Improve Quality.

PubMed

Phelps, Heather M; Sachdeva, Ritu; Mahle, William T; McCracken, Courtney E; Kelleman, Michael; McConnell, Michael; Fischbach, Peter S; Cardis, Brian M; Campbell, Robert M; Oster, Matthew E

2016-05-01

To determine whether implementation of a standardized clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the evaluation of syncope would decrease practice variability and resource utilization. A retrospective review of medical records of patients presenting to our practice for outpatient evaluation of syncope before and after implementation of the CPG. The guideline included elements of history, physical exam, electrocardiogram, and "red flags" for further testing. Outpatient pediatric cardiology offices of a large pediatric cardiology practice. All new patients between 3 and 21 years old, who presented to cardiology clinic with a chief complaint of syncope. The CPG for the evaluation of pediatric syncope was presented to the providers. Resource utilization was determined by the tests ordered by individual physicians before and after initiation of the CPG. Patient final diagnoses were recorded and the medical records were subsequently reviewed to determine if any patients, who presented again to the system, were ultimately diagnosed with cardiac disease. Of the 1496 patients with an initial visit for syncope, there was no significant difference in the diagnosis of cardiac disease before or after initiation of the CPG: (0.6% vs. 0.4%, P = .55). Electrocardiography provides the highest yield in the evaluation of pediatric syncope. Despite high compliance (86.9%), there were no overall changes in costs ($346.31 vs. $348.53, P = .85) or in resource utilization. There was, however, a decrease in the variability of ordering of echocardiograms among physicians, particularly among those at the extremes of utilization. Although the CPG did not decrease already low costs, it did decrease the wide variability in echo utilization. Evaluation beyond detailed history, physical exam, and electrocardiography provides no additional benefit in the evaluations of pediatric patients presenting with syncope. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Factors shaping effective utilization of health information technology in urban safety-net clinics.

PubMed

George, Sheba; Garth, Belinda; Fish, Allison; Baker, Richard

2013-09-01

Urban safety-net clinics are considered prime targets for the adoption of health information technology innovations; however, little is known about their utilization in such safety-net settings. Current scholarship provides limited guidance on the implementation of health information technology into safety-net settings as it typically assumes that adopting institutions have sufficient basic resources. This study addresses this gap by exploring the unique challenges urban resource-poor safety-net clinics must consider when adopting and utilizing health information technology. In-depth interviews (N = 15) were used with key stakeholders (clinic chief executive officers, medical directors, nursing directors, chief financial officers, and information technology directors) from staff at four clinics to explore (a) nonhealth information technology-related clinic needs, (b) how health information technology may provide solutions, and (c) perceptions of and experiences with health information technology. Participants identified several challenges, some of which appear amenable to health information technology solutions. Also identified were requirements for effective utilization of health information technology including physical infrastructural improvements, funding for equipment/training, creation of user groups to share health information technology knowledge/experiences, and specially tailored electronic billing guidelines. We found that despite the potential benefit that can be derived from health information technologies, the unplanned and uninformed introduction of these tools into these settings might actually create more problems than are solved. From these data, we were able to identify a set of factors that should be considered when integrating health information technology into the existing workflows of low-resourced urban safety-net clinics in order to maximize their utilization and enhance the quality of health care in such settings.

A heart failure initiative to reduce the length of stay and readmission rates.

PubMed

White, Sabrina Marie; Hill, Alethea

2014-01-01

The purpose of this pilot was to improve multidisciplinary coordination of care and patient education and foster self-management behaviors. The primary and secondary outcomes achieved from this pilot were to decrease the 30-day readmission rate and heart failure length of stay. The primary practice site was an inpatient medical-surgical nursing unit. The length of stay decreased from 6.05% to 4.42% for heart failure diagnostic-related group 291 as a result of utilizing the model. The length of stay decreased from 3.9% to 3.09%, which was also less than the national rate of 3.8036% for diagnostic-related group 292. In addition, the readmission rate decreased from 23.1% prior to January 2013 to 12.9%. Implementation of standards of care coordination can decrease length of stay, readmission rate, and improve self-management. Implementation of evidence-based heart failure guidelines, improved interdisciplinary coordination of care, patient education, self-management skills, and transitional care at the time of discharge improved overall heart failure outcome measures. Utilizing the longitudinal model of care to transition patients to home aided in evaluating social support, resource allocation and utilization, access to care postdischarge, and interdisciplinary coordination of care. The collaboration between disciplines improved continuity of care, patient compliance to their discharge regimen, and adequate discharge follow-up.

Job satisfaction in relation to energy resource consciousness and perceptions of energy utilization in selected Illinois manufacturing firms

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

Haynes, T.S.

1986-01-01

This study was developed through a synthesis and review of literature and research related to the current status of job satisfaction, energy resources, and perceptions of how energy is utilized in the manufacturing work environment. This synthesis and review revolved around several proven contributing factors of job satisfaction, such as age, education, and challenge from work itself. Quality of work life programs and their components are discussed in relation to their impact on job satisfaction. The nature of energy resource utilization is traced back through history with an emphasis on the limitations of current resources and options for the future.more » The review highlights the current debate over what should be the future path of energy resource development. The concept of satisfaction of human needs is reviewed and related to job satisfaction and energy resources. The purpose of this research study was to contribute to the understanding of how perceptions of energy resources relate to job satisfaction. Results of the study indicated that there were no significant differences between an individual's energy resource consciousness and perceptions of energy utilization in the work place, energy resource consciousness and job satisfaction, and job satisfaction and perceptions of energy utilization in the workplace.« less

How well do General EMS 911 dispatch protocols predict ED resource utilization for pediatric patients?

PubMed

Fessler, Stephanie J; Simon, Harold K; Yancey, Arthur H; Colman, Michael; Hirsh, Daniel A

2014-03-01

The use of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for low-acuity pediatric problems is well documented. Attempts have been made to curb potentially unnecessary transports, including using EMS dispatch protocols, shown to predict acuity and needs of adults. However, there are limited data about this in children. The primary objective of this study is to determine the pediatric emergency department (PED) resource utilization (surrogate of acuity level) for pediatric patients categorized as "low-acuity" by initial EMS protocols. Records of all pediatric patients classified as "low acuity" and transported to a PED in winter and summer of 2010 were reviewed. Details of the PED visit were recorded. Patients were categorized and compared based on chief complaint group. Resource utilization was defined as requiring any prescription medications, labs, procedures, consults, admission or transfer. "Under-triage" was defined as a "low-acuity" EMS transport subsequently requiring emergent interventions. Of the 876 eligible cases, 801 were included; 392/801 had no resource utilization while 409 of 801 had resource utilization. Most (737/801) were discharged to home; however, 64/801 were admitted, including 1 of 801 requiring emergent intervention (under-triage rate 0.12%). Gastroenterology and trauma groups had a significant increase in resource utilization, while infectious disease and ear-nose-throat groups had decreased resource utilization. While this EMS system did not well predict overall resource utilization, it safely identified most low-acuity patients, with a low under-triage rate. This study identifies subgroups of patients that could be managed without emergent transport and can be used to further refine current protocols or establish secondary triage systems. © 2013.

Youth Physical Activity Resources Use and Activity Measured by Accelerometry

PubMed Central

Maslow, Andréa L.; Colabianchi, Natalie

2014-01-01

Objectives To examine whether utilization of physical activity resources (eg, parks) was associated with daily physical activity measured by accelerometry. Methods 111 adolescents completed a travel diary with concurrent accelerometry. The main exposure was self-reported utilization of a physical activity resource (none/1+ resources). The main outcomes were total minutes spent in daily 1) moderate-vigorous physical activity and 2) vigorous physical activity. Results Utilizing a physical activity resource was significantly associated with total minutes in moderate-vigorous physical activity. African-Americans and males had significantly greater moderate-vigorous physical activity. Conclusions Results from this study support the development and use of physical activity resources. PMID:21204684

Home Help Service Staffs' Descriptions of Their Role in Promoting Everyday Activities Among Older People in Sweden Who Are Dependent on Formal Care.

PubMed

Cederbom, Sara; Thunborg, Charlotta; Denison, Eva; Söderlund, Anne; von Heideken Wågert, Petra

2017-08-01

The study aimed to explore how home help service staff described their role in improving the abilities of older people, in particular, older women with chronic pain who are dependent on formal care, to perform everyday activities. Three focus group interviews were conducted, and a qualitative inductive thematic content analysis was used. The analysis resulted in one theme: struggling to improve the care recipients' opportunities for independence but being inhibited by complex environmental factors. By encouraging the care recipients to perform everyday activities, the staff perceived themselves to both maintain and improve their care recipients' independence and quality of life. An important goal for society and health care professionals is to improve older people's abilities to "age in place" and to enable them to age independently while maintaining their quality of life. A key resource is home help service staff, and this resource should be utilized in the best possible way.

Resources and training in outpatient substance abuse treatment facilities.

PubMed

Lehman, Wayne E K; Becan, Jennifer E; Joe, George W; Knight, Danica K; Flynn, Patrick M

2012-03-01

The exposure to new clinical interventions through formalized training and the utilization of strategies learned through training are two critical components of the program change process. This study considers the combined influence of actual program fiscal resources and counselors' perceptions of workplace resources on two mechanisms of training: exposure and utilization. Data were collected from 323 counselors nested within 59 programs located in nine states. Multilevel analysis revealed that training exposure and training utilization represent two distinct constructs that are important at different stages in the Program Change Model. Training exposure is associated primarily with physical and financial resources, whereas utilization is associated with professional community and job burnout. These results suggest that financial resources are important in initial exposure to new interventions but that successful utilization of new techniques depends in part on the degree of burnout and collaboration experienced by counselors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resources and Training in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities

PubMed Central

Lehman, Wayne E. K.; Becan, Jennifer E.; Joe, George W.; Knight, Danica K.; Flynn, Patrick M.

2011-01-01

The exposure to new clinical interventions through formalized training and the utilization of strategies learned through training are two critical components of the program change process. The current study considers the combined influence of actual program fiscal resources and counselors’ perceptions of workplace resources on two mechanisms of training: exposure and utilization. Data were collected from 323 counselors nested within 59 programs located in 9 states. Multilevel analysis revealed that training exposure and training utilization represent two distinct constructs that are important at different stages in the Program Change Model. Training exposure is associated primarily with physical and financial resources, whereas utilization is associated with professional community and job burnout. These results suggest that financial resources are important in initial exposure to new interventions, but that successful utilization of new techniques depends in part on the degree of burnout and collaboration experienced by counselors. PMID:22154031

Catalytic Deoxygenation of Biomass Pyrolysis Vapors to Improve Bio-oil Stability

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

Dayton, David C.

2016-12-22

The President’s Advanced Energy Initiative called for a change in the way Americans fuel their vehicles to promote improved energy security. Increasing biofuels production from domestic lignocellulosic resources requires advanced technology development to achieve the aggressive targets set forth to reduce motor gasoline consumption by 20% in ten years (by 2017). The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) Office of the Biomass Program (currently Bioenergy Technologies Office) is actively funding research and development in both biochemical and thermochemical conversion technologies to accelerate the deployment of biofuels technologies in the near future to meet the goals of the Advanced Energy Initiative. Thermochemicalmore » conversion technology options include both gasification and pyrolysis to enable the developing lignocellulosic biorefineries and maximize biomass resource utilization for production of biofuels.« less

A resource perspective on the work-home interface: the work-home resources model.

PubMed

ten Brummelhuis, Lieke L; Bakker, Arnold B

2012-10-01

The objective of this article is to provide a theoretical framework explaining positive and negative work-home processes integrally. Using insights from conservation of resources theory, we explain how personal resources (e.g., time, energy, and mood) link demanding and resourceful aspects of one domain to outcomes in the other domain. The resulting work-home resources (W-HR) model describes work-home conflict as a process whereby demands in one domain deplete personal resources and impede accomplishments in the other domain. Enrichment is described as a process of resource accumulation: Work and home resources increase personal resources. Those personal resources, in turn, can be utilized to improve home and work outcomes. Moreover, our resource approach to the work-home interface allows us to address two other issues that have thus far lacked a solid theoretical foundation. The W-HR model also explains how conditional factors such as personality and culture may influence the occurrence of work-home conflict and enrichment. Furthermore, the model allows us to examine how work-home conflict and enrichment develop over time. Finally, the model provides useful insights for other psychology subdisciplines, such as gender studies and developmental psychology.

Baseline and Target Values for PV Forecasts: Toward Improved Solar Power Forecasting

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

Zhang, Jie; Hodge, Bri-Mathias; Lu, Siyuan

2015-10-05

Accurate solar power forecasting allows utilities to get the most out of the solar resources on their systems. To truly measure the improvements that any new solar forecasting methods can provide, it is important to first develop (or determine) baseline and target solar forecasting at different spatial and temporal scales. This paper aims to develop baseline and target values for solar forecasting metrics. These were informed by close collaboration with utility and independent system operator partners. The baseline values are established based on state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction models and persistence models. The target values are determined based on the reductionmore » in the amount of reserves that must be held to accommodate the uncertainty of solar power output.« less

"If really we are committed things can change, starting from us": Healthcare providers' perceptions of postpartum care and its potential for improvement in low-income suburbs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

PubMed

Pallangyo, Eunice N; Mbekenga, Columba; Källestål, Carina; Rubertsson, Christine; Olsson, Pia

2017-03-01

To explore healthcare providers' perceptions of the current postpartum care (PPC) practice and its potential for improvement at governmental health institutions in low-resource suburbs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Qualitative design, using focus group discussions (8) and qualitative content analysis. Healthcare institutions (8) at three levels of governmental healthcare in Ilala and Temeke suburbs, Dar es Salaam. Registered, enrolled and trained nurse-midwives (42); and medical and clinical officers (13). The healthcare providers perceived that PPC was suboptimal and that they could have prevented maternal deaths. PPC was fragmented at understaffed institutions, lacked guidelines and was organized in a top-down structure of leadership. The participants called for improvement of: organization of space, time, resources, communication and referral system; providers' knowledge; and supervision and feedback. Their motivation to enhance PPC quality was high. The HCP awareness of the suboptimal quality of PPC, its potential for promoting health and their willingness to engage in improving care are promising for the implementation of interventions to improve quality of care. Provision of guidelines, sensitization of providers to innovate and maximize utilization of existing resources, and supportive supervision and feedback are likely to contribute to the sustainability of any improvement. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Maximizing Resource Utilization in Video Streaming Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alsmirat, Mohammad Abdullah

2013-01-01

Video streaming has recently grown dramatically in popularity over the Internet, Cable TV, and wire-less networks. Because of the resource demanding nature of video streaming applications, maximizing resource utilization in any video streaming system is a key factor to increase the scalability and decrease the cost of the system. Resources to…

18 CFR 2.78 - Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas. 2.78 Section 2.78 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL RULES GENERAL POLICY AND...

18 CFR 2.78 - Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas. 2.78 Section 2.78 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL RULES GENERAL POLICY AND...

18 CFR 2.78 - Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas. 2.78 Section 2.78 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL RULES GENERAL POLICY AND...

18 CFR 2.78 - Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Utilization and conservation of natural resources-natural gas. 2.78 Section 2.78 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL RULES GENERAL POLICY AND...

Water transparency drives intra-population divergence in Eurasian Perch (Perca fluviatilis).

PubMed

Bartels, Pia; Hirsch, Philipp E; Svanbäck, Richard; Eklöv, Peter

2012-01-01

Trait combinations that lead to a higher efficiency in resource utilization are important drivers of divergent natural selection and adaptive radiation. However, variation in environmental features might constrain foraging in complex ways and therefore impede the exploitation of critical resources. We tested the effect of water transparency on intra-population divergence in morphology of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) across seven lakes in central Sweden. Morphological divergence between near-shore littoral and open-water pelagic perch substantially increased with increasing water transparency. Reliance on littoral resources increased strongly with increasing water transparency in littoral populations, whereas littoral reliance was not affected by water transparency in pelagic populations. Despite the similar reliance on pelagic resources in pelagic populations along the water transparency gradient, the utilization of particular pelagic prey items differed with variation in water transparency in pelagic populations. Pelagic perch utilized cladocerans in lakes with high water transparency and copepods in lakes with low water transparency. We suggest that under impaired visual conditions low utilization of littoral resources by littoral perch and utilization of evasive copepods by pelagic perch may lead to changes in morphology. Our findings indicate that visual conditions can affect population divergence in predator populations through their effects on resource utilization.

G2LC: Resources Autoscaling for Real Time Bioinformatics Applications in IaaS.

PubMed

Hu, Rongdong; Liu, Guangming; Jiang, Jingfei; Wang, Lixin

2015-01-01

Cloud computing has started to change the way how bioinformatics research is being carried out. Researchers who have taken advantage of this technology can process larger amounts of data and speed up scientific discovery. The variability in data volume results in variable computing requirements. Therefore, bioinformatics researchers are pursuing more reliable and efficient methods for conducting sequencing analyses. This paper proposes an automated resource provisioning method, G2LC, for bioinformatics applications in IaaS. It enables application to output the results in a real time manner. Its main purpose is to guarantee applications performance, while improving resource utilization. Real sequence searching data of BLAST is used to evaluate the effectiveness of G2LC. Experimental results show that G2LC guarantees the application performance, while resource is saved up to 20.14%.

G2LC: Resources Autoscaling for Real Time Bioinformatics Applications in IaaS

PubMed Central

Hu, Rongdong; Liu, Guangming; Jiang, Jingfei; Wang, Lixin

2015-01-01

Cloud computing has started to change the way how bioinformatics research is being carried out. Researchers who have taken advantage of this technology can process larger amounts of data and speed up scientific discovery. The variability in data volume results in variable computing requirements. Therefore, bioinformatics researchers are pursuing more reliable and efficient methods for conducting sequencing analyses. This paper proposes an automated resource provisioning method, G2LC, for bioinformatics applications in IaaS. It enables application to output the results in a real time manner. Its main purpose is to guarantee applications performance, while improving resource utilization. Real sequence searching data of BLAST is used to evaluate the effectiveness of G2LC. Experimental results show that G2LC guarantees the application performance, while resource is saved up to 20.14%. PMID:26504488

System review: a method for investigating medical errors in healthcare settings.

PubMed

Alexander, G L; Stone, T T

2000-01-01

System analysis is a process of evaluating objectives, resources, structure, and design of businesses. System analysis can be used by leaders to collaboratively identify breakthrough opportunities to improve system processes. In healthcare systems, system analysis can be used to review medical errors (system occurrences) that may place patients at risk for injury, disability, and/or death. This study utilizes a case management approach to identify medical errors. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, a System Review Team was developed to identify trends in system occurrences, facilitate communication, and enhance the quality of patient care by reducing medical errors.

Forecasting the need for physicians in the United States: the Health Resources and Services Administration's physician requirements model.

PubMed Central

Greenberg, L; Cultice, J M

1997-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The Health Resources and Services Administration's Bureau of Health Professions developed a demographic utilization-based model of physician specialty requirements to explore the consequences of a broad range of scenarios pertaining to the nation's health care delivery system on need for physicians. DATA SOURCE/STUDY SETTING: The model uses selected data primarily from the National Center for Health Statistics, the American Medical Association, and the U.S. Bureau of Census. Forecasts are national estimates. STUDY DESIGN: Current (1989) utilization rates for ambulatory and inpatient medical specialty services were obtained for the population according to age, gender, race/ethnicity, and insurance status. These rates are used to estimate specialty-specific total service utilization expressed in patient care minutes for future populations and converted to physician requirements by applying per-physician productivity estimates. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Secondary data were analyzed and put into matrixes for use in the mainframe computer-based model. Several missing data points, e.g., for HMO-enrolled populations, were extrapolated from available data by the project's contractor. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The authors contend that the Bureau's demographic utilization model represents improvements over other data-driven methodologies that rely on staffing ratios and similar supply-determined bases for estimating requirements. The model's distinct utility rests in offering national-level physician specialty requirements forecasts. Images Figure 1 PMID:9018213

Improved utilization of small-diameter ponderosa pine in glulam timber

Treesearch

Roland Hernandez; David W. Green; David E. Kretschmann; Steven P. Verrill

2005-01-01

This study involved the evaluation of ponderosa pine glulam made from lumber that was sawn from a small-diameter timber resource. Two different glulam beam depths were evaluated: 8 and 13 laminations. A comprehensive glulam test program was conducted to evaluate edgewise and flat-wise bending, shear, and tensile strength. Beam deflection was measured and a variety of...

Mechanical properties of small-scale laminated wood composite poles: effects of taper and webs

Treesearch

Cheng Piao; Todd F. Shupe; R.C. Tang; Chung Y. Hse

2006-01-01

Laminated hollow wood composite poles represent an efficient utilization of the timber resource and a promising alternative for solid poles that are commonly used in the power transmission and telecommunication lines. The objective of this study was to improve the performance of composite poles by introducing the bio-mimicry concept into the design of hollow wood...

Pour une gestion amelioree des ressources humaines dans les departements universitaires--Les possibilites offertes par la modulation des taches des professeurs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Desrosiers, Jean-Yves

1991-01-01

Task modulation is being examined as a means for improved utilization of human resources and greater flexibility within departments of Quebec universities. In this paper (written in French), a definition for this concept is proposed, the literature is reviewed, and prerequisite and other conditions critical to successful implementation are…

Design and implementation of priority and time-window based traffic scheduling and routing-spectrum allocation mechanism in elastic optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Honghuan; Xing, Fangyuan; Yin, Hongxi; Zhao, Nan; Lian, Bizhan

2016-02-01

With the explosive growth of network services, the reasonable traffic scheduling and efficient configuration of network resources have an important significance to increase the efficiency of the network. In this paper, an adaptive traffic scheduling policy based on the priority and time window is proposed and the performance of this algorithm is evaluated in terms of scheduling ratio. The routing and spectrum allocation are achieved by using the Floyd shortest path algorithm and establishing a node spectrum resource allocation model based on greedy algorithm, which is proposed by us. The fairness index is introduced to improve the capability of spectrum configuration. The results show that the designed traffic scheduling strategy can be applied to networks with multicast and broadcast functionalities, and makes them get real-time and efficient response. The scheme of node spectrum configuration improves the frequency resource utilization and gives play to the efficiency of the network.

Standardization and streamlining of a pancreas surgery practice improves outcomes and resource utilization: A single institution's 20-year experience.

PubMed

Stauffer, John A; Onkendi, Edwin O; Wallace, Michael B; Raimondo, Massimo; Woodward, Timothy A; Lukens, Frank J; Asbun, Horacio J

2017-09-01

In the past two decades, pancreas surgery (PS) has undergone significant advances in operative techniques and with a focus on multidisciplinary high-volume practices. A review of patients undergoing PS from 3/1995-2/2015 was conducted; dividing patients into group A (1995-2005) and group B (2005-2015) for a detailed comparison. Effect of surgeon volume in group B was determined. A total of 1001 patients underwent PS (group A: 259; group B: 742). The mean age was 62.7 years and 52.8% were female. Group B patients were associated with a higher rate of pylorus preservation and minimally invasive resection and a lower rate of morbidity, pancreas fistula (PF), and delayed gastric emptying (DGE) than group A. High-volume surgeons (HVS) had lower operative blood loss (300 mL vs 600 mL), transfusion requirements, PF (14% vs 20%), DGE, surgical site infections, reoperations, and major morbidity rate (15.5 vs 39%) than low-volume surgeons. This study demonstrates improved patient outcomes and hospital resource utilization over the past 20 years. Concentration of PS to HVS results in superior results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Life Cycle Water Consumption and Water Resource Assessment for Utility-Scale Geothermal Systems: An In-Depth Analysis of Historical and Forthcoming EGS Projects

DOE Data Explorer

Schroeder, Jenna N.

2013-08-31

This report is the third in a series of reports sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Program in which a range of water-related issues surrounding geothermal power production are evaluated. The first report made an initial attempt at quantifying the life cycle fresh water requirements of geothermal power-generating systems and explored operational and environmental concerns related to the geochemical composition of geothermal fluids. The initial analysis of life cycle fresh water consumption of geothermal power-generating systems identified that operational water requirements consumed the vast majority of water across the life cycle. However, it relied upon limited operational water consumption data and did not account for belowground operational losses for enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs). A second report presented an initial assessment of fresh water demand for future growth in utility-scale geothermal power generation. The current analysis builds upon this work to improve life cycle fresh water consumption estimates and incorporates regional water availability into the resource assessment to improve the identification of areas where future growth in geothermal electricity generation may encounter water challenges.

[Bio-Resources and Database for Preemptive Medicine.

PubMed

Saito, Kuniaki

2016-05-01

Establishing a primary defense for the improvement of individual quality of life by epidemiology and various clinical studies applying bio-resources/database analysis is very important. Furthermore, recent studies on understanding the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of developmental origins of health and diseases are attracting increasing interest. Therefore, the storing of not only bio-fluid (i.e., blood, urine) but also certain tissues (i.e., placenta, cord) is very important for research. The Resource Center for Health Science (RECHS) and Bio-databases Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine (BIRD) have estab- lished Bio-bank and initiated a project based on the development and utilization of bio-resources/database, comprising personal health records (PHR), such as health/medical records including individual records of daily diet and exercise, physically consolidated with bio-resources, taken from the same individuals. These Bio-Resources/Database projects are very important for the establishment of preemptive medicine and un- derstanding the mechanisms of the developmental origins of health and diseases.

[Research on tumor information grid framework].

PubMed

Zhang, Haowei; Qin, Zhu; Liu, Ying; Tan, Jianghao; Cao, Haitao; Chen, Youping; Zhang, Ke; Ding, Yuqing

2013-10-01

In order to realize tumor disease information sharing and unified management, we utilized grid technology to make the data and software resources which distributed in various medical institutions for effective integration so that we could make the heterogeneous resources consistent and interoperable in both semantics and syntax aspects. This article describes the tumor grid framework, the type of the service being packaged in Web Service Description Language (WSDL) and extensible markup language schemas definition (XSD), the client use the serialized document to operate the distributed resources. The service objects could be built by Unified Modeling Language (UML) as middle ware to create application programming interface. All of the grid resources are registered in the index and released in the form of Web Services based on Web Services Resource Framework (WSRF). Using the system we can build a multi-center, large sample and networking tumor disease resource sharing framework to improve the level of development in medical scientific research institutions and the patient's quality of life.

Global Health: Pediatric Neurology.

PubMed

Bearden, David R; Ciccone, Ornella; Patel, Archana A

2018-04-01

Neurologic disorders contribute significantly to both morbidity and mortality among children in resource-limited settings, but there are a few succinct studies summarizing the epidemiology of neurologic disorders in these settings. A review of available literature was performed to identify data on the prevalence, etiology, outcomes, and treatment of neurologic disorders in children in resource-limited settings. The burden of neurologic disorders in children is high in resource-limited settings. Barriers to optimal care include lack of trained personnel, limited access to diagnostic technology, and limited availability of drugs used to treat common conditions. Several solutions have been suggested to deal with these challenges including increased collaborations to train neurologists willing to practice in resource-limited settings and increased training of physician extenders or community health workers. Further studies are necessary to improve our understanding of the epidemiology of neurologic disorders in resource-limited settings. Future epidemiologic studies should incorporate multiple countries in resource-limited settings and utilize standardized definitions and methodologies to enable comparison across regions. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Optimal Energy Management for a Smart Grid using Resource-Aware Utility Maximization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abegaz, Brook W.; Mahajan, Satish M.; Negeri, Ebisa O.

2016-06-01

Heterogeneous energy prosumers are aggregated to form a smart grid based energy community managed by a central controller which could maximize their collective energy resource utilization. Using the central controller and distributed energy management systems, various mechanisms that harness the power profile of the energy community are developed for optimal, multi-objective energy management. The proposed mechanisms include resource-aware, multi-variable energy utility maximization objectives, namely: (1) maximizing the net green energy utilization, (2) maximizing the prosumers' level of comfortable, high quality power usage, and (3) maximizing the economic dispatch of energy storage units that minimize the net energy cost of the energy community. Moreover, an optimal energy management solution that combines the three objectives has been implemented by developing novel techniques of optimally flexible (un)certainty projection and appliance based pricing decomposition in an IBM ILOG CPLEX studio. A real-world, per-minute data from an energy community consisting of forty prosumers in Amsterdam, Netherlands is used. Results show that each of the proposed mechanisms yields significant increases in the aggregate energy resource utilization and welfare of prosumers as compared to traditional peak-power reduction methods. Furthermore, the multi-objective, resource-aware utility maximization approach leads to an optimal energy equilibrium and provides a sustainable energy management solution as verified by the Lagrangian method. The proposed resource-aware mechanisms could directly benefit emerging energy communities in the world to attain their energy resource utilization targets.

Neutron probes for the Construction and Resource Utilization eXplorer (CRUX)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elphic, R. C.; Hahn, S.; Lawrence, D. J.; Feldman, W. C.; Johnson, J. B.; Haldemann, A. F. C.

2006-01-01

The Construction and Resource Utilization eXplorer (CRUX) project is developing a flexible integrated suite of instruments with data fusion software and an executive controller for in situ regolith resource assessment and characterization.

Multiple Intimate Partner Violence Experiences: Knowledge, Access, Utilization and Barriers to Utilization of Resources by Women of the African Diaspora.

PubMed

Sabri, Bushra; Huerta, Julia; Alexander, Kamila A; St Vil, Noelle M; Campbell, Jacquelyn C; Callwood, Gloria B

2015-11-01

This study examined knowledge, access, utilization, and barriers to use of resources among Black women exposed to multiple types of intimate partner violence in Baltimore, Maryland and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). We analyzed quantitative survey data collected by 163 women recruited from primary care, prenatal or family planning clinics in Baltimore and the USVI. In addition we analyzed qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 11 women. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. A substantial proportion of Black women with multiple types of violence experiences lacked knowledge of, did not have access to, and did not use resources. Barriers to resource use were identified at the individual, relationship, and community levels. There is need for programs to develop awareness, promote access and utilization of resources, and eliminate barriers to resource use among abused Black women.

High resource utilization in liver transplantation-how strongly differ costs between the care sectors and what are the main cost drivers?: a retrospective study.

PubMed

Harries, Lena; Schrem, Harald; Stahmeyer, Jona T; Krauth, Christian; Amelung, Volker E

2017-06-01

To control treatment pathways of transplant patients across healthcare sectors, a profound knowledge of the underlying cost structure is necessary. The aim of this study was to analyze the resource utilization of patients undergoing liver transplantation. Data on resource utilization for 182 liver-transplanted patients was investigated retrospectively. The observational period started with the entry on the waiting list and ended up to 3 years after transplantation. Median treatment cost was 144 424€. During waiting time, median costs amounted to 9466€; 72% of costs were attributed to inpatient care, 3% to outpatient care, and 26% to pharmaceuticals. During the first year after transplantation, median costs of 105 566€ were calculated; 83% were allocated for inpatient and 1% outpatient care, 14% for drugs, and 1% for rehabilitative care. During follow-up after the first year of transplantation, median costs amounted to 20 115€; 75% of these were caused by pharmaceuticals, 21% by inpatient, 4% by outpatient, and <1% by rehabilitative services. Subgroup analyses (e.g., for labMELD scores) were done. Costs incurred by inpatient care and pharmaceuticals are the dominating cost factors. These findings encourage a debate on challenges and improvements for cost-efficient clinical management between different healthcare sectors. © 2017 Steunstichting ESOT.

Model-based Impact Assessment of an Integrated Water Management Strategy on Ecosystem Services relevant to Food Security in Namibia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luetkemeier, R.; Liehr, S.

2012-04-01

North-central Namibia is characterized by seasonal alterations of drought and heavy rainfall, mostly saline groundwater resources and a lack of perennial rivers. Water scarcity poses a great challenge for freshwater supply, harvest and food security against the background of high population growth and climate change. CuveWaters project aims at poverty reduction and livelihood improvement on a long term basis by introducing a multi-resource-mix as part of an integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach. Herein, creating water buffers by rainwater harvesting (RWH) and subsurface water storage as well as reuse of treated wastewater facilitates micro-scale gardening activities. This link constitutes a major component of a sustainable adaptation strategy by contributing to the conservation and improvement of basic food and freshwater resources in order to reduce drought vulnerability. This paper presents main findings of an impact assessment carried out on the effect of integrated water resources management on ecosystem services (ESS) relevant to food security within the framework of CuveWaters project. North-central Namibia is perceived as a social-ecological system characterized by a strong mutual dependence between natural environment and anthropogenic system. This fundamental reliance on natural resources highlights the key role of ESS in semi-arid environments to sustain human livelihoods. Among other services, food provision was chosen for quantification as one of the most fundamental ESS in north-central Namibia. Different nutritional values were utilized as indicators to adopt a demand-supply approach (Ecosystem Service Profile) to illustrate the ability of the ecosystem to meet people's nutritional requirements. Calculations have been conducted using both Bayesian networks to incorporate uncertainty introduced by the variability of monthly precipitation and the application of plant specific water production functions. Results show that improving the water buffer and water use efficiency by facilities of the multi-resource-mix increases the amount of water available for irrigation and thus enhances intermediate and finale ESS relevant to food supply on the household scale. Furthermore, surplus water can be purified and used as an additional drinking water resource. The case study at hand shows that specific components of an IWRM approach can significantly increase the availability of supporting and provisioning ESS and thus reduce people's vulnerability to climate change and associated impacts. The model itself and the analytical framework as a whole can be utilized as a decision-support-tool in order to determine the optimal size of technological variables to maximize yields especially as a function of hydro-meteorological and socio-economic framework conditions.

Utilization management affects health care practices at Walter Reed Army Medical Center: analytical methods applied to decrease length of stay and assign appropriate level of care.

PubMed

Phillips, J S; Hamm, C K; Pierce, J R; Kussman, M J

1999-12-01

The Department of Defense has embraced utilization management (UM) as an important tool to control and possibly decrease medical costs. Budgetary withholds have been taken by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) to encourage the military services to implement UM programs. In response, Walter Reed Army Medical Center implemented a UM program along with other initiatives to effect changes in the delivery of inpatient care. This paper describes this UM program and other organizational initiatives, such as the introduction of new levels of care in an attempt to effect reductions in length of stay and unnecessary admissions. We demonstrate the use of a diversity of databases and analytical methods to quantify improved utilization and management of resources. The initiatives described significantly reduced hospital length of stay and inappropriate inpatient days. Without solid command and clinical leadership support and empowerment of the professional staffs, these significant changes and improvements could not have occurred.

Measuring the usefulness of family planning job aids following distribution at training workshops.

PubMed

Tumlinson, Katherine; Hubacher, David; Wesson, Jennifer; Lasway, Christine

2010-09-01

A job aid is a tool, such as a flowchart or checklist, that makes it easier for staff to carry out tasks by providing quick access to needed information. Many public health organizations are engaged in the production of job aids intended to improve adherence to important medical guidelines and protocols, particularly in resource-constrained countries. However, some evidence suggests that actual use of job aids remains low. One strategy for improving utilization is the introduction of job aids in training workshops. This paper summarizes the results of two separate evaluations conducted in Uganda and the Dominican Republic (DR) which measured the usefulness of a series of four family planning checklists 7-24 months after distribution in training workshops. While more than half of the health care providers used the checklists at least once, utilization rates were sub-optimal. However, the vast majority of those providers who utilized the checklists found them to be very useful in their work.

Medical student appraisal: applications for bedside patient education.

PubMed

Markman, T M; Sampognaro, P J; Mitchell, S L; Weeks, S R; Khalifian, S; Dattilo, J R

2013-01-01

Medical students are often afforded the privilege of counselling patients. In the past resources were limited to pen and paper or anatomic models. The evolution of mobile applications allows for limitless access to resources that facilitate bedside patient education. To evaluate the utility of six applications in patient education and promote awareness of implementing mobile resources in clinical care. Six medical students rotating on various clerkships evaluated a total of six mobile applications. Strengths, limitations, and suggested uses in clinical care were identified. Applications included Meditoons™, VisiblePatient™, DrawMD™, CardioTeach™, Visual Anatomy™, and 360° Patient Education Suite™. Data was generated from narrative responses supplied by each student during their evaluation period. Bedside teaching was enhanced by professional illustrations and animations depicting anatomy and pathophysiology. Impromptu teaching was facilitated, as resources were conveniently available on a student's smartphone or tablet. The ability to annotate and modify images and subsequently email to patients was an extraordinary improvement in provider-patient communication. Universal limitations included small smartphone screens and the novelty of new technology. Mobile applications have the potential to greatly enhance patient education and simultaneously build rapport. Endless opportunities exist for their integration in clinical practice, particularly for new diagnoses, consent for procedures, and at time of discharge. Providers should be encouraged to try new applications and utilize them with patients.

Investigation of storage system designs and techniques for optimizing energy conservation in integrated utility systems. Volume 1: (Executive summary)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Integrated Utility Systems (IUS) have been suggested as a means of reducing the cost and conserving the nonrenewable energy resources required to supply utility services (energy, water, and waste disposal) to developments of limited size. The potential for further improving the performance and reducing the cost of IUS installations through the use of energy storage devices is examined and the results are summarized. Candidate energy storage concepts in the general areas of thermal, inertial, superconducting magnetic, electrochemical, chemical, and compressed air energy storage are assessed and the storage of thermal energy as the sensible heat of water is selected as the primary candidate for near term application to IUS.

Evaluation of pig production practices, constraints and opportunities for improvement in smallholder production systems in Kenya.

PubMed

Mbuthia, Jackson Mwenda; Rewe, Thomas Odiwuor; Kahi, Alexander Kigunzu

2015-02-01

This study evaluated pig production practices by smallholder farmers in two distinct production systems geared towards addressing their constraints and prospects for improvement. The production systems evaluated were semi-intensive and extensive and differed in remoteness, market access, resource availability and pig production intensity. Data were collected using structured questionnaires where a total of 102 pig farmers were interviewed. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to define the socioeconomic characteristics of the production systems, understanding the different roles that pigs play, marketing systems and constraints to production. In both systems, regular cash income and insurance against emergencies were ranked as the main reasons for rearing pigs. Marketing of pigs was mainly driven by the type of production operation. Finances, feeds and housing were identified as the major constraints to production. The study provides important parameters and identifies constraints important for consideration in design of sustainable production improvement strategies. Feeding challenges can be improved through understanding the composition and proper utilization of local feed resources. Provision of adequate housing would improve the stocking rates and control mating.

Forest biological diversity interactions with resource utilization

Treesearch

S.T. Mok

1992-01-01

The most important forest resources of the Asia-Pacific region are the highly diverse rain forests. Utilization of the resource is a natural and inevitable consequence of the region's socio-economic development. The sustainable management and development of forest resources in the region can be achieved by implementing conservational forestry, which is based on...

Agent-based Modeling to Simulate the Diffusion of Water-Efficient Innovations and the Emergence of Urban Water Sustainability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanta, L.; Giacomoni, M.; Shafiee, M. E.; Berglund, E.

2014-12-01

The sustainability of water resources is threatened by urbanization, as increasing demands deplete water availability, and changes to the landscape alter runoff and the flow regime of receiving water bodies. Utility managers typically manage urban water resources through the use of centralized solutions, such as large reservoirs, which may be limited in their ability balance the needs of urbanization and ecological systems. Decentralized technologies, on the other hand, may improve the health of the water resources system and deliver urban water services. For example, low impact development technologies, such as rainwater harvesting, and water-efficient technologies, such as low-flow faucets and toilets, may be adopted by households to retain rainwater and reduce demands, offsetting the need for new centralized infrastructure. Decentralized technologies may create new complexities in infrastructure and water management, as decentralization depends on community behavior and participation beyond traditional water resources planning. Messages about water shortages and water quality from peers and the water utility managers can influence the adoption of new technologies. As a result, feedbacks between consumers and water resources emerge, creating a complex system. This research develops a framework to simulate the diffusion of water-efficient innovations and the sustainability of urban water resources, by coupling models of households in a community, hydrologic models of a water resources system, and a cellular automata model of land use change. Agent-based models are developed to simulate the land use and water demand decisions of individual households, and behavioral rules are encoded to simulate communication with other agents and adoption of decentralized technologies, using a model of the diffusion of innovation. The framework is applied for an illustrative case study to simulate water resources sustainability over a long-term planning horizon.

Cost variation in a laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the association with outcomes across a single health system: implications for standardization and improved resource utilization.

PubMed

Brauer, David G; Hawkins, William G; Strasberg, Steven M; Brunt, L Michael; Jaques, David P; Mercurio, Nicholas R; Hall, Bruce L; Fields, Ryan C

2015-12-01

Payers and regulatory bodies are increasingly placing emphasis on cost containment, quality/outcome measurement and transparent reporting. Significant cost variation occurs in many operative procedures without a clear relationship with outcomes. Clear cost-benefit associations will be necessary to justify expenditures in the era of bundled payment structures. All laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LCCKs) performed within a single health system over a 1-year period were analysed for operating room (OR) supply cost. The cost was correlated with American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) outcomes. From July 2013 to June 2014, 2178 LCCKs were performed by 55 surgeons at seven hospitals. The median case OR supply cost was $513 ± 156. There was variation in cost between individual surgeons and within an individual surgeon's practice. There was no correlation between cost and ACS NSQIP outcomes. The majority of cost variation was explained by selection of trocar and clip applier constructs. Significant case OR cost variation is present in LCCK across a single health system, and there is no clear association between increased cost and NSQIP outcomes. Placed within the larger context of overall cost, the opportunity exists for improved resource utilization with no obvious risk for a reduction in the quality of care. © 2015 International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

Cost variation in a laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the association with outcomes across a single health system: implications for standardization and improved resource utilization

PubMed Central

Brauer, David G; Hawkins, William G; Strasberg, Steven M; Brunt, L Michael; Jaques, David P; Mercurio, Nicholas R; Hall, Bruce L; Fields, Ryan C

2015-01-01

Background Payers and regulatory bodies are increasingly placing emphasis on cost containment, quality/outcome measurement and transparent reporting. Significant cost variation occurs in many operative procedures without a clear relationship with outcomes. Clear cost-benefit associations will be necessary to justify expenditures in the era of bundled payment structures. Methods All laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LCCKs) performed within a single health system over a 1-year period were analysed for operating room (OR) supply cost. The cost was correlated with American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) outcomes. Results From July 2013 to June 2014, 2178 LCCKs were performed by 55 surgeons at seven hospitals. The median case OR supply cost was $513 ± 156. There was variation in cost between individual surgeons and within an individual surgeon's practice. There was no correlation between cost and ACS NSQIP outcomes. The majority of cost variation was explained by selection of trocar and clip applier constructs. Conclusions Significant case OR cost variation is present in LCCK across a single health system, and there is no clear association between increased cost and NSQIP outcomes. Placed within the larger context of overall cost, the opportunity exists for improved resource utilization with no obvious risk for a reduction in the quality of care. PMID:26345351

[Home health resource utilization measures using a case-mix adjustor model].

PubMed

You, Sun-Ju; Chang, Hyun-Sook

2005-08-01

The purpose of this study was to measure home health resource utilization using a Case-Mix Adjustor Model developed in the U.S. The subjects of this study were 484 patients who had received home health care more than 4 visits during a 60-day episode at 31 home health care institutions. Data on the 484 patients had to be merged onto a 60-day payment segment. Based on the results, the researcher classified home health resource groups (HHRG). The subjects were classified into 34 HHRGs in Korea. Home health resource utilization according to clinical severity was in order of Minimum (C0) < 'Low (C1) < 'Moderate (C2) < 'High (C3), according to dependency in daily activities was in order of Minimum (F0) < 'High (F3) < 'Medium (F2) < 'Low (F1) < 'Maximum (F4). Resource utilization by HHRGs was the highest 564,735 won in group C0F0S2 (clinical severity minimum, dependency in daily activity minimum, service utilization moderate), and the lowest 97,000 won in group C2F3S1, so the former was 5.82 times higher than the latter. Resource utilization in home health care has become an issue of concern due to rising costs for home health care. The results suggest the need for more analytical attention on the utilization and expenditures for home care using a Case-Mix Adjustor Model.

Lean principles to optimize instrument utilization for spine surgery in an academic medical center: an opportunity to standardize, cut costs, and build a culture of improvement.

PubMed

Lunardini, David; Arington, Richard; Canacari, Elena G; Gamboa, Kelly; Wagner, Katiri; McGuire, Kevin J

2014-09-15

Case study OBJECTIVE.: To optimize the utilization of operating room instruments for orthopedic and neurosurgical spine cases in an urban level 1 academic medical center through application of Lean principles. Process improvement systems such as Lean have been adapted to health care and offer an opportunity for frank assessment of surgical routines to increase efficiency and enhance value. The goal has been to safely reduce the financial burden to the health care system without compromising care and if possible reallocate these resources or gains in efficiency to further improve the value to the patient. The investigators identified instruments as a source of waste in the operating room and proposed a Lean process assessment. The instruments and the instrument processing workflow were described. An audit documented the utilization of each instrument by orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons through observation of spine cases. The data were then presented to the stakeholders, including surgeons, the perioperative director, and representatives from nursing, central processing, and the surgical technicians. Of the 38 cases audited, only 89 (58%) of the instruments were used at least once. On the basis of the data and stakeholder consensus, 63 (41%) of the instruments were removed, resulting in a weight reduction of 17.5 lb and consolidation of 2 instrument sets into 1. Projected cost savings were approximately $41,000 annually. Although new instruments were purchased to standardize sets, the return on investment was estimated to be 2 years. Inefficient surgical routines may comprise significant resource waste in an institution. Process assessment is an important tool in decreasing health care costs, with objectivity provided by Lean or similar principles, and essential impetus to change provided by stakeholders. 4.

Evaluation of health resource utilization efficiency in community health centers of Jiangsu Province, China.

PubMed

Xu, Xinglong; Zhou, Lulin; Antwi, Henry Asante; Chen, Xi

2018-02-20

While the demand for health services keep escalating at the grass roots or rural areas of China, a substantial portion of healthcare resources remain stagnant in the more developed cities and this has entrenched health inequity in many parts of China. At its conception, China's Deepen Medical Reform started in 2012 was intended to flush out possible disparities and promote a more equitable and efficient distribution of healthcare resources. Nearly half a decade of this reform, there are uncertainties as to whether the attainment of the objectives of the reform is in sight. Using a hybrid of panel data analysis and an augmented data envelopment analysis (DEA), we model human resources, material, finance to determine their technical and scale efficiency to comprehensively evaluate the transverse and longitudinal allocation efficiency of community health resources in Jiangsu Province. We observed that the Deepen Medical Reform in China has led to an increase concern to ensure efficient allocation of community health resources by health policy makers in the province. This has led to greater efficiency in health resource allocation in Jiangsu in general but serious regional or municipal disparities still exist. Using the DEA model, we note that the output from the Community Health Centers does not commensurate with the substantial resources (human resources, materials, and financial) invested in them. We further observe that the case is worst in less-developed Northern parts of Jiangsu Province. The government of Jiangsu Province could improve the efficiency of health resource allocation by improving the community health service system, rationalizing the allocation of health personnel, optimizing the allocation of material resources, and enhancing the level of health of financial resource allocation.

Research on elastic resource management for multi-queue under cloud computing environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

CHENG, Zhenjing; LI, Haibo; HUANG, Qiulan; Cheng, Yaodong; CHEN, Gang

2017-10-01

As a new approach to manage computing resource, virtualization technology is more and more widely applied in the high-energy physics field. A virtual computing cluster based on Openstack was built at IHEP, using HTCondor as the job queue management system. In a traditional static cluster, a fixed number of virtual machines are pre-allocated to the job queue of different experiments. However this method cannot be well adapted to the volatility of computing resource requirements. To solve this problem, an elastic computing resource management system under cloud computing environment has been designed. This system performs unified management of virtual computing nodes on the basis of job queue in HTCondor based on dual resource thresholds as well as the quota service. A two-stage pool is designed to improve the efficiency of resource pool expansion. This paper will present several use cases of the elastic resource management system in IHEPCloud. The practical run shows virtual computing resource dynamically expanded or shrunk while computing requirements change. Additionally, the CPU utilization ratio of computing resource was significantly increased when compared with traditional resource management. The system also has good performance when there are multiple condor schedulers and multiple job queues.

Suggestions to ameliorate the inequity in urban/rural allocation of healthcare resources in China.

PubMed

Chen, Yiyi; Yin, Zhou; Xie, Qiong

2014-05-01

The imbalance in the allocation in healthcare resources between urban and rural areas has become a main focus of the recent medical reforms adopted in China. However, systematic analysis has identified wide differences in the allocation of healthcare resources between urban and rural areas, including healthcare expenditures and the number of healthcare facilities, available beds, and personnel. Therefore, the aim of this report was to identify ethical considerations in current governmental policies to rectify existing problems in the distribution of healthcare resources. Our findings indicate that the inequality in the distribution of healthcare resources does not adhere to ethical standards and the policies are flawed because they give rise to differences in the availability of medical care to urban and rural communities. To optimize the allocation of medical healthcare resources, countermeasures are proposed to formulate policies to urge the flow of public healthcare resources to rural areas, strengthen the responsibilities of both governmental and public financial investments, increase the construction of public healthcare facilities in rural areas, promote the quality of healthcare resources, adjust resource allocations to rural public healthcare facilities, and improve resource utilization efficiency by establishing two-way referral mechanisms.

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide testing improves the management of patients with suspected acute heart failure: primary results of the Canadian prospective randomized multicenter IMPROVE-CHF study.

PubMed

Moe, Gordon W; Howlett, Jonathan; Januzzi, James L; Zowall, Hanna

2007-06-19

The diagnostic utility of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in heart failure has been documented. However, most of the data were derived from countries with high healthcare resource use, and randomized evidence for utility of NT-proBNP was lacking. We tested the hypothesis that NT-proBNP testing improves the management of patients presenting with dyspnea to emergency departments in Canada by prospectively comparing the clinical and economic impact of a randomized management strategy either guided by NT-proBNP results or without knowledge of NT-proBNP concentrations. Five hundred patients presenting with dyspnea to 7 emergency departments were studied. The median NT-proBNP level among the 230 subjects with a final diagnosis of heart failure was 3697 compared with 212 pg/mL in those without heart failure (P<0.00001). Knowledge of NT-proBNP results reduced the duration of ED visit by 21% (6.3 to 5.6 hours; P=0.031), the number of patients rehospitalized over 60 days by 35% (51 to 33; P=0.046), and direct medical costs of all ED visits, hospitalizations, and subsequent outpatient services (US $6129 to US $5180 per patient; P=0.023) over 60 days from enrollment. Adding NT-proBNP to clinical judgment enhanced the accuracy of a diagnosis; the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve increased from 0.83 to 0.90 (P<0.00001). In a universal health coverage system mandating judicious use of healthcare resources, inclusion of NT-proBNP testing improves the management of patients presenting to emergency departments with dyspnea through improved diagnosis, cost savings, and improvement in selected outcomes.

Assessing global resource utilization efficiency in the industrial sector.

PubMed

Rosen, Marc A

2013-09-01

Designing efficient energy systems, which also meet economic, environmental and other objectives and constraints, is a significant challenge. In a world with finite natural resources and large energy demands, it is important to understand not just actual efficiencies, but also limits to efficiency, as the latter identify margins for efficiency improvement. Energy analysis alone is inadequate, e.g., it yields energy efficiencies that do not provide limits to efficiency. To obtain meaningful and useful efficiencies for energy systems, and to clarify losses, exergy analysis is a beneficial and useful tool. Here, the global industrial sector and industries within it are assessed by using energy and exergy methods. The objective is to improve the understanding of the efficiency of global resource use in the industrial sector and, with this information, to facilitate the development, prioritization and ultimate implementation of rational improvement options. Global energy and exergy flow diagrams for the industrial sector are developed and overall efficiencies for the global industrial sector evaluated as 51% based on energy and 30% based on exergy. Consequently, exergy analysis indicates a less efficient picture of energy use in the global industrial sector than does energy analysis. A larger margin for improvement exists from an exergy perspective, compared to the overly optimistic margin indicated by energy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do Health Care Delivery System Reforms Improve Value? The Jury Is Still Out.

PubMed

Korenstein, Deborah; Duan, Kevin; Diaz, Manuel J; Ahn, Rosa; Keyhani, Salomeh

2016-01-01

Widespread restructuring of health delivery systems is underway in the United States to reduce costs and improve the quality of health care. To describe studies evaluating the impact of system-level interventions (incentives and delivery structures) on the value of US health care, defined as the balance between quality and cost. We identified articles in PubMed (2003 to July 2014) using keywords identified through an iterative process, with reference and author tracking. We searched tables of contents of relevant journals from August 2014 through 11 August 2015 to update our sample. We included prospective or retrospective studies of system-level changes, with a control, reporting both quality and either cost or utilization of resources. Data about study design, study quality, and outcomes was extracted by one reviewer and checked by a second. Thirty reports of 28 interventions were included. Interventions included patient-centered medical home implementations (n=12), pay-for-performance programs (n=10), and mixed interventions (n=6); no other intervention types were identified. Most reports (n=19) described both cost and utilization outcomes. Quality, cost, and utilization outcomes varied widely; many improvements were small and process outcomes predominated. Improved value (improved quality with stable or lower cost/utilization or stable quality with lower cost/utilization) was seen in 23 reports; 1 showed decreased value, and 6 showed unchanged, unclear, or mixed results.Study limitations included variability among specific endpoints reported, inconsistent methodologies, and lack of full adjustment in some observational trials. Lack of standardized MeSH terms was also a challenge in the search. On balance, the literature suggests that health system reforms can improve value. However, this finding is tempered by the varying outcomes evaluated across studies with little documented improvement in outcome quality measures. Standardized measures of value would facilitate assessment of the impact of interventions across studies and better estimates of the broad impact of system change.

A hybrid human and machine resource curation pipeline for the Neuroscience Information Framework.

PubMed

Bandrowski, A E; Cachat, J; Li, Y; Müller, H M; Sternberg, P W; Ciccarese, P; Clark, T; Marenco, L; Wang, R; Astakhov, V; Grethe, J S; Martone, M E

2012-01-01

The breadth of information resources available to researchers on the Internet continues to expand, particularly in light of recently implemented data-sharing policies required by funding agencies. However, the nature of dense, multifaceted neuroscience data and the design of contemporary search engine systems makes efficient, reliable and relevant discovery of such information a significant challenge. This challenge is specifically pertinent for online databases, whose dynamic content is 'hidden' from search engines. The Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF; http://www.neuinfo.org) was funded by the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research to address the problem of finding and utilizing neuroscience-relevant resources such as software tools, data sets, experimental animals and antibodies across the Internet. From the outset, NIF sought to provide an accounting of available resources, whereas developing technical solutions to finding, accessing and utilizing them. The curators therefore, are tasked with identifying and registering resources, examining data, writing configuration files to index and display data and keeping the contents current. In the initial phases of the project, all aspects of the registration and curation processes were manual. However, as the number of resources grew, manual curation became impractical. This report describes our experiences and successes with developing automated resource discovery and semiautomated type characterization with text-mining scripts that facilitate curation team efforts to discover, integrate and display new content. We also describe the DISCO framework, a suite of automated web services that significantly reduce manual curation efforts to periodically check for resource updates. Lastly, we discuss DOMEO, a semi-automated annotation tool that improves the discovery and curation of resources that are not necessarily website-based (i.e. reagents, software tools). Although the ultimate goal of automation was to reduce the workload of the curators, it has resulted in valuable analytic by-products that address accessibility, use and citation of resources that can now be shared with resource owners and the larger scientific community. DATABASE URL: http://neuinfo.org.

A hybrid human and machine resource curation pipeline for the Neuroscience Information Framework

PubMed Central

Bandrowski, A. E.; Cachat, J.; Li, Y.; Müller, H. M.; Sternberg, P. W.; Ciccarese, P.; Clark, T.; Marenco, L.; Wang, R.; Astakhov, V.; Grethe, J. S.; Martone, M. E.

2012-01-01

The breadth of information resources available to researchers on the Internet continues to expand, particularly in light of recently implemented data-sharing policies required by funding agencies. However, the nature of dense, multifaceted neuroscience data and the design of contemporary search engine systems makes efficient, reliable and relevant discovery of such information a significant challenge. This challenge is specifically pertinent for online databases, whose dynamic content is ‘hidden’ from search engines. The Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF; http://www.neuinfo.org) was funded by the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research to address the problem of finding and utilizing neuroscience-relevant resources such as software tools, data sets, experimental animals and antibodies across the Internet. From the outset, NIF sought to provide an accounting of available resources, whereas developing technical solutions to finding, accessing and utilizing them. The curators therefore, are tasked with identifying and registering resources, examining data, writing configuration files to index and display data and keeping the contents current. In the initial phases of the project, all aspects of the registration and curation processes were manual. However, as the number of resources grew, manual curation became impractical. This report describes our experiences and successes with developing automated resource discovery and semiautomated type characterization with text-mining scripts that facilitate curation team efforts to discover, integrate and display new content. We also describe the DISCO framework, a suite of automated web services that significantly reduce manual curation efforts to periodically check for resource updates. Lastly, we discuss DOMEO, a semi-automated annotation tool that improves the discovery and curation of resources that are not necessarily website-based (i.e. reagents, software tools). Although the ultimate goal of automation was to reduce the workload of the curators, it has resulted in valuable analytic by-products that address accessibility, use and citation of resources that can now be shared with resource owners and the larger scientific community. Database URL: http://neuinfo.org PMID:22434839

Effects of meteorological droughts on agricultural water resources in southern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Houquan; Wu, Yihua; Li, Yijun; Liu, Yongqiang

2017-05-01

With the global warming, frequencies of drought are rising in the humid area of southern China. In this study, the effects of meteorological drought on the agricultural water resource based on the agricultural water resource carrying capacity (AWRCC) in southern China were investigated. The entire study area was divided into three regions based on the distributions of climate and agriculture. The concept of the maximum available water resources for crops was used to calculate AWRCC. Meanwhile, an agricultural drought intensity index (ADI), which was suitable for rice planting areas, was proposed based on the difference between crop water requirements and precipitation. The actual drought area and crop yield in drought years from 1961 to 2010 were analyzed. The results showed that ADI and AWRCC were significantly correlated with the actual drought occurrence area and food yield in the study area, which indicated ADI and AWRCC could be used in drought-related studies. The effects of seasonal droughts on AWRCC strongly depended on both the crop growth season and planting structure. The influence of meteorological drought on agricultural water resources was pronounced in regions with abundant water resources, especially in Southwest China, which was the most vulnerable to droughts. In Southwest China, which has dry and wet seasons, reducing the planting area of dry season crops and rice could improve AWRCC during drought years. Likewise, reducing the planting area of double-season rice could improve AWRCC during drought years in regions with a double-season rice cropping system. Our findings highlight the importance of adjusting the proportions of crop planting to improve the utilization efficiency of agricultural water resources and alleviate drought hazards in some humid areas.

The effect of participation in a weight loss programme on short-term health resource utilization.

PubMed

van Walraven, Carl; Dent, Robert

2002-02-01

Obese people consume significantly greater amounts of health resources. This study set out to determine if health resource utilization by obese people decreases after losing weight in a comprehensive medically supervised weight management programme. Four hundred and fifty-six patients enrolled in a single-centred, multifaceted weight loss programme in a universal health care system were studied. Patient information was anonymously linked with administrative databases to measure health resource utilization for 1 year before and after the programme. Mean body mass index (BMI) decreased by more than 15%. The mean annual physician visits (pre = 9.6, post = 9.4) did not change significantly after the programme. However, patients saw a significantly fewer number of different physicians per year following the programme (pre = 4.5, post = 3.9; P < 0.001). Mean annual number of emergency visits (pre = 0.2; post = 0.2) and hospital admissions (pre = 0.05; post = 0.08) did not change. Neither baseline BMI, nor its change during the programme, influenced changes in health resource utilization. Our study suggests that weight loss in a supervised weight management programme does not necessarily decrease short-term health resource utilization. Further study is required to determine if patients who maintain their weight loss experience a decrease in health utilization.

Water Transparency Drives Intra-Population Divergence in Eurasian Perch (Perca fluviatilis)

PubMed Central

Bartels, Pia; Hirsch, Philipp E.; Svanbäck, Richard; Eklöv, Peter

2012-01-01

Trait combinations that lead to a higher efficiency in resource utilization are important drivers of divergent natural selection and adaptive radiation. However, variation in environmental features might constrain foraging in complex ways and therefore impede the exploitation of critical resources. We tested the effect of water transparency on intra-population divergence in morphology of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) across seven lakes in central Sweden. Morphological divergence between near-shore littoral and open-water pelagic perch substantially increased with increasing water transparency. Reliance on littoral resources increased strongly with increasing water transparency in littoral populations, whereas littoral reliance was not affected by water transparency in pelagic populations. Despite the similar reliance on pelagic resources in pelagic populations along the water transparency gradient, the utilization of particular pelagic prey items differed with variation in water transparency in pelagic populations. Pelagic perch utilized cladocerans in lakes with high water transparency and copepods in lakes with low water transparency. We suggest that under impaired visual conditions low utilization of littoral resources by littoral perch and utilization of evasive copepods by pelagic perch may lead to changes in morphology. Our findings indicate that visual conditions can affect population divergence in predator populations through their effects on resource utilization. PMID:22912895

Autonomous In-Situ Resources Prospector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dissly, R. W.; Buehler, M. G.; Schaap, M. G.; Nicks, D.; Taylor, G. J.; Castano, R.; Suarez, D.

2004-01-01

This presentation will describe the concept of an autonomous, intelligent, rover-based rapid surveying system to identify and map several key lunar resources to optimize their ISRU (In Situ Resource Utilization) extraction potential. Prior to an extraction phase for any target resource, ground-based surveys are needed to provide confirmation of remote observation, to quantify and map their 3-D distribution, and to locate optimal extraction sites (e.g. ore bodies) with precision to maximize their economic benefit. The system will search for and quantify optimal minerals for oxygen production feedstock, water ice, and high glass-content regolith that can be used for building materials. These are targeted because of their utility and because they are, or are likely to be, variable in quantity over spatial scales accessible to a rover (i.e., few km). Oxygen has benefits for life support systems and as an oxidizer for propellants. Water is a key resource for sustainable exploration, with utility for life support, propellants, and other industrial processes. High glass-content regolith has utility as a feedstock for building materials as it readily sinters upon heating into a cohesive matrix more readily than other regolith materials or crystalline basalts. Lunar glasses are also a potential feedstock for oxygen production, as many are rich in iron and titanium oxides that are optimal for oxygen extraction. To accomplish this task, a system of sensors and decision-making algorithms for an autonomous prospecting rover is described. One set of sensors will be located in the wheel tread of the robotic search vehicle providing contact sensor data on regolith composition. Another set of instruments will be housed on the platform of the rover, including VIS-NIR imagers and spectrometers, both for far-field context and near-field characterization of the regolith in the immediate vicinity of the rover. Also included in the sensor suite are a neutron spectrometer, ground-penetrating radar, and an instrumented cone penetrometer for subsurface assessment. Output from these sensors will be evaluated autonomously in real-time by decision-making software to evaluate if any of the targeted resources has been detected, and if so, to quantify their abundance. Algorithms for optimizing the mapping strategy based on target resource abundance and distribution are also included in the autonomous software. This approach emphasizes on-the-fly survey measurements to enable efficient and rapid prospecting of large areas, which will improve the economics of ISRU system approaches. The mature technology will enable autonomous rovers to create in-situ resource maps of lunar or other planetary surfaces, which will facilitate human and robotic exploration.

[Application of an improved model of a job-matching platform for nurses].

PubMed

Huang, Way-Ren; Lin, Chiou-Fen

2015-04-01

The three-month attrition rate for new nurses in Taiwan remains high. Many hospitals rely on traditional recruitment methods to find new nurses, yet it appears that their efficacy is less than ideal. To effectively solve this manpower shortage, a nursing resource platform is a project worth developing in the future. This study aimed to utilize a quality-improvement model to establish communication between hospitals and nursing students and create a customized employee-employer information-matching platform to help nursing students enter the workforce. This study was structured around a quality-improvement model and used current situation analysis, literature review, focus-group discussions, and process re-engineering to formulate necessary content for a job-matching platform for nursing. The concept of an academia-industry strategic alliance helped connect supply and demand within the same supply chain. The nurse job-matching platform created in this study provided job flexibility as well as job suitability assessments and continued follow-up and services for nurses after entering the workforce to provide more accurate matching of employers and employees. The academia-industry strategic alliance, job suitability, and long-term follow-up designed in this study are all new features in Taiwan's human resource service systems. The proposed human resource process re-engineering provides nursing students facing graduation with a professionally managed human resources platform. Allowing students to find an appropriate job prior to graduation will improve willingness to work and employee retention.

National Conference on Integrated Resource Planning: Proceedings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Until recently, state regulators have focused most of their attention on the development of least-cost or integrated resource planning (IRP) processes for electric utilities. A number of commissions are beginning to scrutinize the planning processes of local gas distribution companies (LDCs) because of the increased control that LDCs have over their purchased gas costs (as well as the associated risks) and because of questions surrounding the role and potential of gas end-use efficiency options. Traditionally, resource planning (LDCs) has concentrated on options for purchasing and storing gas. Integrated resource planning involves the creation of a process in which supply-side and demand-side options are integrated to create a resource mix that reliably satisfies customers' short-term and long-term energy service needs at the lowest cost. As applied to gas utilities, an integrated resource plan seeks to balance cost and reliability, and should not be interpreted simply as the search for lowest commodity costs. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' (NARUC) Energy Conservation committee asked Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) to survey state PUCs to determine the extent to which they have undertaken least cost planning for gas utilities. The survey included the following topics: status of state PUC least-cost planning regulations and practices for gas utilities; type and scope of natural gas DSM programs in effect, including fuel substitution; economic tests and analysis methods used to evaluate DSM programs; relationship between prudency reviews of gas utility purchasing practices and integrated resource planning; and key regulatory issues facing gas utilities during the next five years.

OUR's: Optimum Utilization of Resources; A Guide to Instructional Resources in Occupational Education. Research Pub. 77-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beamish, Eric; And Others

This resource guide contains over 300 entries which are available through the Optimum Utilization of Resources (OUR's) exchange system. The entries describe learning materials, such as slides, video tapes, audio tapes, films, print material, and computer assisted instructional programs, which have been developed primarily by faculty of the…

Survey of possibility for volcanic energy development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1990-03-01

Volcanic areas, clarification of heat source structure, evaluation of resources and problems on utilization techniques were arranged to search the possibility of future volcanic heat source. It is necessary to improve the exploration accuracy by combining geophysical exploration with geological and geochemical surveys in order to explorate a magma reservoir. Especially, seismic exploration is effective. The surveying procedure is as follows: confirmation of magma existence and grasping the whole image, evaluation of resources, clarification of three-dimensional distribution of magma in a promising area, and heat structure survey by heat flow measurement and others to construct more accurate model for resources. This model is verified finally by practical drilling. Promising areas which are worthy of development, are active volcanic areas in Kyushu, Hakkoda nad Hokkaido. It is desirable to make drilling to the depth of 3 km or magma reservoir to develop the future heat source. It is also required to improve the thermal resistance and corrosion resistance of materials to be used. Heat extraction by a single well is most realistic and the closed coaxial double pipe heat exchanger or open heat exchanger in the well will be used to improve the extraction.

Baseline and target values for regional and point PV power forecasts: Toward improved solar forecasting

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Jie; Hodge, Bri -Mathias; Lu, Siyuan; ...

2015-11-10

Accurate solar photovoltaic (PV) power forecasting allows utilities to reliably utilize solar resources on their systems. However, to truly measure the improvements that any new solar forecasting methods provide, it is important to develop a methodology for determining baseline and target values for the accuracy of solar forecasting at different spatial and temporal scales. This paper aims at developing a framework to derive baseline and target values for a suite of generally applicable, value-based, and custom-designed solar forecasting metrics. The work was informed by close collaboration with utility and independent system operator partners. The baseline values are established based onmore » state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction models and persistence models in combination with a radiative transfer model. The target values are determined based on the reduction in the amount of reserves that must be held to accommodate the uncertainty of PV power output. The proposed reserve-based methodology is a reasonable and practical approach that can be used to assess the economic benefits gained from improvements in accuracy of solar forecasting. Lastly, the financial baseline and targets can be translated back to forecasting accuracy metrics and requirements, which will guide research on solar forecasting improvements toward the areas that are most beneficial to power systems operations.« less

Final Report Navajo Transmission Project (NTP)

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

Bennie Hoisington; Steven Begay

2006-09-14

The Diné Power Authority is developing the Navajo Transmission Project (NTP) to relieve the constraints on the transmission of electricity west of the Four Corners area and to improve the operation flexibility and reliability of the extra-high-voltage transmission system in the region. The NTP creates the wholesale transmission capacity for more economical power transfers, sales, and purchases in the region. It will facilitate the development of Navajo energy resources, improve economic conditions on the Navajo Nation as well as allow DPA to participate in the western electrical utility industry.

Designing new functional cosmetic ingredients from polyglycerol, a versatile bio-based platform for improved sustainability.

PubMed

Fevola, Michael J; Sun, Frank C; York, Stacey E

Polyglycerol (PG) is a well-known cosmetic ingredient and important precursor for the synthesis of a variety of cosmetic ingredients, such as surfactants, emulsifiers, and conditioning agents for hair and skin. When derived from renewable resources, PG can provide a more sustainable platform for the development of new ingredients with improved performance in cosmetic applications. This paper will discuss recent advances in the utilization of bio-based PG ingredients as alternatives to traditional ethoxylate chemistries for mild nonionic surfactants, substantive humectants, and micellar thickeners.

Improving HIV outcomes in resource-limited countries: the importance of quality indicators.

PubMed

Ahonkhai, Aima A; Bassett, Ingrid V; Ferris, Timothy G; Freedberg, Kenneth A

2012-11-24

Resource-limited countries increasingly depend on quality indicators to improve outcomes within HIV treatment programs, but indicators of program performance suitable for use at the local program level remain underdeveloped. Using the existing literature as a guide, we applied standard quality improvement (QI) concepts to the continuum of HIV care from HIV diagnosis, to enrollment and retention in care, and highlighted critical service delivery process steps to identify opportunities for performance indicator development. We then identified existing indicators to measure program performance, citing examples used by pivotal donor agencies, and assessed their feasibility for use in surveying local program performance. Clinical delivery steps without existing performance measures were identified as opportunities for measure development. Using National Quality Forum (NQF) criteria as a guide, we developed measurement concepts suitable for use at the local program level that address existing gaps in program performance assessment. This analysis of the HIV continuum of care identified seven critical process steps providing numerous opportunities for performance measurement. Analysis of care delivery process steps and the application of NQF criteria identified 24 new measure concepts that are potentially useful for improving operational performance in HIV care at the local level. An evidence-based set of program-level quality indicators is critical for the improvement of HIV care in resource-limited settings. These performance indicators should be utilized as treatment programs continue to grow.

The Status of Hospital Information Systems in Iranian Hospitals

PubMed Central

Jahanbakhsh, Maryam; Sharifi, Mohammed; Ayat, Masar

2014-01-01

Background: The area of e-Health is broad and has an excellent growth potential. An increasing number of experts believe that e-Health will fuel the next breakthroughs in health system improvements throughout the world, but there is frequent evidence of unsustainable use of e-Health systems in medical centres, particularly hospitals, for different reasons in different countries. Iran is also a developing country which is presently adopting this promising technology for its traditional healthcare delivery but there is not much information about the use of e-Health systems in its hospitals, and the weakness and opportunities of utilization of such Hospital Information Systems (HIS). Methods: For this research, a number of Hospitals from Isfahan, Iran, are selected using convenient sampling. E-health research professionals went there to observe their HIS and collect required data as a qualitative survey. The design of interview questions was based on the researchers’ experiences and knowledge in this area along with elementary interviews with experts on HIS utilization in hospitals. Results: Efficient administration of e-health implementation improves the quality of healthcare, reduces costs and medical errors, makes healthcare resources available to rural areas, etc. However, there are numerous issues affecting the successful utilization of e-health in Hospitals, such as a lack of a perfect HIS implementation plan and well-defined strategy, inadequate IT-security for the protection of e-health-related data, improper training and educational issues, legal challenges, privacy concerns, improper documentation of lessons learned, resistance to the application of new technologies, and finally a lack of recovery plan and disaster management. These results along with some informative stories are extracted from interview sessions to uncover associated challenges of HIS utilization in Iranian hospitals. Conclusion: The utilization of e-health in Iranian hospitals, particularly those in Isfahan, is subject to several challenges and there is no proper long-term strategy plans for HIS initiation, development, and improvement in Iranian hospitals. In order to address these problems, six recommendations are provided. Hence, human resource and e-health professionals from third party consultancy companies along with medical university scholars have to assist such hospitals to undertake the proposed solutions in order to provide proper plans to overcome future challenges and have a mature HIS in accordance with expected HIS utilization from hospitals and medical universities. PMID:25395731

Design and Implementation of Hybrid CORDIC Algorithm Based on Phase Rotation Estimation for NCO

PubMed Central

Zhang, Chaozhu; Han, Jinan; Li, Ke

2014-01-01

The numerical controlled oscillator has wide application in radar, digital receiver, and software radio system. Firstly, this paper introduces the traditional CORDIC algorithm. Then in order to improve computing speed and save resources, this paper proposes a kind of hybrid CORDIC algorithm based on phase rotation estimation applied in numerical controlled oscillator (NCO). Through estimating the direction of part phase rotation, the algorithm reduces part phase rotation and add-subtract unit, so that it decreases delay. Furthermore, the paper simulates and implements the numerical controlled oscillator by Quartus II software and Modelsim software. Finally, simulation results indicate that the improvement over traditional CORDIC algorithm is achieved in terms of ease of computation, resource utilization, and computing speed/delay while maintaining the precision. It is suitable for high speed and precision digital modulation and demodulation. PMID:25110750

Adaptive Resource Utilization Prediction System for Infrastructure as a Service Cloud.

PubMed

Zia Ullah, Qazi; Hassan, Shahzad; Khan, Gul Muhammad

2017-01-01

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud provides resources as a service from a pool of compute, network, and storage resources. Cloud providers can manage their resource usage by knowing future usage demand from the current and past usage patterns of resources. Resource usage prediction is of great importance for dynamic scaling of cloud resources to achieve efficiency in terms of cost and energy consumption while keeping quality of service. The purpose of this paper is to present a real-time resource usage prediction system. The system takes real-time utilization of resources and feeds utilization values into several buffers based on the type of resources and time span size. Buffers are read by R language based statistical system. These buffers' data are checked to determine whether their data follows Gaussian distribution or not. In case of following Gaussian distribution, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) is applied; otherwise Autoregressive Neural Network (AR-NN) is applied. In ARIMA process, a model is selected based on minimum Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) values. Similarly, in AR-NN process, a network with the lowest Network Information Criterion (NIC) value is selected. We have evaluated our system with real traces of CPU utilization of an IaaS cloud of one hundred and twenty servers.

Adaptive Resource Utilization Prediction System for Infrastructure as a Service Cloud

PubMed Central

Hassan, Shahzad; Khan, Gul Muhammad

2017-01-01

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud provides resources as a service from a pool of compute, network, and storage resources. Cloud providers can manage their resource usage by knowing future usage demand from the current and past usage patterns of resources. Resource usage prediction is of great importance for dynamic scaling of cloud resources to achieve efficiency in terms of cost and energy consumption while keeping quality of service. The purpose of this paper is to present a real-time resource usage prediction system. The system takes real-time utilization of resources and feeds utilization values into several buffers based on the type of resources and time span size. Buffers are read by R language based statistical system. These buffers' data are checked to determine whether their data follows Gaussian distribution or not. In case of following Gaussian distribution, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) is applied; otherwise Autoregressive Neural Network (AR-NN) is applied. In ARIMA process, a model is selected based on minimum Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) values. Similarly, in AR-NN process, a network with the lowest Network Information Criterion (NIC) value is selected. We have evaluated our system with real traces of CPU utilization of an IaaS cloud of one hundred and twenty servers. PMID:28811819

Use of Libraries in Open and Distance Learning System: Barriers to the Use of AIOU Libraries by Tutors and Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhatti, Abdul Jabbar; Jumani, Nabi Bux

2012-01-01

This study explores the library needs of students and tutors of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), utilization level of the library facilities and resources, the problems in the use of library, and suggestions for improvement of library facilities for students and tutors. Data collected from 4080 students and 526 tutors belonging to 15 different…

Improving Care for Children With Complex Needs

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-10-10

Medically Complex Children; Care Coordination; Case Manager; Care Manager; Collaborative Care; Disease Management; Patient Care Team or Organization; Managed Care; Children With Chronic Conditions; Children With Special Health Care Needs; Shared Care Plan; Patient Care Plan; Health Care and Resource Utilization; Adherence to Care; Functional Status and Productivity; Health Related Quality of Life; Satisfaction With Care; Care Coordinator; Family Experience of Care; Quality Health Care

A method to evaluate process performance by integrating time and resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yu; Wei, Qingjie; Jin, Shuang

2017-06-01

The purpose of process mining is to improve the existing process of the enterprise, so how to measure the performance of the process is particularly important. However, the current research on the performance evaluation method is still insufficient. The main methods of evaluation are mainly using time or resource. These basic statistics cannot evaluate process performance very well. In this paper, a method of evaluating the performance of the process based on time dimension and resource dimension is proposed. This method can be used to measure the utilization and redundancy of resources in the process. This paper will introduce the design principle and formula of the evaluation algorithm. Then, the design and the implementation of the evaluation method will be introduced. Finally, we will use the evaluating method to analyse the event log from a telephone maintenance process and propose an optimization plan.

Nurses' attitudes and behaviors on patient medication education.

PubMed

Bowen, Jane F; Rotz, Melissa E; Patterson, Brandon J; Sen, Sanchita

2017-01-01

Medication education is vital for positive patient outcomes. However, there is limited information about optimal medication education by nurses during hospitalization and care transitions. Examine nurses' attitudes and behaviors regarding the provision of patient medication education. The secondary objectives were to determine if nurses' medication education attitudes explain their behaviors, describe nurses' confidence in patient medication knowledge and abilities, and identify challenges to and improvements for medication education. A cross sectional survey was administered to nurses servicing internal medicine, cardiology, or medical-surgical patients. Twenty-four nurses completed the survey. Greater than 90% of nurses believed it is important to provide information on new medications and medical conditions, utilize resources, assess patient understanding and adherence, and use open ended question. Only 58% believed it is important to provide information on refill medications. Greater than 80% of nurses consistently provided information on new medications, assessed patient understanding, and utilized resources, but one-third or less used open-ended questions or provided information on refill medications. Most nurses spend 5-9 minutes per patient on medication education and their attitudes matched the following medication education behaviors: assessing adherence (0.57; p<0.01), providing information on new medications (0.52; p<0.05), using open-ended questions (0.51; p<0.01), and providing information on refill medications (0.39; p<0.05). Nurses had higher confidence that patients can understand and follow medication instructions, and identify names and purpose of their medications. Nurses had lower confidence that patients know what to expect from their medication or how to manage potential side effects. Communication, including language barriers and difficulty determining the patient's understanding of the information, was the most common challenge for nurses and they suggested utilization of translator services and patient-friendly drug information resources as a way to improve. Nurses have positive attitudes toward patient medication education. However, their attitudes do not fully explain their behaviors and many nurses are spending limited time with patients on medication education. Enhancements to medication education could include resources on communication and collaboration with pharmacists.

Integrating utilization-focused evaluation with business process modeling for clinical research improvement.

PubMed

Kagan, Jonathan M; Rosas, Scott; Trochim, William M K

2010-10-01

New discoveries in basic science are creating extraordinary opportunities to design novel biomedical preventions and therapeutics for human disease. But the clinical evaluation of these new interventions is, in many instances, being hindered by a variety of legal, regulatory, policy and operational factors, few of which enhance research quality, the safety of study participants or research ethics. With the goal of helping increase the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical research, we have examined how the integration of utilization-focused evaluation with elements of business process modeling can reveal opportunities for systematic improvements in clinical research. Using data from the NIH global HIV/AIDS clinical trials networks, we analyzed the absolute and relative times required to traverse defined phases associated with specific activities within the clinical protocol lifecycle. Using simple median duration and Kaplan-Meyer survival analysis, we show how such time-based analyses can provide a rationale for the prioritization of research process analysis and re-engineering, as well as a means for statistically assessing the impact of policy modifications, resource utilization, re-engineered processes and best practices. Successfully applied, this approach can help researchers be more efficient in capitalizing on new science to speed the development of improved interventions for human disease.

Application of Six Sigma/CAP methodology: controlling blood-product utilization and costs.

PubMed

Neri, Robert A; Mason, Cindy E; Demko, Lisa A

2008-01-01

Blood-product components are a limited commodity whose cost is rising. Many patients benefit from their use, but patients who receive transfusions face an unnecessary increased risk for developing infections; fatal, febrile, or allergic reactions; and circulatory overload. To improve patient care, safety, and resource stewardship, transfusion practices must be evaluated for appropriateness (Wilson et al. 2002). A multihospital health system undertook a rigorous study of blood-product utilization patterns and management processes to address cost-control problems in the organization. The system leveraged two process improvement tools widely implemented outside of the healthcare industry: (1) Six Sigma methodology to identify blood-utilization drivers and to standardize transfusion practice, and (2) change acceleration process model to drive effective change. The initiative resulted in a decreased rate of inappropriate transfusions of packed red blood cell from 16 percent to less than 5 percent, improved clinician use of a blood-component order form, establishment of internal benchmarks, enhanced laboratory-to-clinician communication, and better blood-product expense control. The project further demonstrated how out-of-industry tools and methodologies can be adopted, adapted, and systematically applied to generate positive change (Black and Revere 2006).

Domestication to Crop Improvement: Genetic Resources for Sorghum and Saccharum (Andropogoneae)

PubMed Central

Dillon, Sally L.; Shapter, Frances M.; Henry, Robert J.; Cordeiro, Giovanni; Izquierdo, Liz; Lee, L. Slade

2007-01-01

Background Both sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) are members of the Andropogoneae tribe in the Poaceae and are each other's closest relatives amongst cultivated plants. Both are relatively recent domesticates and comparatively little of the genetic potential of these taxa and their wild relatives has been captured by breeding programmes to date. This review assesses the genetic gains made by plant breeders since domestication and the progress in the characterization of genetic resources and their utilization in crop improvement for these two related species. Genetic Resources The genome of sorghum has recently been sequenced providing a great boost to our knowledge of the evolution of grass genomes and the wealth of diversity within S. bicolor taxa. Molecular analysis of the Sorghum genus has identified close relatives of S. bicolor with novel traits, endosperm structure and composition that may be used to expand the cultivated gene pool. Mutant populations (including TILLING populations) provide a useful addition to genetic resources for this species. Sugarcane is a complex polyploid with a large and variable number of copies of each gene. The wild relatives of sugarcane represent a reservoir of genetic diversity for use in sugarcane improvement. Techniques for quantitative molecular analysis of gene or allele copy number in this genetically complex crop have been developed. SNP discovery and mapping in sugarcane has been advanced by the development of high-throughput techniques for ecoTILLING in sugarcane. Genetic linkage maps of the sugarcane genome are being improved for use in breeding selection. The improvement of both sorghum and sugarcane will be accelerated by the incorporation of more diverse germplasm into the domesticated gene pools using molecular tools and the improved knowledge of these genomes. PMID:17766842

No Cost – Low Cost Compressed Air System Optimization in Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dharma, A.; Budiarsa, N.; Watiniasih, N.; Antara, N. G.

2018-04-01

Energy conservation is a systematic, integrated of effort, in order to preserve energy sources and improve energy utilization efficiency. Utilization of energy in efficient manner without reducing the energy usage it must. Energy conservation efforts are applied at all stages of utilization, from utilization of energy resources to final, using efficient technology, and cultivating an energy-efficient lifestyle. The most common way is to promote energy efficiency in the industry on end use and overcome barriers to achieve such efficiency by using system energy optimization programs. The facts show that energy saving efforts in the process usually only focus on replacing tools and not an overall system improvement effort. In this research, a framework of sustainable energy reduction work in companies that have or have not implemented energy management system (EnMS) will be conducted a systematic technical approach in evaluating accurately a compressed-air system and potential optimization through observation, measurement and verification environmental conditions and processes, then processing the physical quantities of systems such as air flow, pressure and electrical power energy at any given time measured using comparative analysis methods in this industry, to provide the potential savings of energy saving is greater than the component approach, with no cost to the lowest cost (no cost - low cost). The process of evaluating energy utilization and energy saving opportunities will provide recommendations for increasing efficiency in the industry and reducing CO2 emissions and improving environmental quality.

Improving HCAHPS Scores with Advances in Digital Radiography.

PubMed

Matthews, Marianne; Cretella, Gregg; Nicholas, William

2016-01-01

The imaging department can be instrumental in contributing to a healthcare facility's ability to succeed in this new era of competition. Advances in DR technology can improve patient perceptions in the imaging department by improving efficiencies and outcomes which, in turn, can ultimately bolster overall HCAHPS scores. Specific areas for improved scores by utilization of DR include nurse communication, doctor communication, pain management, and communication about medication. Value based purchasing brought with it a mandate for hospitals to track key metrics, which requires an investment in time, tools, and human resources. However, this mandate also presents hospitals and imaging departments, with an opportunity to leverage those very metrics to better market their facilities.

Heterotaxy syndrome: impact of ventricular morphology on resource utilization.

PubMed

Amula, Venugopal; Ellsworth, German L; Bratton, Susan L; Arrington, Cammon B; Witte, Madolin K

2014-01-01

Patients with heterotaxy syndrome (HS) have significant cardiac and extracardiac anomalies that impact outcome. To improve the management of this complex patient population, we performed a comprehensive analysis of their anatomic and clinical features along with an evaluation of resource utilization data. The objectives were to describe anatomic and clinical features of patients with HS syndrome treated at a single center from 1992 to 2011 focusing on the impact of ventricular morphology (univentricular [UV] vs. biventricular [BV]) on clinical outcomes and resource utilization. Clinical and echocardiographic data from patients with HS were abstracted from medical records. Health care costs were indexed to inflation. Seventy-eight patients were identified with HS ranging in age from 1 day to 29 years old. UV morphology was present in 46 patients (59 %), most commonly with right-ventricular dominance (36 of 46). The presence of extra cardiac anomalies did not differ between the UV and BV groups (82 vs. 78 %) nor did morbidities, such as need for enteral tube feedings (47 vs. 25 %) or pacemaker placement (24 vs. 25 %). Mortality was 28 % in the entire cohort: 39 % in univentricuar patients versus 10.5 % in those with biventricular anatomy. Hospital length of stay for medical illnesses was similar in both groups, but length of stay after surgery was significantly longer in UV than BV patients. Among survivors, UV patients had greater median hospital costs (TeX 67,732, p < 0.001), but when this was adjusted for mortality and variable follow-up, there were no differences in health care costs within the first year of life. Significant health care dollars are used to manage children with HS, the majority of which involve expenses related to surgical care. Although patients with biventricular morphology have better survival, morbidity and resource utilization are similar to those for UV patients especially within the first year of life.

The impacts of morning, daytime, and nighttime symptoms on disease burden in real-world patients with COPD.

PubMed

Muñoz, Anna; Small, Mark; Wood, Robert; Ribera, Anna; Nuevo, Javier

2018-01-01

Respiratory symptoms are increasingly recognized as an important consideration in COPD management. Understanding the links between the time(s) of day symptoms are experienced and overall symptom burden could support personalized management strategies. This real-world study aimed to establish the association between the time of day of symptoms and the burden on patients using validated patient-reported outcomes, health care resource utilization, and physician-perceived impact of COPD on patients' lives. Analyses used data from four waves (2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016) of the Respiratory Disease Specific Programme: cross-sectional surveys of patients with COPD in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Patients were classified by their physicians as having symptoms in the morning (M), daytime (D), and/or nighttime (N) in the 4 weeks before entering the Disease Specific Programme. Outcomes included health care resource utilization, work productivity and activity impairment, COPD Assessment Test, EuroQol 5-dimension 3-level questionnaire with visual analog scale, and Jenkins Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire. In total, 8,844 patients were included, and 8,185 had evaluable time-of-day symptom data. Physicians reported that in the previous 4 weeks, 25% of patients experienced no symptoms, 16% D only, 17% M/D only, 6% D/N only, 4% M, N, or M/N only, and 32% M/D/N. In general, patients with M/D/N symptoms utilized more health care resources in the previous 12 months, had more prior exacerbations, and reported worse activity impairment, health status, and sleep than other symptom groups, whereas patients with symptoms at any time of the day utilized more resources, experienced more exacerbations, and reported worse health status than patients with no symptoms during the 4 weeks before entering the survey. Patients experiencing morning, daytime, and nighttime symptoms experience a greater disease burden than those in other groups. An individualized approach to COPD treatment based on the timing and persistence of symptoms may improve outcomes for these patients.

Integration of Titan supercomputer at OLCF with ATLAS Production System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barreiro Megino, F.; De, K.; Jha, S.; Klimentov, A.; Maeno, T.; Nilsson, P.; Oleynik, D.; Padolski, S.; Panitkin, S.; Wells, J.; Wenaus, T.; ATLAS Collaboration

2017-10-01

The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) workload management system was developed to meet the scale and complexity of distributed computing for the ATLAS experiment. PanDA managed resources are distributed worldwide, on hundreds of computing sites, with thousands of physicists accessing hundreds of Petabytes of data and the rate of data processing already exceeds Exabyte per year. While PanDA currently uses more than 200,000 cores at well over 100 Grid sites, future LHC data taking runs will require more resources than Grid computing can possibly provide. Additional computing and storage resources are required. Therefore ATLAS is engaged in an ambitious program to expand the current computing model to include additional resources such as the opportunistic use of supercomputers. In this paper we will describe a project aimed at integration of ATLAS Production System with Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). Current approach utilizes modified PanDA Pilot framework for job submission to Titan’s batch queues and local data management, with lightweight MPI wrappers to run single node workloads in parallel on Titan’s multi-core worker nodes. It provides for running of standard ATLAS production jobs on unused resources (backfill) on Titan. The system already allowed ATLAS to collect on Titan millions of core-hours per month, execute hundreds of thousands jobs, while simultaneously improving Titans utilization efficiency. We will discuss the details of the implementation, current experience with running the system, as well as future plans aimed at improvements in scalability and efficiency. Notice: This manuscript has been authored, by employees of Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The publisher by accepting the manuscript for publication acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

An optimization method of VON mapping for energy efficiency and routing in elastic optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Huanlin; Xiong, Cuilian; Chen, Yong; Li, Changping; Chen, Derun

2018-03-01

To improve resources utilization efficiency, network virtualization in elastic optical networks has been developed by sharing the same physical network for difference users and applications. In the process of virtual nodes mapping, longer paths between physical nodes will consume more spectrum resources and energy. To address the problem, we propose a virtual optical network mapping algorithm called genetic multi-objective optimize virtual optical network mapping algorithm (GM-OVONM-AL), which jointly optimizes the energy consumption and spectrum resources consumption in the process of virtual optical network mapping. Firstly, a vector function is proposed to balance the energy consumption and spectrum resources by optimizing population classification and crowding distance sorting. Then, an adaptive crossover operator based on hierarchical comparison is proposed to improve search ability and convergence speed. In addition, the principle of the survival of the fittest is introduced to select better individual according to the relationship of domination rank. Compared with the spectrum consecutiveness-opaque virtual optical network mapping-algorithm and baseline-opaque virtual optical network mapping algorithm, simulation results show the proposed GM-OVONM-AL can achieve the lowest bandwidth blocking probability and save the energy consumption.

Exploiting on-node heterogeneity for in-situ analytics of climate simulations via a functional partitioning framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sapra, Karan; Gupta, Saurabh; Atchley, Scott; Anantharaj, Valentine; Miller, Ross; Vazhkudai, Sudharshan

2016-04-01

Efficient resource utilization is critical for improved end-to-end computing and workflow of scientific applications. Heterogeneous node architectures, such as the GPU-enabled Titan supercomputer at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), present us with further challenges. In many HPC applications on Titan, the accelerators are the primary compute engines while the CPUs orchestrate the offloading of work onto the accelerators, and moving the output back to the main memory. On the other hand, applications that do not exploit GPUs, the CPU usage is dominant while the GPUs idle. We utilized Heterogenous Functional Partitioning (HFP) runtime framework that can optimize usage of resources on a compute node to expedite an application's end-to-end workflow. This approach is different from existing techniques for in-situ analyses in that it provides a framework for on-the-fly analysis on-node by dynamically exploiting under-utilized resources therein. We have implemented in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) a new concurrent diagnostic processing capability enabled by the HFP framework. Various single variate statistics, such as means and distributions, are computed in-situ by launching HFP tasks on the GPU via the node local HFP daemon. Since our current configuration of CESM does not use GPU resources heavily, we can move these tasks to GPU using the HFP framework. Each rank running the atmospheric model in CESM pushes the variables of of interest via HFP function calls to the HFP daemon. This node local daemon is responsible for receiving the data from main program and launching the designated analytics tasks on the GPU. We have implemented these analytics tasks in C and use OpenACC directives to enable GPU acceleration. This methodology is also advantageous while executing GPU-enabled configurations of CESM when the CPUs will be idle during portions of the runtime. In our implementation results, we demonstrate that it is more efficient to use HFP framework to offload the tasks to GPUs instead of doing it in the main application. We observe increased resource utilization and overall productivity in this approach by using HFP framework for end-to-end workflow.

Multiple Intimate Partner Violence Experiences: Knowledge, Access, Utilization and Barriers to Utilization of Resources by Women of the African Diaspora

PubMed Central

Sabri, Bushra; Huerta, Julia; Alexander, Kamila A.; St.Vil, Noelle M.; Campbell, Jacquelyn C.; Callwood, Gloria B.

2016-01-01

Objective This study examined knowledge, access, utilization, and barriers to use of resources among Black women exposed to multiple types of intimate partner violence in Baltimore, Maryland and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Methods We analyzed quantitative survey data collected by 163 women recruited from primary care, prenatal or family planning clinics in Baltimore and the USVI. In addition we analyzed qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 11 women. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results A substantial proportion of Black women with multiple types of violence experiences lacked knowledge of, did not have access to, and did not use resources. Barriers to resource use were identified at the individual, relationship, and community levels. Conclusion There is need for programs to develop awareness, promote access and utilization of resources, and eliminate barriers to resource use among abused Black women. PMID:26548679

Crossing the Barriers: An Analysis of Permitting Barriers to Geothermal Development and Potential Improvement Scenarios

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

Levine, Aaron L; Young, Katherine R

Developers have identified many non-technical barriers to geothermal power development, including permitting. Activities required for permitting, such as the associated environmental reviews, can take a considerable amount of time and delay project development. This paper discusses the impacts to geothermal development timelines due to the permitting challenges, including the regulatory framework, environmental review process, and ancillary permits. We identified barriers that have the potential to prevent geothermal development or delay timelines and defined improvement scenarios that could assist in expediting geothermal development and permitting timelines and lead to the deployment of additional geothermal resources by 2030 and 2050: (1) themore » creation of a centralized federal geothermal permitting office and utilization of state permit coordination offices as well as (2) an expansion of existing categorical exclusions applicable to geothermal development on Bureau of Land Management public lands to include the oil and gas categorical exclusions passed as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. We utilized the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) and the Geothermal Electricity Technology Evaluation Model (GETEM) to forecast baseline geothermal deployment based on previous analysis of geothermal project development and permitting timelines. The model results forecast that reductions in geothermal project timelines can have a significant impact on geothermal deployment. For example, using the ReEDS model, we estimated that reducing timelines by two years, perhaps due to the creation of a centralized federal geothermal permitting office and utilization of state permit coordination offices, could result in deployment of an additional 204 MW by 2030 and 768 MW by 2050 - a 13% improvement when compared to the business as usual scenario. The model results forecast that a timeline improvement of four years - for example with an expansion of existing categorical exclusions coupled with the creation of a centralized federal geothermal permitting office and utilization of state permit coordination offices - could result in deployment of an additional 2,529 MW of geothermal capacity by 2030 and 6,917 MW of geothermal capacity by 2050 - an improvement of 116% when compared to the business as usual scenario. These results suggest that reducing development timelines could be a large driver in the deployment of geothermal resources.« less

Impact of non-medical switching on clinical and economic outcomes, resource utilization and medication-taking behavior: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Nguyen, Elaine; Weeda, Erin R; Sobieraj, Diana M; Bookhart, Brahim K; Piech, Catherine Tak; Coleman, Craig I

2016-07-01

To evaluate current knowledge of the impact of non-medical switching on clinical and economic outcomes, resource utilization and medication-taking behavior. The literature was searched (Medline and Web of Science, January 2000-November 2015) to identify United States' studies evaluating ≥25 patients and measuring the impact of non-medical switching of drugs (switching to a chemically distinct but similar medication for reasons other than lack of clinical efficacy/response, side effects or poor adherence) on ≥1 clinical, economic, resource utilization or medication-taking behavior outcome. The direction of association between non-medical switching and outcomes was classified as negative or positive if a statistically significant worsening or improvement was reported, or neutral if no significant difference was observed. Twenty-nine studies contributed 96 outcomes (60.4% clinical; 21.9% resource utilization; 13.5% economic; 4.2% medication-taking behavior) within six disease categories (cardio-metabolic, immune-mediated, acid suppression, psychiatric, hormone replacement therapy and pain). The direction of association was more frequently negative (33.3%) or neutral (55.2%) than it was positive (11.5%). Stratified by outcome type, non-medical switching was negatively associated with clinical, economic, healthcare utilization and medication-taking behavior outcomes in 20.7%, 69.2%, 38.1% and 75.0% of cases, respectively; and positively in only 4.8%-17.2% of outcomes subgroups. Of 32 outcomes in patients demonstrating stable/well controlled disease, 68.8% and 31.3% had a negative and neutral direction of association. In patients without demonstrated disease stability, outcomes were negatively, neutrally and positively impacted by non-medical switching in 15.6%, 67.2% and 17.2% of 64 outcomes. Our inability to evaluate specific disease state categories and studies/outcomes received equal weight regardless of sample size or magnitude of effect. Non-medical switching was more often associated with negative or neutral effects than positive effects on an array of important outcomes. Among patients with stable/well controlled disease, non-medical switching was associated with mostly negative effects.

Material flow analysis for resource management towards resilient palm oil production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamahara, H.; Faisal, M.; Hasanudin, U.; Fujie, K.; Daimon, H.

2018-03-01

Biomass waste generated from palm oil mill can be considered not only as the feedstock of renewable energy but also as the nutrient-rich resources to produce organic fertilizer. This study explored the appropriate resource management towards resilient palm oil production by applying material flow analysis. This study was conducted based on two palm oil mills in Lampung, Indonesia. The results showed that the empty fruit bunch (EFB) has the largest potential in terms of amount and energy among the biomass waste. The results also showed that the palm oil mills themselves had already self-managed their energy consumption thatwas obtained from palm kernel shell and palm press fiber. Finally, this study recommended the several utilization options of EFB for improvement of soil sustainability to contribute towards resilient palm oil production.

Distribution System Pricing with Distributed Energy Resources

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

Hledik, Ryan; Lazar, Jim; Schwartz, Lisa

Technological changes in the electric utility industry bring tremendous opportunities and significant challenges. Customers are installing clean sources of on-site generation such as rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. At the same time, smart appliances and control systems that can communicate with the grid are entering the retail market. Among the opportunities these changes create are a cleaner and more diverse power system, the ability to improve system reliability and system resilience, and the potential for lower total costs. Challenges include integrating these new resources in a way that maintains system reliability, provides an equitable sharing of system costs, and avoidsmore » unbalanced impacts on different groups of customers, including those who install distributed energy resources (DERs) and low-income households who may be the least able to afford the transition.« less

Overcoming Terminology Barrier Using Web Resources for Cross-Language Medical Information Retrieval

PubMed Central

Lu, Wen-Hsiang; Lin, Ray Shih-Jui; Chan, Yi-Che; Chen, Kuan-Hsi

2006-01-01

A number of authoritative medical websites, such as PubMed and MedlinePlus, provide consumers with the most up-to-date health information. However, non-English speakers often encounter not only language barriers (from other languages to English) but also terminology barriers (from laypersons’ terms to professional medical terms) when retrieving information from these websites. Our previous work addresses language barriers by developing a multilingual medical thesaurus, Chinese-English MeSH, while this study presents an approach to overcome terminology barriers based on Web resources. Two techniques were utilized in our approach: monolingual concept mapping using approximate string matching and crosslingual concept mapping using Web resources. The evaluation shows that our approach can significantly improve the performance on MeSH concept mapping and cross-language medical information retrieval. PMID:17238395

Network bandwidth utilization forecast model on high bandwidth networks

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

Yoo, Wuchert; Sim, Alex

With the increasing number of geographically distributed scientific collaborations and the scale of the data size growth, it has become more challenging for users to achieve the best possible network performance on a shared network. We have developed a forecast model to predict expected bandwidth utilization for high-bandwidth wide area network. The forecast model can improve the efficiency of resource utilization and scheduling data movements on high-bandwidth network to accommodate ever increasing data volume for large-scale scientific data applications. Univariate model is developed with STL and ARIMA on SNMP path utilization data. Compared with traditional approach such as Box-Jenkins methodology,more » our forecast model reduces computation time by 83.2%. It also shows resilience against abrupt network usage change. The accuracy of the forecast model is within the standard deviation of the monitored measurements.« less

Network Bandwidth Utilization Forecast Model on High Bandwidth Network

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

Yoo, Wucherl; Sim, Alex

With the increasing number of geographically distributed scientific collaborations and the scale of the data size growth, it has become more challenging for users to achieve the best possible network performance on a shared network. We have developed a forecast model to predict expected bandwidth utilization for high-bandwidth wide area network. The forecast model can improve the efficiency of resource utilization and scheduling data movements on high-bandwidth network to accommodate ever increasing data volume for large-scale scientific data applications. Univariate model is developed with STL and ARIMA on SNMP path utilization data. Compared with traditional approach such as Box-Jenkins methodology,more » our forecast model reduces computation time by 83.2percent. It also shows resilience against abrupt network usage change. The accuracy of the forecast model is within the standard deviation of the monitored measurements.« less

A regional, market oriented governance for disaster management: A new planning approach.

PubMed

Blackstone, Erwin A; Hakim, Simon; Meehan, Brian

2017-10-01

This paper proposes a regional competitive governance and management of response and recovery from disasters. It presents problems experienced in major disasters, analyzes the failures, and suggests how a competitive system that relies on private and volunteer regional leaders, personnel, and capital can improve preparation, response and recovery efforts over the existing government system. A Public Choice approach is adopted to explain why government often fails, and how regional governance may be socially more efficient than the existing federal- state-local funded and managed disaster system. The paper suggests that the federal role might change from both funding and supplying aid in disasters to merely funding disaster recovery efforts. When a disaster occurs, available businesses and government resources in the region can be utilized under a competitive system. These resources could replace existing federal and state inventories and emergency personnel. An independent regionally controlled and managed council, which also develops its own financial resources, and local volunteer leaders are key for success. The paper suggests a new planning method that utilizes the statistical Factor Analysis methodology to derive an efficient organizational and functional model to confront disasters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Refining a case-mix measure for nursing homes: Resource Utilization Groups (RUG-III).

PubMed

Fries, B E; Schneider, D P; Foley, W J; Gavazzi, M; Burke, R; Cornelius, E

1994-07-01

A case-mix classification system for nursing home residents is developed, based on a sample of 7,658 residents in seven states. Data included a broad assessment of resident characteristics, corresponding to items of the Minimum Data Set, and detailed measurement of nursing staff care time over a 24-hour period and therapy staff time over a 1-week period. The Resource Utilization Groups, Version III (RUG-III) system, with 44 distinct groups, achieves 55.5% variance explanation of total (nursing and therapy) per diem cost and meets goals of clinical validity and payment incentives. The mean resource use (case-mix index) of groups spans a nine-fold range. The RUG-III system improves on an earlier version not only by increasing the variance explanation (from 43%), but, more importantly, by identifying residents with "high tech" procedures (e.g., ventilators, respirators, and parenteral feeding) and those with cognitive impairments; by using better multiple activities of daily living; and by providing explicit qualifications for the Medicare nursing home benefit. RUG-III is being implemented for nursing home payment in 11 states (six as part of a federal multistate demonstration) and can be used in management, staffing level determination, and quality assurance.

Decreasing unnecessary utilization in acute bronchiolitis care: results from the value in inpatient pediatrics network.

PubMed

Ralston, Shawn; Garber, Matthew; Narang, Steve; Shen, Mark; Pate, Brian; Pope, John; Lossius, Michele; Croland, Trina; Bennett, Jeff; Jewell, Jennifer; Krugman, Scott; Robbins, Elizabeth; Nazif, Joanne; Liewehr, Sheila; Miller, Ansley; Marks, Michelle; Pappas, Rita; Pardue, Jeanann; Quinonez, Ricardo; Fine, Bryan R; Ryan, Michael

2013-01-01

Acute viral bronchiolitis is the most common diagnosis resulting in hospital admission in pediatrics. Utilization of non-evidence-based therapies and testing remains common despite a large volume of evidence to guide quality improvement efforts. Our objective was to reduce utilization of unnecessary therapies in the inpatient care of bronchiolitis across a diverse network of clinical sites. We formed a voluntary quality improvement collaborative of pediatric hospitalists for the purpose of benchmarking the use of bronchodilators, steroids, chest radiography, chest physiotherapy, and viral testing in bronchiolitis using hospital administrative data. We shared resources within the network, including protocols, scores, order sets, and key bibliographies, and established group norms for decreasing utilization. Aggregate data on 11,568 hospitalizations for bronchiolitis from 17 centers was analyzed for this report. The network was organized in 2008. By 2010, we saw a 46% reduction in overall volume of bronchodilators used, a 3.4 dose per patient absolute decrease in utilization (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4-5.8). Overall exposure to any dose of bronchodilator decreased by 12 percentage points as well (95% CI 5%-25%). There was also a statistically significant decline in chest physiotherapy usage, but not for steroids, chest radiography, or viral testing. Benchmarking within a voluntary pediatric hospitalist collaborative facilitated decreased utilization of bronchodilators and chest physiotherapy in bronchiolitis. Copyright © 2012 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Biofuels, land, and water: a systems approach to sustainability.

PubMed

Gopalakrishnan, Gayathri; Negri, M Cristina; Wang, Michael; Wu, May; Snyder, Seth W; Lafreniere, Lorraine

2009-08-01

There is a strong societal need to evaluate and understand the sustainability of biofuels, especially because of the significant increases in production mandated by many countries, including the United States. Sustainability will be a strong factor in the regulatory environment and investments in biofuels. Biomass feedstock production is an important contributor to environmental, social, and economic impacts from biofuels. This study presents a systems approach where the agricultural, energy, and environmental sectors are considered as components of a single system, and environmental liabilities are used as recoverable resources for biomass feedstock production. We focus on efficient use of land and water resources. We conducted a spatial analysis evaluating marginal land and degraded water resources to improve feedstock productivity with concomitant environmental restoration for the state of Nebraska. Results indicate that utilizing marginal land resources such as riparian and roadway buffer strips, brownfield sites, and marginal agricultural land could produce enough feedstocks to meet a maximum of 22% of the energy requirements of the state compared to the current supply of 2%. Degraded water resources such as nitrate-contaminated groundwater and wastewater were evaluated as sources of nutrients and water to improve feedstock productivity. Spatial overlap between degraded water and marginal land resources was found to be as high as 96% and could maintain sustainable feedstock production on marginal lands. Other benefits of implementing this strategy include feedstock intensification to decrease biomass transportation costs, restoration of contaminated water resources, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Evolution of specialization in resource utilization in structured metapopulations.

PubMed

Nurmi, Tuomas; Geritz, Stefan; Parvinen, Kalle; Gyllenberg, Mats

2008-07-01

We study the evolution of resource utilization in a structured discrete-time metapopulation model with an infinite number of patches, prone to local catastrophes. The consumer faces a trade-off in the abilities to consume two resources available in different amounts in each patch. We analyse how the evolution of specialization in the utilization of the resources is affected by different ecological factors: migration, local growth, local catastrophes, forms of the trade-off and distribution of the resources in the patches. Our modelling approach offers a natural way to include more than two patch types into the models. This has not been usually possible in the previous spatially heterogeneous models focusing on the evolution of specialization.

Bringing Together Community Health Centers, Information Technology and Data to Support a Patient-Centered Medical Village from the OCHIN community of solutions

PubMed Central

DeVoe, Jennifer E.; Sears, Abigail

2013-01-01

Creating integrated, comprehensive care practices requires access to data and informatics expertise. Information technology (IT) resources are not readily available to individual practices. One model of shared IT resources and learning is a “patient-centered medical village.” We describe the OCHIN Community Health Information Network as an example of this model where community practices have come together collectively to form an organization which leverages shared IT expertise, resources, and data, providing members with the means to fully capitalize on new technologies that support improved care. This collaborative facilitates the identification of “problem-sheds” through surveillance of network-wide data, enables shared learning regarding best practices, and provides a “community laboratory” for practice-based research. As an example of a Community of Solution, OCHIN utilizes health IT and data-sharing innovations to enhance partnerships between public health leaders, community health center clinicians, informatics experts, and policy makers. OCHIN community partners benefit from the shared IT resource (e.g. a linked electronic health record (EHR), centralized data warehouse, informatics and improvement expertise). This patient-centered medical village provides (1) the collective mechanism to build community tailored IT solutions, (2) “neighbors” to share data and improvement strategies, and (3) infrastructure to support EHR-based innovations across communities, using experimental approaches. PMID:23657695

Biomass potential resources identification in Togean Islands, Central Sulawesi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunyamin, A.; Purnomo, D.

2017-05-01

Togean Islands is one of remote area in Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Togean has been already well known for its great underwater scenery which fascinating many foreign tourists stay there. The large number of visits to Togean doesn’t mean at the same time it brings much improvement to local economy. People in Togean was used to live with limited utilities. Water and electricity are the two major problems that have been faced by the communities for many years. On the other hand, Togean has a very good potential for the development of biomass as a renewable energy source. This paper evaluated the potency of each resources using some parameters including availability, social support, technology feasibilities and sustainability aspect. Biomass potential resources that were investigated are hardwoods and forestry product, agroindustrial waste and by-products, and also household waste. Advanced analysis has concluded that the most feasible resources that eligible to be considered as future biomass resources is household waste followed by agro-industrial and agricultural waste then hardwood and forestry products.

Assessing the sustainability of lead utilization in China.

PubMed

Sun, Lingyu; Zhang, Chen; Li, Jinhui; Zeng, Xianlai

2016-12-01

Lead is not only one of heavy metals imposing environment and health risk, but also critical resource to maintain sustainable development of many industries. Recently, due to the shortage of fossil fuels, clean energy vehicles, including electric bicycle, have emerged and are widely adopted soon in the world. China became the world's largest producer of primary lead and a very significant consumer in the past decade, which has strained the supplies of China's lead deposits from lithosphere and boost the anthropogenic consumption of metallic lead and lead products. Here we summarize that China's lead demand will continually increase due to the rapid growth of electric vehicle, resulting in a short carrying duration of lead even with full lead recycling. With these applications increasing at an annual rate of 2%, the carrying duration of lead resource until 2030 will oblige that recycling rate should be not less than 90%. To sustain lead utilization in China, one approach would be to improve the utilization technology, collection system and recycling technology towards closed-loop supply chain. Other future endeavors should include optimizing lead industrial structure and development of new energy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing the appeal and utilization of services for alcohol and drug problems: what consumers and their social networks prefer.

PubMed

Tucker, Jalie A; Foushee, H Russell; Simpson, Cathy A

2009-01-01

A large gap exists in the United States between population need and the utilization of treatment services for substance-related problems. Surveying consumer preferences may provide valuable information for developing more attractive services with greater reach and impact on population health. A state-level telephone survey using random digit dialling sampling methods assessed preferences for available professional, mutual help, and lay resources, as well as innovative computerized and self-help resources that enhance anonymity (N=439 households in Alabama). Respondents preferred help that involved personal contact compared to computerized help or self-help, but were indifferent whether personalized help was dispensed by professional or lay providers. Attractive service features included lower cost, insurance coverage, confidentiality, rapid and convenient appointments, and addressing functional problems and risks of substance misuse. Respondents in households with a member who misused substances rated services more negatively, especially if services had been used. The findings highlight the utility of viewing substance misusers and their social networks as consumers, and the implications for improving the system of care and for designing and marketing services that are responsive to user preferences are discussed.

Community health workers and medicaid managed care in New Mexico.

PubMed

Johnson, Diane; Saavedra, Patricia; Sun, Eugene; Stageman, Ann; Grovet, Dodie; Alfero, Charles; Maynes, Carmen; Skipper, Betty; Powell, Wayne; Kaufman, Arthur

2012-06-01

We describe the impact of community health workers (CHWs) providing community-based support services to enrollees who are high consumers of health resources in a Medicaid managed care system. We conducted a retrospective study on a sample of 448 enrollees who were assigned to field-based CHWs in 11 of New Mexico's 33 counties. The CHWs provided patients education, advocacy and social support for a period up to 6 months. Data was collected on services provided, and community resources accessed. Utilization and payments in the emergency department, inpatient service, non-narcotic and narcotic prescriptions as well as outpatient primary care and specialty care were collected on each patient for a 6 month period before, for 6 months during and for 6 months after the intervention. For comparison, data was collected on another group of 448 enrollees who were also high consumers of health resources but who did not receive CHW intervention. For all measures, there was a significant reduction in both numbers of claims and payments after the community health worker intervention. Costs also declined in the non-CHW group on all measures, but to a more modest degree, with a greater reduction than in the CHW group in use of ambulatory services. The incorporation of field-based, community health workers as part of Medicaid managed care to provide supportive services to high resource-consuming enrollees can improve access to preventive and social services and may reduce resource utilization and cost.

Scheduling the future NASA Space Network: Experiences with a flexible scheduling prototype

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Happell, Nadine; Moe, Karen L.; Minnix, Jay

1993-01-01

NASA's Space Network (SN) provides telecommunications and tracking services to low earth orbiting spacecraft. One proposal for improving resource allocation and automating conflict resolution for the SN is the concept of flexible scheduling. In this concept, each Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) will possess a Space Network User POCC Interface (SNUPI) to support the development and management of flexible requests. Flexible requests express the flexibility, constraints, and repetitious nature of the user's communications requirements. Flexible scheduling is expected to improve SN resource utilization and user satisfaction, as well as reduce the effort to produce and maintain a schedule. A prototype testbed has been developed to better understand flexible scheduling as it applies to the SN. This testbed consists of a SNUPI workstation, an SN scheduler, and a flexible request language that conveys information between the two systems. All three are being evaluated by operations personnel. Benchmark testing is being conducted on the scheduler to quantify the productivity improvements achieved with flexible requests.

A LEAN approach toward automated analysis and data processing of polymers using proton NMR spectroscopy.

PubMed

de Brouwer, Hans; Stegeman, Gerrit

2011-02-01

To maximize utilization of expensive laboratory instruments and to make most effective use of skilled human resources, the entire chain of data processing, calculation, and reporting that is needed to transform raw NMR data into meaningful results was automated. The LEAN process improvement tools were used to identify non-value-added steps in the existing process. These steps were eliminated using an in-house developed software package, which allowed us to meet the key requirement of improving quality and reliability compared with the existing process while freeing up valuable human resources and increasing productivity. Reliability and quality were improved by the consistent data treatment as performed by the software and the uniform administration of results. Automating a single NMR spectrophotometer led to a reduction in operator time of 35%, doubling of the annual sample throughput from 1400 to 2800, and reducing the turn around time from 6 days to less than 2. Copyright © 2011 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Surface and borehole neutron probes for the Construction and Resource Utilization eXplorer (CRUX)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elphic, Richard C.; Hahn, Sangkoo; Lawrence, David J.; Feldman, William C.; Johnson, Jerome B.; Haldemann, Albert F. C.

2006-01-01

The Construction and Resource Utilization eXplorer (CRUX) project aims to develop an integrated, flexible suite of instruments with data fusion software and an executive controller for the purpose of in situ resource assessment and characterization for future space exploration.

Assessing the Organizational Characteristics Influencing Quality Improvement Implementation in Saudi Hospitals.

PubMed

Shamsuddin Alaraki, Mohammad

The health care system in Saudi Arabia has serious problems with quality and safety that can be reduced through systematic quality improvement (QI) activities. Despite the use of different QI models to improve health care in Saudi hospitals during the last 2 decades, consistent improvements have not yet been achieved and the results are still far below expectations. This may reflect a problem in introducing and implementing the QI models in the local contexts. The objective of this study is to assess the extent of QI implementation in Saudi hospitals and to identify the organizational characteristics that make Saudi hospitals particularly challenging for QI. Understanding these characteristics can inform efforts to improve them and may lead to more successful implementation. A mixed-methods approach was conducted using 2 data collection tools: questionnaires and interviews. The quantitative phase (questionnaires) aimed to uncover the current level of QI implementation in Saudi hospital as measured by 7 critical dimensions adapted from the literature. The qualitative phase (interviews) aimed to understand the organizational characteristics that impede or underpin QI in Saudi hospitals. The QI implementation was found to be significantly poor across the 7 dimensions with average score ranging between 22.80 ± 0.57 and 2.11 ± 0.69 on a 5-point Likert scale and with P value of less than .05. We also found that the current level of QI implementation helped Saudi hospitals neither to improve "customer satisfaction" nor to achieve measurable improvements in "quality results" scoring significantly low at 2.11 ± 0.69 with P value of .000 and 2.47 ± 0.57 with P value of .000, respectively. Our study confirms the presence of a multitude of organizational barriers that impede QI in Saudi hospitals. These are related to organizational culture, human resources management, processes and systems, and structure. These 4 were found to have the strongest impact on QI in Saudi hospitals. It appears that the most important contributing factors to the successful implementation of QI in Saudi hospitals are proper human resources utilization and effective quality management. Through careful planning, change management, proper utilization of human resources, supportive quality information systems, focus on processes and systems, structural support, and an organizational culture that is compatible with QI philosophy, Saudi hospitals will be more capable in achieving sustained measureable improvements in the quality and safety of patient care.

Carrots and Sticks: A Comprehensive Business Model for the Successful Achievement of Energy Efficiency Resource Standards Environmental Energy Technologies DivisionMarch 2011

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

Satchwell, Andrew; Cappers, Peter; Goldman, Charles

2011-03-22

Energy efficiency resource standards (EERS) are a prominent strategy to potentially achieve rapid and aggressive energy savings goals in the U.S. As of December 2010, twenty-six U.S. states had some form of an EERS with savings goals applicable to energy efficiency (EE) programs paid for by utility customers. The European Union has initiated a similar type of savings goal, the Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive, where it is being implemented in some countries through direct partnership with regulated electric utilities. U.S. utilities face significant financial disincentives under traditional regulation which affects the interest of shareholders and managers inmore » aggressively pursuing cost-effective energy efficiency. Regulators are considering some combination of mandated goals ('sticks') and alternative utility business model components ('carrots' such as performance incentives) to align the utility's business and financial interests with state and federal energy efficiency public policy goals. European countries that have directed their utilities to administer EE programs have generally relied on non-binding mandates and targets; in the U.S., most state regulators have increasingly viewed 'carrots' as a necessary condition for successful achievement of energy efficiency goals and targets. In this paper, we analyze the financial impacts of an EERS on a large electric utility in the State of Arizona using a pro-forma utility financial model, including impacts on utility earnings, customer bills and rates. We demonstrate how a viable business model can be designed to improve the business case while retaining sizable ratepayer benefits. Quantifying these concerns and identifying ways they can be addressed are crucial steps in gaining the support of major stakeholder groups - lessons that can apply to other countries looking to significantly increase savings targets that can be achieved from their own utility-administered EE programs.« less

The impact of age and gender on resource utilization and profitability in ED patients seen and released.

PubMed

Henneman, Philip L; Nathanson, Brian H; Ribeiro, Kara; Balasubramanian, Hari

2014-10-01

To determine how age and gender impact resource utilization and profitability in patients seen and released from an Emergency Department (ED). Billing data for patients seen and released from an Emergency Department (ED) with >100,000 annual visits between 2003 and 2009 were collected. Resource utilization was measured by length of stay (placement in ED bed to leaving the bed) and direct clinical costs (e.g., ED nursing salary and benefits, pharmacy and supply costs, etc.) estimated using relative value unit cost accounting. The primary outcome of profitability was defined as contribution margin per hour. A patient's contribution margin by insurance type (excluding self-pay) was determined by subtracting direct clinical costs from facility contractual revenue. Results are expressed as medians and US dollars. In 523 882 outpatient ED encounters, as patients' aged, length of stay and direct clinical cost increased while the contribution margin and contribution margin by hour decreased. Women of childbearing age (15-44) had higher median length of stay (2.1 hours), direct clinical cost ($149), and contribution margin per hour ($103/hour) than men of same age (1.7, $131, $85/hour, respectively). Resource utilization and profitability by gender were similar in children and adults over 45. Resource utilization increased and profitability decreased with increasing age in patients seen and released from an ED. The care of women of childbearing age resulted in higher resource utilization and higher profitability than men of the same age. No differences in resource utilization or profitability by gender were observed in children and adults over 45. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Handbook of evaluation of utility DSM programs

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

Hirst, E.; Reed, J.; Bronfman, B.

Program evaluation has become a central issue in the world of utility integrated resource planning. The DSM programs that utilities were operating to meet federal requirements or to improve customer relations are now becoming big business. DSM is being considered an important resource in a utility`s portfolio of options. In the last five years, the amount of money that utilities have invested in DSM has grown exponentially in most regulatory jurisdictions. Market analysts are now talking about DSM being a $30 billion industry by the end of the decade. If the large volume of DSM-program investments was not enough tomore » highlight the importance of evaluation, then the introduction of regulatory incentives has really focused the spotlight. This handbook was developed through a process that involved many of those people who represent the diverse constituencies of DSM-program evaluation. We have come to recognize the many technical disciplines that must be employed to evaluate DSM programs. An analysis might start out based on the principles of utility load research to find out what happened, but a combination of engineering and statistical methods must be used to ``triangulate`` an estimate of what would have happened without the program. The difference, of course, is that elusive but prized result of evaluation: what happened as the direct result of the DSM program. Technical performance of DSM measures is not the sole determinant of the answer, either. We also recognize the importance of such behavioral attributes of DSM as persistence and free ridership. Finally, DSM evaluation is meaningless without attention to planning an approach, communicating results to relevant decision-makers, and focusing as much on the process as the impacts of the program. These topics are all covered in this handbook.« less

Working memory management and predicted utility

PubMed Central

Chatham, Christopher H.; Badre, David

2013-01-01

Given the limited capacity of working memory (WM), its resources should be allocated strategically. One strategy is filtering, whereby access to WM is granted preferentially to items with the greatest utility. However, reallocation of WM resources might be required if the utility of maintained information subsequently declines. Here, we present behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging evidence that human participants track changes in the predicted utility of information in WM. First, participants demonstrated behavioral costs when the utility of items already maintained in WM declined and resources should be reallocated. An adapted Q-learning model indicated that these costs scaled with the historical utility of individual items. Finally, model-based neuroimaging demonstrated that frontal cortex tracked the utility of items to be maintained in WM, whereas ventral striatum tracked changes in the utility of items maintained in WM to the degree that these items are no longer useful. Our findings suggest that frontostriatal mechanisms track the utility of information in WM, and that these dynamics may predict delays in the removal of information from WM. PMID:23882196

Highlighting Uncertainty and Recommendations for Improvement of Black Carbon Biomass Fuel-Based Emission Inventories in the Indo-Gangetic Plain Region.

PubMed

Soneja, Sutyajeet I; Tielsch, James M; Khatry, Subarna K; Curriero, Frank C; Breysse, Patrick N

2016-03-01

Black carbon (BC) is a major contributor to hydrological cycle change and glacial retreat within the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and surrounding region. However, significant variability exists for estimates of BC regional concentration. Existing inventories within the IGP suffer from limited representation of rural sources, reliance on idealized point source estimates (e.g., utilization of emission factors or fuel-use estimates for cooking along with demographic information), and difficulty in distinguishing sources. Inventory development utilizes two approaches, termed top down and bottom up, which rely on various sources including transport models, emission factors, and remote sensing applications. Large discrepancies exist for BC source attribution throughout the IGP depending on the approach utilized. Cooking with biomass fuels, a major contributor to BC production has great source apportionment variability. Areas requiring attention tied to research of cookstove and biomass fuel use that have been recognized to improve emission inventory estimates include emission factors, particulate matter speciation, and better quantification of regional/economic sectors. However, limited attention has been given towards understanding ambient small-scale spatial variation of BC between cooking and non-cooking periods in low-resource environments. Understanding the indoor to outdoor relationship of BC emissions due to cooking at a local level is a top priority to improve emission inventories as many health and climate applications rely upon utilization of accurate emission inventories.

Heart failure in primary care: co-morbidity and utilization of health care resources.

PubMed

Carmona, Montserrat; García-Olmos, Luis M; García-Sagredo, Pilar; Alberquilla, Ángel; López-Rodríguez, Fernando; Pascual, Mario; Muñoz, Adolfo; Salvador, Carlos H; Monteagudo, José L; Otero-Puime, Ángel

2013-10-01

In order to ensure proper management of primary care (PC) services, the efficiency of the health professionals tasked with such services must be known. Patients with heart failure (HF) are characterized by advanced age, high co-morbidity and high resource utilization. To ascertain PC resource utilization by HF patients and variability in the management of such patients by GPs. Descriptive, cross-sectional study targeting a population attended by 129 GPs over the course of 1 year. All patients with diagnosis of HF in their clinical histories were included, classified using the Adjusted Clinical Group system and then grouped into six resource utilization bands (RUBs). Resource utilization and Efficiency Index were both calculated. One hundred per cent of patients with HF were ranked in RUBs 3, 4 and 5. The highest GP visit rate was 20 and the lowest in excess of 10 visits per year. Prescription drug costs for these patients ranged from €885 to €1422 per patient per year. Health professional efficiency varied notably, even after adjustment for co-morbidity (Efficiency Index Variation Ratio of 28.27 for visits and 404.29 for prescription drug cost). Patients with HF register a high utilization of resources, and there is great variability in the management of such patients by health professionals, which cannot be accounted for by the degree of case complexity.

A study of computer graphics technology in application of communication resource management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jing; Zhou, Liang; Yang, Fei

2017-08-01

With the development of computer technology, computer graphics technology has been widely used. Especially, the success of object-oriented technology and multimedia technology promotes the development of graphics technology in the computer software system. Therefore, the computer graphics theory and application technology have become an important topic in the field of computer, while the computer graphics technology becomes more and more extensive in various fields of application. In recent years, with the development of social economy, especially the rapid development of information technology, the traditional way of communication resource management cannot effectively meet the needs of resource management. In this case, the current communication resource management is still using the original management tools and management methods, resource management equipment management and maintenance, which brought a lot of problems. It is very difficult for non-professionals to understand the equipment and the situation in communication resource management. Resource utilization is relatively low, and managers cannot quickly and accurately understand the resource conditions. Aimed at the above problems, this paper proposes to introduce computer graphics technology into the communication resource management. The introduction of computer graphics not only makes communication resource management more vivid, but also reduces the cost of resource management and improves work efficiency.

Utility residential new construction programs: Going beyond the code. A report from the Database on Energy Efficiency Programs (DEEP) Project

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

Vine, E.

Based on an evaluation of 10 residential new construction programs, primarily sponsored by investor-owned utilities in the United States, we find that many of these programs are in dire straits and are in danger of being discontinued because current inclusion of only direct program effects leads to the conclusion that they are not cost-effective. We believe that the cost-effectiveness of residential new construction programs can be improved by: (1) promoting technologies and advanced building design practices that significantly exceed state and federal standards; (2) reducing program marketing costs and developing more effective marketing strategies; (3) recognizing the role of thesemore » programs in increasing compliance with existing state building codes; and (4) allowing utilities to obtain an ``energy-savings credit`` from utility regulators for program spillover (market transformation) impacts. Utilities can also leverage their resources in seizing these opportunities by forming strong and trusting partnerships with the building community and with local and state government.« less

Individualised and personalised QALYs in exceptional treatment decisions.

PubMed

Heale, Warwick

2016-10-01

Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are used to determine how to allocate resources to health programmes or to treatments within those programmes in order to gain maximum utility from those limited, shared healthcare resources. However, if we use those same population- based QALYs when faced with individual treatment decisions we may act unjustly in relation to that individual or in relation to the wider population. A treatment with a population-based incremental cost-effectiveness ratio beyond our willingness to pay threshold may be denied to a patient even if, for that particular patient, the QALYs gained for the cost would fall within that threshold. When considering individual cases, it is proposed that we should take an individualised approach to the cost of treatment and response to treatment ('individualised QALYs') and a personalised approach to the valuation of health states ('personalised QALYs'). Only if we do this, can we maximise utility and give the patient a fair opportunity to benefit. Individualised and personalised QALYs also allow us to express patient choice and religious treatment preferences in terms of utility. Individualised and personalised QALYs are explored in the context of individual funding requests in the National Health Service. In preference to the concept of 'clinical exceptionality', individualised and personalised QALYs provide the potential for better and more consistent decisions and improved utility. Rather than treating unequal patients as if they were equal, individualised and personalised QALYs promote fair and unequal access to resources for some of our most unequal patients. Potential challenges are also considered. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Why Should I Use University Library Website Resources? Discipline Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Yong-Mi

2011-01-01

Users across academic disciplines utilize different information sources based on the resource's usefulness and relevance. This study's findings show that users from arts and sciences disciplines are much more likely to utilize university library website resources and printed materials than business users who heavily rely on commercial websites.…

Ethnic Resources Utilization of Korean Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Chicago Minority Area.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Kwang Chung; Hurh, Won Moo

1985-01-01

Korean entrepreneurs rely heavily on their ethnic resources for both business formation and operation. While such resource utilization facilitates immigrants' business entry and gives them competitive advantage in the general marketplace, the same mechanism poses the problems of entra-ethnic business competition and precarious position as a…

44 CFR 206.34 - Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Department of Defense (DOD) resources. 206.34 Section 206.34 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE The Declaration Process § 206.34 Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources. (a...

44 CFR 206.34 - Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Department of Defense (DOD) resources. 206.34 Section 206.34 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE The Declaration Process § 206.34 Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources. (a...

44 CFR 206.34 - Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Department of Defense (DOD) resources. 206.34 Section 206.34 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE The Declaration Process § 206.34 Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources. (a...

44 CFR 206.34 - Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Department of Defense (DOD) resources. 206.34 Section 206.34 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE The Declaration Process § 206.34 Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources. (a...

44 CFR 206.34 - Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Department of Defense (DOD) resources. 206.34 Section 206.34 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE The Declaration Process § 206.34 Request for utilization of Department of Defense (DOD) resources. (a...

Association of unit size, resource utilization and occupancy with outcomes of preterm infants.

PubMed

Shah, P S; Mirea, L; Ng, E; Solimano, A; Lee, S K

2015-07-01

Assess association of NICU size, and occupancy rate and resource utilization at admission with neonatal outcome. Retrospective cohort study of 9978 infants born at 23-32 weeks gestation and admitted to 23 tertiary-level Canadian NICUs during 2010-2012. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were estimated for a composite outcome of mortality/any major morbidity with respect to NICU size, occupancy rate and intensity of resource utilization at admission. A total of 2889 (29%) infants developed the composite outcome, the odds of which were higher for 16-29, 30-36 and >36-bed NICUs compared with <16-bed NICUs (AOR (95% CI): 1.47 (1.25-1.73); 1.49 (1.25-1.78); 1.55 (1.29-1.87), respectively) and for NICUs with higher resource utilization at admission (AOR: 1.30 (1.08-1.56), Q4 vs Q1) but not different according to NICU occupancy. Larger NICUs and more intense resource utilization at admission are associated with higher odds of a composite adverse outcome in very preterm infants.

Future of lignite resources: a life cycle analysis.

PubMed

Wang, Qingsong; Liu, Wei; Yuan, Xueliang; Zheng, Xiaoning; Zuo, Jian

2016-12-01

Lignite is a low-quality energy source which accounts for 13 % of China's coal reserves. It is imperative to improve the quality of lignite for large-scale utilization. To further explore and analyze the influence of various key processes on the environment and economic costs, a lignite drying and compression technology is evaluated using an integrated approach of life cycle assessment and life cycle costs. Results showed that lignite mining, direct air emissions, and electricity consumption have most significant impacts on the environment. An integrated evaluation of life cycle assessment and life cycle costs showed that the most significant contributor to the environmental impacts and economic costs was the lignite mining process. The impact of transportation and wastewater treatment process on the environment and economic costs was small enough to be ignored. Critical factors were identified for reducing the environmental and economic impacts of lignite drying and compression technology. These findings provide useful inputs for both industrial practice and policy making for exploitation, processing, and utilization of lignite resources.

Ultrafiltration for acute decompensated heart failure: cost, reimbursement, and financial impact.

PubMed

Ross, Edward A; Bellamy, Frank B; Hawig, Scott; Kazory, Amir

2011-05-01

In addition to the proposed pathophysiologic mechanisms whereby ultrafiltration (UF) can be advantageous over diuretics in the treatment of heart failure, there can also be financial and resource-utilization reasons for pursuing this extracorporeal strategy. In those cases in which the clinical outcomes would be equivalent, however, the decision whether to pursue UF will depend greatly on the anticipated hospitalization length of stay (LOS), the patient population's pay or mix, the needs and costs for high-acuity (eg, intensive care unit) care, and widely varying expenses for the equipment and disposable supplies. From a fiscal perspective, the financial viability of UF programs revolves around how improvements in LOS, resource utilization, and readmissions relate to the typical diagnosis-driven (eg, diagnosis-related group) reimbursement. We analyzed the impact of these various factors so as to better understand how the intensity (and expense) of pharmaceutical and extracorporeal therapies impacts a single admission, as well as to serve as the basis for developing strategies for optimizing long-term care. 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Temporal trends in early clinical outcomes and health care resource utilization for liver transplantation in the United States.

PubMed

Scarborough, John E; Pietrobon, Ricardo; Marroquin, Carlos E; Tuttle-Newhall, Janet E; Kuo, Paul C; Collins, Bradley H; Desai, Dev M; Pappas, Theodore N

2007-01-01

Procedures such as liver transplantation, which entail large costs while benefiting only a small percentage of the population, are being increasingly scrutinized by third-party payors. The purpose of our study was to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the early clinical outcomes and health care resource utilization for liver transplantation in the United States. The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was used to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the clinical outcome and resource utilization data for liver transplantation procedures in adult recipients performed in the United States over three time periods (Period I: 1988-1993; Period II: 1994-1998: Period III: 1999-2003). Compared to Period I, adult liver transplant recipients were more likely to be male, older, and non-White in Period III. Recipients were more likely to have at least one major comorbidity preoperatively than in Period I. The in-hospital mortality rate after liver transplantation decreased significantly from Period I to Period III, but the major intraoperative and postoperative complication rates increased over the same time period. Mean length of hospital stay decreased over the 15-year period, but the percentage of patients with a non-routine discharge status increased. Our findings indicate that the rate of postoperative complications and non-routine discharges after liver transplantation is increasing. However, these negative changes in the cost-outcomes relationship for liver transplantation are balanced by improving postoperative survival rates and reductions in the length of hospital stay.

Accounting utility for determining individual usage of production level software systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garber, S. C.

1984-01-01

An accounting package was developed which determines the computer resources utilized by a user during the execution of a particular program and updates a file containing accumulated resource totals. The accounting package is divided into two separate programs. The first program determines the total amount of computer resources utilized by a user during the execution of a particular program. The second program uses these totals to update a file containing accumulated totals of computer resources utilized by a user for a particular program. This package is useful to those persons who have several other users continually accessing and running programs from their accounts. The package provides the ability to determine which users are accessing and running specified programs along with their total level of usage.

Improving amphibian genomic resources: a multitissue reference transcriptome of an iconic invader.

PubMed

Richardson, Mark F; Sequeira, Fernando; Selechnik, Daniel; Carneiro, Miguel; Vallinoto, Marcelo; Reid, Jack G; West, Andrea J; Crossland, Michael R; Shine, Richard; Rollins, Lee A

2018-01-01

Cane toads (Rhinella marina) are an iconic invasive species introduced to 4 continents and well utilized for studies of rapid evolution in introduced environments. Despite the long introduction history of this species, its profound ecological impacts, and its utility for demonstrating evolutionary principles, genetic information is sparse. Here we produce a de novo transcriptome spanning multiple tissues and life stages to enable investigation of the genetic basis of previously identified rapid phenotypic change over the introduced range. Using approximately 1.9 billion reads from developing tadpoles and 6 adult tissue-specific cDNA libraries, as well as a transcriptome assembly pipeline encompassing 100 separate de novo assemblies, we constructed 62 202 transcripts, of which we functionally annotated ∼50%. Our transcriptome assembly exhibits 90% full-length completeness of the Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs data set. Robust assembly metrics and comparisons with several available anuran transcriptomes and genomes indicate that our cane toad assembly is one of the most complete anuran genomic resources available. This comprehensive anuran transcriptome will provide a valuable resource for investigation of genes under selection during invasion in cane toads, but will also greatly expand our general knowledge of anuran genomes, which are underrepresented in the literature. The data set is publically available in NCBI and GigaDB to serve as a resource for other researchers. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Women's use of online resources and acceptance of e-mental health tools during the perinatal period.

PubMed

Fonseca, Ana; Gorayeb, Ricardo; Canavarro, Maria Cristina

2016-10-01

The women's professional help-seeking rate for perinatal depression is low, despite the prevalent and disabling nature of this condition. Therefore, new approaches should be implemented to increase women's access and utilization of treatment resources, namely e-mental health tools. This study aimed to characterize women's current pattern of use of online resources for mental heal issues and women's acceptance of e-mental health tools during the perinatal period, and to investigate its main determinants. This study used an online cross-sectional survey that was completed by 546 women during the perinatal period. 31.3% had prior knowledge of websites targeting mental health illness. Women presenting an actual need for help (i.e., a positive screen for depression) reported greater use of online resources and greater engagement in e-health behaviors related to mental health (d=0.46-0.61), and being more accepting of e-mental health tools, particularly of informative websites. Women's perceptions concerning the e-mental tools were found to predict their intentions to use them. The results seem to globally support Portuguese women's acceptance of e-mental health tools. To improve the level of acceptance, women should be involved as stakeholders in the development of new e-mental health tools and provided with specific information before their utilization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving amphibian genomic resources: a multitissue reference transcriptome of an iconic invader

PubMed Central

Reid, Jack G; Crossland, Michael R

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Cane toads (Rhinella marina) are an iconic invasive species introduced to 4 continents and well utilized for studies of rapid evolution in introduced environments. Despite the long introduction history of this species, its profound ecological impacts, and its utility for demonstrating evolutionary principles, genetic information is sparse. Here we produce a de novo transcriptome spanning multiple tissues and life stages to enable investigation of the genetic basis of previously identified rapid phenotypic change over the introduced range. Findings Using approximately 1.9 billion reads from developing tadpoles and 6 adult tissue-specific cDNA libraries, as well as a transcriptome assembly pipeline encompassing 100 separate de novo assemblies, we constructed 62 202 transcripts, of which we functionally annotated ∼50%. Our transcriptome assembly exhibits 90% full-length completeness of the Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs data set. Robust assembly metrics and comparisons with several available anuran transcriptomes and genomes indicate that our cane toad assembly is one of the most complete anuran genomic resources available. Conclusions This comprehensive anuran transcriptome will provide a valuable resource for investigation of genes under selection during invasion in cane toads, but will also greatly expand our general knowledge of anuran genomes, which are underrepresented in the literature. The data set is publically available in NCBI and GigaDB to serve as a resource for other researchers. PMID:29186423

Comparison of Provider Types Who Performed Prehospital Lifesaving Interventions: A Prospective Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

In less than 2 hours, 15 critically ill children were triaged and admitted to the PICU or surge spaces. Conclusions:Identified strengths included...details increasing telemedicine uti - lization during a 4 year period and outlines program structural changes that improved utilization. Methods: The study...population survival. CSC ICU resource- allocation algorithms (ALGs) exist for adults. Our goal was to evaluate a CSC pandemic ALG for children . Methods

Case acceptance: no random acts allowed.

PubMed

McAnally, James

2009-12-01

Consider implementing a case acceptance system in your office to fully utilize your hard-earned clinical skills, and to experience the professional rewards that come with serving more patients at a higher level. Doctors who are willing to commit the time and resources necessary to improving case acceptance will increase the number of implant cases entering the treatment phase--cases that run the gamut of complexity and support fees commensurate with their skills!

Opportunities to utilize traditional phenological knowledge to support adaptive management of social-ecological systems vulnerable to changes in climate and fire regimes

Treesearch

Christopher A. Armatas; Tyron J. Venn; Brooke B. McBride; Alan E. Watson; Steve J. Carver

2016-01-01

The field of adaptive management has been embraced by researchers and managers in the United States as an approach to improve natural resource stewardship in the face of uncertainty and complex environmental problems. Integrating multiple knowledge sources and feedback mechanisms is an important step in this approach. Our objective is to contribute to the...

Genetic resources offer efficient tools for rice functional genomics research.

PubMed

Lo, Shuen-Fang; Fan, Ming-Jen; Hsing, Yue-Ie; Chen, Liang-Jwu; Chen, Shu; Wen, Ien-Chie; Liu, Yi-Lun; Chen, Ku-Ting; Jiang, Mirng-Jier; Lin, Ming-Kuang; Rao, Meng-Yen; Yu, Lin-Chih; Ho, Tuan-Hua David; Yu, Su-May

2016-05-01

Rice is an important crop and major model plant for monocot functional genomics studies. With the establishment of various genetic resources for rice genomics, the next challenge is to systematically assign functions to predicted genes in the rice genome. Compared with the robustness of genome sequencing and bioinformatics techniques, progress in understanding the function of rice genes has lagged, hampering the utilization of rice genes for cereal crop improvement. The use of transfer DNA (T-DNA) insertional mutagenesis offers the advantage of uniform distribution throughout the rice genome, but preferentially in gene-rich regions, resulting in direct gene knockout or activation of genes within 20-30 kb up- and downstream of the T-DNA insertion site and high gene tagging efficiency. Here, we summarize the recent progress in functional genomics using the T-DNA-tagged rice mutant population. We also discuss important features of T-DNA activation- and knockout-tagging and promoter-trapping of the rice genome in relation to mutant and candidate gene characterizations and how to more efficiently utilize rice mutant populations and datasets for high-throughput functional genomics and phenomics studies by forward and reverse genetics approaches. These studies may facilitate the translation of rice functional genomics research to improvements of rice and other cereal crops. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Web-based educational activities developed by the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC): the experience of process, utilization, and expert evaluation.

PubMed

Sharma, Deepak; Bilotta, Federico; Moore, Laurel E; Bebawy, John F; Flexman, Alana M; Rochlen, Lauryn; Gorji, Reza; Avitsian, Rafi

2014-01-01

Web-based delivery of educational material by scientific societies appears to have increased recently. However, the utilization of such efforts by the members of professional societies is unknown. We report the experience with delivery of educational resources on the Web site of the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC), and utilization of those resources by members. Three web-based educational initiatives were developed over 1 year to be disseminated through the SNACC Web site (http://www.snacc.org) for society members: (1) The SNACC Bibliography; (2) "Chat with the Author"; and (3) Clinical Case Discussions. Content experts and authors of important new research publications were invited to contribute. Member utilization data were abstracted with the help of the webmaster. For the bibliography, there were 1175 page requests during the 6-month period after its launch by 122/664 (19%) distinct SNACC members. The bibliography was utilized by 107/553 (19%) of the active members and 15/91 (16.5%) of the trainee members. The "Chats with the Authors" were viewed by 56 (9%) members and the Clinical Case Discussions by 51 (8%) members. Educational resources can be developed in a timely manner utilizing member contributions without additional financial implications. However, the member utilization of these resources was lower than expected. These are first estimates of utilization of web-based educational resources by members of a scientific society. Further evaluation of such utilization by members of other societies as well as measures of the effectiveness and impact of such activities is needed.

NASA Space Engineering Research Center for utilization of local planetary resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramohalli, Kumar; Lewis, John S.

1990-01-01

The University of Arizona and NASA have joined to form the UA/NASA Space Engineering Research Center. The purpose of the Center is to discover, characterize, extract, process, and fabricate useful products from the extraterrestrial resources available in the inner solar system (the moon, Mars, and nearby asteroids). Individual progress reports covering the center's research projects are presented and emphasis is placed on the following topics: propellant production, oxygen production, ilmenite, lunar resources, asteroid resources, Mars resources, space-based materials processing, extraterrestrial construction materials processing, resource discovery and characterization, mission planning, and resource utilization.

What influences the implementation of the New Zealand stroke guidelines for physiotherapists and occupational therapists?

PubMed

Mudge, Suzie; Hart, Anna; Murugan, Sankaran; Kersten, Paula

2017-03-01

Purpose To explore perceived barriers and facilitators to the use of the New Zealand (NZ) stroke guidelines by occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Methods A qualitative descriptive methodology was used. Eligible physiotherapists and occupational therapists (NZ registered, working in one of two hospitals, treating at least 10 patients with stroke in the previous year) were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews to elicit their perceptions of the utility and feasibility of the NZ stroke guidelines and identify barriers and facilitators to their implementation. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Conventional content analysis with constant comparative methods was used for coding and analysis. Results The main themes influencing guideline implementation were resources and characteristics of the guidelines, the organization, the patient and family and the therapist. Insufficient resources were a major barrier that crossed many of the themes. Participants suggested a range of strategies relating to the organization to improve therapists' alignment to the guidelines. Conclusion Alignment to the guidelines in NZ is influenced both positively and negatively by a range of interacting factors, consistent with other studies. Alignment might be improved by the introduction of some relatively simple strategies, such as ring-fencing time for access to resources and training in the use of the guidelines. Many of the barriers and related interventions are likely to be more complex. Implications for rehabilitation Alignment with stroke guidelines has been shown to improve patient outcomes. Therapist alignment with the implementation of the New Zealand stroke guidelines is influenced by guideline characteristics, organizational characteristics, resources, patient and family characteristics and therapist characteristics. Frequently encountered barriers related to limited resources, particularly time. Ring-fencing regular time for access to resources and training in the use of guidelines are examples of simple strategies that may reduce barriers.

MROrchestrator: A Fine-Grained Resource Orchestration Framework for MapReduce Clusters

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

Sharma, Bikash; Prabhakar, Ramya; Kandemir, Mahmut

2012-01-01

Efficient resource management in data centers and clouds running large distributed data processing frameworks like MapReduce is crucial for enhancing the performance of hosted applications and boosting resource utilization. However, existing resource scheduling schemes in Hadoop MapReduce allocate resources at the granularity of fixed-size, static portions of nodes, called slots. In this work, we show that MapReduce jobs have widely varying demands for multiple resources, making the static and fixed-size slot-level resource allocation a poor choice both from the performance and resource utilization standpoints. Furthermore, lack of co-ordination in the management of mul- tiple resources across nodes prevents dynamic slotmore » reconfigura- tion, and leads to resource contention. Motivated by this, we propose MROrchestrator, a MapReduce resource Orchestrator framework, which can dynamically identify resource bottlenecks, and resolve them through fine-grained, co-ordinated, and on- demand resource allocations. We have implemented MROrches- trator on two 24-node native and virtualized Hadoop clusters. Experimental results with a suite of representative MapReduce benchmarks demonstrate up to 38% reduction in job completion times, and up to 25% increase in resource utilization. We further show how popular resource managers like NGM and Mesos when augmented with MROrchestrator can hike up their performance.« less

National equity of health resource allocation in China: data from 2009 to 2013.

PubMed

Liu, Wen; Liu, Ying; Twum, Peter; Li, Shixue

2016-04-19

The inequitable allocation of health resources is a worldwide problem, and it is also one of the obstacles facing for health services utilization in China. A new round of health care reform which contains the important aspect of improving the equity in health resource allocation was released by Chinese government in 2009. The aim of this study is to understand the changes of equity in health resource allocation from 2009 to 2013, and make a further inquiry of the main factors which influence the equity conditions in China. Data resources are the China Health Statistics Yearbook (2014) and the China Statistical Yearbook (2014). Four indicators were chosen to measure the trends in equity of health resource allocation. Data were disaggregated by three geographical regions: west, central, and east. Theil index was used to calculate the degree of unfairness. The total amount of health care resources in China had been increasing in recent years. However, the per 10, 000 km(2) number of health resources showed a huge gap in different regions, and per 10, 000 capita health resources ownership showed a relatively small disparities at the same time. The index of health resources showed an overall downward trend, in which health financial investment the most unfair from 2009 to 2012 and the number of health institutions the most unfair in 2013. The equity of health resources allocation in eastern regions was the worst except for the aspect of health technical personnel allocation. The regional contribution rates were lower than that of the inter-regional contribution rates which were all beyond 60 %. The equity of health resource allocation improved gradually from 2009 to 2013. However, the internal differences within the eastern region still have a huge impact on the overall equity in health resource allocation. The tough issues of inequitable in health resource allocation should be resolved by comprehensive measures from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Healthcare Provider Perceptions of Causes and Consequences of ICU Capacity Strain in a Large Publicly Funded Integrated Health Region: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Bagshaw, Sean M; Opgenorth, Dawn; Potestio, Melissa; Hastings, Stephanie E; Hepp, Shelanne L; Gilfoyle, Elaine; McKinlay, David; Boucher, Paul; Meier, Michael; Parsons-Leigh, Jeanna; Gibney, R T Noel; Zygun, David A; Stelfox, Henry T

2017-04-01

Discrepancy in the supply-demand relationship for critical care services precipitates a strain on ICU capacity. Strain can lead to suboptimal quality of care and burnout among providers and contribute to inefficient health resource utilization. We engaged interprofessional healthcare providers to explore their perceptions of the sources, impact, and strategies to manage capacity strain. Qualitative study using a conventional thematic analysis. Nine ICUs across Alberta, Canada. Nineteen focus groups (n = 122 participants). None. Participants' perspectives on strain on ICU capacity and its perceived impact on providers, families, and patient care were explored. Participants defined "capacity strain" as a discrepancy between the availability of ICU beds, providers, and ICU resources (supply) and the need to admit and provide care for critically ill patients (demand). Four interrelated themes of contributors to strain were characterized (each with subthemes): patient/family related, provider related, resource related, and health system related. Patient/family-related subthemes were "increasing patient complexity/acuity," along with patient-provider communication issues ("paucity of advance care planning and goals-of-care designation," "mismatches between patient/family and provider expectations," and "timeliness of end-of-life care planning"). Provider-related factor subthemes were nursing workforce related ("nurse attrition," "inexperienced workforce," "limited mentoring opportunities," and "high patient-to-nurse ratios") and physician related ("frequent turnover/handover" and "variations in care plan"). Resource-related subthemes were "reduced service capability after hours" and "physical bed shortages." Health system-related subthemes were "variable ICU utilization," "preferential "bed" priority for other services," and "high ward bed occupancy." Participants perceived that strain had negative implications for patients ("reduced quality and safety of care" and "disrupted opportunities for patient- and family-centered care"), providers ("increased workload," "moral distress," and "burnout"), and the health system ("unnecessary, excessive, and inefficient resource utilization"). Engagement with frontline critical care providers is essential for understanding their experiences and perspectives regarding strained capacity and for the development of sustainable strategies for improvement.

Current NASA Plans for Mars In Situ Resource Utilization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald

2018-01-01

The presentation is to provide relevant information to the NASA funded Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES) Institute. The presentation cover the following: 1) What is In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), 2) What are the resources of interest at the Moon and Mars, 3) ISRU-related mission requirements and ISRU economics, 4) Challenges and Risk for ISRU, 5) Concept of Operation for Mars ISRU Systems, 6) Current State of the Art (SOA) in ISRU, and 7) Current ISRU development and mission status.

Spectrum efficient distance-adaptive paths for fixed and fixed-alternate routing in elastic optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agrawal, Anuj; Bhatia, Vimal; Prakash, Shashi

2018-01-01

Efficient utilization of spectrum is a key concern in the soon to be deployed elastic optical networks (EONs). To perform routing in EONs, various fixed routing (FR), and fixed-alternate routing (FAR) schemes are ubiquitously used. FR, and FAR schemes calculate a fixed route, and a prioritized list of a number of alternate routes, respectively, between different pairs of origin o and target t nodes in the network. The route calculation performed using FR and FAR schemes is predominantly based on either the physical distance, known as k -shortest paths (KSP), or on the hop count (HC). For survivable optical networks, FAR usually calculates link-disjoint (LD) paths. These conventional routing schemes have been efficiently used for decades in communication networks. However, in this paper, it has been demonstrated that these commonly used routing schemes cannot utilize the network spectral resources optimally in the newly introduced EONs. Thus, we propose a new routing scheme for EON, namely, k -distance adaptive paths (KDAP) that efficiently utilizes the benefit of distance-adaptive modulation, and bit rate-adaptive superchannel capability inherited by EON to improve spectrum utilization. In the proposed KDAP, routes are found and prioritized on the basis of bit rate, distance, spectrum granularity, and the number of links used for a particular route. To evaluate the performance of KSP, HC, LD, and the proposed KDAP, simulations have been performed for three different sized networks, namely, 7-node test network (TEST7), NSFNET, and 24-node US backbone network (UBN24). We comprehensively assess the performance of various conventional, and the proposed routing schemes by solving both the RSA and the dual RSA problems under homogeneous and heterogeneous traffic requirements. Simulation results demonstrate that there is a variation amongst the performance of KSP, HC, and LD, depending on the o - t pair, and the network topology and its connectivity. However, the proposed KDAP always performs better for all the considered networks and traffic scenarios, as compared to the conventional routing schemes, namely, KSP, HC, and LD. The proposed KDAP achieves up to 60 % , and 10.46 % improvement in terms of spectrum utilization, and resource utilization ratio, respectively, over the conventional routing schemes.

Association of hypoglycaemia severity with clinical, patient‐reported and economic outcomes in US patients with type 2 diabetes using basal insulin

PubMed Central

Lee, Lulu K.; Gupta, Shaloo; Preblick, Ron

2018-01-01

Aims To evaluate the clinical and patient‐reported outcomes and healthcare utilization and costs associated with patient‐reported hypoglycaemia in US adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) treated with basal insulin. Materials and methods This was an observational, cross‐sectional, survey‐based study of adults with T2D on basal insulin ± oral antidiabetes drugs (OADs) or rapid‐acting/premixed insulin, who had in the past ever experienced hypoglycaemia, using US data from the National Health and Wellness Survey. Eligible patients were categorized as having no hypoglycaemia (38.7%), non‐severe hypoglycaemia (55.1%), or severe hypoglycaemia (6.2%) in the preceding 3 months. Outcomes included health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), work productivity and activity impairment, healthcare resource utilization, and estimated direct and indirect costs. Multivariable regression models were performed to control for patient characteristics. Results Patients who experienced severe hypoglycaemia had significantly (P < .05) lower HRQoL scores, greater overall impairment of work productivity and activity, greater healthcare resource utilization, and higher costs compared with those who experienced non‐severe or no hypoglycaemia. Patients with non‐severe hypoglycaemia also reported an impact on the number of provider visits, indirect costs, and HRQoL. Conclusions Patients with T2D using basal insulin ± OADs or rapid‐acting/premixed insulin in the United States who experienced severe hypoglycaemia had greater impairment of activity and work productivity, utilized more healthcare resources, and incurred higher associated costs than those with non‐severe or no hypoglycaemia. The study also demonstrated the impact that non‐severe hypoglycaemic events have on economic and HRQoL outcomes. Reducing the incidence and severity of hypoglycaemia could lead to clinically meaningful improvements in HRQoL and may result in lower healthcare utilization and associated costs. PMID:29316141

Evaluation of Water Resources Carrying Capacity in Shandong Province Based on Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Qiang; Gao, Qian; Zhu, Mingyue; Li, Xiumei

2018-06-01

Water resources carrying capacity is the maximum available water resources supporting by the social and economic development. Based on investigating and statisticing on the current situation of water resources in Shandong Province, this paper selects 13 factors including per capita water resources, water resources utilization, water supply modulus, rainfall, per capita GDP, population density, per capita water consumption, water consumption per million yuan, The water consumption of industrial output value, the agricultural output value of farmland, the irrigation rate of cultivated land, the water consumption rate of ecological environment and the forest coverage rate were used as the evaluation factors. Then,the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model was used to analyze the water resources carrying capacity Force status evaluation. The results showed : The comprehensive evaluation results of water resources in Shandong Province were lower than 0.6 in 2001-2009 and higher than 0.6 in 2010-2015, which indicating that the water resources carrying capacity of Shandong Province has been improved.; In addition, most of the years a value of less than 0.6, individual years below 0.4, the interannual changes are relatively large, from that we can see the level of water resources is generally weak, the greater the interannual changes in Shandong Province.

The Genetics of Biofuel Traits in Panicum Grasses: Developing a Model System with Diploid Panicum Hallii

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

Juenger, Thomas; Wolfrum, Ed

Our DOE funded project focused on characterizing natural variation in C4 perennial grasses including switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and Hall’s panicgrass (Panicum hallii). The main theme of our project was to better understand traits linked with plant performance and that impact the utility of plant biomass as a biofuel feedstock. In addition, our project developed tools and resources for studying genetic variation in Panicum hallii. Our project successfully screened both Panicum virgatum and Panicum hallii diverse natural collections for a host of phenotypes, developed genetic mapping populations for both species, completed genetic mapping for biofuel related traits, and helped in themore » development of genomic resources of Panicum hallii. Together, these studies have improved our understanding of the role of genetic and environmental factors in impacting plant performance. This information, along with new tools, will help foster the improvement of perennial grasses for feedstock applications.« less

Utilization potential evaluation of plant resources in the dry-hot valley of Jinsha River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, Rong; Xu, Naizhong; Liu, Shengxiang; Ren, Tingyan

2017-08-01

Plant resources in the dry-hot valley of Jinsha River are endemic to a class of district. The article adopts the analytic hierarchy process method to evaluate the exploitation and utilization potential of plant resources of thirty typical plant resources on the basis of their characteristics in the dry-hot valley of Jinsha River, which provide scientific evidence for quantitative evaluation of regional plant resources, and we also suggest pathways offering protection and development.

Scheduling in the Face of Uncertain Resource Consumption and Utility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koga, Dennis (Technical Monitor); Frank, Jeremy; Dearden, Richard

2003-01-01

We discuss the problem of scheduling tasks that consume a resource with known capacity and where the tasks have varying utility. We consider problems in which the resource consumption and utility of each activity is described by probability distributions. In these circumstances, we would like to find schedules that exceed a lower bound on the expected utility when executed. We first show that while some of these problems are NP-complete, others are only NP-Hard. We then describe various heuristic search algorithms to solve these problems and their drawbacks. Finally, we present empirical results that characterize the behavior of these heuristics over a variety of problem classes.

Using Mobile Health (mHealth) Technology in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus, Physical Inactivity, and Smoking.

PubMed

Rehman, Hasan; Kamal, Ayeesha K; Sayani, Saleem; Morris, Pamela B; Merchant, Anwar T; Virani, Salim S

2017-04-01

Cardiovascular mortality remains high due to insufficient progress made in managing cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, physical inactivity, and smoking. Healthy lifestyle choices play an important role in the management of these modifiable risk factors. Mobile health or mHealth is defined as the use of mobile computing and communication technologies (i.e., mobile phones, wearable sensors) for the delivery of health services and health-related information. In this review, we examine some recent studies that utilized mHealth tools to improve management of these risk factors, with examples from developing countries where available. The mHealth intervention used depends on the availability of resources. While developing countries are often restricted to text messages, more resourceful settings are shifting towards mobile phone applications and wearable technology. Diabetes mellitus has been extensively studied in different settings, and results have been encouraging. Tools utilized to increase physical activity are expensive, and studies have been limited to resource-abundant areas and have shown mixed results. Smoking cessation has had promising initial results with the use of technology, but mHealth's ability to recruit participants beyond those actively seeking to quit has not been established. mHealth interventions appear to be a potential tool in improving control of cardiovascular risk factors that rely on individuals making healthy lifestyle choices. Data related to clinical impact, if any, of commercially available tools is lacking. More studies are needed to assess interventions that target multiple cardiovascular risk factors and their impact on hard cardiovascular outcomes.

Understanding low uptake of contraceptives in resource-limited settings: a mixed-methods study in rural Burundi.

PubMed

Ndayizigiye, M; Fawzi, M C Smith; Lively, C Thompson; Ware, N C

2017-03-15

Family planning can reduce deaths, improve health, and facilitate economic development in resource-limited settings. Yet, modern contraceptive methods are often underused. This mixed-methods study, conducted in rural Burundi, sought to explain low uptake of contraceptives by identifying utilization barriers. Results may inform development of family planning interventions in Burundi and elsewhere. We investigated uptake of contraceptives among women of reproductive age in two rural districts of Burundi, using an explanatory sequential, mixed-methods research design. We first assessed availability and utilization rates of modern contraceptives through a facility-based survey in 39 health clinics. Barriers to uptake of contraceptives were then explored through qualitative interviews (N = 10) and focus groups (N = 7). Contraceptives were generally available in the 39 clinics studied, yet uptake of family planning averaged only 2.96%. Greater uptake was positively associated with the number of health professionals engaged and trained in family planning service provision, and with the number of different types of contraceptives available. Four uptake barriers were identified: (1) lack of providers to administer contraception, (2) lack of fit between available and preferred contraceptive methods, (3) a climate of fear surrounding contraceptive use, and (4) provider refusal to offer family planning services. Where resources are scarce, availability of modern contraceptives alone will likely not ensure uptake. Interventions addressing multiple uptake barriers simultaneously have the greatest chance of success. In rural Burundi, examples are community distribution of contraceptive methods, public information campaigns, improved training for health professionals and community health workers, and strengthening of the health infrastructure.

Qualitative investigation of barriers to accessing care by people who inject drugs in Saskatoon, Canada: perspectives of service providers

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background People who inject drugs (PWID) often encounter barriers when attempting to access health care and social services. In our previous study conducted to identify barriers to accessing care from the perspective of PWIDs in Saskatoon, Canada: poverty, lack of personal support, discrimination, and poor knowledge and coordination of service providers among other key barriers were identified. The purpose of the present investigation was to explore what service providers perceive to be the greatest barriers for PWIDs to receive optimal care. This study is an exploratory investigation with a purpose to enrich the literature and to guide community action. Methods Data were collected through focus groups with service providers in Saskatoon. Four focus groups were held with a total of 27 service providers. Data were transcribed and qualitative analysis was performed. As a result, concepts were identified and combined into major themes. Results Four barriers to care were identified by service providers: inefficient use of resources, stigma and discrimination, inadequate education and the unique and demanding nature of PWIDs. Participants also identified many successful services. Conclusion The results from this investigation suggest poor utilization of resources, lack of continuing education of health care providers on addictions and coping skills with such demanding population, and social stigma and disparity. We recommend improvements in resource utilization through, for example, case management. In addition, sensitivity training and more comprehensive service centers designed to meet PWID’s complex needs may improve care. However, community-wide commitment to addressing injection drug issues will also be required for lasting solutions. PMID:24079946

Utilization of Minor Actinides as a Fuel Component for Ultra-Long Life Bhr Configurations: Designs, Advantages and Limitations

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

Dr. Pavel V. Tsvetkov

2009-05-20

This project assessed the advantages and limitations of using minor actinides as a fuel component to achieve ultra-long life Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) configurations. Researchers considered and compared the capabilities of pebble-bed and prismatic core designs with advanced actinide fuels to achieve ultra-long operation without refueling. Since both core designs permit flexibility in component configuration, fuel utilization, and fuel management, it is possible to improve fissile properties of minor actinides by neutron spectrum shifting through configuration adjustments. The project studied advanced actinide fuels, which could reduce the long-term radio-toxicity and heat load of high-level waste sent to a geologicmore » repository and enable recovery of the energy contained in spent fuel. The ultra-long core life autonomous approach may reduce the technical need for additional repositories and is capable to improve marketability of the Generation IV VHTR by allowing worldwide deployment, including remote regions and regions with limited industrial resources. Utilization of minor actinides in nuclear reactors facilitates developments of new fuel cycles towards sustainable nuclear energy scenarios.« less

Tweeting and Treating: How Hospitals Use Twitter to Improve Care.

PubMed

Gomes, Christian; Coustasse, Alberto

2015-01-01

Hospitals that have adopted Twitter primarily use it to share organizational news, provide general health care information, advertise upcoming community events, and foster networking. The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits that Twitter utilization has had in improving quality of care, access to care, patient satisfaction, and community footprint while assessing the barriers to its implementation. The methodology used was a qualitative study with a semistructured interview combined with a literature review, which followed the basic principles of a systematic review. The utilization of Twitter by hospitals suggest that it leads to savings of resources, enhanced employee and patient communication, and expanded patient reach in the community. Savings opportunities are generated by preventing unnecessary office visits, producing billable patient encounters, and eliminating high recruiting costs. Communication is enhanced using Twitter by sharing organizational content, news, and health promotions and can be also a useful tool during crises. The utilization of Twitter in the hospital setting has been more beneficial than detrimental in its ability to generate opportunities for cost savings, recruiting, communication with employees and patients, and community reach.

Baseline and Target Values for PV Forecasts: Toward Improved Solar Power Forecasting: Preprint

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

Zhang, Jie; Hodge, Bri-Mathias; Lu, Siyuan

2015-08-05

Accurate solar power forecasting allows utilities to get the most out of the solar resources on their systems. To truly measure the improvements that any new solar forecasting methods can provide, it is important to first develop (or determine) baseline and target solar forecasting at different spatial and temporal scales. This paper aims to develop baseline and target values for solar forecasting metrics. These were informed by close collaboration with utility and independent system operator partners. The baseline values are established based on state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction models and persistence models. The target values are determined based on the reductionmore » in the amount of reserves that must be held to accommodate the uncertainty of solar power output. forecasting metrics. These were informed by close collaboration with utility and independent system operator partners. The baseline values are established based on state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction models and persistence models. The target values are determined based on the reduction in the amount of reserves that must be held to accommodate the uncertainty of solar power output.« less

Roundwood markets and utilization in West Virginia and Ohio

Treesearch

Shawn T. Grushecky; Jan Wiedenbeck; Ben Spong

2011-01-01

West Virginia and Ohio have similar forest resources and extensive forest-based economies. Roundwood is harvested throughout this central Appalachian region and supports a diverse primary and secondary forest products sector. The objective of this research was to investigate the utilization of the forest resource harvested in West Virginia and Ohio. Utilization and...

Gonadal and Sex Differentiation Abnormalities of Dogs and Cats

PubMed Central

Meyers-Wallen, V.N.

2012-01-01

The molecular steps in normal sexual development were largely discovered by studying patients and animal models with disorders of sexual development (DSD). Although several types of DSD have been reported in the cat and dog, which are often strikingly similar to human DSD, these have been infrequently utilized to contribute to our knowledge of mammalian sexual development. Canine and feline cases of DSD with sufficient evidence to be considered as potential models are summarized in this report. The consensus DSD terminology, and reference to previous terminology, is used to foster adoption of a common nomenclature that will facilitate communication and collaboration between veterinarians, physicians, and researchers. To efficiently utilize these unique resources as molecular tools continue to improve, it will be helpful to deposit samples from valuable cases into repositories where they are available to contribute to our understanding of sexual development, and thus improve human and animal health. PMID:22005097

Creating a bridge between data collection and program planning: a technical assistance model to maximize the use of HIV/AIDS surveillance and service utilization data for planning purposes.

PubMed

Logan, Jennifer A; Beatty, Maile; Woliver, Renee; Rubinstein, Eric P; Averbach, Abigail R

2005-12-01

Over time, improvements in HIV/AIDS surveillance and service utilization data have increased their usefulness for planning programs, targeting resources, and otherwise informing HIV/AIDS policy. However, community planning groups, service providers, and health department staff often have difficulty in interpreting and applying the wide array of data now available. We describe the development of the Bridging Model, a technical assistance model for overcoming barriers to the use of data for program planning. Through the use of an iterative feedback loop in the model, HIV/AIDS data products constantly are evolving to better inform the decision-making tasks of their multiple users. Implementation of this model has led to improved data quality and data products and to a greater willingness and ability among stakeholders to use the data for planning purposes.

Case management in an acute-care hospital: collaborating for quality, cost-effective patient care.

PubMed

Grootveld, Kim; Wen, Victoria; Bather, Michelle; Park, Joan

2014-01-01

Case management has recently been advanced as a valuable component in achieving quality patient care that is also cost-effective. At St. Michael's Hospital, in Toronto, Ontario, case managers from a variety of professional backgrounds are central to a new care initiative--Rapid Assessment and Planning to Inform Disposition (RAPID)--in the General Internal Medicine (GIM) Unit that is designed to improve patient care and reconcile high emergency department volumes through "smart bed spacing." Involved in both planning and RAPID, GIM's case managers are the link between patient care and utilization management. These stewards of finite resources strive to make the best use of dollars spent while maintaining a commitment to quality care. Collaborating closely with physicians and others across the hospital, GIM's case managers have been instrumental in bringing about significant improvements in care coordination, utilization management and process redesign. Copyright © 2014 Longwoods Publishing.

Cost-utility of laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication versus proton pump inhibitors for chronic and controlled gastroesophageal reflux disease: a 3-year prospective randomized controlled trial and economic evaluation.

PubMed

Goeree, Ron; Hopkins, Rob; Marshall, John K; Armstrong, David; Ungar, Wendy J; Goldsmith, Charles; Allen, Christopher; Anvari, Mehran

2011-01-01

Very few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication (LNF) to proton pump inhibitors (PPI) medical management for patients with chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Larger RCTs have been relatively short in duration, and have reported mixed results regarding symptom control and effect on quality of life (QOL). Economic evaluations have reported conflicting results. To determine the incremental cost-utility of LNF versus PPI for treating patients with chronic and controlled GERD over 3 years from the societal perspective. Economic evaluation was conducted alongside a RCT that enrolled 104 patients from October 2000 to September 2004. Primary study outcome was GERD symptoms (secondary outcomes included QOL and cost-utility). Resource utilization and QOL data collected at regular follow-up intervals determined incremental cost/QALY gained. Stochastic uncertainty was assessed using bootstrapping and methodologic assumptions were assessed using sensitivity analysis. No statistically significant differences in GERD symptom scores, but LNF did result in fewer heartburn days and improved QOL. Costs were higher for LNF patients by $3205/patient over 3 years but QOL was also higher as measured by either QOL instrument. Based on total costs, incremental cost-utility of LNF was $29,404/QALY gained using the Health Utility Index 3. Cost-utility results were sensitive to the utility instrument used ($29,404/QALY for Health Utility Index 3, $31,117/QALY for the Short Form 6D, and $76,310/QALY for EuroQol 5D) and if current lower prices for PPIs were used in the analysis. Results varied depending on resource use/costs included in the analysis, the QOL instrument used, and the cost of PPIs; however, LNF was generally found to be a cost-effective treatment for patients with symptomatic controlled GERD requiring long-term management. Copyright © 2011 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving Initiation and Tracking of Research Projects at an Academic Health Center: A Case Study.

PubMed

Schmidt, Susanne; Goros, Martin; Parsons, Helen M; Saygin, Can; Wan, Hung-Da; Shireman, Paula K; Gelfond, Jonathan A L

2017-09-01

Research service cores at academic health centers are important in driving translational advancements. Specifically, biostatistics and research design units provide services and training in data analytics, biostatistics, and study design. However, the increasing demand and complexity of assigning appropriate personnel to time-sensitive projects strains existing resources, potentially decreasing productivity and increasing costs. Improving processes for project initiation, assigning appropriate personnel, and tracking time-sensitive projects can eliminate bottlenecks and utilize resources more efficiently. In this case study, we describe our application of lean six sigma principles to our biostatistics unit to establish a systematic continual process improvement cycle for intake, allocation, and tracking of research design and data analysis projects. The define, measure, analyze, improve, and control methodology was used to guide the process improvement. Our goal was to assess and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations by objectively measuring outcomes, automating processes, and reducing bottlenecks. As a result, we developed a web-based dashboard application to capture, track, categorize, streamline, and automate project flow. Our workflow system resulted in improved transparency, efficiency, and workload allocation. Using the dashboard application, we reduced the average study intake time from 18 to 6 days, a 66.7% reduction over 12 months (January to December 2015).

Expanding Omics Resources for Improvement of Soybean Seed Composition Traits

PubMed Central

Chaudhary, Juhi; Patil, Gunvant B.; Sonah, Humira; Deshmukh, Rupesh K.; Vuong, Tri D.; Valliyodan, Babu; Nguyen, Henry T.

2015-01-01

Food resources of the modern world are strained due to the increasing population. There is an urgent need for innovative methods and approaches to augment food production. Legume seeds are major resources of human food and animal feed with their unique nutrient compositions including oil, protein, carbohydrates, and other beneficial nutrients. Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) together with “omics” technologies have considerably strengthened soybean research. The availability of well annotated soybean genome sequence along with hundreds of identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with different seed traits can be used for gene discovery and molecular marker development for breeding applications. Despite the remarkable progress in these technologies, the analysis and mining of existing seed genomics data are still challenging due to the complexity of genetic inheritance, metabolic partitioning, and developmental regulations. Integration of “omics tools” is an effective strategy to discover key regulators of various seed traits. In this review, recent advances in “omics” approaches and their use in soybean seed trait investigations are presented along with the available databases and technological platforms and their applicability in the improvement of soybean. This article also highlights the use of modern breeding approaches, such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genomic selection (GS), and marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) for developing superior cultivars. A catalog of available important resources for major seed composition traits, such as seed oil, protein, carbohydrates, and yield traits are provided to improve the knowledge base and future utilization of this information in the soybean crop improvement programs. PMID:26635846

Outcomes, health status, and medical resource utilization after bariatric surgery.

PubMed

Gorman, R Scott; Stern, Deborah L; Inclan, Delia V; Presutti, R John; Swain, James M; Hentz, Joseph G

2006-01-01

Surgical results, economic consequences, and shortterm health of obese patients were evaluated before and after bariatric surgery. Of 35 patients in Mayo Health Plan Arizona eligible for bariatric surgery and scheduled for gastric restriction with Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy, 22 (7 men, 15 women) completed pre- and postoperative (6- and 12-mo) short form (SF)-12 Health Surveys. Nineteen patients had open bariatric procedures and 3 had laparoscopic procedures. Comorbid conditions, hospital course, weight loss, and complications were examined. Health care utilization (actual dollars paid by plan) for the preceding year and at 1- and 2-yr follow-up were compared. Major comorbid conditions included diabetes mellitus or impaired fasting glucose, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, and hypertension. Mean length of hospital stay was 4.8 d after open procedures and 2 d after laparoscopic procedures. No serious operative or postoperative complications occurred. From a baseline average body mass index (BMI) of 51.9, the 6- and 12-mo BMI averages were 39.6 (23.7% decrease) and 35.3 (32% decrease), respectively. Both physical and mental status improved. From baseline, physical health changed 18 and 21.2 points at 6 and 12 mo, respectively (p < 0.001), and mental health changed 9.3 points at each interval (p =0.003). Each postoperative year, resource utilization decreased (mean= $1300 per patient). Our findings of good surgical outcomes, significant weight loss, improved health status, and potential financial savings in this small sample may help patients, insurers, and self-funded employer groups evaluate the appropriateness of bariatric procedures.

Pneumatic Planetary Regolith Feed System for In-Situ Resource Utilization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mantovani, James G.; Mueller, Robert P.; Townsend, Ivan I.; Craft, Jack; Zacny, Kris

2010-01-01

The NASA In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) project requires a regolith feed system that can transfer lunar regolith several meters vertically into a chemical reactor for oxygen production on the moon.

Robots, multi-user virtual environments and healthcare: synergies for future directions.

PubMed

Moon, Ajung; Grajales, Francisco J; Van der Loos, H F Machiel

2011-01-01

The adoption of technology in healthcare over the last twenty years has steadily increased, particularly as it relates to medical robotics and Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) such as Second Life. Both disciplines have been shown to improve the quality of care and have evolved, for the most part, in isolation from each other. In this paper, we present four synergies between medical robotics and MUVEs that have the potential to decrease resource utilization and improve the quality of healthcare delivery. We conclude with some foreseeable barriers and future research directions for researchers in these fields.

Library Service to the People of New York State. A Long-Range Program, October 1, 1987-September 30, 1992, for the Improvement of Library Services Utilizing Local, State and Federal Resources. Supplement 1: LSCA Program Purposes: Needs and Intended Actions. Supplement 2: Policy Guidelines on the Administration of LSCA funds, 1987-88.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Library, Albany.

This annual report on the comprehensive five-year program for the enhancement of libraries in New York State achieves the following: (1) provides a benchmark for the continuing planning, development, and evaluation of state library services; (2) summarizes the objectives, policies, and programs undertaken for the improvement of those services; (3)…

Improving care and efficiency: appointment times in a haemodialysis unit.

PubMed

Lunts, P

2002-01-01

Shortage of nurses and dialysis spaces and the desire to improve patient care are the two main driving forces in the dialysis field today. This paper suggests that these issues can be addressed by organisational change. We describe a simple, dramatically effective but rarely used example - the effect on a haemodialysis unit of the introduction of patient appointment times. This paper will demonstrate that appointment times can be highly effective in reducing waiting times for patients and in utilizing staff and resources more efficiently, as long as there is commitment from key staff to implement and maintain them effectively

Continual improvement: A bibliography with indexes, 1992-1993

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

This bibliography lists 606 references to reports and journal articles entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database during 1992 to 1993. Topics cover the philosophy and history of Continual Improvement (CI), basic approaches and strategies for implementation, and lessons learned from public and private sector models. Entries are arranged according to the following categories: Leadership for Quality, Information and Analysis, Strategic Planning for CI, Human Resources Utilization, Management of Process Quality, Supplier Quality, Assessing Results, Customer Focus and Satisfaction, TQM Tools and Philosophies, and Applications. Indexes include subject, personal author, corporate source, contract number, report number, and accession number.

[Should disease management be feared? (1): hospital care].

PubMed

Gaspoz, J M; Rutschmann, O

2005-11-23

The goals of disease management are: (1) an integrated health care delivery system; (2) knowledge-based care; (3) elaborate information systems; (4) continuous quality improvement. In-hospital disease management and, more specifically, critical pathways, establish standardized care plans, set goals and time actions to reach these goals. They can reduce variations in practice patterns and resource utilization without compromising quality of care. Such strategies participate to quality improvement programs in hospitals when they involve and empower all actors of a given process of care, are not imposed from outside, and use sound and rigorous development and evaluation methods.

Utilizing remote sensing of thematic mapper data to improve our understanding of estuarine processes and their influence on the productivity of estuarine-dependent fisheries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Browder, Joan A.; May, L. Nelson, Jr.; Rosenthal, Alan; Baumann, Robert H.; Gosselink, James G.

1987-01-01

A stochastic spatial computer model addressing coastal resource problems in Lousiana is being refined and validated using thematic mapper (TM) imagery. The TM images of brackish marsh sites were processed and data were tabulated on spatial parameters from TM images of the salt marsh sites. The Fisheries Image Processing Systems (FIPS) was used to analyze the TM scene. Activities were concentrated on improving the structure of the model and developing a structure and methodology for calibrating the model with spatial-pattern data from the TM imagery.

Integrating market processes into utility resource planning

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

Kahn, E.P.

1992-11-01

Integrated resource planning has resulted in an abundance of alternatives for meeting existing and new demand for electricity services: (1) utility demand-side management (DSM) programs, (2) DSM bidding, (3) competitive bidding for private power supplies, (4) utility re-powering, and (5) new utility construction. Each alternative relies on a different degree of planning for implementation and, therefore, each alternative relies on markets to a greater or lesser degree. This paper shows how the interaction of planning processes and market forces results in resource allocations among the alternatives. The discussion focuses on three phenomena that are driving forces behind the unanticipated consequences'more » of contemporary integrated resource planning efforts. These forces are: (1) large-scale DSM efforts, (2) customer bypass, and (3) large-scale independent power projects. 22 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Utilization characteristics and importance of woody biomass resources on the rural-urban fringe in botswana.

PubMed

Nkambwe, Musisi; Sekhwela, Mogodisheng B M

2006-02-01

This article examines the utilization characteristics and importance of woody biomass resources in the rural-urban fringe zones of Botswana. In the literature for Africa, attention has been given to the availability and utilization of biomass in either urban or rural environments, but the rural-urban fringe has been neglected. Within southern Africa, this neglect is not justified; the rural-urban fringe, not getting the full benefits available in urban environments in Botswana, has developed problems in woody biomass availability and utilization that require close attention. In this article, socioeconomic data on the importance of woody biomass in the Batlokwa Tribal Territory, on the rural-urban fringe of Gaborone, Botswana, were collected together with ecologic data that reveal the utilization characteristics and potential for regrowth of woody biomass. The analysis of these results show that local woody biomass is very important in the daily lives of communities in the rural-urban fringe zones and that there is a high level of harvesting. However, there is no effort in planning land use in the tribal territory to either conserve this resource or provide alternatives to its utilization. The future of woody biomass resources in Botswana's rural-urban fringe is uncertain. The investigators recommend that a comprehensive policy for the development of the rural-urban fringe consider the importance of this resource. The neglect of this resource will have far-reaching implications on the livelihoods of residents as well as the environment in this zone.

Research on the coordination framework for water resources utilization on the interests of mutual compensation in Lancang-Mekong River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Fang, D., VI; Xu, J.; Dong, Q.

2017-12-01

The Lancang-Mekong River is an important international river, cascaded hydropower stations development in which attracts the attention of downstream countries. In this paper, we proposed a coordination framework for water resources utilization on the interests of mutual compensation to relieve the conflict of upstream and downstream countries. Firstly, analyze the benefits and risks caused by the cascaded hydropower stations development and the evolution process of water resources use conflict between upstream and downstream countries. Secondly, evaluate the benefits and risks of flood control, water supply, navigation and power generation based on the energy theory of cascaded hydropower stations development in Lancang-Mekong River. Thirdly, multi-agent cooperation motivation and cooperation conditions between upstream and downstream countries in Lancang-Mekong River is given. Finally, the coordination framework for water resources utilization on the interests of mutual compensation in Lancang-Mekong River is presented. This coordination framework for water resources utilization can increase comprehensive benefits in Lancang-Mekong River.

The learning of resources of the unified health system in the radiology residency program*

PubMed Central

de Oliveira, Aparecido Ferreira; Lederman, Henrique Manoel; Batista, Nildo Alves

2014-01-01

Objective To investigate the learning on the management of resources of the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS) and its interfaces with private institutions in the radiology residency program of Escola Paulista de Medicina - Universidade Federal de São Paulo, in order to improve radiologists' training. Materials and Methods Exploratory research with quantitative and qualitative approach to residents, faculty staff and preceptors of the program, utilizing Likert questionnaires (46), deepening interviews (18) and categorization based upon meaning units (thematic analysis). Results Sixty-three per cent of the respondents claim the non-existence of an opportunity for the residents to be acquainted with the management of SUS resources, and were even more categorical (76%) regarding the knowledge about resources from private institutions in the intersection with SUS. Conclusion The learning on the management of SUS resources represents a relevant challenge to be overcome by residency programs, considering the extensiveness and complexity of the Brazilian health system, that is not sufficiently approached during the program, even in its most basic aspects, with daily experiences involving an excessive number of patients and a busy agenda, besides the inadequate public health infrastructure. The present study indicates the need for a greater emphasis on the development of the learning on aspects related to the management of resources from the SUS, assimilating particularities and overcoming the frequent difficulties, thus improving the training of radiologists. PMID:25741072