MolPrint3D: Enhanced 3D Printing of Ball-and-Stick Molecular Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paukstelis, Paul J.

2018-01-01

The increased availability of noncommercial 3D printers has provided instructors and students improved access to printing technology. However, printing complex ball-and-stick molecular structures faces distinct challenges, including the need for support structures that increase with molecular complexity. MolPrint3D is a software add-on for the…

Identifying and Coordinating Care for Complex Patients

PubMed Central

Rudin, Robert S.; Gidengil, Courtney A.; Predmore, Zachary; Schneider, Eric C.; Sorace, James; Hornstein, Rachel

2017-01-01

Abstract In the United States, a relatively small proportion of complex patients---defined as having multiple comorbidities, high risk for poor outcomes, and high cost---incur most of the nation's health care costs. Improved care coordination and management of complex patients could reduce costs while increasing quality of care. However, care coordination efforts face multiple challenges, such as segmenting populations of complex patients to better match their needs with the design of specific interventions, understanding how to reduce spending, and integrating care coordination programs into providers' care delivery processes. Innovative uses of analytics and health information technology (HIT) may address these challenges. Rudin and colleagues at RAND completed a literature review and held discussions with subject matter experts, reaching the conclusion that analytics and HIT are being used in innovative ways to coordinate care for complex patients but that the capabilities are limited, evidence of their effectiveness is lacking, and challenges are substantial, and important foundational work is still needed. PMID:28845354

Global trade and assisted reproductive technologies: regulatory challenges in international surrogacy.

PubMed

Nelson, Erin

2013-01-01

International surrogacy is an increasingly common phenomenon and an important global health challenge. Legal rules are a key consideration for the participants in international surrogacy arrangements. In some cases the law can help to resolve the complex issues that arise in this context, but it is important to consider the role played by law in contributing to the complex conflicts that such arrangements can generate. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Challenges in network science: Applications to infrastructures, climate, social systems and economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havlin, S.; Kenett, D. Y.; Ben-Jacob, E.; Bunde, A.; Cohen, R.; Hermann, H.; Kantelhardt, J. W.; Kertész, J.; Kirkpatrick, S.; Kurths, J.; Portugali, J.; Solomon, S.

2012-11-01

Network theory has become one of the most visible theoretical frameworks that can be applied to the description, analysis, understanding, design and repair of multi-level complex systems. Complex networks occur everywhere, in man-made and human social systems, in organic and inorganic matter, from nano to macro scales, and in natural and anthropogenic structures. New applications are developed at an ever-increasing rate and the promise for future growth is high, since increasingly we interact with one another within these vital and complex environments. Despite all the great successes of this field, crucial aspects of multi-level complex systems have been largely ignored. Important challenges of network science are to take into account many of these missing realistic features such as strong coupling between networks (networks are not isolated), the dynamics of networks (networks are not static), interrelationships between structure, dynamics and function of networks, interdependencies in given networks (and other classes of links, including different signs of interactions), and spatial properties (including geographical aspects) of networks. This aim of this paper is to introduce and discuss the challenges that future network science needs to address, and how different disciplines will be accordingly affected.

Tree physiology research in a changing world.

PubMed

Kaufmann, Merrill R.; Linder, Sune

1996-01-01

Changes in issues and advances in methodology have contributed to substantial progress in tree physiology research during the last several decades. Current research focuses on process interactions in complex systems and the integration of processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. An increasingly important challenge for future research is assuring sustainability of production systems and forested ecosystems in the face of increased demands for natural resources and human disturbance of forests. Meeting this challenge requires significant shifts in research approach, including the study of limitations of productivity that may accompany achievement of system sustainability, and a focus on the biological capabilities of complex land bases altered by human activity.

The context, influences and challenges for undergraduate nurse clinical education: Continuing the dialogue.

PubMed

Forber, Jan; DiGiacomo, Michelle; Davidson, Patricia; Carter, Bernie; Jackson, Debra

2015-11-01

Approaches to clinical education are highly diverse and becoming increasingly complex to sustain in complex milieu To identify the influences and challenges of providing nurse clinical education in the undergraduate setting and to illustrate emerging solutions. A discursive exploration into the broad and varied body of evidence including peer reviewed and grey literature. Internationally, enabling undergraduate clinical learning opportunities faces a range of challenges. These can be illustrated under two broad themes: (1) legacies from the past and the inherent features of nurse education and (2) challenges of the present, including, population changes, workforce changes, and the disconnection between the health and education sectors. Responses to these challenges are triggering the emergence of novel approaches, such as collaborative models. Ongoing challenges in providing accessible, effective and quality clinical learning experiences are apparent. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Exploratory Study of Pharmacists Professional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wittstrom, Kristina M.

2012-01-01

Today's healthcare professional is challenged to stay current with increasingly complex therapeutic challenges, greater societal needs and expectations, and a public demand for the best possible care. Professional learning opportunities are needed to develop new knowledge, skills, or abilities to address specific matters encountered during…

Challenges in the analysis of complex systems: introduction and overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastings, Harold M.; Davidsen, Jörn; Leung, Henry

2017-12-01

One of the main challenges of modern physics is to provide a systematic understanding of systems far from equilibrium exhibiting emergent behavior. Prominent examples of such complex systems include, but are not limited to the cardiac electrical system, the brain, the power grid, social systems, material failure and earthquakes, and the climate system. Due to the technological advances over the last decade, the amount of observations and data available to characterize complex systems and their dynamics, as well as the capability to process that data, has increased substantially. The present issue discusses a cross section of the current research on complex systems, with a focus on novel experimental and data-driven approaches to complex systems that provide the necessary platform to model the behavior of such systems.

The Urban High School's Challenge: Ensuring Literacy for Every Child. 2002 Carnegie Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Leon, Anne Grosso

As demands for more complex literacy skills have increased, and competition in economic and technological arenas at home and abroad have grown more intense, many U.S. students enter high school with literacy skills unequal to this challenge. In U.S. society, where the information base doubles every 5 years, an educated citizenry is essential.…

Big Data, Big Challenges: Implications for Chief Nurse Executives.

PubMed

Clancy, Thomas R; Reed, Laura

2016-03-01

As systems evolve over time, their natural tendency is to become increasingly more complex. Studies in the field of complex systems have generated new perspectives on the application of management strategies in health systems. Much of this research appears as a natural extension of the cross-disciplinary field of systems theory. In this edition, I begin a series of articles on the growing challenge faced by nurse administrators of finding value in the vast amounts of information collected by health systems today.

Exploring the Complex Interaction between Governance and Knowledge in Education. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 67

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fazekas, Mihaly; Burns, Tracey

2012-01-01

Governments in all Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries are facing the challenge of governing increasingly complex education systems. There is a growing need for governance structures that can handle this complexity and which can provide actors with the knowledge they need to make decisions. This working paper…

Government Certification and Accreditation: Make a Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Tracy L.

2009-01-01

One of the most significant challenges faced by government officials today is securing information systems to make them more resilient to attack from increasingly complex challenges from cyber-criminals, state-sponsored groups, and other threats. Over the years, the federal government has developed and implemented Certification and Accreditation…

Supplemental dietary L-arginine attenuates intestinal mucosal disruption during a coccidial vaccine challenge in broiler chickens.

PubMed

Tan, Jianzhuang; Applegate, Todd J; Liu, Shasha; Guo, Yuming; Eicher, Susan D

2014-10-14

The present study investigated the effects of dietary arginine (Arg) supplementation on intestinal structure and functionality in broiler chickens subjected to coccidial challenge. The present study was a randomised complete block design employing a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement (n 8) with three dietary concentrations of Arg (11·1, 13·3 and 20·2 g/kg) with or without coccidial vaccine challenge (unchallenged and coccidial challenge). On day 14, birds were orally administered with coccidial vaccine or saline. On day 21, birds were killed to obtain jejunal tissue and mucosal samples for histological, gene expression and mucosal immunity measurements. Within 7 d of the challenge, there was a decrease in body-weight gain and feed intake, and an increase in the feed:gain ratio (P< 0·05). Jejunal inflammation was evidenced by villus damage, crypt dilation and goblet cell depletion. Coccidial challenge increased mucosal secretory IgA concentration and inflammatory gene (iNOS, IL-1β, IL-8 and MyD88) mRNA expression levels (P< 0·05), as well as reduced jejunal Mucin-2, IgA and IL-1RI mRNA expression levels (P< 0·05). Increasing Arg concentration (1) increased jejunal villus height (P< 0·05) and linearly increased jejunal crypt depth (P< 0·05); (2) quadratically increased mucosal maltase activity (P< 0·05) and linearly decreased mucosal secretory IgG concentration (P< 0·05) within the coccidiosis-challenged groups; and (3) linearly decreased jejunal Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mRNA expression level (P< 0·05) within the coccidiosis-challenged groups. The mRNA expression of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 pathway genes (mTOR and RPS6KB1) and the anti-apoptosis gene Bcl-2 quadratically responded to increasing dietary Arg supplementation (P< 0·05). These results indicate that dietary Arg supplementation attenuates intestinal mucosal disruption in coccidiosis-challenged chickens probably through suppressing TLR4 and activating mTOR complex 1 pathways.

Design of Low Complexity Model Reference Adaptive Controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanson, Curt; Schaefer, Jacob; Johnson, Marcus; Nguyen, Nhan

2012-01-01

Flight research experiments have demonstrated that adaptive flight controls can be an effective technology for improving aircraft safety in the event of failures or damage. However, the nonlinear, timevarying nature of adaptive algorithms continues to challenge traditional methods for the verification and validation testing of safety-critical flight control systems. Increasingly complex adaptive control theories and designs are emerging, but only make testing challenges more difficult. A potential first step toward the acceptance of adaptive flight controllers by aircraft manufacturers, operators, and certification authorities is a very simple design that operates as an augmentation to a non-adaptive baseline controller. Three such controllers were developed as part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration flight research experiment to determine the appropriate level of complexity required to restore acceptable handling qualities to an aircraft that has suffered failures or damage. The controllers consist of the same basic design, but incorporate incrementally-increasing levels of complexity. Derivations of the controllers and their adaptive parameter update laws are presented along with details of the controllers implementations.

Societal challenges of precision medicine: Bringing order to chaos.

PubMed

Salgado, Roberto; Moore, Helen; Martens, John W M; Lively, Tracy; Malik, Shakun; McDermott, Ultan; Michiels, Stefan; Moscow, Jeffrey A; Tejpar, Sabine; McKee, Tawnya; Lacombe, Denis

2017-10-01

The increasing number of drugs targeting specific proteins implicated in tumourigenesis and the commercial promotion of relatively affordable genome-wide analyses has led to an increasing expectation among patients with cancer that they can now receive effective personalised treatment based on the often complex genomic signature of their tumour. For such approaches to work in routine practice, the development of correspondingly complex biomarker assays through an appropriate and rigorous regulatory framework will be required. It is becoming increasingly evident that a re-engineering of clinical research is necessary so that regulatory considerations and procedures facilitate the efficient translation of these required biomarker assays from the discovery setting through to clinical application. This article discusses the practical requirements and challenges of developing such new precision medicine strategies, based on leveraging complex genomic profiles, as discussed at the Innovation and Biomarkers in Cancer Drug Development meeting (8th-9th September 2016, Brussels, Belgium). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges in Modern Anti-Doping Analytical Science.

PubMed

Ayotte, Christiane; Miller, John; Thevis, Mario

2017-01-01

The challenges facing modern anti-doping analytical science are increasingly complex given the expansion of target drug substances, as the pharmaceutical industry introduces more novel therapeutic compounds and the internet offers designer drugs to improve performance. The technical challenges are manifold, including, for example, the need for advanced instrumentation for greater speed of analyses and increased sensitivity, specific techniques capable of distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous metabolites, or biological assays for the detection of peptide hormones or their markers, all of which require an important investment from the laboratories and recruitment of highly specialized scientific personnel. The consequences of introducing sophisticated and complex analytical procedures may result in the future in a change in the strategy applied by the Word Anti-Doping Agency in relation to the introduction and performance of new techniques by the network of accredited anti-doping laboratories. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Update - Concept of Operations for Integrated Model-Centric Engineering at JPL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayer, Todd J.; Bennett, Matthew; Delp, Christopher L.; Dvorak, Daniel; Jenkins, Steven J.; Mandutianu, Sanda

2011-01-01

The increasingly ambitious requirements levied on JPL's space science missions, and the development pace of such missions, challenge our current engineering practices. All the engineering disciplines face this growth in complexity to some degree, but the challenges are greatest in systems engineering where numerous competing interests must be reconciled and where complex system level interactions must be identified and managed. Undesired system-level interactions are increasingly a major risk factor that cannot be reliably exposed by testing, and natural-language single-viewpoint specifications areinadequate to capture and expose system level interactions and characteristics. Systems engineering practices must improve to meet these challenges, and the most promising approach today is the movement toward a more integrated and model-centric approach to mission conception, design, implementation and operations. This approach elevates engineering models to a principal role in systems engineering, gradually replacing traditional document centric engineering practices.

Contextual Influences on Faculty Diversity Conceptualizations when Working with Trainee Competence Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen-Miller, David S.; Forrest, Linda; Burt, Michelle

2012-01-01

Trainees with problems of professional competence (TPPC) present trainers with unique challenges. When TPPC situations include diversity issues, the complexity of such challenges increases. Although attention to such intersections is important, little is known about what influences faculty thinking about diversity issues when trainee competence…

Linking Complex Problem Solving to Opportunity Identification Competence within the Context of Entrepreneurship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baggen, Yvette; Mainert, Jakob; Lans, Thomas; Biemans, Harm J. A.; Greiff, Samuel; Mulder, Martin

2015-01-01

Today's working life is increasingly characterized by entrepreneurial challenges. Entrepreneurial challenges start at an individual level with the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities, which is acknowledged as one of the key competencies for lifelong learning. Since the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities relies heavily on…

Challenges with Graph Interpretation: A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glazer, Nirit

2011-01-01

With the growing emphasis on the development of scientific inquiry skills, the display and interpretation of data are becoming increasingly important. Graph interpretation competence is, in fact, essential to understanding today's world and to be scientifically literate. However, graph interpretation is a complex and challenging activity. Graph…

New Opportunities for Principal Leadership: Shaping School Climates for Enhanced Teacher Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drago-Severson, Eleanor

2012-01-01

Background/Context: Improved professional development for teachers and principals is central to our national educational agenda. Principals struggle with the challenge of how to build school climates that improve practice in an era of heightened accountability and increasingly complex adaptive challenges. Purpose/Objective/Research Questions/Focus…

Caring for one and all - Exploring ethical challenges in an ICU.

PubMed

Jones, Jennifer; Mitchell, Marion; Milligan, Eleanor

2016-08-01

This discussion paper explores some of the complex ethical and moral issues confronting contemporary critical care nurses. In contemporary healthcare discussions, there is an increased appreciation of the complexity of ethical challenges, the multiplicity of stakeholders and that a broad range of possible and practical outcomes exist. Furthermore, many scholars also acknowledge the limitations of principle based ethical frameworks. In seeking to build critical care nurses' capacity to negotiate the complex - and often conflicting - ethical challenges, the authors have adopted a person-centred, values-based approach in this case study. Furthermore, by exploring these complex issues, this paper supports and builds upon critical care nurses' decision making capacities in the clinical area. This case study has been purposefully left open-ended with the aim of inviting the reader to consider the questions posed in a collegial, collaborative manner within the particular context in which she/he is embedded. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Points of Entry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frey, Nancy; Douglas, Fisher

2013-01-01

The Common State Standards require that students master increasingly complex informational text. But how can we enable students to meet this challenging goal? "We don't simply expect our students to hurtle themselves headlong into a piece of complex informational text alone," write Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher. Instead, teachers…

Meso and micro level workforce challenges in psychiatric rehabilitation.

PubMed

Reifels, Lennart; Pirkis, Jane

2012-01-01

Results of an exploratory study are presented which examined workforce challenges in Australia's most established psychiatric rehabilitation sector. The study had the two-fold aim of investigating workforce challenges at an organizational ("meso") level and at the level of direct-service workers' daily practice ("micro"). Data from 23 key informant interviews conducted with service managers and long-serving staff were analyzed through basic descriptive and thematic analyses. Organizations faced significant annual staff turnover (25.6%), specific staff supply shortages, and challenges in recruiting staff with adequate experience and longevity to match the complexity of client issues. Workers equally encountered challenges in this increasingly complex and rapidly changing field of work. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Workforce strategies designed to attract/retain experienced staff can improve workforce cohesiveness and sustainability, as can training and support activities aimed at equipping staff to reflect on and operate in dynamic and changing work environments.

Application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Hybrid Methods to Structure Determination of Complex Systems.

PubMed

Prischi, Filippo; Pastore, Annalisa

2016-01-01

The current main challenge of Structural Biology is to undertake the structure determination of increasingly complex systems in the attempt to better understand their biological function. As systems become more challenging, however, there is an increasing demand for the parallel use of more than one independent technique to allow pushing the frontiers of structure determination and, at the same time, obtaining independent structural validation. The combination of different Structural Biology methods has been named hybrid approaches. The aim of this review is to critically discuss the most recent examples and new developments that have allowed structure determination or experimentally-based modelling of various molecular complexes selecting them among those that combine the use of nuclear magnetic resonance and small angle scattering techniques. We provide a selective but focused account of some of the most exciting recent approaches and discuss their possible further developments.

USGS Science: Addressing Our Nation's Challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Larson, Tania M.

2009-01-01

With 6.6 billion people already living on Earth, and that number increasing every day, human influence on our planet is ever more apparent. Changes to the natural world combined with increasing human demands threaten our health and safety, our national security, our economy, and our quality of life. As a planet and a Nation, we face unprecedented challenges: loss of critical and unique ecosystems, the effects of climate change, increasing demand for limited energy and mineral resources, increasing vulnerability to natural hazards, the effects of emerging diseases on wildlife and human health, and growing needs for clean water. The time to respond to these challenges is now, but policymakers and decisionmakers face difficult choices. With competing priorities to balance, and potentially serious - perhaps irreversible - consequences at stake, our leaders need reliable scientific information to guide their decisions. As the Nation's earth and natural science agency, the USGS monitors and conducts scientific research on natural hazards and resources and how these elements and human activities influence our environment. Because the challenges we face are complex, the science needed to better understand and deal with these challenges must reflect the complex interplay among natural and human systems. With world-class expertise in biology, geology, geography, hydrology, geospatial information, and remote sensing, the USGS is uniquely capable of conducting the comprehensive scientific research needed to better understand the interdependent interactions of Earth's systems. Every day, the USGS helps decisionmakers to minimize loss of life and property, manage our natural resources, and protect and enhance our quality of life. This brochure provides examples of the challenges we face and how USGS science helps decisionmakers to address these challenges.

Elementary Teachers' Selection and Use of Visual Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Tammy D.; Jones, M. Gail

2018-01-01

As science grows in complexity, science teachers face an increasing challenge of helping students interpret models that represent complex science systems. Little is known about how teachers select and use models when planning lessons. This mixed methods study investigated the pedagogical approaches and visual models used by elementary in-service…

Understanding the Realities of Teaching: A Seminar Series Focused on Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, K. Andrew R.; Gaudreault, Karen Lux; Templin, Thomas J.

2014-01-01

The role of school teachers is becoming increasingly complex. This complexity may be even more pronounced for physical education teachers, who must often cope with additional challenges stemming from marginalization, isolation, and teacher/coach role conflict. Physical education teachers must also manage relationships with colleagues,…

Researching Ethnic "Others": Conducting Critical Ethnographic Research in Australia and Scotland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santoro, Ninetta; Smyth, Geri

2010-01-01

In many parts of the world, classrooms are characterised by cultural and ethnic diversity. Increasingly, researchers are interested in exploring these rich and socially complex contexts. However, research into "the ethnic other" can present complex ethical and methodological challenges. In this paper, the authors discuss, with reference…

Graphs, matrices, and the GraphBLAS: Seven good reasons

DOE PAGES

Kepner, Jeremy; Bader, David; Buluç, Aydın; ...

2015-01-01

The analysis of graphs has become increasingly important to a wide range of applications. Graph analysis presents a number of unique challenges in the areas of (1) software complexity, (2) data complexity, (3) security, (4) mathematical complexity, (5) theoretical analysis, (6) serial performance, and (7) parallel performance. Implementing graph algorithms using matrix-based approaches provides a number of promising solutions to these challenges. The GraphBLAS standard (istcbigdata.org/GraphBlas) is being developed to bring the potential of matrix based graph algorithms to the broadest possible audience. The GraphBLAS mathematically defines a core set of matrix-based graph operations that can be used to implementmore » a wide class of graph algorithms in a wide range of programming environments. This paper provides an introduction to the GraphBLAS and describes how the GraphBLAS can be used to address many of the challenges associated with analysis of graphs.« less

Automated mask and wafer defect classification using a novel method for generalized CD variation measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verechagin, V.; Kris, R.; Schwarzband, I.; Milstein, A.; Cohen, B.; Shkalim, A.; Levy, S.; Price, D.; Bal, E.

2018-03-01

Over the years, mask and wafers defects dispositioning has become an increasingly challenging and time consuming task. With design rules getting smaller, OPC getting complex and scanner illumination taking on free-form shapes - the probability of a user to perform accurate and repeatable classification of defects detected by mask inspection tools into pass/fail bins is reducing. The critical challenging of mask defect metrology for small nodes ( < 30 nm) was reviewed in [1]. While Critical Dimension (CD) variation measurement is still the method of choice for determining a mask defect future impact on wafer, the high complexity of OPCs combined with high variability in pattern shapes poses a challenge for any automated CD variation measurement method. In this study, a novel approach for measurement generalization is presented. CD variation assessment performance is evaluated on multiple different complex shape patterns, and is benchmarked against an existing qualified measurement methodology.

Factors Affecting University Students' Use of Moodle: An Empirical Study Based on TAM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Essel, Daniel Danso; Wilson, Osafo Apeanti

2017-01-01

Higher education institutions are faced with the complex challenges of serving increased enrollment levels within tight budgets. This challenge is prompting many universities to explore new approaches including the use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle for delivering courses to help extend teaching and learning beyond the…

An Examination of Job Satisfaction among Urban High School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cui-Callahan, Natalia A.

2012-01-01

The workload of public educators has become increasingly complex in recent years. New and veteran teachers are facing a variety of internal and external challenges within the classroom environment. Internal challenges include, but are not limited to students with limited English skills, inclusion of students with special needs in the regular…

Professionalism in 21st century professional practice: autonomy and accountability in orthopaedic surgery.

PubMed

Schneller, Eugene S; Wilson, Natalia A

2009-10-01

Orthopaedic surgical practice is becoming increasingly complex. The rapid change in pace associated with new information and technologies, the physician-supplier relationship, the growing costs and growing gap between costs and reimbursements for orthopaedic surgical procedures, and the influences of advertising on the patient, challenge all involved in the delivery of orthopaedic care. This paper assesses the concepts of professionalism, autonomy, and accountability in the 21st century practice of orthopaedic surgery. These concepts are considered within the context of the complex value chain surrounding orthopaedic surgery and the changing forces influencing clinical decision making by the surgeon. A leading impetus for challenge to the autonomy of the orthopaedic surgeon has been cost. Mistrust and lack of understanding have characterized the physician-hospital relationship. Resource dependency has characterized the physician-supplier relationship. Accountability for the surgeon has increased. We suggest implant surgery involves shared decision making and "coproduction" between the orthopaedic surgeon and other stakeholders. The challenge for the profession is to redefine professionalism, accountability, and autonomy in the face of these changes and challenges.

Relationship of multiscale entropy to task difficulty and sway velocity in healthy young adults.

PubMed

Lubetzky, Anat V; Price, Robert; Ciol, Marcia A; Kelly, Valerie E; McCoy, Sarah W

2015-01-01

Multiscale entropy (MSE) is a nonlinear measure of postural control that quantifies how complex the postural sway is by assigning a complexity index to the center of pressure (COP) oscillations. While complexity has been shown to be task dependent, the relationship between sway complexity and level of task challenge is currently unclear. This study tested whether MSE can detect short-term changes in postural control in response to increased standing balance task difficulty in healthy young adults and compared this response to that of a traditional measure of postural steadiness, root mean square of velocity (VRMS). COP data from 20 s of quiet stance were analyzed when 30 healthy young adults stood on the following surfaces: on floor and foam with eyes open and closed and on the compliant side of a Both Sides Up (BOSU) ball with eyes open. Complexity index (CompI) was derived from MSE curves. Repeated measures analysis of variance across standing conditions showed a statistically significant effect of condition (p < 0.001) in both the anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions for both CompI and VRMS. In the medio-lateral direction there was a gradual increase in CompI and VRMS with increased standing challenge. In the anterior-posterior direction, VRMS showed a gradual increase whereas CompI showed significant differences between the BOSU and all other conditions. CompI was moderately and significantly correlated with VRMS. Both nonlinear and traditional measures of postural control were sensitive to the task and increased with increasing difficulty of standing balance tasks in healthy young adults.

Towards understanding the complexity of cardiovascular oscillations: Insights from information theory.

PubMed

Javorka, Michal; Krohova, Jana; Czippelova, Barbora; Turianikova, Zuzana; Lazarova, Zuzana; Wiszt, Radovan; Faes, Luca

2018-07-01

Cardiovascular complexity is a feature of healthy physiological regulation, which stems from the simultaneous activity of several cardiovascular reflexes and other non-reflex physiological mechanisms. It is manifested in the rich dynamics characterizing the spontaneous heart rate and blood pressure variability (HRV and BPV). The present study faces the challenge of disclosing the origin of short-term HRV and BPV from the statistical perspective offered by information theory. To dissect the physiological mechanisms giving rise to cardiovascular complexity in different conditions, measures of predictive information, information storage, information transfer and information modification were applied to the beat-to-beat variability of heart period (HP), systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and respiratory volume signal recorded non-invasively in 61 healthy young subjects at supine rest and during head-up tilt (HUT) and mental arithmetics (MA). Information decomposition enabled to assess simultaneously several expected and newly inferred physiological phenomena, including: (i) the decreased complexity of HP during HUT and the increased complexity of SAP during MA; (ii) the suppressed cardiorespiratory information transfer, related to weakened respiratory sinus arrhythmia, under both challenges; (iii) the altered balance of the information transferred along the two arms of the cardiovascular loop during HUT, with larger baroreflex involvement and smaller feedforward mechanical effects; and (iv) an increased importance of direct respiratory effects on SAP during HUT, and on both HP and SAP during MA. We demonstrate that a decomposition of the information contained in cardiovascular oscillations can reveal subtle changes in system dynamics and improve our understanding of the complexity changes during physiological challenges. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Challenges in Aligning Workplace Learning with Business Goals: A Perspective from HRD Professionals in New Zealand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Short, Tom; Harris, Roger

2010-01-01

Modern organisations have become more complex, less mechanistic and increasingly sensitive to rapid changes in the external environment than in previous eras. Today, executives lead employees through a maze of complexity and changing contexts. However, another group of dedicated professionals, the human resource managers and practitioners, also…

Fostering Cross-Cultural Learning and Advocacy for Social Justice through an Immersion Experience in Puerto Rico

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cordero, Antonia; Rodriguez, Lirio Negroni

2009-01-01

Our country's increasing social diversity, the richness and complexity of cultures, diversity of self-defined individual identities, and complexity of cross-cultural interactions make effective diversity teaching a challenging but critical need. In addition, for services to be provided in culturally competent manner educators must prepare social…

Reflections from an International Immersion Trip: New Possibilities to Institutionalize Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Encarna

2011-01-01

One of the main challenges confronted by higher education in the 21st century is to internationalize its programs and to make students more globally competent. This challenge is not new, but it has become increasingly complex. Gutek (1993) explains how the efforts to internationalize the university in the United States became particularly…

Pathway to Success: Using Students' Insights and Perspectives to Improve Retention and Success for University Students from Low Socioeconomic (LSE) Backgrounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadowski, Christina; Stewart, Margaret; Pediaditis, Mika

2018-01-01

In an increasingly complex landscape of diversification and massification, universities are grappling with challenges of student attrition. This paper presents findings from a project investigating how students from low socio-economic backgrounds at a regional Australian university perceive challenges and supports associated with retention and…

Futures research: A neglected dimension in environmental policy and planning

Treesearch

David N. Bengston

2012-01-01

The need for strategic foresight in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world poses a formidable challenge to environmental planners and policy makers. Th is paper introduces futures research as an under used but fruitful set of approaches to addressing this challenge. Futures research is a transdisciplinary social science that uses a wide range of methods to...

Social science findings in the United States

Treesearch

Sarah McCaffrey; Eric Toman; Melanie Stidham; Bruce Shindler

2015-01-01

The rising number of acres burned annually and growing number of people living in or adjacent to fire-prone areas in the United States make wildfire management an increasingly complex and challenging problem. Given the prominence of social issues in shaping the current challenges and determining paths forward, it will be important to have an accurate understanding of...

Universities on the Market: Academic Capitalism as a Challenge and a Window of Opportunity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demin, M. R.

2017-01-01

The modern university and the academic profession itself are facing new challenges: First, the increasing complexity of labor markets and globalization are undermining the structure of the academic profession, and secondly, the rise in cost of university research calls into question the autonomy of the university. The internationalization of the…

Bovine dairy complex lipids improve in vitro measures of small intestinal epithelial barrier integrity.

PubMed

Anderson, Rachel C; MacGibbon, Alastair K H; Haggarty, Neill; Armstrong, Kelly M; Roy, Nicole C

2018-01-01

Appropriate intestinal barrier maturation is essential for absorbing nutrients and preventing pathogens and toxins from entering the body. Compared to breast-fed infants, formula-fed infants are more susceptible to barrier dysfunction-associated illnesses. In infant formula dairy lipids are usually replaced with plant lipids. We hypothesised that dairy complex lipids improve in vitro intestinal epithelial barrier integrity. We tested milkfat high in conjugated linoleic acid, beta serum (SureStart™Lipid100), beta serum concentrate (BSC) and a ganglioside-rich fraction (G600). Using Caco-2 cells as a model of the human small intestinal epithelium, we analysed the effects of the ingredients on trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER), mannitol flux, and tight junction protein co-localisation. BSC induced a dose-dependent improvement in TEER across unchallenged cell layers, maintained the co-localisation of tight junction proteins in TNFα-challenged cells with increased permeability, and mitigated the TEER-reducing effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). G600 also increased TEER across healthy and LPS-challenged cells, but it did not alter the co-location of tight junction proteins in TNFα-challenged cells. SureStart™Lipid100 had similar TEER-increasing effects to BSC when added at twice the concentration (similar lipid concentration). Ultimately, this research aims to contribute to the development of infant formulas supplemented with dairy complex lipids that support infant intestinal barrier maturation.

Bovine dairy complex lipids improve in vitro measures of small intestinal epithelial barrier integrity

PubMed Central

MacGibbon, Alastair K. H.; Haggarty, Neill; Armstrong, Kelly M.; Roy, Nicole C.

2018-01-01

Appropriate intestinal barrier maturation is essential for absorbing nutrients and preventing pathogens and toxins from entering the body. Compared to breast-fed infants, formula-fed infants are more susceptible to barrier dysfunction-associated illnesses. In infant formula dairy lipids are usually replaced with plant lipids. We hypothesised that dairy complex lipids improve in vitro intestinal epithelial barrier integrity. We tested milkfat high in conjugated linoleic acid, beta serum (SureStart™Lipid100), beta serum concentrate (BSC) and a ganglioside-rich fraction (G600). Using Caco-2 cells as a model of the human small intestinal epithelium, we analysed the effects of the ingredients on trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER), mannitol flux, and tight junction protein co-localisation. BSC induced a dose-dependent improvement in TEER across unchallenged cell layers, maintained the co-localisation of tight junction proteins in TNFα-challenged cells with increased permeability, and mitigated the TEER-reducing effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). G600 also increased TEER across healthy and LPS-challenged cells, but it did not alter the co-location of tight junction proteins in TNFα-challenged cells. SureStart™Lipid100 had similar TEER-increasing effects to BSC when added at twice the concentration (similar lipid concentration). Ultimately, this research aims to contribute to the development of infant formulas supplemented with dairy complex lipids that support infant intestinal barrier maturation. PMID:29304106

Positioning infrastructure and technologies for low-carbon urbanization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chester, Mikhail V.; Sperling, Josh; Stokes, Eleanor; Allenby, Braden; Kockelman, Kara; Kennedy, Christopher; Baker, Lawrence A.; Keirstead, James; Hendrickson, Chris T.

2014-10-01

The expected urbanization of the planet in the coming century coupled with aging infrastructure in developed regions, increasing complexity of man-made systems, and pressing climate change impacts have created opportunities for reassessing the role of infrastructure and technologies in cities and how they contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Modern urbanization is predicated on complex, increasingly coupled infrastructure systems, and energy use continues to be largely met from fossil fuels. Until energy infrastructures evolve away from carbon-based fuels, GHG emissions are critically tied to the urbanization process. Further complicating the challenge of decoupling urban growth from GHG emissions are lock-in effects and interdependencies. This paper synthesizes state-of-the-art thinking for transportation, fuels, buildings, water, electricity, and waste systems and finds that GHG emissions assessments tend to view these systems as static and isolated from social and institutional systems. Despite significant understanding of methods and technologies for reducing infrastructure-related GHG emissions, physical, institutional, and cultural constraints continue to work against us, pointing to knowledge gaps that must be addressed. This paper identifies three challenge themes to improve our understanding of the role of infrastructure and technologies in urbanization processes and position these increasingly complex systems for low-carbon growth. The challenges emphasize how we can reimagine the role of infrastructure in the future and how people, institutions, and ecological systems interface with infrastructure.

Reaching out to take on TB in Somalia.

PubMed

Moore, David A J; Granat, Simo M

2014-01-01

Among the many challenges facing populations disrupted by complex emergencies, personal security and food security rank much higher than access to healthcare. However, over time health needs assume increasing importance. Many complex crises occur in settings where the background incidence of TB is already high; social and economic conditions in crises are then highly conducive to amplification of the existing TB problem. Innovative approaches to delivery of diagnostic and treatment services, transition planning and integration with other healthcare providers and services are vital. In the extremely challenging environment of Somalia, multiple partners are making headway though collaboration and innovation.

A Superintendent's Role in Creating Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahillen, Marybeth

2010-01-01

The context of leadership in the public school has become increasingly complex with the pressures of high stakes testing and accountability, changing student demographics, and financial challenges. Stakeholders must work together to develop effective strategies to increase student academic performance. Successful superintendents must optimize…

The computational challenges of Earth-system science.

PubMed

O'Neill, Alan; Steenman-Clark, Lois

2002-06-15

The Earth system--comprising atmosphere, ocean, land, cryosphere and biosphere--is an immensely complex system, involving processes and interactions on a wide range of space- and time-scales. To understand and predict the evolution of the Earth system is one of the greatest challenges of modern science, with success likely to bring enormous societal benefits. High-performance computing, along with the wealth of new observational data, is revolutionizing our ability to simulate the Earth system with computer models that link the different components of the system together. There are, however, considerable scientific and technical challenges to be overcome. This paper will consider four of them: complexity, spatial resolution, inherent uncertainty and time-scales. Meeting these challenges requires a significant increase in the power of high-performance computers. The benefits of being able to make reliable predictions about the evolution of the Earth system should, on their own, amply repay this investment.

Tier-2 Optimisation for Computational Density/Diversity and Big Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fay, R. B.; Bland, J.

2014-06-01

As the number of cores on chip continues to trend upwards and new CPU architectures emerge, increasing CPU density and diversity presents multiple challenges to site administrators. These include scheduling for massively multi-core systems (potentially including Graphical Processing Units (GPU), integrated and dedicated) and Many Integrated Core (MIC)) to ensure a balanced throughput of jobs while preserving overall cluster throughput, as well as the increasing complexity of developing for these heterogeneous platforms, and the challenge in managing this more complex mix of resources. In addition, meeting data demands as both dataset sizes increase and as the rate of demand scales with increased computational power requires additional performance from the associated storage elements. In this report, we evaluate one emerging technology, Solid State Drive (SSD) caching for RAID controllers, with consideration to its potential to assist in meeting evolving demand. We also briefly consider the broader developing trends outlined above in order to identify issues that may develop and assess what actions should be taken in the immediate term to address those.

Becoming Earth Independent: Human-Automation-Robotics Integration Challenges for Future Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marquez, Jessica J.

2016-01-01

Future exploration missions will require NASA to integrate more automation and robotics in order to accomplish mission objectives. This presentation will describe on the future challenges facing the human operator (astronaut, ground controllers) as we increase the amount of automation and robotics in spaceflight operations. It will describe how future exploration missions will have to adapt and evolve in order to deal with more complex missions and communication latencies. This presentation will outline future human-automation-robotic integration challenges.

Opportunities and Challenges for Women Engineers in Industry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Brien, J. Edwin

There are real opportunities for women in engineering, reflecting demands created by the dramatic rate of change in society. Increasingly complex technology, fast response time, the demands of production and managerial positions, increased levels of education and sophistication of employees, shifts in motivational needs, and new organizational…

The Relationship among Principal Mentoring and Job Satisfaction and Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington-Bass, Kendra

2013-01-01

Principal turnover, especially in the most challenging schools, continues be a major problem within the reform movement to improve student performance in public education (Béteille, Kalogrides, & Loeb, 2012; Conley & Cooper, 2011; Hull, 2012). Dwindling financial resources, increased accountability measures, and the increased complexity of…

The Mock LISA Data Challenge Round 3: New and Improved Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, John

2008-01-01

The Mock LISA Data Challenges are a program to demonstrate and encourage the development of data-analysis capabilities for LISA. Each round of challenges consists of several data sets containing simulated instrument noise and gravitational waves from sources of undisclosed parameters. Participants are asked to analyze the data sets and report the maximum information they can infer about the source parameters. The challenges are being released in rounds of increasing complexity and realism. Challenge 3. currently in progress, brings new source classes, now including cosmic-string cusps and primordial stochastic backgrounds, and more realistic signal models for supermassive black-hole inspirals and galactic double white dwarf binaries.

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

Crolley, R.; Thompson, M.

There has been a need for a faster and cheaper deployment model for information technology (IT) solutions to address waste management needs at US Department of Energy (DOE) complex sites for years. Budget constraints, challenges in deploying new technologies, frequent travel, and increased job demands for existing employees have prevented IT organizations from staying abreast of new technologies or deploying them quickly. Despite such challenges, IT organizations have added significant value to waste management handling through better worker safety, tracking, characterization, and disposition at DOE complex sites. Systems developed for site-specific missions have broad applicability to waste management challenges andmore » in many cases have been expanded to meet other waste missions. Radio frequency identification (RFID) and global positioning satellite (GPS)-enabled solutions have reduced the risk of radiation exposure and safety risks. New web-based and mobile applications have enabled precision characterization and control of nuclear materials. These solutions have also improved operational efficiencies and shortened schedules, reduced cost, and improved regulatory compliance. Collaboration between US Department of Energy (DOE) complex sites is improving time to delivery and cost efficiencies for waste management missions with new information technologies (IT) such as wireless computing, global positioning satellite (GPS), and radio frequency identification (RFID). Integrated solutions developed at separate DOE complex sites by new technology Centers of Excellence (CoE) have increased material control and accountability, worker safety, and environmental sustainability. CoEs offer other DOE sister sites significant cost and time savings by leveraging their technology expertise in project scoping, implementation, and ongoing operations.« less

Complex self-management interventions in chronic disease unravelled: a review of lessons learned from an individual patient data meta-analysis.

PubMed

Jonkman, Nini H; Groenwold, Rolf H H; Trappenburg, Jaap C A; Hoes, Arno W; Schuurmans, Marieke J

2017-03-01

Meta-analyses using individual patient data (IPD) rather than aggregated data are increasingly applied to analyze sources of heterogeneity between trials and have only recently been applied to unravel multicomponent, complex interventions. This study reflects on methodological challenges encountered in two IPD meta-analyses on self-management interventions in patients with heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Critical reflection on prior IPD meta-analyses and discussion of literature. Experience from two IPD meta-analyses illustrates methodological challenges. Despite close collaboration with principal investigators, assessing the effect of characteristics of complex interventions on the outcomes of trials is compromised by lack of sufficient details on intervention characteristics and limited data on fidelity and adherence. Furthermore, trials collected baseline variables in a highly diverse way, limiting the possibilities to study subgroups of patients in a consistent manner. Possible solutions are proposed based on lessons learnt from the methodological challenges. Future researchers of complex interventions should pay considerable attention to the causal mechanism underlying the intervention and conducting process evaluations. Future researchers on IPD meta-analyses of complex interventions should carefully consider their own causal assumptions and availability of required data in eligible trials before undertaking such resource-intensive IPD meta-analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cloud-based mobility management in heterogeneous wireless networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kravchuk, Serhii; Minochkin, Dmytro; Omiotek, Zbigniew; Bainazarov, Ulan; Weryńska-Bieniasz, RóŻa; Iskakova, Aigul

2017-08-01

Mobility management is the key feature that supports the roaming of users between different systems. Handover is the essential aspect in the development of solutions supporting mobility scenarios. The handover process becomes more complex in a heterogeneous environment compared to the homogeneous one. Seamlessness and reduction of delay in servicing the handover calls, which can reduce the handover dropping probability, also require complex algorithms to provide a desired QoS for mobile users. A challenging problem to increase the scalability and availability of handover decision mechanisms is discussed. The aim of the paper is to propose cloud based handover as a service concept to cope with the challenges that arise.

Radiation Challenges for Electronics in the Vision for Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.

2006-01-01

The slides present a brief snapshot discussing electronics and exploration-related challenges. Radiation effects have been the prime target, however, electronic parts reliability issues must also be considered. Modern electronics are designed with a 3-5 year lifetime. Upscreening does not improve reliability, merely determines inherent levels. Testing costs are driven by device complexity; they increase tester complexity, beam requirements, and facility choices. Commercial devices may improve performance, but are not cost panaceas. There is need for a more cost-effective access to high energy heavy ion facilities such as NSCL and NSRL. Costs for capable test equipment can run more than $1M for full testing.

Challenges to neurology residency education in today's health care environment.

PubMed

Bega, Danny; Krainc, Dimitri

2016-09-01

Residency training has had to adapt to higher patient volumes, increased complexity of medical care, and the commercialized system of health care. These changes have led to a concerning culture shift in neurology. We review the relationship between the emerging health care delivery system and residency training, highlighting issues related to duty hours and work-life balance, the changing technological landscape, high patient volumes, and complex service obligations. We propose that the current challenges in health care delivery offer the opportunity to improve neurology residency through faculty development programs, bringing teaching back to the bedside, increasing resident autonomy, utilizing near-peer teaching, and rewarding educators who facilitate an environment of inquiry and scholarship, with the ultimate goal of better alignment between education and patient care. Ann Neurol 2016;80:315-320. © 2016 American Neurological Association.

AHRQ series on complex intervention systematic reviews-paper 7: PRISMA-CI elaboration and explanation.

PubMed

Guise, Jeanne-Marie; Butler, Mary; Chang, Christine; Viswanathan, Meera; Pigott, Terri; Tugwell, Peter

2017-10-01

Complex interventions are widely used in health care, public health, education, criminology, social work, business, and welfare. They have increasingly become the subject of systematic reviews and are challenging to effectively report. The Complex Interventions Methods Workgroup developed an extension to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Complex Interventions (PRISMA-CI). Following the EQUATOR Network guidance for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extensions, this Explanation and Elaboration (EE) document accompanies the PRISMA-CI checklist to promote consistency in reporting of systematic reviews of complex interventions. The EE document explains the meaning and rationale for each unique PRISMA-CI checklist item and provides examples to assist systematic review authors in operationalizing PRISMA-CI guidance. The Complex Interventions Workgroup developed PRISMA-CI as an important start toward increased consistency in reporting of systematic reviews of complex interventions. Because the field is rapidly expanding, the Complex Interventions Methods Workgroup plans to re-evaluate periodically for the need to add increasing specificity and examples as the field matures. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Medicaid's Complex Goals: Challenges for Managed Care and Behavioral Health

PubMed Central

Gold, Marsha; Mittler, Jessica

2000-01-01

The Medicaid program has become increasingly complex as policymakers use it to address various policy objectives, leading to structural tensions that surface with Medicaid managed care. In this article, we illustrate this complexity by focusing on the experience of three States with behavioral health carveouts—Maryland, Oregon, and Tennessee. Converting to Medicaid managed care forces policymakers to confront Medicaid's competing policy objectives, multiplicity of stakeholders, and diverse patients, many with complex needs. Emerging Medicaid managed care systems typically represent compromises in which existing inequities and fragmentation are reconfigured rather than eliminated. PMID:12500322

Challenges to Autonomous Navigation in Complex Urban Terrain

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-23

a, Robert E. Karlsen a, Chip DiBerardino b, Edward Mottern b, & N. Joseph Kott, III a aU.S. Army Tank- Automotive Research, Development & Engineering...threat, but this becomes especially challenging when dealing with humans or animals that may change trajectory, suddenly and without warning. The...people and animals . In urban environments, the number of potential vehicle to civilian encounters increases exponentially as the urban population

Using mixed methods to develop and evaluate complex interventions in palliative care research.

PubMed

Farquhar, Morag C; Ewing, Gail; Booth, Sara

2011-12-01

there is increasing interest in combining qualitative and quantitative research methods to provide comprehensiveness and greater knowledge yield. Mixed methods are valuable in the development and evaluation of complex interventions. They are therefore particularly valuable in palliative care research where the majority of interventions are complex, and the identification of outcomes particularly challenging. this paper aims to introduce the role of mixed methods in the development and evaluation of complex interventions in palliative care, and how they may be used in palliative care research. the paper defines mixed methods and outlines why and how mixed methods are used to develop and evaluate complex interventions, with a pragmatic focus on design and data collection issues and data analysis. Useful texts are signposted and illustrative examples provided of mixed method studies in palliative care, including a detailed worked example of the development and evaluation of a complex intervention in palliative care for breathlessness. Key challenges to conducting mixed methods in palliative care research are identified in relation to data collection, data integration in analysis, costs and dissemination and how these might be addressed. the development and evaluation of complex interventions in palliative care benefit from the application of mixed methods. Mixed methods enable better understanding of whether and how an intervention works (or does not work) and inform the design of subsequent studies. However, they can be challenging: mixed method studies in palliative care will benefit from working with agreed protocols, multidisciplinary teams and engaging staff with appropriate skill sets.

Financial sustainability of academic health centers: identifying challenges and strategic responses.

PubMed

Stimpson, Jim P; Li, Tao; Shiyanbola, Oyewale O; Jacobson, Janelle J

2014-06-01

Academic health centers (AHCs) play a vital role in the health care system. The training of health care personnel and delivery of health care services, especially to the most complex and financially challenged patients, has been a responsibility increasingly shouldered by AHCs over the years. Additionally, AHCs play a significant role in researching and developing new treatment protocols, including discovering and validating new health technologies. However, AHCs face unique financial challenges in fulfilling their social mission in the health care system. Reforms being implemented under the Affordable Care Act and shifting economic patterns are threatening the financial sustainability of AHCs.The authors review challenges facing AHCs, including training new health care professionals with fewer funding resources, disproportionate clinical care of complex and costly patients, charity care to uninsured and underinsured, and reduced research funding opportunities. Then, they provide a review of some potential solutions to these challenges, including new reimbursement methods, improvements in operational efficiency, price regulation, subsidization of education, improved decision making and communication, utilization of industrial management tools, and increasing internal and external cooperation. Devising solutions to the evolving problems of AHCs is crucial to improving health care delivery in the United States. Most likely, a combination of market, government, and system reforms will be needed to improve the viability of AHCs and assist them in fulfilling their social and organizational missions.

Overwhelming tPA Release, not PAI-1 Degradation, is Responsible for Hyperfibrinolysis in Severely Injured Trauma Patients

PubMed Central

Chapman, Michael P.; Moore, Ernest E.; Moore, Hunter B.; Gonzalez, Eduardo; Gamboni, Fabia; Chandler, James G.; Mitra, Sanchayita; Ghasabyan, Arsen; Chin, Theresa L.; Sauaia, Angela; Banerjee, Anirban; Silliman, Christopher C.

2015-01-01

Background Trauma induced coagulopathy (TIC) is associated with a four-fold increased risk of mortality. Hyperfibrinolysis is a component of TIC, but its mechanism is poorly understood. PAI-1 degradation by activated protein C has been proposed as mechanism for deregulation of the plasmin system in hemorrhagic shock, but in other settings of ischemia, tPA has been shown to be elevated. We hypothesized that the hyperfibrinolysis in TIC is not the result of PAI-1 degradation, but is driven by an increase in tPA, with resultant loss of PAI-1 activity through complexation with tPA. Methods 86 consecutive trauma activation patients had blood collected at the earliest time after injury, and were screened for hyperfibrinolysis using thrombelastography (TEG). Twenty-five hyperfibrinolytic patients were compared to 14 healthy controls using ELISAs for active tPA, active PAI-1 and PAI-1/tPA complex. Blood was also subjected to TEG with exogenous tPA-challenge as a functional assay for PAI-1 reserve. Results Total levels of PAI-1 (the sum of the active PAI-1 species and its covalent complex with tPA) are not significantly different between hyperfibrinolytic trauma patients and healthy controls: median 104 pM (IQR 48—201 pM) versus 115 pM (IQR 54—202 pM). The ratio of active to complexed PAI-1, however, was two orders of magnitude lower in hyperfibrinolysis than controls. Conversely, total tPA levels (active plus complex) were significantly higher in hyperfibrinolysis than controls: 139 pM (IQR 68—237 pM) versus 32 pM (IQR 16—37 pM). Hyperfibrinolytic trauma patients displayed increased sensitivity to exogenous challenge with tPA: median LY30 of 66.8% compared to 9.6% for controls. Conclusions Depletion of PAI-1 in TIC is driven by an increase in tPA, not PAI-1 degradation. The tPA-challenged TEG, based on this principle, is a functional test for PAI-1 reserves. Exploration of the mechanism of upregulation of tPA is critical to an understanding of hyperfibrinolysis in trauma. PMID:26491796

Prospects of application of additive technologies for increasing the efficiency of impeller machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belova, O. V.; Borisov, Yu. A.

2017-08-01

Impeller machine is a device in which the flow path carries out the supply (or retraction) of mechanical energy to the flow of a working fluid passing through the machine. To increase the efficiency of impeller machines, it is necessary to use design modern technologies, namely the use of numerical methods for conducting research in the field of gas dynamics, as well as additive manufacturing (AM) for the of both prototypes and production model. AM technologies are deservedly rightly called revolutionary because they give unique possibility for manufacturing products, creating perfect forms, both light and durable. The designers face the challenge of developing a new design methodology, since AM allows the use of the concept of "Complexity For Free". The "Complexity For Free" conception is based on: complexity of the form; hierarchical complexity; complexity of the material; functional complexity. The new technical items design method according to a functional principle is also investigated.

Multi-disciplinary interoperability challenges (Ian McHarg Medal Lecture)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Annoni, Alessandro

2013-04-01

Global sustainability research requires multi-disciplinary efforts to address the key research challenges to increase our understanding of the complex relationships between environment and society. For this reason dependence on ICT systems interoperability is rapidly growing but, despite some relevant technological improvement is observed, in practice operational interoperable solutions are still lacking. Among the causes is the absence of a generally accepted definition of "interoperability" in all its broader aspects. In fact the concept of interoperability is just a concept and the more popular definitions are not addressing all challenges to realize operational interoperable solutions. The problem become even more complex when multi-disciplinary interoperability is required because in that case solutions for interoperability of different interoperable solution should be envisaged. In this lecture the following definition will be used: "interoperability is the ability to exchange information and to use it". In the lecture the main challenges for addressing multi-disciplinary interoperability will be presented and a set of proposed approaches/solutions shortly introduced.

Interweaving Knowledge Resources to Address Complex Environmental Health Challenges.

PubMed

Anderson, Beth Ellen; Naujokas, Marisa F; Suk, William A

2015-11-01

Complex problems do not respect academic disciplinary boundaries. Environmental health research is complex and often moves beyond these boundaries, integrating diverse knowledge resources to solve such challenges. Here we describe an evolving paradigm for interweaving approaches that integrates widely diverse resources outside of traditional academic environments in full partnerships of mutual respect and understanding. We demonstrate that scientists, social scientists, and engineers can work with government agencies, industry, and communities to interweave their expertise into metaphorical knowledge fabrics to share understanding, resources, and enthusiasm. Our goal is to acknowledge and validate how interweaving research approaches can contribute to research-driven, solution-oriented problem solving in environmental health, and to inspire more members of the environmental health community to consider this approach. The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (SRP), as mandated by Congress, has evolved to become a program that reaches across a wide range of knowledge resources. SRP fosters interweaving multiple knowledge resources to develop innovative multidirectional partnerships for research and training. Here we describe examples of how motivation, ideas, knowledge, and expertise from different people, institutions, and agencies can integrate to tackle challenges that can be as complex as the resources they bring to bear on it. By providing structure for interweaving science with its stakeholders, we are better able to leverage resources, increase potential for innovation, and proactively ensure a more fully developed spectrum of beneficial outcomes of research investments. Anderson BE, Naujokas MF, Suk WA. 2015. Interweaving knowledge resources to address complex environmental health challenges. Environ Health Perspect 123:1095-1099; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409525.

Some Challenges in the Design of Human-Automation Interaction for Safety-Critical Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feary, Michael S.; Roth, Emilie

2014-01-01

Increasing amounts of automation are being introduced to safety-critical domains. While the introduction of automation has led to an overall increase in reliability and improved safety, it has also introduced a class of failure modes, and new challenges in risk assessment for the new systems, particularly in the assessment of rare events resulting from complex inter-related factors. Designing successful human-automation systems is challenging, and the challenges go beyond good interface development (e.g., Roth, Malin, & Schreckenghost 1997; Christoffersen & Woods, 2002). Human-automation design is particularly challenging when the underlying automation technology generates behavior that is difficult for the user to anticipate or understand. These challenges have been recognized in several safety-critical domains, and have resulted in increased efforts to develop training, procedures, regulations and guidance material (CAST, 2008, IAEA, 2001, FAA, 2013, ICAO, 2012). This paper points to the continuing need for new methods to describe and characterize the operational environment within which new automation concepts are being presented. We will describe challenges to the successful development and evaluation of human-automation systems in safety-critical domains, and describe some approaches that could be used to address these challenges. We will draw from experience with the aviation, spaceflight and nuclear power domains.

Provenance Challenges for Earth Science Dataset Publication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilmes, Curt

2011-01-01

Modern science is increasingly dependent on computational analysis of very large data sets. Organizing, referencing, publishing those data has become a complex problem. Published research that depends on such data often fails to cite the data in sufficient detail to allow an independent scientist to reproduce the original experiments and analyses. This paper explores some of the challenges related to data identification, equivalence and reproducibility in the domain of data intensive scientific processing. It will use the example of Earth Science satellite data, but the challenges also apply to other domains.

Melanoma central nervous system metastases: current approaches, challenges, and opportunities

PubMed Central

Cohen, Justine V.; Tawbi, Hussain; Margolin, Kim A.; Amravadi, Ravi; Bosenberg, Marcus; Brastianos, Priscilla K.; Chiang, Veronica L.; de Groot, John; Glitza, Isabella C.; Herlyn, Meenhard; Holmen, Sheri L.; Jilaveanu, Lucia B.; Lassman, Andrew; Moschos, Stergios; Postow, Michael A.; Thomas, Reena; Tsiouris, John A.; Wen, Patrick; White, Richard M.; Turnham, Timothy; Davies, Michael A.; Kluger, Harriet M.

2017-01-01

Summary Melanoma central nervous system metastases are increasing, and the challenges presented by this patient population remain complex. In December 2015, the Melanoma Research Foundation and the Wistar Institute hosted the First Summit on Melanoma Central Nervous System (CNS) Metastases in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here, we provide a review of the current status of the field of melanoma brain metastasis research; identify key challenges and opportunities for improving the outcomes in patients with melanoma brain metastases; and set a framework to optimize future research in this critical area. PMID:27615400

Changes in Perceived Teacher Self-Efficacy and Burnout as a Result of Facilitated Discussion and Self-Reflection in an Online Course to Prepare Teachers to Work with Students with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boomgard, Monica C.

2013-01-01

A growing number of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who display complex learning needs present challenges to educators who struggle to meet their educational needs. Teaching is stressful and additional instructional challenges may increase teacher vulnerability to burnout, leading to a greater likelihood of attrition. Increasing…

Cultural competence: assessment and education resources for home care and hospice clinicians.

PubMed

Hines, Deborah

2014-05-01

Home healthcare and hospice clinicians face many challenges in the complex healthcare system caring for patients and their families in the home environment. One of those challenges is providing culturally competent care for an increasingly diverse population. This article will highlight free, easily accessible, online resources to assist clinicians and organizations to assess organizational and individual cultural competence and provide many resources for cultural competency education programs.

Challenge clusters facing LCA in environmental decision-making-what we can learn from biofuels.

PubMed

McManus, Marcelle C; Taylor, Caroline M; Mohr, Alison; Whittaker, Carly; Scown, Corinne D; Borrion, Aiduan Li; Glithero, Neryssa J; Yin, Yao

Bioenergy is increasingly used to help meet greenhouse gas (GHG) and renewable energy targets. However, bioenergy's sustainability has been questioned, resulting in increasing use of life cycle assessment (LCA). Bioenergy systems are global and complex, and market forces can result in significant changes, relevant to LCA and policy. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the complexities associated with LCA, with particular focus on bioenergy and associated policy development, so that its use can more effectively inform policymakers. The review is based on the results from a series of workshops focused on bioenergy life cycle assessment. Expert submissions were compiled and categorized within the first two workshops. Over 100 issues emerged. Accounting for redundancies and close similarities in the list, this reduced to around 60 challenges, many of which are deeply interrelated. Some of these issues were then explored further at a policy-facing workshop in London, UK. The authors applied a rigorous approach to categorize the challenges identified to be at the intersection of biofuels/bioenergy LCA and policy. The credibility of LCA is core to its use in policy. Even LCAs that comply with ISO standards and policy and regulatory instruments leave a great deal of scope for interpretation and flexibility. Within the bioenergy sector, this has led to frustration and at times a lack of obvious direction. This paper identifies the main challenge clusters: overarching issues, application and practice and value and ethical judgments. Many of these are reflective of the transition from application of LCA to assess individual products or systems to the wider approach that is becoming more common. Uncertainty in impact assessment strongly influences planning and compliance due to challenges in assigning accountability, and communicating the inherent complexity and uncertainty within bioenergy is becoming of greater importance. The emergence of LCA in bioenergy governance is particularly significant because other sectors are likely to transition to similar governance models. LCA is being stretched to accommodate complex and broad policy-relevant questions, seeking to incorporate externalities that have major implications for long-term sustainability. As policy increasingly relies on LCA, the strains placed on the methodology are becoming both clearer and impedimentary. The implications for energy policy, and in particular bioenergy, are large.

Challenge clusters facing LCA in environmental decision-making—what we can learn from biofuels

DOE PAGES

McManus, Marcelle C.; Taylor, Caroline M.; Mohr, Alison; ...

2015-08-07

Purpose: Bioenergy is increasingly used to help meet greenhouse gas (GHG) and renewable energy targets. However, bioenergy’s sustainability has been questioned, resulting in increasing use of life cycle assessment (LCA). Bioenergy systems are global and complex, and market forces can result in significant changes, relevant to LCA and policy. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the complexities associated with LCA, with particular focus on bioenergy and associated policy development, so that its use can more effectively inform policymakers. Methods: The review is based on the results from a series of workshops focused on bioenergy life cycle assessment. Expertmore » submissions were compiled and categorized within the first two workshops. Over 100 issues emerged. Accounting for redundancies and close similarities in the list, this reduced to around 60 challenges, many of which are deeply interrelated. Some of these issues were then explored further at a policy-facing workshop in London, UK. The authors applied a rigorous approach to categorize the challenges identified to be at the intersection of biofuels/bioenergy LCA and policy. Results and discussion: The credibility of LCA is core to its use in policy. Even LCAs that comply with ISO standards and policy and regulatory instruments leave a great deal of scope for interpretation and flexibility. Within the bioenergy sector, this has led to frustration and at times a lack of obvious direction. This paper identifies the main challenge clusters: overarching issues, application and practice and value and ethical judgments. Many of these are reflective of the transition from application of LCA to assess individual products or systems to the wider approach that is becoming more common. Uncertainty in impact assessment strongly influences planning and compliance due to challenges in assigning accountability, and communicating the inherent complexity and uncertainty within bioenergy is becoming of greater importance. Conclusions: The emergence of LCA in bioenergy governance is particularly significant because other sectors are likely to transition to similar governance models. LCA is being stretched to accommodate complex and broad policy-relevant questions, seeking to incorporate externalities that have major implications for long-term sustainability. As policy increasingly relies on LCA, the strains placed on the methodology are becoming both clearer and impedimentary. The implications for energy policy, and in particular bioenergy, are large.« less

Using Design Experiments to Understand Secondary Classroom Comprehension Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaughn, Sharon; Simmons, Deborah; Wanzek, Jeanne

2013-01-01

Adolescents in the United States and their teachers face an enormous academic challenge with respect to reading comprehension. College and career readiness standards outlined in the Common Core (2012) place increased emphasis on preparing students to read increasingly complex text across a range of disciplinary content areas. At issue is how to…

Systemic Change for RTI: Key Shifts for Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kozleski, Elizabeth B.; Huber, Jennifer J.

2010-01-01

RTI has the potential to meet the challenges of increasing diversity in student populations and the need for increasingly complex systems of instructional design. Three fundamental shifts in understanding systems and systems change must ground RTI policy and implementation work. First, RTI must be seen as an activity system nested within a larger…

Quality Assurance in Higher Education in 20 MENA Economies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El Hassan, K.

2013-01-01

The last decades have witnessed an increased concern in higher education over accountability, quality and productivity, and a struggle to meet increasingly complex challenges. This is more so in Middle East and North African (MENA) economies that witnessed a large expansion as a result of a high social demand and massification policies adopted by…

Multidisciplinary aerospace design optimization: Survey of recent developments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, Jaroslaw; Haftka, Raphael T.

1995-01-01

The increasing complexity of engineering systems has sparked increasing interest in multidisciplinary optimization (MDO). This paper presents a survey of recent publications in the field of aerospace where interest in MDO has been particularly intense. The two main challenges of MDO are computational expense and organizational complexity. Accordingly the survey is focussed on various ways different researchers use to deal with these challenges. The survey is organized by a breakdown of MDO into its conceptual components. Accordingly, the survey includes sections on Mathematical Modeling, Design-oriented Analysis, Approximation Concepts, Optimization Procedures, System Sensitivity, and Human Interface. With the authors' main expertise being in the structures area, the bulk of the references focus on the interaction of the structures discipline with other disciplines. In particular, two sections at the end focus on two such interactions that have recently been pursued with a particular vigor: Simultaneous Optimization of Structures and Aerodynamics, and Simultaneous Optimization of Structures Combined With Active Control.

Managing Complexity in Next Generation Robotic Spacecraft: From a Software Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reinholtz, Kirk

2008-01-01

This presentation highlights the challenges in the design of software to support robotic spacecraft. Robotic spacecraft offer a higher degree of autonomy, however currently more capabilities are required, primarily in the software, while providing the same or higher degree of reliability. The complexity of designing such an autonomous system is great, particularly while attempting to address the needs for increased capabilities and high reliability without increased needs for time or money. The efforts to develop programming models for the new hardware and the integration of software architecture are highlighted.

Challenges in the 1990's for astronaut training simulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Patrick M.; Hajare, Ankur R.; Stark, George E.

1990-01-01

New challenges for the simulation community at the Johnson Space Center both in near and long terms are considered. In the near term, the challenges of supporting an increasing flight rate, maintaining operations while replacing obsolete subsystems, and incorporating forthcoming changes to the Space Shuttle are discussed, and focus is placed on a change of forward flight-deck instruments from electro-mechanical devices to electronic displays. Training astronauts for complex concurrent missions involving multiple spacecraft and geographically dispersed ground facilities is considered to be foremost of the long-term challenges, in addition to the tasks of improving the simulator reliability and the operational efficiency of the facilities.

Rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em: challenges and opportunities in teaching large classes in higher education.

PubMed

Kumar, Saravana

2013-01-01

The higher education sector is undergoing tremendous change, driven by complex driving forces including financial, administrative, and organisational and stakeholder expectations. It is in this challenging environment, educators are required to maintain and improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes while contending with increasing class sizes. Despite mixed evidence on the effectiveness of large classes on student outcomes, large classes continue to play an important part in higher education. While large classes pose numerous challenges, they also provide opportunities for innovative solutions. This paper provides an overview of these challenges and highlights opportunities for innovative solutions.

Dealing with femtorisks in international relations

PubMed Central

Frank, Aaron Benjamin; Collins, Margaret Goud; Levin, Simon A.; Lo, Andrew W.; Ramo, Joshua; Dieckmann, Ulf; Kremenyuk, Victor; Kryazhimskiy, Arkady; Linnerooth-Bayer, JoAnne; Ramalingam, Ben; Roy, J. Stapleton; Saari, Donald G.; Thurner, Stefan; von Winterfeldt, Detlof

2014-01-01

The contemporary global community is increasingly interdependent and confronted with systemic risks posed by the actions and interactions of actors existing beneath the level of formal institutions, often operating outside effective governance structures. Frequently, these actors are human agents, such as rogue traders or aggressive financial innovators, terrorists, groups of dissidents, or unauthorized sources of sensitive or secret information about government or private sector activities. In other instances, influential “actors” take the form of climate change, communications technologies, or socioeconomic globalization. Although these individual forces may be small relative to state governments or international institutions, or may operate on long time scales, the changes they catalyze can pose significant challenges to the analysis and practice of international relations through the operation of complex feedbacks and interactions of individual agents and interconnected systems. We call these challenges “femtorisks,” and emphasize their importance for two reasons. First, in isolation, they may be inconsequential and semiautonomous; but when embedded in complex adaptive systems, characterized by individual agents able to change, learn from experience, and pursue their own agendas, the strategic interaction between actors can propel systems down paths of increasing, even global, instability. Second, because their influence stems from complex interactions at interfaces of multiple systems (e.g., social, financial, political, technological, ecological, etc.), femtorisks challenge standard approaches to risk assessment, as higher-order consequences cascade across the boundaries of socially constructed complex systems. We argue that new approaches to assessing and managing systemic risk in international relations are required, inspired by principles of evolutionary theory and development of resilient ecological systems. PMID:25404317

Dealing with femtorisks in international relations.

PubMed

Frank, Aaron Benjamin; Collins, Margaret Goud; Levin, Simon A; Lo, Andrew W; Ramo, Joshua; Dieckmann, Ulf; Kremenyuk, Victor; Kryazhimskiy, Arkady; Linnerooth-Bayer, JoAnne; Ramalingam, Ben; Roy, J Stapleton; Saari, Donald G; Thurner, Stefan; von Winterfeldt, Detlof

2014-12-09

The contemporary global community is increasingly interdependent and confronted with systemic risks posed by the actions and interactions of actors existing beneath the level of formal institutions, often operating outside effective governance structures. Frequently, these actors are human agents, such as rogue traders or aggressive financial innovators, terrorists, groups of dissidents, or unauthorized sources of sensitive or secret information about government or private sector activities. In other instances, influential "actors" take the form of climate change, communications technologies, or socioeconomic globalization. Although these individual forces may be small relative to state governments or international institutions, or may operate on long time scales, the changes they catalyze can pose significant challenges to the analysis and practice of international relations through the operation of complex feedbacks and interactions of individual agents and interconnected systems. We call these challenges "femtorisks," and emphasize their importance for two reasons. First, in isolation, they may be inconsequential and semiautonomous; but when embedded in complex adaptive systems, characterized by individual agents able to change, learn from experience, and pursue their own agendas, the strategic interaction between actors can propel systems down paths of increasing, even global, instability. Second, because their influence stems from complex interactions at interfaces of multiple systems (e.g., social, financial, political, technological, ecological, etc.), femtorisks challenge standard approaches to risk assessment, as higher-order consequences cascade across the boundaries of socially constructed complex systems. We argue that new approaches to assessing and managing systemic risk in international relations are required, inspired by principles of evolutionary theory and development of resilient ecological systems.

From Nonclinical Research to Clinical Trials and Patient-registries: Challenges and Opportunities in Biomedical Research

PubMed Central

de la Torre Hernández, José M.; Edelman, Elazer R.

2018-01-01

The most important challenge faced by human beings is health. The only way to provide better solutions for health care is innovation, true innovation. The only source of true innovation is research, good research indeed. The pathway from a basic science study to a randomized clinical trial is long and not free of bumps and even landmines. These are all the obstacles and barriers that limit the availability of resources, entangle administrative-regulatory processes, and restrain investigators’ initiatives. There is increasing demand for evidence to guide clinical practice but, paradoxically, biomedical research has become increasingly complex, expensive, and difficult to integrate into clinical care with increased barriers to performing the practical aspects of investigation. We face the challenge of increasing the volume of biomedical research and simultaneously improving the efficiency and output of this research. In this article, we review the main stages and methods of biomedical research, from nonclinical studies with animal and computational models to randomized trials and clinical registries, focusing on their limitations and challenges, but also providing alternative solutions to overcome them. Fortunately, challenges are always opportunities in disguise. PMID:28838647

Rescheduling nursing shifts: scoping the challenge and examining the potential of mathematical model based tools.

PubMed

Clark, Alistair; Moule, Pam; Topping, Annie; Serpell, Martin

2015-05-01

To review research in the literature on nursing shift scheduling / rescheduling, and to report key issues identified in a consultation exercise with managers in four English National Health Service trusts to inform the development of mathematical tools for rescheduling decision-making. Shift rescheduling is unrecognised as an everyday time-consuming management task with different imperatives from scheduling. Poor rescheduling decisions can have quality, cost and morale implications. A systematic critical literature review identified rescheduling issues and existing mathematic modelling tools. A consultation exercise with nursing managers examined the complex challenges associated with rescheduling. Minimal research exists on rescheduling compared with scheduling. Poor rescheduling can result in greater disruption to planned nursing shifts and may impact negatively on the quality and cost of patient care, and nurse morale and retention. Very little research examines management challenges or mathematical modelling for rescheduling. Shift rescheduling is a complex and frequent management activity that is more challenging than scheduling. Mathematical modelling may have potential as a tool to support managers to minimise rescheduling disruption. The lack of specific methodological support for rescheduling that takes into account its complexity, increases the likelihood of harm for patients and stress for nursing staff and managers. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Linking Automated Data Analysis and Visualization with Applications in Developmental Biology and High-Energy Physics

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

Ruebel, Oliver

2009-11-20

Knowledge discovery from large and complex collections of today's scientific datasets is a challenging task. With the ability to measure and simulate more processes at increasingly finer spatial and temporal scales, the increasing number of data dimensions and data objects is presenting tremendous challenges for data analysis and effective data exploration methods and tools. Researchers are overwhelmed with data and standard tools are often insufficient to enable effective data analysis and knowledge discovery. The main objective of this thesis is to provide important new capabilities to accelerate scientific knowledge discovery form large, complex, and multivariate scientific data. The research coveredmore » in this thesis addresses these scientific challenges using a combination of scientific visualization, information visualization, automated data analysis, and other enabling technologies, such as efficient data management. The effectiveness of the proposed analysis methods is demonstrated via applications in two distinct scientific research fields, namely developmental biology and high-energy physics.Advances in microscopy, image analysis, and embryo registration enable for the first time measurement of gene expression at cellular resolution for entire organisms. Analysis of high-dimensional spatial gene expression datasets is a challenging task. By integrating data clustering and visualization, analysis of complex, time-varying, spatial gene expression patterns and their formation becomes possible. The analysis framework MATLAB and the visualization have been integrated, making advanced analysis tools accessible to biologist and enabling bioinformatic researchers to directly integrate their analysis with the visualization. Laser wakefield particle accelerators (LWFAs) promise to be a new compact source of high-energy particles and radiation, with wide applications ranging from medicine to physics. To gain insight into the complex physical processes of particle acceleration, physicists model LWFAs computationally. The datasets produced by LWFA simulations are (i) extremely large, (ii) of varying spatial and temporal resolution, (iii) heterogeneous, and (iv) high-dimensional, making analysis and knowledge discovery from complex LWFA simulation data a challenging task. To address these challenges this thesis describes the integration of the visualization system VisIt and the state-of-the-art index/query system FastBit, enabling interactive visual exploration of extremely large three-dimensional particle datasets. Researchers are especially interested in beams of high-energy particles formed during the course of a simulation. This thesis describes novel methods for automatic detection and analysis of particle beams enabling a more accurate and efficient data analysis process. By integrating these automated analysis methods with visualization, this research enables more accurate, efficient, and effective analysis of LWFA simulation data than previously possible.« less

Complexities of Focused Ion Beam Preparation of Electron-Transparent Sections for Meteorite Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishii, H. A.; Bradley, J. P.; Teslich, N.

2012-09-01

Focused Ion Beam is increasingly used to prepare site-specific, electron-transparent sections for meteorite micro-texture and -chemistry studies. We discuss technical challenges and frequently-overlooked FIB artifacts relevant to meteorite analyses.

Learning to manage complexity through simulation: students' challenges and possible strategies.

PubMed

Gormley, Gerard J; Fenwick, Tara

2016-06-01

Many have called for medical students to learn how to manage complexity in healthcare. This study examines the nuances of students' challenges in coping with a complex simulation learning activity, using concepts from complexity theory, and suggests strategies to help them better understand and manage complexity.Wearing video glasses, participants took part in a simulation ward-based exercise that incorporated characteristics of complexity. Video footage was used to elicit interviews, which were transcribed. Using complexity theory as a theoretical lens, an iterative approach was taken to identify the challenges that participants faced and possible coping strategies using both interview transcripts and video footage.Students' challenges in coping with clinical complexity included being: a) unprepared for 'diving in', b) caught in an escalating system, c) captured by the patient, and d) unable to assert boundaries of acceptable practice.Many characteristics of complexity can be recreated in a ward-based simulation learning activity, affording learners an embodied and immersive experience of these complexity challenges. Possible strategies for managing complexity themes include: a) taking time to size up the system, b) attuning to what emerges, c) reducing complexity, d) boundary practices, and e) working with uncertainty. This study signals pedagogical opportunities for recognizing and dealing with complexity.

Challenges Facing Healthwatch, a New Consumer Champion in England.

PubMed

Carter, Pam; Martin, Graham

2016-01-21

This article engages with debates about the conceptualisation and practical challenges of patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and social care services. Policy in this area in England has shifted numerous times but increasingly a consumerist discourse seems to override more democratic ideas concerning the relationship between citizens and public services. Recent policy change in England has seen the creation of new consumer champion bodies in the form of local Healthwatch. The article describes these new organisational structures for PPI and shows how those who seek to influence planning and delivery of services or comment or complain about aspects of their care face considerable complexity. This is due, in part, to the ambiguous remit set out for newly instigated Healthwatch organisations by government. Drawing on governance theory, we show that it can also be understood as a function of an increasingly polycentric governance arena. Challenges that flow from this include problems of specifying jurisdictional responsibility, accountability, and legitimacy. We review Healthwatch progress to date, then we set out four challenges facing local Healthwatch organisations before discussing the implications of these for patients and the public. The first challenge relates to non-coterminous boundaries and jurisdictional integrity. Secondly, establishing the unique features of Healthwatch is problematic in the crowded PPI arena. The third challenge arises from limited resources as well as the fact that resources flow to Healthwatch from the local authorities that Healthwatch are expected to hold to account. The fourth challenge we identify is how local Healthwatch organisations negotiate the complexity of being a partner to statutory and other organisations, while at the same time being expected to champion local people's views. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Hydrogen-related challenges for the steelmaker: the search for proper testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiessen, R. G.

2017-06-01

The modern steelmaker of advanced high-strength steels has always been challenged with the conflicting targets of increased strength while maintaining or improving ductility. These new steels help the transportation sector, including the automotive sector, to achieve the goals of increased passenger safety and reduced emissions. With increasing tensile strengths, certain steels exhibit an increased sensitivity towards hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The ability to characterize the material's sensitivity in an as-delivered condition has been developed and accepted (SEP1970), but the complexity of the stress states that can induce an embrittlement together with the wide range of applications for high-strength steels make the development of a standardized test for HE under in-service conditions extremely challenging. Some proposals for evaluating the material's sensitivity give an advantage to materials with a low starting ductility. Despite this, newly developed materials can have a higher original elongation with only a moderate reduction in elongation due to hydrogen. This work presents a characterization of new materials and their sensitivity towards HE. This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

Hydrogen-related challenges for the steelmaker: the search for proper testing.

PubMed

Thiessen, R G

2017-07-28

The modern steelmaker of advanced high-strength steels has always been challenged with the conflicting targets of increased strength while maintaining or improving ductility. These new steels help the transportation sector, including the automotive sector, to achieve the goals of increased passenger safety and reduced emissions. With increasing tensile strengths, certain steels exhibit an increased sensitivity towards hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The ability to characterize the material's sensitivity in an as-delivered condition has been developed and accepted (SEP1970), but the complexity of the stress states that can induce an embrittlement together with the wide range of applications for high-strength steels make the development of a standardized test for HE under in-service conditions extremely challenging. Some proposals for evaluating the material's sensitivity give an advantage to materials with a low starting ductility. Despite this, newly developed materials can have a higher original elongation with only a moderate reduction in elongation due to hydrogen. This work presents a characterization of new materials and their sensitivity towards HE.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Implementing Genome-Driven Oncology

PubMed Central

Hyman, David M.; Taylor, Barry S.; Baselga, José

2017-01-01

Early successes in identifying and targeting individual oncogenic drivers, together with the increasing feasibility of sequencing tumor genomes, have brought forth the promise of genome-driven oncology care. As we expand the breadth and depth of genomic analyses, the biological and clinical complexity of its implementation will be unparalleled. Challenges include target credentialing and validation, implementing drug combinations, clinical trial designs, targeting tumor heterogeneity, and deploying technologies beyond DNA sequencing, among others. We review how contemporary approaches are tackling these challenges and will ultimately serve as an engine for biological discovery and increase our insight into cancer and its treatment. PMID:28187282

Anticipatory Governance Practical Upgrades: Equipping the Executive Branch to Cope with Increasing Speed and Complexity of Major Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

in International Science and Technology Policy from The George Washington University. For 6 years, his work has focused on applications of foresight ...bring our management processes up to par with the nature of the challenges we face. inherited 6 Organized Foresight systems set up in foreign...disciplined foresight -policy linkage, networked management and budgeting to mission, and feedback systems to monitor and adjust. Anticipatory Governance

Adapting Tropical Forest Policy and Practice in the Context of the Anthropocene: Opportunities and Challenges for the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico

Treesearch

Kathleen McGinley

2017-01-01

Tropical forest management increasingly is challenged by multiple, complex, intersecting, and in many cases unprecedented changes in the environment that are triggered by human activity. Many of these changes are associated with the Anthropocene—a new geologic epoch in which humans have become a dominating factor in shaping the biosphere. Ultimately, as human activity...

Regional Charging Infrastructure for Plug-In Electric Vehicles: A Case Study of Massachusetts

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

Wood, Eric; Raghavan, Sesha; Rames, Clement

Given the complex issues associated with plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging and options in deploying charging infrastructure, there is interest in exploring scenarios of future charging infrastructure deployment to provide insight and guidance to national and regional stakeholders. The complexity and cost of PEV charging infrastructure pose challenges to decision makers, including individuals, communities, and companies considering infrastructure installations. The value of PEVs to consumers and fleet operators can be increased with well-planned and cost-effective deployment of charging infrastructure. This will increase the number of miles driven electrically and accelerate PEV market penetration, increasing the shared value of charging networksmore » to an expanding consumer base. Given these complexities and challenges, the objective of the present study is to provide additional insight into the role of charging infrastructure in accelerating PEV market growth. To that end, existing studies on PEV infrastructure are summarized in a literature review. Next, an analysis of current markets is conducted with a focus on correlations between PEV adoption and public charging availability. A forward-looking case study is then conducted focused on supporting 300,000 PEVs by 2025 in Massachusetts. The report concludes with a discussion of potential methodology for estimating economic impacts of PEV infrastructure growth.« less

The Applied Mathematics for Power Systems (AMPS)

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

Chertkov, Michael

2012-07-24

Increased deployment of new technologies, e.g., renewable generation and electric vehicles, is rapidly transforming electrical power networks by crossing previously distinct spatiotemporal scales and invalidating many traditional approaches for designing, analyzing, and operating power grids. This trend is expected to accelerate over the coming years, bringing the disruptive challenge of complexity, but also opportunities to deliver unprecedented efficiency and reliability. Our Applied Mathematics for Power Systems (AMPS) Center will discover, enable, and solve emerging mathematics challenges arising in power systems and, more generally, in complex engineered networks. We will develop foundational applied mathematics resulting in rigorous algorithms and simulation toolboxesmore » for modern and future engineered networks. The AMPS Center deconstruction/reconstruction approach 'deconstructs' complex networks into sub-problems within non-separable spatiotemporal scales, a missing step in 20th century modeling of engineered networks. These sub-problems are addressed within the appropriate AMPS foundational pillar - complex systems, control theory, and optimization theory - and merged or 'reconstructed' at their boundaries into more general mathematical descriptions of complex engineered networks where important new questions are formulated and attacked. These two steps, iterated multiple times, will bridge the growing chasm between the legacy power grid and its future as a complex engineered network.« less

Appreciative inquiry for leading in complex systems: supporting the transformation of academic nursing culture.

PubMed

Moody, Roseanne C; Horton-Deutsch, Sara; Pesut, Daniel J

2007-07-01

Increasingly complex environments in which nurse educators must function create distinct challenges for leaders in nursing education. Complexity is found in the presence of knowledge-driven economies, advancements in technology, and the blurring of campus boundaries created by online learning versus traditional classroom education. A dual bureaucracy of faculty and administration coexists in nursing education. The transformation of bureaucratic culture is a strategic challenge for academic leaders who strive to move dichotomous groups toward a collective vision of a preferred future. This article advocates for the affirmative administrative process of appreciative inquiry for academic nursing leadership, in nudging the dual bureaucracy toward transformational change. The intent and characteristics of appreciative inquiry are discussed, appreciative leadership strategies and actions are explained, methods for leading cultural paradigm shift are outlined, and an exemplar of the actualization of appreciative inquiry is presented.

Fluid-Structure Interaction Modeling of the Reefed Stages of the Orion Spacecraft Main Parachutes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boswell, Cody W.

Spacecraft parachutes are typically used in multiple stages, starting with a "reefed" stage where a cable along the parachute skirt constrains the diameter to be less than the diameter in the subsequent stage. After a certain period of time during the descent, the cable is cut and the parachute "disreefs" (i.e. expands) to the next stage. Computing the parachute shape at the reefed stage and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling during the disreefing involve computational challenges beyond those we have in FSI modeling of fully-open spacecraft parachutes. These additional challenges are created by the increased geometric complexities and by the rapid changes in the parachute geometry. The computational challenges are further increased because of the added geometric porosity of the latest design, where the "windows" created by the removal of panels and the wider gaps created by the removal of sails compound the geometric and flow complexity. Orion spacecraft main parachutes will have three stages, with computation of the Stage 1 shape and FSI modeling of disreefing from Stage 1 to Stage 2 being the most challenging. We present the special modeling techniques we devised to address the computational challenges and the results from the computations carried out. We also present the methods we devised to calculate for a parachute gore the radius of curvature in the circumferential direction. The curvature values are intended for quick and simple engineering analysis in estimating the structural stresses.

Stable isotope views on ecosystem function: challenging or challenged?

PubMed

Resco, Víctor; Querejeta, José I; Ogle, Kiona; Voltas, Jordi; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Serrano-Ortiz, Penélope; Linares, Juan C; Moreno-Gutiérrez, Cristina; Herrero, Asier; Carreira, José A; Torres-Cañabate, Patricia; Valladares, Fernando

2010-06-23

Stable isotopes and their potential for detecting various and complex ecosystem processes are attracting an increasing number of scientists. Progress is challenging, particularly under global change scenarios, but some established views have been challenged. The IX meeting of the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AAET, Ubeda, 18-22 October 2009) hosted a symposium on the ecology of stable isotopes where the linear mixing model approach of partitioning sinks and sources of carbon and water fluxes within an ecosystem was challenged, and new applications of stable isotopes for the study of plant interactions were evaluated. Discussion was also centred on the need for networks that monitor ecological processes using stable isotopes and key ideas for fostering future research with isotopes.

Stable isotope views on ecosystem function: challenging or challenged?

PubMed Central

Resco, Víctor; Querejeta, José I.; Ogle, Kiona; Voltas, Jordi; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Serrano-Ortiz, Penélope; Linares, Juan C.; Moreno-Gutiérrez, Cristina; Herrero, Asier; Carreira, José A.; Torres-Cañabate, Patricia; Valladares, Fernando

2010-01-01

Stable isotopes and their potential for detecting various and complex ecosystem processes are attracting an increasing number of scientists. Progress is challenging, particularly under global change scenarios, but some established views have been challenged. The IX meeting of the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AAET, Úbeda, 18–22 October 2009) hosted a symposium on the ecology of stable isotopes where the linear mixing model approach of partitioning sinks and sources of carbon and water fluxes within an ecosystem was challenged, and new applications of stable isotopes for the study of plant interactions were evaluated. Discussion was also centred on the need for networks that monitor ecological processes using stable isotopes and key ideas for fostering future research with isotopes. PMID:20015858

The Influence of Cultural Immersion on Transcultural Self-Efficacy for Nursing Students at Private Faith-Based Baccalaureate Nursing Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schroeder, Pamela A.

2012-01-01

As multicultural populations throughout the world continually increase, complex challenges and health care disparities are being created. Nurses spend more time in patient care management than any other health care professionals. The need for nurses to provide culturally competent care for increasingly diverse patient populations is critical to…

Bullying and Mobbing in Academe: Challenges for Distance Education and Social Media Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oravec, Jo Ann

2012-01-01

Bullying and mobbing are migrating to online realms, intensifying the damage involved and increasing the complexities of these issues. Social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) are intensely communal in many senses; they may serve to increase the negative aspects of bullying and mobbing as well as provide community-oriented tools for mitigation.…

Integrated Water Resource Management: A Platform for Higher Education Institutions to Meet Complex Sustainability Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Neil; Larsen, Rasmus Kløcker

2013-01-01

Higher education institutions in Sweden are increasingly exposed to international market conditions and rising competition from a more mobile student body. This increases the need for universities to adapt to their social and economic environment and to their clients, including the political trends and financial opportunities in Sweden and EU, if…

Use of the Boomerang catalyst advantage closure device to facilitate complex multistaged percutaneous revascularization procedures for the treatment of critical limb ischemia.

PubMed

Garcia, Joel A; Casserly, Ivan P

2009-07-01

An increasing spectrum of complex peripheral arterial disease may be successfully treated using percutaneous revascularization techniques. A pair of challenging peripheral revascularization procedures in patients with critical limb ischemia is presented, where an array of interventional tools and techniques were required, and the off-label use of the Boomerang catalyst system closure device was important in managing a variety of complex arterial access issues and ultimately allowing procedural success. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Guest Editorial High Performance Computing (HPC) Applications for a More Resilient and Efficient Power Grid

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

Huang, Zhenyu Henry; Tate, Zeb; Abhyankar, Shrirang

The power grid has been evolving over the last 120 years, but it is seeing more changes in this decade and next than it has seen over the past century. In particular, the widespread deployment of intermittent renewable generation, smart loads and devices, hierarchical and distributed control technologies, phasor measurement units, energy storage, and widespread usage of electric vehicles will require fundamental changes in methods and tools for the operation and planning of the power grid. The resulting new dynamic and stochastic behaviors will demand the inclusion of more complexity in modeling the power grid. Solving such complex models inmore » the traditional computing environment will be a major challenge. Along with the increasing complexity of power system models, the increasing complexity of smart grid data further adds to the prevailing challenges. In this environment, the myriad of smart sensors and meters in the power grid increase by multiple orders of magnitude, so do the volume and speed of the data. The information infrastructure will need to drastically change to support the exchange of enormous amounts of data as smart grid applications will need the capability to collect, assimilate, analyze and process the data, to meet real-time grid functions. High performance computing (HPC) holds the promise to enhance these functions, but it is a great resource that has not been fully explored and adopted for the power grid domain.« less

Labor redundancy, retraining, and outplacement during privatization : the experience of Brazil's federal railway

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-10-01

As infrastructure privatization experiences in developing countries progress, there is increasing evidence that their impact on employment is one of their most complex and politically challenging elements. In many cases-although not always- the main ...

Interweaving Knowledge Resources to Address Complex Environmental Health Challenges

PubMed Central

Anderson, Beth Ellen; Suk, William A.

2015-01-01

Background Complex problems do not respect academic disciplinary boundaries. Environmental health research is complex and often moves beyond these boundaries, integrating diverse knowledge resources to solve such challenges. Here we describe an evolving paradigm for interweaving approaches that integrates widely diverse resources outside of traditional academic environments in full partnerships of mutual respect and understanding. We demonstrate that scientists, social scientists, and engineers can work with government agencies, industry, and communities to interweave their expertise into metaphorical knowledge fabrics to share understanding, resources, and enthusiasm. Objective Our goal is to acknowledge and validate how interweaving research approaches can contribute to research-driven, solution-oriented problem solving in environmental health, and to inspire more members of the environmental health community to consider this approach. Discussion The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (SRP), as mandated by Congress, has evolved to become a program that reaches across a wide range of knowledge resources. SRP fosters interweaving multiple knowledge resources to develop innovative multidirectional partnerships for research and training. Here we describe examples of how motivation, ideas, knowledge, and expertise from different people, institutions, and agencies can integrate to tackle challenges that can be as complex as the resources they bring to bear on it. Conclusions By providing structure for interweaving science with its stakeholders, we are better able to leverage resources, increase potential for innovation, and proactively ensure a more fully developed spectrum of beneficial outcomes of research investments. Citation Anderson BE, Naujokas MF, Suk WA. 2015. Interweaving knowledge resources to address complex environmental health challenges. Environ Health Perspect 123:1095–1099; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409525 PMID:25910282

The Challenge of Wireless Reliability and Coexistence.

PubMed

Berger, H Stephen

2016-09-01

Wireless communication plays an increasingly important role in healthcare delivery. This further heightens the importance of wireless reliability, but quantifying wireless reliability is a complex and difficult challenge. Understanding the risks that accompany the many benefits of wireless communication should be a component of overall risk management. The emerging trend of using sensors and other device-to-device communications, as part of the emerging Internet of Things concept, is evident in healthcare delivery. The trend increases both the importance and complexity of this challenge. As with most system problems, finding a solution requires breaking down the problem into manageable steps. Understanding the operational reliability of a new wireless device and its supporting system requires developing solid, quantified answers to three questions: 1) How well can this new device and its system operate in a spectral environment where many other wireless devices are also operating? 2) What is the spectral environment in which this device and its system are expected to operate? Are the risks and reliability in its operating environment acceptable? 3) How might the new device and its system affect other devices and systems already in use? When operated under an insightful risk management process, wireless technology can be safely implemented, resulting in improved delivery of care.

Metagenomic Assembly: Overview, Challenges and Applications

PubMed Central

Ghurye, Jay S.; Cepeda-Espinoza, Victoria; Pop, Mihai

2016-01-01

Advances in sequencing technologies have led to the increased use of high throughput sequencing in characterizing the microbial communities associated with our bodies and our environment. Critical to the analysis of the resulting data are sequence assembly algorithms able to reconstruct genes and organisms from complex mixtures. Metagenomic assembly involves new computational challenges due to the specific characteristics of the metagenomic data. In this survey, we focus on major algorithmic approaches for genome and metagenome assembly, and discuss the new challenges and opportunities afforded by this new field. We also review several applications of metagenome assembly in addressing interesting biological problems. PMID:27698619

Multicultural development in human services agencies: challenges and solutions.

PubMed

Hyde, Cheryl A

2004-01-01

Comprehensive multicultural organizational development (MCOD) is increasingly necessary in human services agencies. This article presents results from an exploratory study that identified challenges and solutions to MCOD, against the backdrop of daily realities of agency life. The author conducted interviews with 20 consultants and 20 practitioners experienced in MCOD. Qualitative analysis revealed four challenges--socioeconomic environment, organizational dynamics, conceptualization of the change effort, and consultant competence; and four solutions--collaborative environmental relations, leadership development, assessment and planning, and consultant selection. Results suggest the complexities of MCOD and ways that human services agencies can sustain such efforts.

Liposome-antigen-nucleic acid complexes protect mice from lethal challenge with western and eastern equine encephalitis viruses.

PubMed

Phillips, Aaron T; Schountz, Tony; Toth, Ann M; Rico, Amber B; Jarvis, Donald L; Powers, Ann M; Olson, Ken E

2014-02-01

Alphaviruses are mosquito-borne viruses that cause significant disease in animals and humans. Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) and eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), two New World alphaviruses, can cause fatal encephalitis, and EEEV is a select agent of concern in biodefense. However, we have no antiviral therapies against alphaviral disease, and current vaccine strategies target only a single alphavirus species. In an effort to develop new tools for a broader response to outbreaks, we designed and tested a novel alphavirus vaccine comprised of cationic lipid nucleic acid complexes (CLNCs) and the ectodomain of WEEV E1 protein (E1ecto). Interestingly, we found that the CLNC component, alone, had therapeutic efficacy, as it increased survival of CD-1 mice following lethal WEEV infection. Immunization with the CLNC-WEEV E1ecto mixture (lipid-antigen-nucleic acid complexes [LANACs]) using a prime-boost regimen provided 100% protection in mice challenged with WEEV subcutaneously, intranasally, or via mosquito. Mice immunized with LANACs mounted a strong humoral immune response but did not produce neutralizing antibodies. Passive transfer of serum from LANAC E1ecto-immunized mice to nonimmune CD-1 mice conferred protection against WEEV challenge, indicating that antibody is sufficient for protection. In addition, the LANAC E1ecto immunization protocol significantly increased survival of mice following intranasal or subcutaneous challenge with EEEV. In summary, our LANAC formulation has therapeutic potential and is an effective vaccine strategy that offers protection against two distinct species of alphavirus irrespective of the route of infection. We discuss plausible mechanisms as well the potential utility of our LANAC formulation as a pan-alphavirus vaccine.

Tool for evaluating research implementation challenges: A sense-making protocol for addressing implementation challenges in complex research settings

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Many challenges arise in complex organizational interventions that threaten research integrity. This article describes a Tool for Evaluating Research Implementation Challenges (TECH), developed using a complexity science framework to assist research teams in assessing and managing these challenges. Methods During the implementation of a multi-site, randomized controlled trial (RCT) of organizational interventions to reduce resident falls in eight nursing homes, we inductively developed, and later codified the TECH. The TECH was developed through processes that emerged from interactions among research team members and nursing home staff participants, including a purposive use of complexity science principles. Results The TECH provided a structure to assess challenges systematically, consider their potential impact on intervention feasibility and fidelity, and determine actions to take. We codified the process into an algorithm that can be adopted or adapted for other research projects. We present selected examples of the use of the TECH that are relevant to many complex interventions. Conclusions Complexity theory provides a useful lens through which research procedures can be developed to address implementation challenges that emerge from complex organizations and research designs. Sense-making is a group process in which diverse members interpret challenges when available information is ambiguous; the groups’ interpretations provide cues for taking action. Sense-making facilitates the creation of safe environments for generating innovative solutions that balance research integrity and practical issues. The challenges encountered during implementation of complex interventions are often unpredictable; however, adoption of a systematic process will allow investigators to address them in a consistent yet flexible manner, protecting fidelity. Research integrity is also protected by allowing for appropriate adaptations to intervention protocols that preserve the feasibility of ‘real world’ interventions. PMID:23281623

Exercising restraint: clinical, legal and ethical considerations for the patient with Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

McBrien, Barry

2007-04-01

The number of older people using emergency care is increasing steadily and older people account for over half of all emergency admissions. In the emergency setting, nurses caring for older people with Alzheimer's disease can be faced with many complex ethical and legal challenges. Moreover, challenges such as the use of physical restraint can precipitate conflict when the nurse is placed in the precarious position of doing good, respecting autonomy and avoiding paternalism. Although, there is no complete set of "rules" that can provide nurses with an answer to each dilemma, it is of significant value for nurses to have sound knowledge of ethical and legal positions in order to analyse the many complex situations that they may encounter.

Complex contribution of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder to veteran suicide: facing an increasing challenge.

PubMed

Lee, Elizabeth A D

2012-04-01

The purpose of this case study is to present the complex contribution of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to suicide and international standards of treatment among veterans deployed to the Middle East. PTSD carries increased physical and psychological health risk in combat soldiers. Internationally, guidelines for PTSD promote cognitive behavior therapies, specifically exposure therapy, as first line treatment; however, implementation varies among countries. Evidence supports the benefit of exposure-based psychotherapy for combat-related PTSD. Commonly prescribed antidepressants and other psychotherapy treatments may not be as beneficial. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Climate Change and Cities in Africa: Current Dilemmas and Future Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

naturally emanates from Earth’s atmosphere .8 One piece of scientific evidence of climate change has been an increase in the average global temperature...is just one element of climate change . Atmospheric temperature interacts with other natural systems, such as the oceanic system, in complex ways with...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: How will climate change affect people living in African cities? The answer to this complex question has two interrelated

Management, Analysis, and Visualization of Experimental and Observational Data – The Convergence of Data and Computing

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

Bethel, E. Wes; Greenwald, Martin; Kleese van Dam, Kerstin

Scientific user facilities—particle accelerators, telescopes, colliders, supercomputers, light sources, sequencing facilities, and more—operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) generate ever increasing volumes of data at unprecedented rates from experiments, observations, and simulations. At the same time there is a growing community of experimentalists that require real-time data analysis feedback, to enable them to steer their complex experimental instruments to optimized scientific outcomes and new discoveries. Recent efforts in DOE-SC have focused on articulating the data-centric challenges and opportunities facing these science communities. Key challenges include difficulties coping with data size, rate, and complexity inmore » the context of both real-time and post-experiment data analysis and interpretation. Solutions will require algorithmic and mathematical advances, as well as hardware and software infrastructures that adequately support data-intensive scientific workloads. This paper presents the summary findings of a workshop held by DOE-SC in September 2015, convened to identify the major challenges and the research that is needed to meet those challenges.« less

Management, Analysis, and Visualization of Experimental and Observational Data -- The Convergence of Data and Computing

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

Bethel, E. Wes; Greenwald, Martin; Kleese van Dam, Kersten

Scientific user facilities---particle accelerators, telescopes, colliders, supercomputers, light sources, sequencing facilities, and more---operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) generate ever increasing volumes of data at unprecedented rates from experiments, observations, and simulations. At the same time there is a growing community of experimentalists that require real-time data analysis feedback, to enable them to steer their complex experimental instruments to optimized scientific outcomes and new discoveries. Recent efforts in DOE-SC have focused on articulating the data-centric challenges and opportunities facing these science communities. Key challenges include difficulties coping with data size, rate, and complexity inmore » the context of both real-time and post-experiment data analysis and interpretation. Solutions will require algorithmic and mathematical advances, as well as hardware and software infrastructures that adequately support data-intensive scientific workloads. This paper presents the summary findings of a workshop held by DOE-SC in September 2015, convened to identify the major challenges and the research that is needed to meet those challenges.« less

The Role of NOAA's National Data Centers in the Earth and Space Science Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, C. G.

2008-12-01

NOAA's National Data Centers (NNDC) provide access to long-term archives of environmental data from NOAA and other sources. The NNDCs face significant challenges in the volume and complexity of modern data sets. Data volume challenges are being addressed using more capable data archive systems such as the Comprehensive Large Array-Data Stewardship System (CLASS). Challenges in assuring data quality and stewardship are in many ways more challenging. In the past, scientists at the Data Centers could provide reasonable stewardship of data sets in their area of expertise. As staff levels have decreased and data complexity has increased, Data Centers depend on their data providers and user communities to provide high-quality metadata, feedback on data problems and improvements. This relationship requires strong partnerships between the NNDCs and academic, commercial, and international partners, as well as advanced data management and access tools that conform to established international standards when available. The NNDCs are looking to geospatial databases, interactive mapping, web services, and other Application Program Interface approaches to help preserve NNDC data and information and to make it easily available to the scientific community.

DNA damage and repair after high LET radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neill, Peter; Cucinotta, Francis; Anderson, Jennifer

Predictions from biophysical models of interactions of radiation tracks with cellular DNA indicate that clustered DNA damage sites, defined as two or more lesions formed within one or two helical turns of the DNA by passage of a single radiation track, are formed in mammalian cells. These complex DNA damage sites are regarded as a signature of ionizing radiation exposure particularly as the likelihood of clustered damage sites arising endogenously is low. For instance, it was predicted from biophysical modelling that 30-40% of low LET-induced double strand breaks (DSB), a form of clustered damage, are complex with the yield increasing to >90% for high LET radiation, consistent with the reduced reparability of DSB with increasing ionization density of the radiation. The question arises whether the increased biological effects such as mutagenesis, carcinogenesis and lethality is in part related to DNA damage complexity and/or spatial distribution of the damage sites, which may lead to small DNA fragments. With particle radiation it is also important to consider not only delta-rays which may cause clustered damaged sites and may be highly mutagenic but the non-random spatial distribution of DSB which may lead to deletions. In this overview I will concentrate on the molecular aspects of the variation of the complexity of DNA damage on radiation quality and the challenges this complexity presents the DNA damage repair pathways. I will draw on data from micro-irradiations which indicate that the repair of DSBs by non-homologous end joining is highly regulated with pathway choice and kinetics of repair dependent on the chemical complexity of the DSB. In summary the aim is to emphasis the link between the spatial distribution of energy deposition events related to the track, the molecular products formed and the consequence of damage complexity contributing to biological effects and to present some of the outstanding molecular challenges with particle radiation.

The Stigma Complex

PubMed Central

Pescosolido, Bernice A.; Martin, Jack K.

2016-01-01

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, research on stigma has continued. Building on conceptual and empirical work, the recent period clarifies new types of stigmas, expansion of measures, identification of new directions, and increasingly complex levels. Standard beliefs have been challenged, the relationship between stigma research and public debates reconsidered, and new scientific foundations for policy and programs suggested. We begin with a summary of the most recent Annual Review articles on stigma, which reminded sociologists of conceptual tools, informed them of developments from academic neighbors, and claimed findings from the early period of “resurgence.” Continued (even accelerated) progress has also revealed a central problem. Terms and measures are often used interchangeably, leading to confusion and decreasing accumulated knowledge. Drawing from this work but focusing on the past 14 years of stigma research (including mental illness, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS, and race/ethnicity), we provide a theoretical architecture of concepts (e.g., prejudice, experienced/received discrimination), drawn together through a stigma process (i.e., stigmatization), based on four theoretical premises. Many characteristics of the mark (e.g., discredited, concealable) and variants (i.e., stigma types and targets) become the focus of increasingly specific and multidimensional definitions. Drawing from complex and systems science, we propose a stigma complex, a system of interrelated, heterogeneous parts bringing together insights across disciplines to provide a more realistic and complicated sense of the challenge facing research and change efforts. The Framework Integrating Normative Influences on Stigma (FINIS) offers a multilevel approach that can be tailored to stigmatized statuses. Finally, we outline challenges for the next phase of stigma research, with the goal of continuing scientific activity that enhances our understanding of stigma and builds the scientific foundation for efforts to reduce intolerance. PMID:26855471

Using MAPP to Connect Communities: One County's Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Rita Arras; Peters, Mark

2009-01-01

Public health leaders of the 21st century are challenged by increasingly complex problems and escalating expectations amid scarce or shrinking resources. Community and interdisciplinary collaboration holds promise for synergism and capacity building. Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP), the latest…

An overview of geophysical technologies appropriate for characterization and monitoring at fractured-rock sites

EPA Science Inventory

Geophysical methods are used increasingly for characterization and monitoring at remediation sites in fractured-rock aquifers. The complex heterogeneity of fractured rock poses enormous challenges to groundwater remediation professionals, and new methods are needed to cost-effect...

Solar ultraviolet radiation in a changing climate

EPA Science Inventory

The projected large increases in damaging ultraviolet radiation as a result of global emissions of ozone-depleting substances have been forestalled by the success of the Montreal Protocol. New challenges are now arising in relation to climate change. We highlight the complex inte...

Three Essays on Information Technology Security Management in Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gupta, Manish

2011-01-01

Increasing complexity and sophistication of ever evolving information technologies has spurred unique and unprecedented challenges for organizations to protect their information assets. Companies suffer significant financial and reputational damage due to ineffective information technology security management, which has extensively been shown to…

The School, The Scholar, And Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, O. Meredith

Traditionally, universities have independently sought and preserved knowledge and prepared students for professional careers, although society has influenced and supported their objectives. Today's universities, challenged by the increasingly complex needs of society, are responding with educational innovations that are usually profitable to both.…

Challenges Faced by Parents of Children with Congenital Heart Disease

MedlinePlus

... CHD can be overwhelming, stressful, and in some cases tragic. However, some families have recognized a silver lining in having a family member with a complex medical condition like CHD. For example, siblings can be more resilient—demonstrating increased compassion, ...

An FDA Perspective on the Regulatory Implications of Complex Signatures to Predict Response to Targeted Therapies

PubMed Central

Beaver, Julia A.; Tzou, Abraham; Blumenthal, Gideon M.; McKee, Amy E.; Kim, Geoffrey; Pazdur, Richard; Philip, Reena

2016-01-01

As technologies evolve, and diagnostics move from detection of single biomarkers toward complex signatures, an increase in the clinical use and regulatory submission of complex signatures is anticipated. However, to date, no complex signatures have been approved as companion diagnostics. In this article, we will describe the potential benefit of complex signatures and their unique regulatory challenges including analytical performance validation, complex signature simulation, and clinical performance evaluation. We also will review the potential regulatory pathways for clearance, approval, or acceptance of complex signatures by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These regulatory pathways include regulations applicable to in vitro diagnostic devices, including companion diagnostic devices, the potential for labeling as a complementary diagnostic, and the biomarker qualification program. PMID:27993967

Big questions, big science: meeting the challenges of global ecology

Treesearch

David Schimel; Michael Keller

2015-01-01

Ecologists are increasingly tackling questions that require significant infrastucture, large experiments, networks of observations, and complex data and computation. Key hypotheses in ecology increasingly require more investment, and larger data sets to be tested than can be collected by a single investigator’s or s group of investigator’s labs, sustained for longer...

Growing organizational capacity through a systems approach: one health network's experience.

PubMed

MacKenzie, Richard; Capuano, Terry; Durishin, Linda Drexinger; Stern, Glen; Burke, James B

2008-02-01

Hospitals are reporting unexpected surges in demand for services. Lehigh Valley Hospital challenged its clinical and administrative staff to increase capacity by at least 4% per year using an interdepartmental, systemwide initiative, Growing Organizational Capacity (GOC). Following a systemwide leadership retreat that yielded more than 1,000 ideas, the initiative's principal sponsor convened a cross-functional improvement team. During a two-year period, 17 projects were implemented. Using a complex systems approach, improvement ideas "emerged" from microsystems at the points of care. Through rigorous reporting and testing of process adaptations, need, data, and people drove innovation. Hundreds of multilevel clinical and administrative staff redesigned processes and roles to increase organizational capacity. Admissions rose by 6.1%, 5.5 %, 8.7%, 5.0%, and 3.8% in fiscal years 2003 through 2007, respectively. Process enhancements cost approximately $1 million, while increased revenues attributable to increased capacity totaled $2.5 million. Multiple, coordinated, and concurrent projects created a greater impact than that possible with a single project. GOC and its success, best explained in the context of complex adaptive systems and microsystem theories, are transferrable to throughput issues that challenge efficiency and effectiveness in other health care systems.

Long Non-Coding RNAs (lncRNAs) of Sea Cucumber: Large-Scale Prediction, Expression Profiling, Non-Coding Network Construction, and lncRNA-microRNA-Gene Interaction Analysis of lncRNAs in Apostichopus japonicus and Holothuria glaberrima During LPS Challenge and Radial Organ Complex Regeneration.

PubMed

Mu, Chuang; Wang, Ruijia; Li, Tianqi; Li, Yuqiang; Tian, Meilin; Jiao, Wenqian; Huang, Xiaoting; Zhang, Lingling; Hu, Xiaoli; Wang, Shi; Bao, Zhenmin

2016-08-01

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) structurally resembles mRNA but cannot be translated into protein. Although the systematic identification and characterization of lncRNAs have been increasingly reported in model species, information concerning non-model species is still lacking. Here, we report the first systematic identification and characterization of lncRNAs in two sea cucumber species: (1) Apostichopus japonicus during lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge and in heathy tissues and (2) Holothuria glaberrima during radial organ complex regeneration, using RNA-seq datasets and bioinformatics analysis. We identified A. japonicus and H. glaberrima lncRNAs that were differentially expressed during LPS challenge and radial organ complex regeneration, respectively. Notably, the predicted lncRNA-microRNA-gene trinities revealed that, in addition to targeting protein-coding transcripts, miRNAs might also target lncRNAs, thereby participating in a potential novel layer of regulatory interactions among non-coding RNA classes in echinoderms. Furthermore, the constructed coding-non-coding network implied the potential involvement of lncRNA-gene interactions during the regulation of several important genes (e.g., Toll-like receptor 1 [TLR1] and transglutaminase-1 [TGM1]) in response to LPS challenge and radial organ complex regeneration in sea cucumbers. Overall, this pioneer systematic identification, annotation, and characterization of lncRNAs in echinoderm pave the way for similar studies and future genetic, genomic, and evolutionary research in non-model species.

Multiple choice questions can be designed or revised to challenge learners' critical thinking.

PubMed

Tractenberg, Rochelle E; Gushta, Matthew M; Mulroney, Susan E; Weissinger, Peggy A

2013-12-01

Multiple choice (MC) questions from a graduate physiology course were evaluated by cognitive-psychology (but not physiology) experts, and analyzed statistically, in order to test the independence of content expertise and cognitive complexity ratings of MC items. Integration of higher order thinking into MC exams is important, but widely known to be challenging-perhaps especially when content experts must think like novices. Expertise in the domain (content) may actually impede the creation of higher-complexity items. Three cognitive psychology experts independently rated cognitive complexity for 252 multiple-choice physiology items using a six-level cognitive complexity matrix that was synthesized from the literature. Rasch modeling estimated item difficulties. The complexity ratings and difficulty estimates were then analyzed together to determine the relative contributions (and independence) of complexity and difficulty to the likelihood of correct answers on each item. Cognitive complexity was found to be statistically independent of difficulty estimates for 88 % of items. Using the complexity matrix, modifications were identified to increase some item complexities by one level, without affecting the item's difficulty. Cognitive complexity can effectively be rated by non-content experts. The six-level complexity matrix, if applied by faculty peer groups trained in cognitive complexity and without domain-specific expertise, could lead to improvements in the complexity targeted with item writing and revision. Targeting higher order thinking with MC questions can be achieved without changing item difficulties or other test characteristics, but this may be less likely if the content expert is left to assess items within their domain of expertise.

Challenges and Opportunities for Tribal Waters: Addressing Disparities in Safe Public Drinking Water on the Crow Reservation in Montana, USA.

PubMed

Doyle, John T; Kindness, Larry; Realbird, James; Eggers, Margaret J; Camper, Anne K

2018-03-21

Disparities in access to safe public drinking water are increasingly being recognized as contributing to health disparities and environmental injustice for vulnerable communities in the United States. As the Co-Directors of the Apsaálooke Water and Wastewater Authority (AWWWA) for the Crow Tribe, with our academic partners, we present here the multiple and complex challenges we have addressed in improving and maintaining tribal water and wastewater infrastructure, including the identification of diverse funding sources for infrastructure construction, the need for many kinds of specialized expertise and long-term stability of project personnel, ratepayer difficulty in paying for services, an ongoing legacy of inadequate infrastructure planning, and lack of water quality research capacity. As a tribal entity, the AWWWA faces additional challenges, including the complex jurisdictional issues affecting all phases of our work, lack of authority to create water districts, and additional legal and regulatory gaps-especially with regards to environmental protection. Despite these obstacles, the AWWWA and Crow Tribe have successfully upgraded much of the local water and wastewater infrastructure. We find that ensuring safe public drinking water for tribal and other disadvantaged U.S. communities will require comprehensive, community-engaged approaches across a broad range of stakeholders to successfully address these complex legal, regulatory, policy, community capacity, and financial challenges.

Challenges and Opportunities for Tribal Waters: Addressing Disparities in Safe Public Drinking Water on the Crow Reservation in Montana, USA

PubMed Central

Doyle, John T.; Kindness, Larry; Realbird, James; Camper, Anne K.

2018-01-01

Disparities in access to safe public drinking water are increasingly being recognized as contributing to health disparities and environmental injustice for vulnerable communities in the United States. As the Co-Directors of the Apsaálooke Water and Wastewater Authority (AWWWA) for the Crow Tribe, with our academic partners, we present here the multiple and complex challenges we have addressed in improving and maintaining tribal water and wastewater infrastructure, including the identification of diverse funding sources for infrastructure construction, the need for many kinds of specialized expertise and long-term stability of project personnel, ratepayer difficulty in paying for services, an ongoing legacy of inadequate infrastructure planning, and lack of water quality research capacity. As a tribal entity, the AWWWA faces additional challenges, including the complex jurisdictional issues affecting all phases of our work, lack of authority to create water districts, and additional legal and regulatory gaps—especially with regards to environmental protection. Despite these obstacles, the AWWWA and Crow Tribe have successfully upgraded much of the local water and wastewater infrastructure. We find that ensuring safe public drinking water for tribal and other disadvantaged U.S. communities will require comprehensive, community-engaged approaches across a broad range of stakeholders to successfully address these complex legal, regulatory, policy, community capacity, and financial challenges. PMID:29561815

EXTRAPOLATION MODELING: ADVANCEMENTS AND RESEARCH ISSUES IN LUNG DOSIMETRY

EPA Science Inventory

Many of the environmental pollutants to which humans are exposed are increasing rapidly, in terms of number, complexity, and concentration. ne of the great challenges in environmental medicine is to define more accurately the adverse health effects likely to be encountered by exp...

Making Role-Playing Real

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schafer, Josephine Gatti

2016-01-01

Recent research in public administration on governance, networks, and deliberative democracy, has highlighted the need to develop a skill set in graduates of Public Administration programs that prepares them for the interpersonal and relational challenges of the policy process. The skills needed to manage in increasingly complex and networked…

Use of Biological and Non-biological Surrogates for Evaluating Cryptosporidium Removal by Filtration

EPA Science Inventory

Water treatment plants are currently facing increasing challenges in monitoring Cryptosporidium in source and treated water because of complex analytical techniques and associated health risks. Surrogates may be easier to analyze than Cryptosporidium, but they must also be reliab...

Evaluation of quality improvement programmes

PubMed Central

Ovretveit, J; Gustafson, D

2002-01-01



 In response to increasing concerns about quality, many countries are carrying out large scale programmes which include national quality strategies, hospital programmes, and quality accreditation, assessment and review processes. Increasing amounts of resources are being devoted to these interventions, but do they ensure or improve quality of care? There is little research evidence as to their effectiveness or the conditions for maximum effectiveness. Reasons for the lack of evaluation research include the methodological challenges of measuring outcomes and attributing causality to these complex, changing, long term social interventions to organisations or health systems, which themselves are complex and changing. However, methods are available which can be used to evaluate these programmes and which can provide decision makers with research based guidance on how to plan and implement them. This paper describes the research challenges, the methods which can be used, and gives examples and guidance for future research. It emphasises the important contribution which such research can make to improving the effectiveness of these programmes and to developing the science of quality improvement. PMID:12486994

E-Index for Differentiating Complex Dynamic Traits

PubMed Central

Qi, Jiandong; Sun, Jianfeng; Wang, Jianxin

2016-01-01

While it is a daunting challenge in current biology to understand how the underlying network of genes regulates complex dynamic traits, functional mapping, a tool for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), has been applied in a variety of cases to tackle this challenge. Though useful and powerful, functional mapping performs well only when one or more model parameters are clearly responsible for the developmental trajectory, typically being a logistic curve. Moreover, it does not work when the curves are more complex than that, especially when they are not monotonic. To overcome this inadaptability, we therefore propose a mathematical-biological concept and measurement, E-index (earliness-index), which cumulatively measures the earliness degree to which a variable (or a dynamic trait) increases or decreases its value. Theoretical proofs and simulation studies show that E-index is more general than functional mapping and can be applied to any complex dynamic traits, including those with logistic curves and those with nonmonotonic curves. Meanwhile, E-index vector is proposed as well to capture more subtle differences of developmental patterns. PMID:27064292

Manufacturing DTaP-based combination vaccines: industrial challenges around essential public health tools.

PubMed

Vidor, Emmanuel; Soubeyrand, Benoit

2016-12-01

The manufacture of DTP-backboned combination vaccines is complex, and vaccine quality is evaluated by both batch composition and conformance of manufacturing history. Since their first availability, both the manufacturing regulations for DTP combination vaccines and their demand have evolved significantly. This has resulted in a constant need to modify manufacturing and quality control processes. Areas covered: Regulations that govern the manufacture of complex vaccines can be inconsistent between countries and need to be aligned with the regulatory requirements that apply in all countries of distribution. Changes in product mix and quantities can lead to uncertainty in vaccine supply maintenance. These problems are discussed in the context of the importance of these products as essential public health tools. Expert commentary: Increasing demand for complex vaccines globally has led to problems in supply due to intrinsically complex manufacturing and regulatory procedures. Vaccine manufacturers are fully engaged in the resolution of these challenges, but currently changes in demand need ideally to be anticipated approximately 3 years in advance due to long production cycle times.

Achievements and challenges in structural bioinformatics and computational biophysics.

PubMed

Samish, Ilan; Bourne, Philip E; Najmanovich, Rafael J

2015-01-01

The field of structural bioinformatics and computational biophysics has undergone a revolution in the last 10 years. Developments that are captured annually through the 3DSIG meeting, upon which this article reflects. An increase in the accessible data, computational resources and methodology has resulted in an increase in the size and resolution of studied systems and the complexity of the questions amenable to research. Concomitantly, the parameterization and efficiency of the methods have markedly improved along with their cross-validation with other computational and experimental results. The field exhibits an ever-increasing integration with biochemistry, biophysics and other disciplines. In this article, we discuss recent achievements along with current challenges within the field. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Achievements and challenges in structural bioinformatics and computational biophysics

PubMed Central

Samish, Ilan; Bourne, Philip E.; Najmanovich, Rafael J.

2015-01-01

Motivation: The field of structural bioinformatics and computational biophysics has undergone a revolution in the last 10 years. Developments that are captured annually through the 3DSIG meeting, upon which this article reflects. Results: An increase in the accessible data, computational resources and methodology has resulted in an increase in the size and resolution of studied systems and the complexity of the questions amenable to research. Concomitantly, the parameterization and efficiency of the methods have markedly improved along with their cross-validation with other computational and experimental results. Conclusion: The field exhibits an ever-increasing integration with biochemistry, biophysics and other disciplines. In this article, we discuss recent achievements along with current challenges within the field. Contact: Rafael.Najmanovich@USherbrooke.ca PMID:25488929

AnchorDock for Blind Flexible Docking of Peptides to Proteins.

PubMed

Slutzki, Michal; Ben-Shimon, Avraham; Niv, Masha Y

2017-01-01

Due to increasing interest in peptides as signaling modulators and drug candidates, several methods for peptide docking to their target proteins are under active development. The "blind" docking problem, where the peptide-binding site on the protein surface is unknown, presents one of the current challenges in the field. AnchorDock protocol was developed by Ben-Shimon and Niv to address this challenge.This protocol narrows the docking search to the most relevant parts of the conformational space. This is achieved by pre-folding the free peptide and by computationally detecting anchoring spots on the surface of the unbound protein. Multiple flexible simulated annealing molecular dynamics (SAMD) simulations are subsequently carried out, starting from pre-folded peptide conformations, constrained to the various precomputed anchoring spots.Here, AnchorDock is demonstrated using two known protein-peptide complexes. A PDZ-peptide complex provides a relatively easy case due to the relatively small size of the protein, and a typical peptide conformation and binding region; a more challenging example is a complex between USP7 N-term and a p53-derived peptide, where the protein is larger, and the peptide conformation and a binding site are generally assumed to be unknown. AnchorDock returned native-like solutions ranked first and third for the PDZ and USP7 complexes, respectively. We describe the procedure step by step and discuss possible modifications where applicable.

Interacting complex systems: Theory and application to real-world situations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piccinini, Nicola

The interest in complex systems has increased exponentially during the past years because it was found helpful in addressing many of today's challenges. The study of the brain, biology, earthquakes, markets and social sciences are only a few examples of the fields that have benefited from the investigation of complex systems. Internet, the increased mobility of people and the raising energy demand are among the factors that brought in contact complex systems that were isolated till a few years ago. A theory for the interaction between complex systems is becoming more and more urgent to help mankind in this transition. The present work builds upon the most recent results in this field by solving a theoretical problem that prevented previous work to be applied to important complex systems, like the brain. It also shows preliminary laboratory results of perturbation of in vitro neural networks that were done to test the theory. Finally, it gives a preview of the studies that are being done to create a theory that is even closer to the interaction between real complex systems.

Case study: a health check-up for the corporate IT department.

PubMed

Clark, Frank; Kimmerly, William

2004-01-01

As advances such as the electronic charting, closed-loop medication safety, physician order entry, consumer portals, electronic collaboration, and wireless access become the norm, central IS organizations are finding it difficult to keep pace. This challenge is exacerbated by declining margins, severe cost pressures, increased regulation, and added public scrutiny. Is your centralized IS organization healthy enough to meet the challenges presented by today's complex, demanding, dynamic healthcare delivery environments? How do you know? What factors do you consider?

Challenges in Visual Analysis of Ensembles

DOE PAGES

Crossno, Patricia

2018-04-12

Modeling physical phenomena through computational simulation increasingly relies on generating a collection of related runs, known as an ensemble. In this paper, we explore the challenges we face in developing analysis and visualization systems for large and complex ensemble data sets, which we seek to understand without having to view the results of every simulation run. Implementing approaches and ideas developed in response to this goal, we demonstrate the analysis of a 15K run material fracturing study using Slycat, our ensemble analysis system.

Challenges in High-Assurance Runtime Verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodloe, Alwyn E.

2016-01-01

Safety-critical systems are growing more complex and becoming increasingly autonomous. Runtime Verification (RV) has the potential to provide protections when a system cannot be assured by conventional means, but only if the RV itself can be trusted. In this paper, we proffer a number of challenges to realizing high-assurance RV and illustrate how we have addressed them in our research. We argue that high-assurance RV provides a rich target for automated verification tools in hope of fostering closer collaboration among the communities.

Addressing tomorrow's DMO technical challenges today

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milligan, James R.

2009-05-01

Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) is essentially a type of networked training that pulls in participants from all the armed services and, increasingly, allies to permit them to "game" and rehearse highly complex campaigns, using a mix of local, distant, and virtual players. The United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is pursuing Science and Technology (S&T) solutions to address technical challenges associated with distributed communications and information management as DMO continues to progressively scale up the number, diversity, and geographic dispersal of participants in training and rehearsal exercises.

The Diamond Light Source and the challenges ahead for structural biology: some informal remarks.

PubMed

Ramakrishnan, V

2015-03-06

The remarkable advances in structural biology in the past three decades have led to the determination of increasingly complex structures that lie at the heart of many important biological processes. Many of these advances have been made possible by the use of X-ray crystallography using synchrotron radiation. In this short article, some of the challenges and prospects that lie ahead will be summarized. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Challenges in Visual Analysis of Ensembles

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

Crossno, Patricia

Modeling physical phenomena through computational simulation increasingly relies on generating a collection of related runs, known as an ensemble. In this paper, we explore the challenges we face in developing analysis and visualization systems for large and complex ensemble data sets, which we seek to understand without having to view the results of every simulation run. Implementing approaches and ideas developed in response to this goal, we demonstrate the analysis of a 15K run material fracturing study using Slycat, our ensemble analysis system.

Minireview: Epigenetics of Obesity and Diabetes in Humans

PubMed Central

Slomko, Howard; Heo, Hye J.

2012-01-01

Understanding the determinants of human health and disease is overwhelmingly complex, particularly for common, late-onset, chronic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes. Elucidating the genetic and environmental factors that influence susceptibility to disruptions in energy homeostasis and metabolic regulation remain a challenge, and progress will entail the integration of multiple assessments of temporally dynamic environmental exposures in the context of each individual's genotype. To meet this challenge, researchers are increasingly exploring the epigenome, which is the malleable interface of gene-environment interactions. Epigenetic variation, whether innate or induced, contributes to variation in gene expression, the range of potential individual responses to internal and external cues, and risk for metabolic disease. Ultimately, advancement in our understanding of chronic disease susceptibility in humans will depend on refinement of exposure assessment tools and systems biology approaches to interpretation. In this review, we present recent progress in epigenetics of human obesity and diabetes, existing challenges, and the potential for new approaches to unravel the complex biology of metabolic dysregulation. PMID:22253427

Minireview: Epigenetics of obesity and diabetes in humans.

PubMed

Slomko, Howard; Heo, Hye J; Einstein, Francine H

2012-03-01

Understanding the determinants of human health and disease is overwhelmingly complex, particularly for common, late-onset, chronic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes. Elucidating the genetic and environmental factors that influence susceptibility to disruptions in energy homeostasis and metabolic regulation remain a challenge, and progress will entail the integration of multiple assessments of temporally dynamic environmental exposures in the context of each individual's genotype. To meet this challenge, researchers are increasingly exploring the epigenome, which is the malleable interface of gene-environment interactions. Epigenetic variation, whether innate or induced, contributes to variation in gene expression, the range of potential individual responses to internal and external cues, and risk for metabolic disease. Ultimately, advancement in our understanding of chronic disease susceptibility in humans will depend on refinement of exposure assessment tools and systems biology approaches to interpretation. In this review, we present recent progress in epigenetics of human obesity and diabetes, existing challenges, and the potential for new approaches to unravel the complex biology of metabolic dysregulation.

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

McManus, Marcelle C.; Taylor, Caroline M.; Mohr, Alison

Purpose: Bioenergy is increasingly used to help meet greenhouse gas (GHG) and renewable energy targets. However, bioenergy’s sustainability has been questioned, resulting in increasing use of life cycle assessment (LCA). Bioenergy systems are global and complex, and market forces can result in significant changes, relevant to LCA and policy. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the complexities associated with LCA, with particular focus on bioenergy and associated policy development, so that its use can more effectively inform policymakers. Methods: The review is based on the results from a series of workshops focused on bioenergy life cycle assessment. Expertmore » submissions were compiled and categorized within the first two workshops. Over 100 issues emerged. Accounting for redundancies and close similarities in the list, this reduced to around 60 challenges, many of which are deeply interrelated. Some of these issues were then explored further at a policy-facing workshop in London, UK. The authors applied a rigorous approach to categorize the challenges identified to be at the intersection of biofuels/bioenergy LCA and policy. Results and discussion: The credibility of LCA is core to its use in policy. Even LCAs that comply with ISO standards and policy and regulatory instruments leave a great deal of scope for interpretation and flexibility. Within the bioenergy sector, this has led to frustration and at times a lack of obvious direction. This paper identifies the main challenge clusters: overarching issues, application and practice and value and ethical judgments. Many of these are reflective of the transition from application of LCA to assess individual products or systems to the wider approach that is becoming more common. Uncertainty in impact assessment strongly influences planning and compliance due to challenges in assigning accountability, and communicating the inherent complexity and uncertainty within bioenergy is becoming of greater importance. Conclusions: The emergence of LCA in bioenergy governance is particularly significant because other sectors are likely to transition to similar governance models. LCA is being stretched to accommodate complex and broad policy-relevant questions, seeking to incorporate externalities that have major implications for long-term sustainability. As policy increasingly relies on LCA, the strains placed on the methodology are becoming both clearer and impedimentary. The implications for energy policy, and in particular bioenergy, are large.« less

Mass Media’s Perspective on the Challenges of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Junaidi

2017-12-01

This study investigated the challenges of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indonesia based on mass media’s perspective. The challenges of ICT on mass media’s perspective are very complex. Some of these challenges include the consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of ICT, threats to the unity of the country, cultural problems, regulation, business competition among operators, Pokemon Go booming, the existence of social media which triggers hostility between people and the increasing rate of the interconnection cost. Among the main reasons to this phenomenon is a need of massive investment to build the infrastructures. This study used Robert N. Entman framing model to analyze the headlines of Majalah ICT (an ICT magazine).

Using Active Learning to Identify Health Information Technology Related Patient Safety Events.

PubMed

Fong, Allan; Howe, Jessica L; Adams, Katharine T; Ratwani, Raj M

2017-01-18

The widespread adoption of health information technology (HIT) has led to new patient safety hazards that are often difficult to identify. Patient safety event reports, which are self-reported descriptions of safety hazards, provide one view of potential HIT-related safety events. However, identifying HIT-related reports can be challenging as they are often categorized under other more predominate clinical categories. This challenge of identifying HIT-related reports is exacerbated by the increasing number and complexity of reports which pose challenges to human annotators that must manually review reports. In this paper, we apply active learning techniques to support classification of patient safety event reports as HIT-related. We evaluated different strategies and demonstrated a 30% increase in average precision of a confirmatory sampling strategy over a baseline no active learning approach after 10 learning iterations.

Challenges to Native American health care.

PubMed

Noren, J; Kindig, D; Sprenger, A

1998-01-01

Native American health care programs face complex and unprecedented challenges resulting from the increased assumption of clinical operations by tribal authorities, shortfalls in Federal funding, modifications in state and Federal health and welfare programs, and intensifying involvement with managed care organizations. These challenges are further complicated by service populations that are increasing at a faster rate than the growth in funding. The authors conducted onsite surveys of 39 Native American health programs in 10 states in order to assess the organizational and management problems they faced. The trend toward transfer of health programs from the Indian Health Service to tribal operation seems likely to continue and accelerate. The survey results indicate that in order for programs to be effective in the long run, they will need to be guided by skilled managers able to adapt to these powerful changes in the health care environment.

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

Zitney, S.E.

Emerging fossil energy power generation systems must operate with unprecedented efficiency and near-zero emissions, while optimizing profitably amid cost fluctuations for raw materials, finished products, and energy. To help address these challenges, the fossil energy industry will have to rely increasingly on the use advanced computational tools for modeling and simulating complex process systems. In this paper, we present the computational research challenges and opportunities for the optimization of fossil energy power generation systems across the plant lifecycle from process synthesis and design to plant operations. We also look beyond the plant gates to discuss research challenges and opportunities formore » enterprise-wide optimization, including planning, scheduling, and supply chain technologies.« less

Challenges in breeding for yield increase for drought.

PubMed

Sinclair, Thomas R

2011-06-01

Crop genetic improvement for environmental stress at the molecular and physiological level is very complex and challenging. Unlike the example of the current major commercial transgenic crops for which biotic stress tolerance is based on chemicals alien to plants, the complex, redundant and homeostatic molecular and physiological systems existing in plants must be altered for drought tolerance improvement. Sophisticated tools must be developed to monitor phenotype expression at the crop level to characterize variation among genotypes across a range of environments. Once stress-tolerant cultivars are developed, regional probability distributions describing yield response across years will be necessary. This information can then aid in identifying environmental conditions for positive and negative responses to genetic modification to guide farmer selection of stress-tolerant cultivars. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key Writing Challenges of Practice-Based Doctorates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

San Miguel, Caroline; Nelson, Cynthia D.

2007-01-01

Building on the increasing interest within English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in postgraduate literacy development, this article examines the complexities of writing research at the academic/professional interface. It analyses two literature reviews by professional doctorate students at an Australian university who were writing research in their…

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducing nonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Issues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previously developed urban environments. A diverse assortment of resource management tools, or

Engineers' Professional Learning: A Practice-Theory Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reich, Ann; Rooney, Donna; Gardner, Anne; Willey, Keith; Boud, David; Fitzgerald, Terry

2015-01-01

With the increasing challenges facing professional engineers working in more complex, global and interdisciplinary contexts, different approaches to understanding how engineers practice and learn are necessary. This paper draws on recent research in the social sciences from the field of workplace learning, to suggest that a practice-theory…

Bayesian Methods for Scalable Multivariate Value-Added Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lockwood, J. R.; McCaffrey, Daniel F.; Mariano, Louis T.; Setodji, Claude

2007-01-01

There is increased interest in value-added models relying on longitudinal student-level test score data to isolate teachers' contributions to student achievement. The complex linkage of students to teachers as students progress through grades poses both substantive and computational challenges. This article introduces a multivariate Bayesian…

Internationalization for an Uncertain Future: Tensions, Paradoxes, and Possibilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Sharon

2017-01-01

As higher education is increasingly called upon to play a central role in addressing the challenges and crises of today's complex, uncertain, and volatile world, internationalization efforts are intensifying. Emphasizing higher education as a space for critically-informed, socially accountable, and open-ended conversations about alternative…

Public Administration Teaching and Interdisciplinarity: Considering the Consequences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Waldt, Gerrit

2014-01-01

Public administration is a highly diverse and evolving field of scientific inquiry. The study domain is characterised further by often-competing paradigmatic perspectives and seemingly endless teaching modalities. There seems to be an increasing realisation that answers to complex societal challenges cannot be solved within the knowledge…

System Dynamics Modeling for Intellectual Disability Services: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duryan, Meri; Nikolik, Dragan; van Merode, Godefridus; Curfs, Leopold

2012-01-01

Organizations providing services to persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) are complex because of many interacting stakeholders with often different and competing interests. The combination of increased consumer demand and diminished resources makes organizational planning a challenge for the managers of such organizations. Such challenges…

A Study of Arkansas Prison Inmates Concerning Occupational Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Jack D.

Meaningful participation in a technological society requires increasingly complex skills. A previous study (1966) revealed no job openings for 79 occupational programs offered by state and federal prisons, indicating that correctional institutions face a particular challenge in providing relevant occupational education for the rehabilitation of…

RAF and Protection Warfighting Function

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-02-01

countries and challenges (including both the Asian Pacific and the Middle East).10 To execute this strategy in an increasingly complex world, the...of the Force (GEF) to prepare and review theatre campaign plans (TCP).27 The TCP is the CCDR’s vehicle for operationalizing the theater strategy. The

On Being a Principal: The Rewards and Challenges of School Leadership. New Directions for School Leadership. The Jossey-Bass Education Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donaldson, Gordon A., Jr., Ed.

1997-01-01

The principalship is increasing in complexity and responsibility to the point where principals themselves find it increasingly difficult to know their function in schools. Principals were invited to write for this volume about what is rewarding to them about the work they do. This book explores what makes the position worthwhile to these school…

A Component Approach to Collaborative Scientific Software Development: Tools and Techniques Utilized by the Quantum Chemistry Science Application Partnership

DOE PAGES

Kenny, Joseph P.; Janssen, Curtis L.; Gordon, Mark S.; ...

2008-01-01

Cutting-edge scientific computing software is complex, increasingly involving the coupling of multiple packages to combine advanced algorithms or simulations at multiple physical scales. Component-based software engineering (CBSE) has been advanced as a technique for managing this complexity, and complex component applications have been created in the quantum chemistry domain, as well as several other simulation areas, using the component model advocated by the Common Component Architecture (CCA) Forum. While programming models do indeed enable sound software engineering practices, the selection of programming model is just one building block in a comprehensive approach to large-scale collaborative development which must also addressmore » interface and data standardization, and language and package interoperability. We provide an overview of the development approach utilized within the Quantum Chemistry Science Application Partnership, identifying design challenges, describing the techniques which we have adopted to address these challenges and highlighting the advantages which the CCA approach offers for collaborative development.« less

Supported self-management for cancer survivors to address long-term biopsychosocial consequences of cancer and treatment to optimize living well.

PubMed

Howell, Doris D

2018-03-01

As individuals are living longer with cancer as a chronic disease, they face new health challenges that require the application of self-management behaviors and skills that may not be in their usual repertoire of self-regulatory health behaviors. Increasing attention is focused on supported self-management (SSM) programs to enable survivors in managing the long-term biopsychosocial consequences and health challenges of survivorship. This review explores current directions and evidence for SSM programs that enable survivors to manage these consequences and optimize health. Cancer survivors face complex health challenges that affect daily functioning and well being. Multiple systematic reviews show that SSM programs have positive effects on health outcomes in typical chronic diseases. However, the efficacy of these approaches in cancer survivors are in their infancy; and the 'one-size' fits all approach for chronic disease self-management may not be adequate for cancer as a complex chronic illness. This review suggests that SSM has promising potential for improving health and well being of cancer survivors, but there is a need for standardizing SSM for future research. Although there is increasing enthusiasm for SSM programs tailored to cancer survivors, there is a need for further research of their efficacy on long-term health outcomes.

Research ethics consultation: ethical and professional practice challenges and recommendations.

PubMed

Sharp, Richard R; Taylor, Holly A; Brinich, Margaret A; Boyle, Mary M; Cho, Mildred; Coors, Marilyn; Danis, Marion; Havard, Molly; Magnus, David; Wilfond, Benjamin

2015-05-01

The complexity of biomedical research has increased considerably in the last decade, as has the pace of translational research. This complexity has generated a number of novel ethical issues for clinical investigators, institutional review boards (IRBs), and other oversight committees. In response, many academic medical centers have created formal research ethics consultation (REC) services to help clinical investigators and IRBs navigate ethical issues in biomedical research. Key functions of a REC service include assisting with research design and implementation, providing a forum for deliberative exploration of ethical issues, and supplementing regulatory oversight. As increasing numbers of academic research institutions establish REC services, there is a pressing need for consensus about the primary aims and policies that should guide these activities. Establishing clear expectations about the aims and policies of REC services is important if REC programs are to achieve their full potential. Drawing on the experiences of a Clinical and Translational Science Award Research Ethics Consultation Working Group, this article describes three major ethical and professional practice challenges associated with the provision of REC: (1) managing multiple institutional roles and responsibilities, (2) managing sensitive information, and (3) communicating with consultation requestors about how these issues are managed. The paper also presents several practical strategies for addressing these challenges and enhancing the quality of REC services.

JAMS - a software platform for modular hydrological modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kralisch, Sven; Fischer, Christian

2015-04-01

Current challenges of understanding and assessing the impacts of climate and land use changes on environmental systems demand for an ever-increasing integration of data and process knowledge in corresponding simulation models. Software frameworks that allow for a seamless creation of integrated models based on less complex components (domain models, process simulation routines) have therefore gained increasing attention during the last decade. JAMS is an Open-Source software framework that has been especially designed to cope with the challenges of eco-hydrological modelling. This is reflected by (i) its flexible approach for representing time and space, (ii) a strong separation of process simulation components from the declarative description of more complex models using domain specific XML, (iii) powerful analysis and visualization functions for spatial and temporal input and output data, and (iv) parameter optimization and uncertainty analysis functions commonly used in environmental modelling. Based on JAMS, different hydrological and nutrient-transport simulation models were implemented and successfully applied during the last years. We will present the JAMS core concepts and give an overview of models, simulation components and support tools available for that framework. Sample applications will be used to underline the advantages of component-based model designs and to show how JAMS can be used to address the challenges of integrated hydrological modelling.

Research Ethics Consultation: Ethical and Professional Practice Challenges and Recommendations

PubMed Central

Sharp, Richard R.; Taylor, Holly A.; Brinich, Margaret A.; Boyle, Mary M.; Cho, Mildred; Coors, Marilyn; Danis, Marion; Havard, Molly; Magnus, David; Wilfond, Benjamin

2015-01-01

The complexity of biomedical research has increased considerably in the last decade, as has the pace of translational research. This complexity has generated a number of novel ethical issues for clinical investigators, institutional review boards (IRBs), and other oversight committees. In response, many academic medical centers have created formal research ethics consultation (REC) services to help clinical investigators and IRBs navigate ethical issues in biomedical research. Key functions of a REC service include: assisting with research design and implementation, providing a forum for deliberative exploration of ethical issues, and supplementing regulatory oversight. As increasing numbers of academic research institutions establish REC services, there is a pressing need for consensus about the primary aims and policies that should guide these activities. Establishing clear expectations about the aims and policies of REC services is important if REC programs are to achieve their full potential. Drawing on the experiences of a Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) Research Ethics Consultation Working Group, this article describes three major ethical and professional practice challenges associated with the provision of REC: 1) managing multiple institutional roles and responsibilities, 2) managing sensitive information, and 3) communicating with consultation requestors about how these issues are managed. The paper also presents several practical strategies for addressing these challenges and enhancing the quality of REC services. PMID:25607942

Detection of expression quantitative trait Loci in complex mouse crosses: impact and alleviation of data quality and complex population substructure.

PubMed

Iancu, Ovidiu D; Darakjian, Priscila; Kawane, Sunita; Bottomly, Daniel; Hitzemann, Robert; McWeeney, Shannon

2012-01-01

Complex Mus musculus crosses, e.g., heterogeneous stock (HS), provide increased resolution for quantitative trait loci detection. However, increased genetic complexity challenges detection methods, with discordant results due to low data quality or complex genetic architecture. We quantified the impact of theses factors across three mouse crosses and two different detection methods, identifying procedures that greatly improve detection quality. Importantly, HS populations have complex genetic architectures not fully captured by the whole genome kinship matrix, calling for incorporating chromosome specific relatedness information. We analyze three increasingly complex crosses, using gene expression levels as quantitative traits. The three crosses were an F(2) intercross, a HS formed by crossing four inbred strains (HS4), and a HS (HS-CC) derived from the eight lines found in the collaborative cross. Brain (striatum) gene expression and genotype data were obtained using the Illumina platform. We found large disparities between methods, with concordance varying as genetic complexity increased; this problem was more acute for probes with distant regulatory elements (trans). A suite of data filtering steps resulted in substantial increases in reproducibility. Genetic relatedness between samples generated overabundance of detected eQTLs; an adjustment procedure that includes the kinship matrix attenuates this problem. However, we find that relatedness between individuals is not evenly distributed across the genome; information from distinct chromosomes results in relatedness structure different from the whole genome kinship matrix. Shared polymorphisms from distinct chromosomes collectively affect expression levels, confounding eQTL detection. We suggest that considering chromosome specific relatedness can result in improved eQTL detection.

Multiscale agent-based cancer modeling.

PubMed

Zhang, Le; Wang, Zhihui; Sagotsky, Jonathan A; Deisboeck, Thomas S

2009-04-01

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is an in silico technique that is being used in a variety of research areas such as in social sciences, economics and increasingly in biomedicine as an interdisciplinary tool to study the dynamics of complex systems. Here, we describe its applicability to integrative tumor biology research by introducing a multi-scale tumor modeling platform that understands brain cancer as a complex dynamic biosystem. We summarize significant findings of this work, and discuss both challenges and future directions for ABM in the field of cancer research.

Toward Interactive Scenario Analysis and Exploration

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

Gayle, Thomas R.; Summers, Kenneth Lee; Jungels, John

2015-01-01

As Modeling and Simulation (M&S) tools have matured, their applicability and importance have increased across many national security challenges. In particular, they provide a way to test how something may behave without the need to do real world testing. However, current and future changes across several factors including capabilities, policy, and funding are driving a need for rapid response or evaluation in ways that many M&S tools cannot address. Issues around large data, computational requirements, delivery mechanisms, and analyst involvement already exist and pose significant challenges. Furthermore, rising expectations, rising input complexity, and increasing depth of analysis will only increasemore » the difficulty of these challenges. In this study we examine whether innovations in M&S software coupled with advances in ''cloud'' computing and ''big-data'' methodologies can overcome many of these challenges. In particular, we propose a simple, horizontally-scalable distributed computing environment that could provide the foundation (i.e. ''cloud'') for next-generation M&S-based applications based on the notion of ''parallel multi-simulation''. In our context, the goal of parallel multi- simulation is to consider as many simultaneous paths of execution as possible. Therefore, with sufficient resources, the complexity is dominated by the cost of single scenario runs as opposed to the number of runs required. We show the feasibility of this architecture through a stable prototype implementation coupled with the Umbra Simulation Framework [6]. Finally, we highlight the utility through multiple novel analysis tools and by showing the performance improvement compared to existing tools.« less

Challenges and Opportunities in Genome-Wide Environmental Interaction (GWEI) studies

PubMed Central

Aschard, Hugues; Lutz, Sharon; Maus, Bärbel; Duell, Eric J.; Fingerlin, Tasha; Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Kraft, Peter; Van Steen, Kristel

2012-01-01

The interest in performing gene-environment interaction studies has seen a significant increase with the increase of advanced molecular genetics techniques. Practically, it became possible to investigate the role of environmental factors in disease risk and hence to investigate their role as genetic effect modifiers. The understanding that genetics is important in the uptake and metabolism of toxic substances is an example of how genetic profiles can modify important environmental risk factors to disease. Several rationales exist to set up gene-environment interaction studies and the technical challenges related to these studies – when the number of environmental or genetic risk factors is relatively small – has been described before. In the post-genomic era, it is now possible to study thousands of genes and their interaction with the environment. This brings along a whole range of new challenges and opportunities. Despite a continuing effort in developing efficient methods and optimal bioinformatics infrastructures to deal with the available wealth of data, the challenge remains how to best present and analyze Genome-Wide Environmental Interaction (GWEI) studies involving multiple genetic and environmental factors. Since GWEIs are performed at the intersection of statistical genetics, bioinformatics and epidemiology, usually similar problems need to be dealt with as for Genome-Wide Association gene-gene Interaction (GWAI) studies. However, additional complexities need to be considered which are typical for large-scale epidemiological studies, but are also related to “joining” two heterogeneous types of data in explaining complex disease trait variation or for prediction purposes. PMID:22760307

Ethical challenges in connection with the use of coercion: a focus group study of health care personnel in mental health care.

PubMed

Hem, Marit Helene; Molewijk, Bert; Pedersen, Reidar

2014-12-04

In recent years, the attention on the use of coercion in mental health care has increased. The use of coercion is common and controversial, and involves many complex ethical challenges. The research question in this study was: What kind of ethical challenges related to the use of coercion do health care practitioners face in their daily clinical work? We conducted seven focus group interviews in three mental health care institutions involving 65 multidisciplinary participants from different clinical fields. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. We analysed the material applying a 'bricolage' approach. Basic ethical principles for research ethics were followed. We received permission from the hospitals' administrations and all health care professionals who participated in the focus group interviews. Health care practitioners describe ethical dilemmas they face concerning formal, informal and perceived coercion. They provide a complex picture. They have to handle various ethical challenges, not seldom concerning questions of life and death. In every situation, the dignity of the patient is at stake when coercion is considered as morally right, as well as when coercion is not the preferred intervention. The work of the mental health professional is a complicated "moral enterprise". The ethical challenges deserve to be identified and handled in a systematic way. This is important for developing the quality of health care, and it is relevant to the current focus on reducing the use of coercion and increasing patient participation. Precise knowledge about ethical challenges is necessary for those who want to develop ethics support in mental health care. Better communication skills among health care professionals and improved therapeutic relationships seem to be vital. A systematic focus on ethical challenges when dealing with coercion is an important step forward in order to improve health care in the mental health field.

It Is a Small World after All: Teaching Business Ethics in a Global Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Budden, Connie B.; Budden, Michael C.

2011-01-01

Increasingly, managers and employees are facing ethical issues when conducting business in the global marketplace. Business educators attempting to teach appropriate ethical behavior and develop skills for dealing with complex ethical situations need to incorporate realistic case scenarios to challenge students. Such cases should appropriately…

The Importance of Action Research in Teacher Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hine, Gregory S. C.

2013-01-01

Following entry into the workforce, there are limited opportunities for new graduate teachers to engage in critically reflective activities about their educative practice. In an increasingly complex and challenging profession, the need for teachers, administrators and school systems to become involved in professional development activities is ever…

Practicality of Evaluating Soft Errors in Commercial sub-90 nm CMOS for Space Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pellish, Jonathan A.; LaBel, Kenneth A.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this presentation is to: Highlight space memory evaluation evolution, Review recent developments regarding low-energy proton direct ionization soft errors, Assess current space memory evaluation challenges, including increase of non-volatile technology choices, and Discuss related testing and evaluation complexities.

Transcollegial Leadership: A New Paradigm for Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, David J.; Mooney, Debra

2018-01-01

Purpose: The increasing complexity of higher education has led to the need for a different type of leader that transcends traditional boundaries and individual self-interest. The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative form of leadership consistent with the unique challenges faced by institutions of higher education today.…

A New World Ahead: Are We Ready?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Greg M.; Provo, Joanne

2006-01-01

There is no question that organization development (OD) scholars and practitioners are confronted with new and increasingly complex challenges in helping their clients cope with a tidal wave of continuous change. The questions they face today focus on the impact of leadership, technology, globalization, and the new generations entering the…

The Complexities of Supporting Asian International Pre-Service Teachers as They Undertake Practicum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spooner-Lane, Rebecca; Tangen, Donna; Campbell, Marilyn

2009-01-01

Increasing numbers of Asian international students are choosing to undertake their tertiary studies in English-speaking countries. For universities, international students are an important source of revenue. However, Asian international students face multiple challenges in adapting to a foreign culture, understanding the expectations of their…

The Town-Gown Relationship: Collaboration in University Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cotsones, Rena K.

2013-01-01

As communities and universities confront increasingly complex social and fiscal pressures, there is a growing need to align and maximize local resources, knowledge and efforts. Historic and current tensions between town and gown can challenge the ability of universities and communities to collaborate for mutual benefit. This dissertation explores…

Critical Supports for Secondary Educators in Common Core State Standard Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruchti, Wendy P.; Jenkins, Susan J.; Agamba, Joachim

2013-01-01

Teacher professional development (PD) is a complex, ongoing challenge as educational systems attempt to deliver excellent programming in pursuit of increased student achievement (Opfer and Pedder 2011). This article examines Idaho Total Instructional Alignment (TIA), a model for teacher PD that is currently being utilized in secondary schools…

Complex Text or Frustration-Level Text: Using Shared Reading to Bridge the Difference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stahl, Katherine A. Dougherty

2012-01-01

Challenging texts can be made accessible to students by increasing the level of instructional scaffolding. This article describes evidence-based models of shared reading that support reading development across the elementary years. Shared Reading Experience (Holdaway, 1982), Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction (Stahl & Heubach, 2005),…

Teaching Transdisciplinarity in a Discipline-Centred World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, M. Elizabeth; Salmon, Amy; Young, Richard

2010-01-01

Health care researchers and practitioners are increasingly asked to work across disciplines (or, in keeping with the conference theme, "Between the Tides") to deal with complex health issues. But working with individuals from different fields is more challenging than it sounds. Working across disciplines can result in tension and…

Global Partnerships in Business Communication: An Institutional Collaboration between the United States and Cuba

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sapp, David Alan

2004-01-01

Many U.S. universities are developing interinstitutional partnerships in global business communication. Benefits include preparing students for the workplace by immersing them in intercultural projects and increasing the complexity of their understanding of the global economy. Challenges can range from technological constraints and scarce…

The Recruitment and Selection of Principals Who Increase Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ash, Ruth C.; Hodge, Patricia H.; Connell, Peggy H.

2013-01-01

The overall picture that emerges from a review of literature pinpoints two elements that inhibit recruiting and hiring effective principals. Primary hindrances include the growing shortage of qualified applicants in conjunction with a growing student population and the reality of the challenging demands, responsibilities, and complexities of the…

Catholic Ed., K-12 Charters Squaring Off

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavanagh, Sean

2012-01-01

The nation's Roman Catholic schools have labored for decades under increasingly adverse economic and demographic conditions, which have undermined their finances and sapped their enrollment. Today, researchers and supporters say those schools face one of their most complex challenges yet: the continued growth of charter schools. Since they first…

The Invitation of Life and Deciding How to Respond

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parham, William D.

2008-01-01

Local, national, and global events that dominate today's media (e.g., war in Iraq, genocide in Darfur, historical lack of confidence in national political leadership, Katrina/Rita aftermath, etc.) represent open and ever-present personal invitations to "wake up" to the complex challenges that increasingly define communities across…

iTEC: Conceptualising, Realising and Recognising Pedagogical and Technological Innovation in European Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cranmer, Sue; Lewin, Cathy

2017-01-01

Innovation, a complex concept, underpinned a four-year pan-European research project designed to increase the effective use of technology in school classrooms. This article revisits evaluation data collected during the project and explores the challenges of conceptualising, realising and researching "innovation." The authors describe how…

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: PROCEEDINGS, CHICAGO, IL, FEBRUARY 9-12, 1998

EPA Science Inventory

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducing nonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Issues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previo...

CD ROM: NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: PROCEEDINGS, CHICAGO, IL, FEBRUARY 9-12, 1998

EPA Science Inventory

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducingnonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Isssues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previou...

ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLICABILITY OF CHEMICAL OXIDATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CONTAMINANTS AT LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK (LUST) SITES

EPA Science Inventory

The total number of confirmed releases from underground storage tanks is increasing rapidly. In addition, the treatment of contaminants in soil and groundwater at leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites presents complex technical challenges. Most of the remedial technologie...

The Potential of Grant Applications as Team Building Exercises: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siemens, Lynne

2010-01-01

Faced with increasingly complex and technologically sophisticated research questions, academics are working with others through collaboration and research teams. To be effective, these research teams need to maximize the factors that contribute to success while minimizing the potentially negative impact of associated challenges. One particular…

The Evolving Academic Health Center: Challenges and Opportunities for Psychiatry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mirin, Steven; Summergrad, Paul

2011-01-01

Objective: Regardless of the outcome of current efforts at healthcare reform, the resources that academic health centers need--to provide care for increasingly complex patient populations, support clinical innovation, grow the clinical enterprise, and carry out their research and teaching missions--are in jeopardy. This article examines the value…

Balancing the Warrior and the Empathic Activist: The Role of the Transgressive Researcher in Environmental Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macintyre, Thomas; Chaves, Martha

2017-01-01

This paper explores the complex relationship between environmental education and researcher activism from the perspective of transgressive learning. With increasing interest within academia for more radical learning-based transformations for confronting sustainability challenges, come calls for more instrumental warrior stances in methodologies…

An Effective Leader in Higher Education: Charles William Eliot

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, Robert Wayne; Paton, Valerie Osland

2014-01-01

While responding to increasing calls for accountability, educational leaders are challenged continually by a myriad of complex tasks amidst the need to adapt their postsecondary institutions for responding to the changing needs of society. This review of literature examines comparisons between the leadership style of Charles William Eliot and the…

Virtual Team Effectiveness: An Empirical Examination of the Use of Communication Technologies on Trust and Virtual Team Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Valerie Brown

2010-01-01

Ubiquitous technology and agile organizational structures have enabled a strategic response to increasingly competitive, complex, and unpredictable challenges faced by many organizations. Using cyberinfrastructure, which is primarily the network of information, computers, communication technologies, and people, traditional organizations have…

A Multitasking General Executive for Compound Continuous Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salvucci, Dario D.

2005-01-01

As cognitive architectures move to account for increasingly complex real-world tasks, one of the most pressing challenges involves understanding and modeling human multitasking. Although a number of existing models now perform multitasking in real-world scenarios, these models typically employ customized executives that schedule tasks for the…

The Same and Not the Same: Chirality, Topicity, and Memory of Chirality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kramer, Wolfgang H.; Griesbeck, Axel G.

2008-01-01

A simple molecular approach is described that aids students in learning challenging stereochemical terms, definitions, and concepts, particularly when chemical structures are drawn in two dimensions. The approach starts with a structurally diverse family of natural compounds ([alpha]-amino acids) and gradually increases in complexity. The recently…

Content Recognition and Context Modeling for Document Analysis and Retrieval

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Guangyu

2009-01-01

The nature and scope of available documents are changing significantly in many areas of document analysis and retrieval as complex, heterogeneous collections become accessible to virtually everyone via the web. The increasing level of diversity presents a great challenge for document image content categorization, indexing, and retrieval.…

Leadership Values, Trust and Negative Capability: Managing the Uncertainties of Future English Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jameson, Jill

2012-01-01

The complex leadership attribute of "negative capability" in managing uncertainty and engendering trust may be amongst the qualities enabling institutions to cope with multiple recent government policy challenges affecting English higher education, including significant increases in student fees. Research findings are reported on changes…

Health Information Technology: Dos and Don'ts for Today and Tomorrow.

PubMed

Sidorov, Jaan; Randhar, Akash

2017-01-01

The challenges include not overburdening physicians and fitting into an increasingly complex, multilayered informatics ecosystem. Innovative health care entities that neglect health care's reliance on evidence-based medicine and go to market without the benefit of any peer review do so at their own peril.

The Nature of Pedagogic Teacher-Student Interactions: A Phenomenographic Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beutel, Denise

2010-01-01

Globally, teaching has become more complex and more challenging over recent years, with new and increased demands being placed on teachers by students, their families, governments and wider society. Teachers work with more diverse communities in times characterised by volatility, uncertainty and moral ambiguity. Societal, political, economic and…

Preventing Behavior Problems and Health-Risking Behaviors in Girls in Foster Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chamberlain, Patricia; Leve, Leslie D.; Smith, Dana K.

2006-01-01

Transition into middle school presents complex challenges, including exposure to a larger peer group, increased expectations for time management and self-monitoring, renegotiation of rules with parents, and pubertal changes. For children in foster care, this transition is complicated by their maltreatment histories, living situation changes, and…

Eagle Racing: Addressing Corporate Collaboration Challenges through an Online Simulation Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angehrn, Albert A.; Maxwell, Katrina

2009-01-01

Effective collaboration is necessary for corporation-wide learning, knowledge exchange, and innovation. However, it is difficult to create a corporate culture that encourages collaboration; the complexity of such collaboration is increased substantially by the diverse and distributed nature of knowledge sources and decision makers in the global…

The BGR Contingency Model for Leading Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Derek R.; Gordon, Raymond; Rose, Dennis Michael

2012-01-01

The continuing failure rates of change initiatives, combined with an increasingly complex business environment, have created significant challenges for the practice of change management. High failure rates suggest that existing change models are not working, or are being incorrectly used. A different mindset to change is required. The BGR…

Teaching to Multiple Intelligence by Following a "Slime Trail"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delaney, Carol J.; Shafer, Francie Keller

2007-01-01

In this age of teacher accountability and high-stakes testing, practicing middle school teachers face many complex issues. Because adolescents must deal with the challenges of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual change, they are considered the most diverse population in the public school system. One way to increase achievement and…

Adult Development: A Global Imperative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Linda E.

2016-01-01

As individuals and adult educators we consistently face an array of what seem to be increasingly complex challenges. These run the gamut from battling poverty and illness with their deleterious and deadly effects, to acquiring literacy and workplace competencies and to building expertise in communication, collaboration and innovation. And we live…

The Changing Roles Professional Development Program

Treesearch

A. Hermansen-Baez; N. Wulff

2010-01-01

As populations and urbanization expand in the Southern United States, human influences on forests and other natural areas are increasing. As a result, natural resource professionals are faced with complex challenges, such as managing smaller forest parcels for multiple benefits, and wildfire prevention and management in the wildland-urban interface (areas where urban...

Be the Data: Embodied Visual Analytics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Xin; Self, Jessica Zeitz; House, Leanna; Wenskovitch, John; Sun, Maoyuan; Wycoff, Nathan; Evia, Jane Robertson; Leman, Scotland; North, Chris

2018-01-01

With the rise of big data, it is becoming increasingly important to educate groups of students at many educational levels about data analytics. In particular, students without a strong mathematical background may have an unenthusiastic attitude towards high-dimensional data and find it challenging to understand relevant complex analytical methods,…

Teachers' Reflections on Distributive Leadership in Public Primary Schools in Soweto

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naicker, Suraiya R.; Mestry, Raj

2013-01-01

Schooling has become increasingly complex in purpose and structure and therefore requires appropriate forms of leadership to address this challenge. One current leadership approach that is receiving national and global attention is distributive leadership. A qualitative approach was employed to investigate teachers' experiences and perceptions of…

Applying to Higher Education: Information Sources and Choice Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simoes, Claudia; Soares, Ana Maria

2010-01-01

Higher education institutions are facing increasingly complex challenges, which demand a deeper understanding of the sources prospective students use when applying to a higher education institution. This research centres on students' decision-making process for higher education institutions, focusing on the pre-purchase period, and, in particular,…

Multicultural Counseling in Schools: A Synergetic Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herring, Roger D.

As the percentage of ethnic minority students in schools continues to increase, school counselors and counselors-in-training must broaden their cultural knowledge base and develop new strategies that are responsive to the complex challenges these students face. This text provides direction for working within the ethnic minority student's worldview…

Methodological issues in oral health research: intervention studies.

PubMed

O'Mullane, Denis; James, Patrice; Whelton, Helen; Parnell, Carmel

2012-02-01

To provide a broad overview of methodological issues in the design and evaluation of intervention studies in dental public health, with particular emphasis on explanatory trials, pragmatic trials and complex interventions. We present a narrative summary of selected publications from the literature outlining both historical and recent challenges in the design and evaluation of intervention studies and describe some recent tools that may help researchers to address these challenges. It is now recognised that few intervention studies in dental public health are purely explanatory or pragmatic. We describe the PRECIS tool which can be used by trialists to assess and display the position of their trial on a continuum between the extremes of explanatory and pragmatic trials. The tool aims to help trialists make design decisions that are in line with their stated aims. The increasingly complex nature of dental public health interventions presents particular design and evaluation challenges. The revised Medical Research Council (MRC) guidance for the development and evaluation of complex interventions which emphasises the importance of planning and process evaluation is a welcome development. We briefly describe the MRC guidance and outline some examples of complex interventions in the field of oral health. The role of observational studies in monitoring public health interventions when the conduct of RCTs is not appropriate or feasible is acknowledged. We describe the STROBE statement and outline the implications of the STROBE guidelines for dental public health. The methodological challenges in the design, conduct and reporting of intervention studies in oral health are considerable. The need to provide reliable evidence to support innovative new strategies in oral health policy is a major impetus in these fields. No doubt the 'Methodological Issues in Oral Health Research' group will have further opportunities to highlight this work. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Understanding the Data Complexity continuum to reduce data management costs and increase data usability through partnerships with the National Centers for Environmental Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mesick, S.; Weathers, K. W.

2017-12-01

Data complexity can be seen as a continuum from complex to simple. The term data complexity refers to data collections that are disorganized, poorly documented, and generally do not follow best data management practices. Complex data collections are challenging and expensive to manage. Simplified collections readily support automated archival processes, enhanced discovery and data access, as well as production of services that make data easier to reuse. In this session, NOAA NCEI scientific data stewards will discuss the data complexity continuum. This talk will explore data simplification concepts, methods, and tools that data managers can employ which may offer more control over data management costs and processes, while achieving policy goals for open data access and ready reuse. Topics will include guidance for data managers on best allocation of limited data management resources; models for partnering with NCEI to accomplish shared data management goals; and will demonstrate through case studies the benefits of investing in documentation, accessibility, and services to increase data value and return on investment.

The clinical challenge of concomitant aortic and mitral valve stenosis.

PubMed

Unger, Philippe; Lancellotti, Patrizzio; de Cannière, Didier

2016-02-01

The coexistence of mitral and aortic stenosis is not exceptional. Whereas rheumatic fever is currently plummeting in the Western countries, the incidence of degenerative disease is inversely increasing. The haemodynamic interactions which may interfere both with the usual echocardiographic parameters and with the invasive assessment may render the diagnosis difficult. The therapeutic challenges raised by this entity should not be underestimated. The increased morbidity and mortality of multivalvular surgery has to be balanced with the risk of a second operation down the line if one valvular involvement, deemed of a lesser importance, is neglected. This complex situation requires the multidisciplinary approach of a heart team involving surgeons, cardiologists, geriatrists if need be and imaging specialists.

Physician leaders of medical groups face increasing challenges.

PubMed

Gerbarg, Zack

2002-10-01

Physician leadership has emerged as one of the biggest challenges and opportunities for medical group success. The environment for medical groups has become increasingly complex as the result of five major factors: 1) varying reimbursement methods, 2) growth in the size of groups, 3) technology investments, 4) sale and merger of groups, and 5) regulatory and legal issues. Striking the right balance between too little or too much physician involvement in leading medical groups is a key business decision. Most large, successful businesses view investment in their leaders as critical for success. Medical groups can learn from other businesses that investment in education, coaching, and succession planning for leaders is a key to long-term success.

Ecoinformatics: supporting ecology as a data-intensive science.

PubMed

Michener, William K; Jones, Matthew B

2012-02-01

Ecology is evolving rapidly and increasingly changing into a more open, accountable, interdisciplinary, collaborative and data-intensive science. Discovering, integrating and analyzing massive amounts of heterogeneous data are central to ecology as researchers address complex questions at scales from the gene to the biosphere. Ecoinformatics offers tools and approaches for managing ecological data and transforming the data into information and knowledge. Here, we review the state-of-the-art and recent advances in ecoinformatics that can benefit ecologists and environmental scientists as they tackle increasingly challenging questions that require voluminous amounts of data across disciplines and scales of space and time. We also highlight the challenges and opportunities that remain. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Complex Challenges in the Less-Developed World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webster, P. J.

2016-12-01

The developing world faces special challenges in a changing climate. The immediate impacts of possible increased precipitation, more frequent and severe hazard events and sea-level rise are compounded by lack of resources and, often, rapidly growing populations. We examine the concept that the society that learns to deal with hazards in the current climate will be best placed to deal with possibly more frequent and more intense hazards in the future. We use as an example the conundrum facing Bangladesh where global sea-level rise is exaggerated by delta subsidence of river sediment. Sedimentation is expected to increase with increased river flow. We explore how authorities may deal with these multifaceted threats and how they need to carefully thread a strategy that leads to solutions and not exaggerations of the problem.

Digital Transplantation Pathology: Combining Whole Slide Imaging, Multiplex Staining, and Automated Image Analysis

PubMed Central

Isse, Kumiko; Lesniak, Andrew; Grama, Kedar; Roysam, Badrinath; Minervini, Martha I.; Demetris, Anthony J

2013-01-01

Conventional histopathology is the gold standard for allograft monitoring, but its value proposition is increasingly questioned. “-Omics” analysis of tissues, peripheral blood and fluids and targeted serologic studies provide mechanistic insights into allograft injury not currently provided by conventional histology. Microscopic biopsy analysis, however, provides valuable and unique information: a) spatial-temporal relationships; b) rare events/cells; c) complex structural context; and d) integration into a “systems” model. Nevertheless, except for immunostaining, no transformative advancements have “modernized” routine microscopy in over 100 years. Pathologists now team with hardware and software engineers to exploit remarkable developments in digital imaging, nanoparticle multiplex staining, and computational image analysis software to bridge the traditional histology - global “–omic” analyses gap. Included are side-by-side comparisons, objective biopsy finding quantification, multiplexing, automated image analysis, and electronic data and resource sharing. Current utilization for teaching, quality assurance, conferencing, consultations, research and clinical trials is evolving toward implementation for low-volume, high-complexity clinical services like transplantation pathology. Cost, complexities of implementation, fluid/evolving standards, and unsettled medical/legal and regulatory issues remain as challenges. Regardless, challenges will be overcome and these technologies will enable transplant pathologists to increase information extraction from tissue specimens and contribute to cross-platform biomarker discovery for improved outcomes. PMID:22053785

Performance Engineering Research Institute SciDAC-2 Enabling Technologies Institute Final Report

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

Hall, Mary

2014-09-19

Enhancing the performance of SciDAC applications on petascale systems has high priority within DOE SC. As we look to the future, achieving expected levels of performance on high-end com-puting (HEC) systems is growing ever more challenging due to enormous scale, increasing archi-tectural complexity, and increasing application complexity. To address these challenges, PERI has implemented a unified, tripartite research plan encompassing: (1) performance modeling and prediction; (2) automatic performance tuning; and (3) performance engineering of high profile applications. The PERI performance modeling and prediction activity is developing and refining performance models, significantly reducing the cost of collecting the data upon whichmore » the models are based, and increasing model fidelity, speed and generality. Our primary research activity is automatic tuning (autotuning) of scientific software. This activity is spurred by the strong user preference for automatic tools and is based on previous successful activities such as ATLAS, which has automatically tuned components of the LAPACK linear algebra library, and other re-cent work on autotuning domain-specific libraries. Our third major component is application en-gagement, to which we are devoting approximately 30% of our effort to work directly with Sci-DAC-2 applications. This last activity not only helps DOE scientists meet their near-term per-formance goals, but also helps keep PERI research focused on the real challenges facing DOE computational scientists as they enter the Petascale Era.« less

Challenges in researching violence affecting health service delivery in complex security environments.

PubMed

Foghammar, Ludvig; Jang, Suyoun; Kyzy, Gulzhan Asylbek; Weiss, Nerina; Sullivan, Katherine A; Gibson-Fall, Fawzia; Irwin, Rachel

2016-08-01

Complex security environments are characterized by violence (including, but not limited to "armed conflict" in the legal sense), poverty, environmental disasters and poor governance. Violence directly affecting health service delivery in complex security environments includes attacks on individuals (e.g. doctors, nurses, administrators, security guards, ambulance drivers and translators), obstructions (e.g. ambulances being stopped at checkpoints), discrimination (e.g. staff being pressured to treat one patient instead of another), attacks on and misappropriation of health facilities and property (e.g. vandalism, theft and ambulance theft by armed groups), and the criminalization of health workers. This paper examines the challenges associated with researching the context, scope and nature of violence directly affecting health service delivery in these environments. With a focus on data collection, it considers how these challenges affect researchers' ability to analyze the drivers of violence and impact of violence. This paper presents key findings from two research workshops organized in 2014 and 2015 which convened researchers and practitioners in the fields of health and humanitarian aid delivery and policy, and draws upon an analysis of organizational efforts to address violence affecting healthcare delivery and eleven in-depth interviews with representatives of organizations working in complex security environments. Despite the urgency and impact of violence affecting healthcare delivery, there is an overall lack of research that is of health-specific, publically accessible and comparable, as well as a lack of gender-disaggregated data, data on perpetrator motives and an assessment of the 'knock-on' effects of violence. These gaps limit analysis and, by extension, the ability of organizations operating in complex security environments to effectively manage the security of their staff and facilities and to deliver health services. Increased research collaboration among aid organizations, researchers and multilateral organizations, such as the WHO, is needed to address these challenges. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Principled Approach to the Specification of System Architectures for Space Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McKelvin, Mark L. Jr.; Castillo, Robert; Bonanne, Kevin; Bonnici, Michael; Cox, Brian; Gibson, Corrina; Leon, Juan P.; Gomez-Mustafa, Jose; Jimenez, Alejandro; Madni, Azad

2015-01-01

Modern space systems are increasing in complexity and scale at an unprecedented pace. Consequently, innovative methods, processes, and tools are needed to cope with the increasing complexity of architecting these systems. A key systems challenge in practice is the ability to scale processes, methods, and tools used to architect complex space systems. Traditionally, the process for specifying space system architectures has largely relied on capturing the system architecture in informal descriptions that are often embedded within loosely coupled design documents and domain expertise. Such informal descriptions often lead to misunderstandings between design teams, ambiguous specifications, difficulty in maintaining consistency as the architecture evolves throughout the system development life cycle, and costly design iterations. Therefore, traditional methods are becoming increasingly inefficient to cope with ever-increasing system complexity. We apply the principles of component-based design and platform-based design to the development of the system architecture for a practical space system to demonstrate feasibility of our approach using SysML. Our results show that we are able to apply a systematic design method to manage system complexity, thus enabling effective data management, semantic coherence and traceability across different levels of abstraction in the design chain. Just as important, our approach enables interoperability among heterogeneous tools in a concurrent engineering model based design environment.

The fundamental managerial challenges in the role of a contemporary district nurse: A discussion.

PubMed

McComiskey, Florence

2017-10-02

This article examines some of the fundamental challenges facing the district nurse in delivery of the managerial aspects of her role in contemporary practice. It discusses the personal attributes that are essential for this role to ensure safe, effective and compassionate leadership and management. The communication skills and ethos underpinning collaborative multidiscilplinary team work and person-centred care are discussed. Issues that compromise positive and productive team working are identified, and strategies dealing with conflict and also change management are debated. These factors are interrelated with the everyday demands of caseload management, the development of educational needs to meet the demands of increased complexity in care needs, and the place of technology in modern health care. It is evidenced that sustained organisational support for this role is more important than ever, due to increasing demand and decreasing capacity. Potential solutions to these challenges are offered to assist the contemporary district nurse.

Peptic ulcer disease.

PubMed

Lanas, Angel; Chan, Francis K L

2017-08-05

The rapidly declining prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and widespread use of potent anti-secretory drugs means peptic ulcer disease has become substantially less prevalent than it was two decades ago. Management has, however, become more challenging than ever because of the threat of increasing antimicrobial resistance worldwide and widespread use of complex anti-thrombotic therapy in the ageing population. Peptic ulcers not associated with H pylori infection or the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are now also imposing substantial diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. This Seminar aims to provide a balanced overview of the latest advances in the pathogenetic mechanisms of peptic ulcers, guidelines on therapies targeting H pylori infection, approaches to treatment of peptic ulcer complications associated with anti-inflammatory analgesics and anti-thrombotic agents, and the unmet needs in terms of our knowledge and management of this increasingly challenging condition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Sustainable Development of Space: Astro-environmental and dynamical considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boley, Aaron; Byers, Michael; Russell, Sara

2018-04-01

The sustainable development of space is a global (and exo-global) challenge that is not limited by borders or research disciplines. Sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". While the development of space brings new economic and scientific possibilities, it also carries significant political, legal, and technical uncertainties. For example, the rapidly increasing accessibility of space is motivating states to unilaterally adopt legislation for the new era of space use, which may have significant unintended consequences, such as increased risks to space assets, disputes among state as well as non-state actors, and changes to unique astro-environments. Any policy or legal position must be informed by the dynamical and astrophysical realities of space use, creating complex and interwoven challenges. Here, we explore several of these potential challenges related to astro-environmentalism, space minining operations, and the associated dynamics.

Evaluation of carbon nanotube probes in critical dimension atomic force microscopes.

PubMed

Choi, Jinho; Park, Byong Chon; Ahn, Sang Jung; Kim, Dal-Hyun; Lyou, Joon; Dixson, Ronald G; Orji, Ndubuisi G; Fu, Joseph; Vorburger, Theodore V

2016-07-01

The decreasing size of semiconductor features and the increasing structural complexity of advanced devices have placed continuously greater demands on manufacturing metrology, arising both from the measurement challenges of smaller feature sizes and the growing requirement to characterize structures in more than just a single critical dimension. For scanning electron microscopy, this has resulted in increasing sophistication of imaging models. For critical dimension atomic force microscopes (CD-AFMs), this has resulted in the need for smaller and more complex tips. Carbon nanotube (CNT) tips have thus been the focus of much interest and effort by a number of researchers. However, there have been significant issues surrounding both the manufacture and use of CNT tips. Specifically, the growth or attachment of CNTs to AFM cantilevers has been a challenge to the fabrication of CNT tips, and the flexibility and resultant bending artifacts have presented challenges to using CNT tips. The Korea Research Institute for Standards and Science (KRISS) has invested considerable effort in the controlled fabrication of CNT tips and is collaborating with the National Institute of Standards and Technology on the application of CNT tips for CD-AFM. Progress by KRISS on the precise control of CNT orientation, length, and end modification, using manipulation and focused ion beam processes, has allowed us to implement ball-capped CNT tips and bent CNT tips for CD-AFM. Using two different generations of CD-AFM instruments, we have evaluated these tip types by imaging a line/space grating and a programmed line edge roughness specimen. We concluded that these CNTs are capable of scanning the profiles of these structures, including re-entrant sidewalls, but there remain important challenges to address. These challenges include tighter control of tip geometry and careful optimization of scan parameters and algorithms for using CNT tips.

Engineers' professional learning: a practice-theory perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reich, Ann; Rooney, Donna; Gardner, Anne; Willey, Keith; Boud, David; Fitzgerald, Terry

2015-07-01

With the increasing challenges facing professional engineers working in more complex, global and interdisciplinary contexts, different approaches to understanding how engineers practice and learn are necessary. This paper draws on recent research in the social sciences from the field of workplace learning, to suggest that a practice-theory perspective on engineers' professional learning is fruitful. It shifts the focus from the attributes of the individual learner (knowledge, skills and attitudes) to the attributes of the practice (interactions, materiality, opportunities and challenges). Learning is thus more than the technical acquisition and transfer of knowledge, but a complex bundle of activities, that is, social, material, embodied and emerging. The paper is illustrated with examples from a research study of the learning of experienced engineers in the construction industry to demonstrate common practices - site walks and design review meetings - in which learning takes place.

Fast normal mode computations of capsid dynamics inspired by resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Na, Hyuntae; Song, Guang

2018-07-01

Increasingly more and larger structural complexes are being determined experimentally. The sizes of these systems pose a formidable computational challenge to the study of their vibrational dynamics by normal mode analysis. To overcome this challenge, this work presents a novel resonance-inspired approach. Tests on large shell structures of protein capsids demonstrate that there is a strong resonance between the vibrations of a whole capsid and those of individual capsomeres. We then show how this resonance can be taken advantage of to significantly speed up normal mode computations.

National Security Challenges: Insights from Social, Neurobiological, and Complexity Sciences. Topical Strategic Multi-Layer Assessment (SMA) and U.S. Army ERDC Multi-Agency/Multi-Disciplinary White Papers in Support of National Security Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

population. The amount of information on Facebook doubles every 6 months. This under- scores the nation’s need to understand what is happening on a ...QL—Russia: Emerging Insight Into Muslim Populations (October 2011) • QL— A Trend Toward Increased Information Communication Technol- ogy (ICT...Hendrix ( College of William & Mary), Mr. Eric A . Knudson (PACOM), Mr. Joseph T. Lee (PACOM), Mr. Kalev Leetaru (University of Illinois at Urbana), Lt

History of Power Transmission Technologies and Future Prospects of Power System of Chubu Electric Power Company

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takagi, Hirotaka; Sugiyama, Tomonari; Zashibo, Toshihito

Since its foundation, the power system of Chubu Electric Power Company (hereinafter CEPCO) has developed through power source and transmission facility formation to meet electricity demand increases. This development has been accompanied by progress in transmission technologies including capacity scale-up, compactification and power system stabilization to operate complex power systems. Now, changes in business situation due to electricity market liberalizatin may bring new challenges to future facility formation. This paper reviews CEPCO's history of power system formation and progress in transmission technologies, and describes future challenges.

New Media, New Voices: A Complex School Public Relations and Human Resources Challenge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peck, Craig M.; Mullen, Carol A.

2008-01-01

An unprecedented increase in students' personal technology use presents a new area for study within the educational leadership and administration field. Cellular phones, video posting websites, and online social networking destinations empower students to create and distribute school-related images and stories. Student-developed media content can…

Model-Driven Development of Interactive Multimedia Applications with MML

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pleuss, Andreas; Hussmann, Heinrich

There is an increasing demand for high-quality interactive applications which combine complex application logic with a sophisticated user interface, making use of individual media objects like graphics, animations, 3D graphics, audio or video. Their development is still challenging as it requires the integration of software design, user interface design, and media design.

The Nigerian State and Global Economic Crises: Socio-Political Implications and Policy Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olaopa, O. R.; Ogundari, I. O.; Akindele, S. T.; Hassan, O. M.

2012-01-01

This article discusses how economic reforms, as a reaction to the effects of the global financial crises, have intensified popular unrests and redefined the composition, interests, and socio-economic and political attitudes of Nigeria's increasingly complex social strata. We relied basically on secondary data to analyze some of the fundamental…

Complexities in Managing the Child Care Industry: An Observation on Challenges and Potentials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zaman, Ahmed; Amin, Ruhul; Momjian, Ina Eduardovna; Lei, Ting

2012-01-01

The evolution of programmatic childcare since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of early 2009, as well as the increasing diversity of childcare recipients, call urgently for novel insight into the morphology of the childcare sector. This paper attempts such elucidation, focusing especially on the structure, accessibility, delivery…

The LINDSAY Virtual Human Project: An immersive Approach to Anatomy and Physiology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tworek, Janet K.; Jamniczky, Heather A.; Jacob, Christian; Hallgrímsson, Benedikt; Wright, Bruce

2013-01-01

The increasing number of digital anatomy teaching software packages challenges anatomy educators on how to best integrate these tools for teaching and learning. Realistically, there exists a complex interplay of design, implementation, politics, and learning needs in the development and integration of software for education, each of which may be…

Research-Based Personas: Teaching Empathy in Professional Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Rooij, Shahron Williams

2012-01-01

Graduate students enrolled in professional education degree programs are increasingly challenged by the need to acquire the complex skills/competencies of their respective professions on the one hand, while retaining empathy for the individuals they will be serving on the other hand. This paper suggests a technique which uses the Persona, a…

A Theory-to-Practice Leadership Learning Arrangement in a University Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franken, Margaret; Branson, Christopher; Penney, Dawn

2018-01-01

Higher education institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of organizational change as they face complex challenges. Leadership learning has been identified as an important way of supporting change management. We describe a leadership learning arrangement that arose in the context of two of the authors needing to learn how to become…

Investigating Instructional Leadership Teams in Action: The Impact of School Context on Team Functioning and Authority

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiner, Jennie Miles

2012-01-01

To meet the increasingly complex challenges associated with school leadership and reform (York-Barr & Duke, 2004; Whitaker, 1996; Hertling, 2001), researchers and practitioners have begun to push schools to move away from traditional, hierarchical leadership models and towards more "distributed" ones (Elmore, 1995; Spillane,…

The New Management: Democracy and Enterprise Are Transforming Organizations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halal, William E.

Some organizational theorists argue that current approaches to management are not going to work in the 21st century. The book explores this modern dilemma and presents two premises underlying the design of organizations capable of responding to an increasingly complex and challenging business and social environment. The first premise is that the…

Distributed Leadership and High-Stakes Testing: Examining the Relationship between Distributed Leadership and LEAP Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boudreaux, Wilbert

2011-01-01

Educational stakeholders are aware that school administration has become an incredibly intricate dynamic that is too complex for principals to handle alone. Test-driven accountability has made the already daunting task of school administration even more challenging. Distributed leadership presents an opportunity to explore increased leadership…

Conservation planning in a tropical wilderness: Opportunities and threats in the Guianan Ecoregion Complex

Treesearch

Jan Schipper; Gary Clarke; Tom Allnutt

2007-01-01

With increasingly limited resources, conservation planners are challenged to provide policymakers with conservation portfolios that: 1) are representative of all important biodiversity features, 2) incorporate socioeconomic data, 3) are flexible to change, 4) require less financial resources over the long term, 5) overcome substantial information gaps, and 6) are...

Ethics Education and Scientific and Engineering Research: What's Been Learned? What Should Be Done? Summary of a Workshop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollander, Rachelle, Ed.; Arenberg, Carol R., Ed.

2009-01-01

Increasing complexity and competitiveness in research environments, the prevalence of interdisciplinary and international involvement in research projects, and the close coupling of commerce and academia have created an ethically challenging environment for young scientists and engineers. For the past several decades, federal research agencies…

Discourse Appropriation and Category Boundary Work: Casual Teachers in the Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charteris, Jennifer; Jenkins, Kathryn; Jones, Marguerite; Bannister-Tyrrell, Michelle

2017-01-01

With the increasing casualisation of the teacher labour force, there is little written on the experiences of casual teachers and the challenges they face in brokering professional identities within constantly shifting and uncertain work contexts. Being a category bound casual teacher (a product of category boundary work) is a complex subject…

Giving Refugee Students a Strong Head Start: The LEAD Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Joan; Bailey-McKenna, Mary-Catherine

2016-01-01

As the complexity and cultural diversity in contemporary Canadian schools increases, educators are challenged to respond to the unique cultural, socioemotional, and learning needs of students whose families are fleeing hardship, global conflict, or persecution to seek safe haven in Canada. Like those in most major urban centres in Canada, schools…

Interrogating Practice in Culturally Diverse Classrooms: What Can an Analysis of Student Resistance and Teacher Response Reveal?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santoro, Ninetta; Forghani-Arani, Neda

2015-01-01

As classrooms have increasingly become diverse and complex, developing culturally responsive pedagogies is a professional imperative for teachers. However, considerable international research suggests that meeting the needs of diverse pupil cohorts is challenging for many teachers. In this article, we highlight how curriculum and teaching…

Public Libraries in an Age of Financial Complexity: Toward Enhancing Community Financial Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Catherine Arnott; Eschenfelder, Kristin

2013-01-01

This report describes several linked empirical studies that examine the activities of public libraries in increasing the financial literacy of their service population. A qualitative field study examines librarians' perceptions of the challenges in offering information and services in this domain; a second set of interviews centers on the…

A Survey of Graduate Social Work Educators: Teaching Perspectives and Classroom Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danhoff, Kristin Lindsay

2012-01-01

Social work educators have the challenging task of preparing students to be ethically, morally, and socially responsible professionals. As professionals in the 21st Century, social workers are faced with ever increasing complexity and change. Teaching philosophies are at the foundation of what educators do in the classroom. Research about teaching…

The True Teamwork Model: Blending the Liberal Arts and International Business Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McInnis-Bowers, Cecilia; Chew, E. Byron

2008-01-01

As crucial stakeholders in higher education, employers have long requested, demanded, and implored that colleges and universities help students develop the team skills needed to address challenges posed by innovation. Employers seek college graduates who, in the face of persistent ambiguity and within increasingly complex environments, are able to…

Mother Tongue First Multilingual Education among the Tribal Communities in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacKenzie, Pamela J.

2009-01-01

India's rich multilingual, multicultural society creates a complex challenge to the Government as it attempts to address the educational needs of its tribal communities. Although access to schools has increased and enrolment rates are improving, the dropout rates are still alarmingly high and achievement levels are low compared to their non-tribal…

Pedagogy for Addressing the Worldview Challenge in Sustainable Development of Agriculture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Nicholas R.; Bawden, Richard J.; Bergmann, Luke

2008-01-01

Agriculture is offering new forms of support to society, as evidenced by rapid development of an agricultural "bio-economy," and increasing emphasis on production of ecological services in farmed landscapes. The advent of these innovations will engage agricultural professionals in critical civic debates about matters that are complex and…

Integrating ecological and social knowledge: learning from CHANS research

Treesearch

Bruce Shindler; Thomas A. Spies; John P. Bolte; Jeffrey D. Kline

2017-01-01

Scientists are increasingly called upon to integrate across ecological and social disciplines to tackle complex coupled human and natural system (CHANS) problems. Integration of these disciplines is challenging and many scientists do not have experience with large integrated research projects. However, much can be learned about the complicated process of integration...

The Statewide Public Agenda and Higher Education: Making It Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGuinness, Aims C.; Novak, Richard

2011-01-01

Recent political and economic trends pose a challenge to developing effective leadership capacity to guide public universities to the achievement of statewide goals. However, the increasingly complex political and economic contexts across the nation are making it difficult to develop such leadership capacity. The authors argue that it is important…

Supporting and Fostering the Development of Alternatively Certified Teachers: Creating a Collaborative Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Preach, Deborah

2013-01-01

First-year alternatively certified teachers face significant challenges as they attempt to address the complexities of classroom teaching, particularly when they are assigned to teach in urban school settings. As the number of alternatively certified teachers continues to increase, it is important to provide them with professional development…

An Ethical Exercise for the Social Studies Classroom: The Trolley Dilemma

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lennon, Sean M.; Byford, Jeffrey M.; Cox, J. T.

2015-01-01

The Trolley Problem as defined in this paper is a series, or continuation, of increasingly difficult ethical riddles successfully implemented in a classroom environment to spur complex, critical thinking and dialogue. The activity is designed upon the scenario of a runaway train with different and challenging choices, segueing neatly into group…

50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior: Simple Solutions to Complex Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breaux, Annette; Whitaker, Todd

2010-01-01

In a lively and engaging style, Annette Breaux and Todd Whitaker share 50 simple, straightforward techniques for improving student behavior and increasing student cooperation, participation, and achievement. Each practical, well-defined strategy can be applied in classrooms of all grade levels and subjects. Strategies include: (1) How to make…

Infusing Ethics into the Development of Engineers: Exemplary Education Activities and Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Academies Press, 2016

2016-01-01

Ethical practice in engineering is critical for ensuring public trust in the field and in its practitioners, especially as engineers increasingly tackle international and socially complex problems that combine technical and ethical challenges. This report aims to raise awareness of the variety of exceptional programs and strategies for improving…

Using Grass Roots Community Programs as an Anti-Extremism Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broadbent, Robyn

2013-01-01

In recent times the Australian Government has become increasingly concerned with the challenge to the dominant culture by humanitarian immigrants entering the country. As a part of a complex strategy, emerging from the events of 9/11 and the perceived changing face of multiculturalism in Australia, the Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced…

Different Faces in Our Classrooms: Teachers' Cultural Perspectives of Heterogeneous School Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hendricks, Paige

2016-01-01

The foundation of the United States' educational system is that all students will be educated equally by offering access to knowledge, opportunities, and services resulting in the creation of positive societal contributors. However, this task is complex and challenging. Heterogeneous student populations due to increased culturally diversity, do…

The Effectiveness of Using a Student Response System on Baccalaureate Nursing Student Dominant Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rebeschi, Lisa M.

2013-01-01

Professional nurses are challenged to provide high quality, evidence-based care in today's increasingly complex healthcare environment. Thus, nurses need to develop an appreciation for life-long learning. Understanding student approach to learning may provide nurse educators with empirical evidence to support specific teaching/learning strategies…

Managing Reward in Developing Economies: The Challenge for Multinational Corporations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Opute, John

2010-01-01

Reward has been, and continues to be, subject to significant changes in developing economies; the industrial relations model prevalent being driven by the complex socio-economic and cultural paradigms and the increasing demands of globalisation. The issue of reward in developing economies is therefore central and dependent on numerous contextual…

Water Bottle Designs and Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carmody, Heather Gramberg

2010-01-01

The increase in the diversity of students and the complexity of their needs can be a rich addition to a mathematics classroom. The challenge for teachers is to find a way to include students' interests and creativity in a way that allows for rigorous mathematics. One method of incorporating the diversity is the development of "open-ended…

Examining Teacher Attrition and Other Related Issues: A Conversation with Dr. D. Ray Reutzel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Linda E.; Mulvihill, Thalia M.

2016-01-01

Teacher educators work diligently to prepare future teachers while navigating the surrounding political realities that challenge our schools. Demands placed on teacher educators are growing and are increasingly more complex. Well-prepared and successful teachers are exiting the profession at alarming rates in several places in the world, including…

Synthesising empirical results to improve predictions of post-wildfire runoff and erosion response

Treesearch

Richard A. Shakesby; John A. Moody; Deborah A. Martin; Pete Robichaud

2016-01-01

Advances in research into wildfire impacts on runoff and erosion have demonstrated increasing complexity of controlling factors and responses, which, combined with changing fire frequency, present challenges for modellers. We convened a conference attended by experts and practitioners in post-wildfire impacts, meteorology and related research, including...

Advancing Elementary and Middle School STEM Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

English, Lyn D.

2017-01-01

Navigating the current STEM agendas and debates is complex and challenging. Perspectives on the nature of STEM education and how it should be implemented without losing discipline integrity, approaches to incorporating the arts (STEAM) and how equity in access to STEM education can be increased are just a few of the many issues faced by…

Adolescents, New Urban Spaces and Understanding Spatial Isolation: Can Geography Educators Lead Educational Reforms?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Margaret E.; Burston, Mary A.

2015-01-01

Imagining futures is challenging planners, policy-makers and educators alike. For young people growing up in our increasingly urbanised landscapes, new imaginaries are needed. Some of the complexities emerging in urban ecology are considered through an overview of geographical traditions and research findings reporting perspectives of young people…

Big Bang Technology: What's Next in Design Education, Radical Innovation or Incremental Change?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleischmann, Katja

2013-01-01

Since the introduction of digital media, design education has been challenged by the ongoing advancement of technology. Technological change has created unprecedented possibilities for designers to engage in the broadening realm of interactive digital media. The increasing sophistication of interactivity has brought a complexity which needs to be…

Enhancing Architecture-Implementation Conformance with Change Management and Support for Behavioral Mapping

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Yongjie

2012-01-01

Software architecture plays an increasingly important role in complex software development. Its further application, however, is challenged by the fact that software architecture, over time, is often found not conformant to its implementation. This is usually caused by frequent development changes made to both artifacts. Against this background,…

Training Engineers for the Ambient Intelligence Challenge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corno, Fulvio; De Russis, Luigi

2017-01-01

The increasing complexity of the new breed of distributed intelligent systems, such as the Internet of Things, which require a diversity of languages and protocols, can only be tamed with design and programming best practices. Interest is also growing for including the human factor, as advocated by the "ambient intelligence" (AmI)…

Community-Based Networks for Challenged Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vigil-Hayes, Morgan Ashlee

2017-01-01

The Internet as a networked system has been rendered more complex than ever before as human endpoints are grafted into the system via increasingly pervasive and personalized networked devices. According to the United Nations, the Internet is a transnational enabler of a number of human rights, and as such, access to the Internet has been…

National Education Standards: The Complex Challenge for Educational Leaders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faidley, Ray; Musser, Steven

1991-01-01

National standards for education are important elements in the excellence process, but standards imposed by a central authority simply do not work in the Information Era. It would be wise to increase teachers' decision-making role in establishing and implementing local level excellence standards and train teachers to employ the Japanese "kaizen"…

Citizenship for a Changing Global Climate: Learning from New Zealand and Norway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayward, Bronwyn; Selboe, Elin; Plew, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Young citizens under the age of 25?years make up just under half of the world's population. Globally, they face new, interrelated problems of dangerous environmental change, including increasing incidence of severe storms associated with a changing climate, and related new threats to human security. Addressing the complex challenge of climate…

Less Arguing, More Listening: Improving Civility in Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crocco, Margaret; Halvorsen, Anne-Lise; Jacobsen, Rebecca; Segall, Avner

2018-01-01

Today's youth increasingly are being expected to engage in civil deliberation in classrooms while simultaneously living in a society with a high level of political incivility. However, teaching students to argue--particularly in oral form--is enormously complex and challenging work. In this article, the authors report on a study of four high…

Optimists' Creed: Brave New Cyberlearning, Evolving Utopias (Circa 2041)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burleson, Winslow; Lewis, Armanda

2016-01-01

This essay imagines the role that artificial intelligence innovations play in the integrated living, learning and research environments of 2041. Here, in 2041, in the context of increasingly complex wicked challenges, whose solutions by their very nature continue to evade even the most capable experts, society and technology have co-evolved to…

Birth of Identity: Understanding the Value and Policy Considerations of Using Birth Certificates for Identity Resolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, Jeffrey Dean

2015-01-01

Exchanging patient-specific information across heterogeneous information systems is a critical but increasingly complex and expensive challenge. Lacking a universal unique identifier for healthcare, patient records must be linked using combinations of identity attributes such as name, date of birth, and sex. A state's birth certificate registry…

The coordination hub: Toward patient-centered and collaborative care processes.

PubMed

Winge, Monica; Johannesson, Paul; Perjons, Erik; Wangler, Benkt

2015-12-01

The organization and processes of today's health and social care are becoming ever more complex as a consequence of societal trends, including an aging population and an increased reliance on care at home. One aspect of the increased complexity is that a single patient may receive care from several care providers, which easily results in situations with potentially incoherent, uncoordinated, and interfering care processes. In order to describe and analyze such situations, the article introduces the notion of a process conglomeration. This is defined as a set of patient-care processes that all concern the same patient, that are overlapping in time, and that all are sharing the overall goal of improving or maintaining the health and social well-being of the patient. Problems and challenges of process conglomerations are investigated using coordination theory and models for continuous process improvement. In order to address the challenges, a solution is proposed in the form of a Coordination Hub, being an integrated software service that offers a number of information services for coordinating the activities of the processes in a process conglomeration. © The Author(s) 2014.

A survey of life support system automation and control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Finn, Cory K.

1993-01-01

The level of automation and control necessary to support advanced life support systems for use in the manned space program is steadily increasing. As the length and complexity of manned missions increase, life support systems must be able to meet new space challenges. Longer, more complex missions create new demands for increased automation, improved sensors, and improved control systems. It is imperative that research in these key areas keep pace with current and future developments in regenerative life support technology. This paper provides an overview of past and present research in the areas of sensor development, automation, and control of life support systems for the manned space program, and it discusses the impact continued research in several key areas will have on the feasibility, operation, and design of future life support systems.

Technological intimacy in haemodialysis nursing.

PubMed

Bennett, Paul N

2011-09-01

BENNETT PN. Nursing Inquiry 2011; 18: 247-252 Technological intimacy in haemodialysis nursing Technology plays a major role in nursing care. Among the challenges for nurses is being able to maintain a patient focus while surrounded by highly complex technology. The provision of high quality nursing care in technologically complex environments is particularly challenging when nurses develop relationships with their patients over an extended period of time. In these environments the potential for intimate relationships can increase. This potential for intimacy is evident in the haemodialysis context where dialysis technology, nurses and patients interface. As nurses and patients can spend up to 20 hours per week together intimate relationships can develop. This paper identifies the challenges these dialysis nurses face and introduces the concept of technological intimacy. Technological intimacy can be defined as physical touching and self disclosure, associated with closeness and knowing, that is undertaken in the full view of others in a healthcare environment dominated by technology. In the haemodialysis context technological intimacy has been scarcely acknowledged and rarely researched. Further research will assist in guiding haemodialysis nursing practice. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Increase in Testing Efficiency through the Development of an IT-Based Adaptive Testing Tool for Competency Measurement Applied to a Health Worker Training Test Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleinhans, Janne; Schumann, Matthias

2015-01-01

In the context of education and training, competency measurement (CM) is a central challenge in competency management. For complex CMs, a compromise must be addressed between the time available and the number of dimensions to be measured or the quality of the measurements. Increasing the efficiency of existing tests for CMs therefore poses a key…

The Challenge of Challenging Text

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanahan, Timothy; Fisher, Douglas; Frey, Nancy

2012-01-01

The Common Core State Standards emphasize the value of teaching students to engage with complex text. But what exactly makes a text complex, and how can teachers help students develop their ability to learn from such texts? The authors of this article discuss five factors that determine text complexity: vocabulary, sentence structure, coherence,…

Big Data in Plant Science: Resources and Data Mining Tools for Plant Genomics and Proteomics.

PubMed

Popescu, George V; Noutsos, Christos; Popescu, Sorina C

2016-01-01

In modern plant biology, progress is increasingly defined by the scientists' ability to gather and analyze data sets of high volume and complexity, otherwise known as "big data". Arguably, the largest increase in the volume of plant data sets over the last decade is a consequence of the application of the next-generation sequencing and mass-spectrometry technologies to the study of experimental model and crop plants. The increase in quantity and complexity of biological data brings challenges, mostly associated with data acquisition, processing, and sharing within the scientific community. Nonetheless, big data in plant science create unique opportunities in advancing our understanding of complex biological processes at a level of accuracy without precedence, and establish a base for the plant systems biology. In this chapter, we summarize the major drivers of big data in plant science and big data initiatives in life sciences with a focus on the scope and impact of iPlant, a representative cyberinfrastructure platform for plant science.

Teaching Architecture - Contemporary Challenges and Threats in the Complexity of Built Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borucka, Justyna; Macikowski, Bartosz

2017-10-01

The complexity of the modern built environment is a problem not only of architectural and urban issues. This issue extends to many other disciplines as well as covering a wide range of social engagements. The idea of writing this paper is generally initiated by the debate which took place in Gdańsk on 22.01.2016, and was prepared in order to meet representatives of the four circles of interest within the architectural sphere: universities, professional architectural organisations and associations, architectural practice (professionals running their own studios, managing projects and leading construction) and local social organisations active in city of Gdańsk. This paper is a comparison of the results of this discussion in relation to the policy and methodology of architecture teaching on the University level. Teaching architecture and urban planning according to the present discussion needs to be improved and advanced to meet the increasing complexity of both disciplines. Contemporary dynamic development of cities creates the necessity of engaging multiple stakeholders, participants and users of architecture and urban space. This is crucial to make them conscious of sharing responsibility for increasing the quality of living in the built environment. This discussion about architectural education is open and has the nature of an ongoing process adapting to a changing environment and is in fact a constant challenge which brings questions rather than simple answers. Transformation of architecture and urban planning, and consequently its education are increasingly entering into the related fields, especially into the professional practice and social environment. The question of how to teach architecture and urban planning and educate users of urban space should take place in the context of a wide discussion. This interdisciplinary debate seems to be a crucial and challenging step towards improving the future education of architecture and urban planning leading to a better life in the city.

The metabolic response to stress: a case of complex nutrition support management.

PubMed

Cartwright, Martina M

2004-12-01

The ICU patient with burns, neurotrauma, sepsis, or major surgery typifies the classic hypermetabolic patient. These patients have increased energy and nutrient needs as a result of their injuries and require early nutrition support. Although these patients are likely to benefit from nutritional intervention, the complexity of the stress response to injury and subsequent changes in nutrient metabolism make the design and implementation of nutrition care challenging. This article reviews the pathophysiology of common hypermetabolic conditions and provides strategies to manage the complications associated with nutrition support.

Multigenerational Challenges: Team-Building for Positive Clinical Workforce Outcomes

PubMed

Moore, Jill M; Everly, Marcee; Bauer, Renee

2016-05-31

Patient acuity in hospital settings continues to increase, and there is greater emphasis on patient outcomes. The current nursing workforce is comprised of four distinct generational cohorts that include veterans, baby boomers, millennials, and generation Xers. Each group has unique characteristics that add complexity to the workforce and this can add challenges to providing optimal patient care. Team building is one strategy to increase mutual understanding, communication, and respect, and thus potentially improve patient outcomes. In this article, we first briefly define generational cohorts by characteristics, and discuss differing expectations for work/life balance and potential negative outcomes. Our discussion offers team building strategies for positive outcomes, a case scenario, and concludes with resources for team building and organizational opportunities.

FY 2002 Report on Software Visualization Techniques for IV and V

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fotta, Michael E.

2002-01-01

One of the major challenges software engineers often face in performing IV&V is developing an understanding of a system created by a development team they have not been part of. As budgets shrink and software increases in complexity, this challenge will become even greater as these software engineers face increased time and resource constraints. This research will determine which current aspects of providing this understanding (e.g., code inspections, use of control graphs, use of adjacency matrices, requirements traceability) are critical to the performing IV&V and amenable to visualization techniques. We will then develop state-of-the-art software visualization techniques to facilitate the use of these aspects to understand software and perform IV&V.

A Developmental Framework for Complex Plasmodesmata Formation Revealed by Large-Scale Imaging of the Arabidopsis Leaf Epidermis[W

PubMed Central

Fitzgibbon, Jessica; Beck, Martina; Zhou, Ji; Faulkner, Christine; Robatzek, Silke; Oparka, Karl

2013-01-01

Plasmodesmata (PD) form tubular connections that function as intercellular communication channels. They are essential for transporting nutrients and for coordinating development. During cytokinesis, simple PDs are inserted into the developing cell plate, while during wall extension, more complex (branched) forms of PD are laid down. We show that complex PDs are derived from existing simple PDs in a pattern that is accelerated when leaves undergo the sink–source transition. Complex PDs are inserted initially at the three-way junctions between epidermal cells but develop most rapidly in the anisocytic complexes around stomata. For a quantitative analysis of complex PD formation, we established a high-throughput imaging platform and constructed PDQUANT, a custom algorithm that detected cell boundaries and PD numbers in different wall faces. For anticlinal walls, the number of complex PDs increased with increasing cell size, while for periclinal walls, the number of PDs decreased. Complex PD insertion was accelerated by up to threefold in response to salicylic acid treatment and challenges with mannitol. In a single 30-min run, we could derive data for up to 11k PDs from 3k epidermal cells. This facile approach opens the door to a large-scale analysis of the endogenous and exogenous factors that influence PD formation. PMID:23371949

Advanced Techniques for Ultrasonic Imaging in the Presence of Material and Geometrical Complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brath, Alexander Joseph

The complexity of modern engineering systems is increasing in several ways: advances in materials science are leading to the design of materials which are optimized for material strength, conductivity, temperature resistance etc., leading to complex material microstructure; the combination of additive manufacturing and shape optimization algorithms are leading to components with incredibly intricate geometrical complexity; and engineering systems are being designed to operate at larger scales in ever harsher environments. As a result, at the same time that there is an increasing need for reliable and accurate defect detection and monitoring capabilities, many of the currently available non-destructive evaluation techniques are rendered ineffective by this increasing material and geometrical complexity. This thesis addresses the challenges posed by inspection and monitoring problems in complex engineering systems with a three-part approach. In order to address material complexities, a model of wavefront propagation in anisotropic materials is developed, along with efficient numerical techniques to solve for the wavefront propagation in inhomogeneous, anisotropic material. Since material and geometrical complexities significantly affect the ability of ultrasonic energy to penetrate into the specimen, measurement configurations are tailored to specific applications which utilize arrays of either piezoelectric (PZT) or electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMAT). These measurement configurations include novel array architectures as well as the exploration of ice as an acoustic coupling medium. Imaging algorithms which were previously developed for isotropic materials with simple geometry are adapted to utilize the more powerful wavefront propagation model and novel measurement configurations.

A low, adaptive dose of gamma-rays reduced the number and altered the spectrum of S1- mutants in human-hamster hybrid AL cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ueno, A. M.; Vannais, D. B.; Gustafson, D. L.; Wong, J. C.; Waldren, C. A.

1996-01-01

We examined the effects of a low, adaptive dose of 137Cs-gamma-irradiation (0.04 Gy) on the number and kinds of mutants induced in AL human-hamster hybrid cells by a later challenge dose of 4 Gy. The yield of S1- mutants was significantly less (by 53%) after exposure to both the adaptive and challenge doses compared to the challenge dose alone. The yield of hprt- mutants was similarly decreased. Incubation with cycloheximide (CX) or 3-aminobenzamide largely negated the decrease in mutant yield. The adaptive dose did not perturb the cell cycle, was not cytotoxic, and did not of itself increase the mutant yield above background. The adaptive dose did, however, alter the spectrum of S1- mutants from populations exposed only to the adaptive dose, as well as affecting the spectrum of S1- mutants generated by the challenge dose. The major change in both cases was a significant increase in the proportion of complex mutations compared to small mutations and simple deletions.

Quantitative semi-automated analysis of morphogenesis with single-cell resolution in complex embryos.

PubMed

Giurumescu, Claudiu A; Kang, Sukryool; Planchon, Thomas A; Betzig, Eric; Bloomekatz, Joshua; Yelon, Deborah; Cosman, Pamela; Chisholm, Andrew D

2012-11-01

A quantitative understanding of tissue morphogenesis requires description of the movements of individual cells in space and over time. In transparent embryos, such as C. elegans, fluorescently labeled nuclei can be imaged in three-dimensional time-lapse (4D) movies and automatically tracked through early cleavage divisions up to ~350 nuclei. A similar analysis of later stages of C. elegans development has been challenging owing to the increased error rates of automated tracking of large numbers of densely packed nuclei. We present Nucleitracker4D, a freely available software solution for tracking nuclei in complex embryos that integrates automated tracking of nuclei in local searches with manual curation. Using these methods, we have been able to track >99% of all nuclei generated in the C. elegans embryo. Our analysis reveals that ventral enclosure of the epidermis is accompanied by complex coordinated migration of the neuronal substrate. We can efficiently track large numbers of migrating nuclei in 4D movies of zebrafish cardiac morphogenesis, suggesting that this approach is generally useful in situations in which the number, packing or dynamics of nuclei present challenges for automated tracking.

Insectivorous bats respond to vegetation complexity in urban green spaces.

PubMed

Suarez-Rubio, Marcela; Ille, Christina; Bruckner, Alexander

2018-03-01

Structural complexity is known to determine habitat quality for insectivorous bats, but how bats respond to habitat complexity in highly modified areas such as urban green spaces has been little explored. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether a recently developed measure of structural complexity is as effective as field-based surveys when applied to urban environments. We assessed whether image-derived structural complexity (MIG) was as/more effective than field-based descriptors in this environment and evaluated the response of insectivorous bats to structural complexity in urban green spaces. Bat activity and species richness were assessed with ultrasonic devices at 180 locations within green spaces in Vienna, Austria. Vegetation complexity was assessed using 17 field-based descriptors and by calculating the mean information gain (MIG) using digital images. Total bat activity and species richness decreased with increasing structural complexity of canopy cover, suggesting maneuverability and echolocation (sensorial) challenges for bat species using the canopy for flight and foraging. The negative response of functional groups to increased complexity was stronger for open-space foragers than for edge-space foragers. Nyctalus noctula , a species foraging in open space, showed a negative response to structural complexity, whereas Pipistrellus pygmaeus , an edge-space forager, was positively influenced by the number of trees. Our results show that MIG is a useful, time- and cost-effective tool to measure habitat complexity that complemented field-based descriptors. Response of insectivorous bats to structural complexity was group- and species-specific, which highlights the need for manifold management strategies (e.g., increasing or reinstating the extent of ground vegetation cover) to fulfill different species' requirements and to conserve insectivorous bats in urban green spaces.

Influence of chemical disorder on energy dissipation and defect evolution in concentrated solid solution alloys

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yanwen; Stocks, G. Malcolm; Jin, Ke; Lu, Chenyang; Bei, Hongbin; Sales, Brian C.; Wang, Lumin; Béland, Laurent K.; Stoller, Roger E.; Samolyuk, German D.; Caro, Magdalena; Caro, Alfredo; Weber, William J.

2015-01-01

A grand challenge in materials research is to understand complex electronic correlation and non-equilibrium atomic interactions, and how such intrinsic properties and dynamic processes affect energy transfer and defect evolution in irradiated materials. Here we report that chemical disorder, with an increasing number of principal elements and/or altered concentrations of specific elements, in single-phase concentrated solid solution alloys can lead to substantial reduction in electron mean free path and orders of magnitude decrease in electrical and thermal conductivity. The subsequently slow energy dissipation affects defect dynamics at the early stages, and consequentially may result in less deleterious defects. Suppressed damage accumulation with increasing chemical disorder from pure nickel to binary and to more complex quaternary solid solutions is observed. Understanding and controlling energy dissipation and defect dynamics by altering alloy complexity may pave the way for new design principles of radiation-tolerant structural alloys for energy applications. PMID:26507943

Additive Biotech-Chances, challenges, and recent applications of additive manufacturing technologies in biotechnology.

PubMed

Krujatz, Felix; Lode, Anja; Seidel, Julia; Bley, Thomas; Gelinsky, Michael; Steingroewer, Juliane

2017-10-25

The diversity and complexity of biotechnological applications are constantly increasing, with ever expanding ranges of production hosts, cultivation conditions and measurement tasks. Consequently, many analytical and cultivation systems for biotechnology and bioprocess engineering, such as microfluidic devices or bioreactors, are tailor-made to precisely satisfy the requirements of specific measurements or cultivation tasks. Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies offer the possibility of fabricating tailor-made 3D laboratory equipment directly from CAD designs with previously inaccessible levels of freedom in terms of structural complexity. This review discusses the historical background of these technologies, their most promising current implementations and the associated workflows, fabrication processes and material specifications, together with some of the major challenges associated with using AM in biotechnology/bioprocess engineering. To illustrate the great potential of AM, selected examples in microfluidic devices, 3D-bioprinting/biofabrication and bioprocess engineering are highlighted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reference Materials: Significance, General Requirements, and Demand.

PubMed

Kiełbasa, Anna; Gadzała-Kopciuch, Renata; Buszewski, Bogusław

2016-05-03

Reference materials play an important part in the quality control of measurements. Rapid development of such new scientific disciplines as proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics also necessitates development of new reference materials. This is a great challenge due to the complexity of the production of new reference materials and difficulties associated with achieving their homogeneity and stability. CRMs of tissue are of particular importance. They can be counted among the matrices that are most complex and time consuming in preparation. Tissue is the place of transformation and accumulation of many substances (e.g., metabolites, which are intermediate or end products resulting from metabolic processes). Trace amounts of many substances in tissues must be determined with adequate precision and accuracy. To meet the needs stemming from research and from problems and challenges faced by chemists, analysts, and toxicologists, the number of certified reference materials should be continuously increased.

Preparing national health systems to cope with the impending tsunami of ageing and its associated complexities: Towards more sustainable health care.

PubMed

Amalberti, René; Nicklin, Wendy; Braithwaite, Jeffrey

2016-06-01

Healthcare systems across the world are experiencing increased financial, organizational and social pressures attributable to a range of critical issues including the challenge of ageing populations. Health systems need to adapt, in order to sustainably provide quality care to the widest range of patients, particularly those with chronic and complex diseases, and especially those in vulnerable and low-income groups. We report on a workshop designed to tackle such issues under the auspices of ISQua, with representatives from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Emirates, France, Ireland, Jordan, Qatar, Malaysia, Norway, Oman, UK, South Africa and Switzerland. We discuss some of the challenges facing healthcare systems in countries ageing rapidly, to those less so, and touch on current and future reform options. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

[3D bioprinting of cartilage: challenges concerning the reconstruction of a burned ear].

PubMed

Visscher, Dafydd O; Bos, Ernst J; van Zuijlen, Paul P M

2015-01-01

Reconstruction of a severely maimed ear is a major challenge. The ear is highly flexible yet tough, and has a very complex three-dimensional shape. Reconstruction of a patient's burned ear is even more complex due to surrounding tissue damage. Not only does this hamper reconstruction options, it also increases the likelihood of issues when using synthetic implant materials. In such cases, rib cartilage is the preferred option, but this tissue has practical limitations too. For these reasons, tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting may have the potential to create personalized cartilage implants for burns patients. However, 3D bioprinting is a tool to facilitate the reconstruction, and not by itself the Holy Grail. The clinical application of this technique is still at a very early stage. Nevertheless, we expect that 3D bioprinting can be utilised for facial reconstruction following burns come 2020.

Morality, Intentionality, and Intergroup Attitudes

PubMed Central

Killen, Melanie; Rizzo, Michael T.

2015-01-01

Morality is at the core of what it means to be social. Moral judgments require the recognition of intentionality, that is, an attribution of the target’s intentions towards another. Most research on the origins of morality has focused on intragroup morality, which involves applying morality to individuals in one’s own group. Yet, increasingly, there has been new evidence that beginning early in development, children are able to apply moral concepts to members of an outgroup as well, and that this ability appears to be complex. The challenges associated with applying moral judgments to members of outgroups includes understanding group dynamics, the intentions of others who are different from the self, and having the capacity to challenge stereotypic expectations of others who are different from the ingroup. Research with children provides a window into the complexities of moral judgment and raises new questions, which are ripe for investigations into the evolutionary basis of morality. PMID:25717199

Directional radiance measurements: Challenges in the sampling of landscapes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deering, D. W.

1994-01-01

Most earth surfaces, particularly those supporting natural vegetation ecosystems, constitute structurally and spectrally complex surfaces that are distinctly non-Lambertian reflectors. Obtaining meaningful measurements of the directional radiances of landscapes and obtaining estimates of the complete bidirectional reflectance distribution functions of ground targets with complex and variable landscape and radiometric features are challenging tasks. Reasons for the increased interest in directional radiance measurements are presented, and the issues that must be addressed when trying to acquire directional radiances for vegetated land surfaces from different types of remote sensing platforms are discussed. Priority research emphases are suggested, concerning field measurements of directional surface radiances and reflectances for future research. Primarily, emphasis must be given to the acquisition of more complete and directly associated radiometric and biometric parameter data sets that will empower the exploitation of the 'angular dimension' in remote sensing of vegetation through enabling the further development and rigorous validation of state of the art plant canopy models.

Ethical challenges in developing an educational video to empower potential participants during consent processes in HIV cure research in South Africa.

PubMed

Staunton, Ciara; de Roubaix, Malcolm; Baatjies, Dianno; Black, Gill; Hendricks, Melany; Rossouw, Theresa; Moodley, Keymanthri

2018-04-01

Obtaining consent for HIV research is complex, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Low levels of education, complexity of science and research processes, confusion about basic elements of research, and socio-economic conditions that make access to medical care difficult have collectively led to concerns about the adequacy of the consent process. Given the exponential growth of HIV prevention and treatment research in South Africa, HIV researchers are increasingly facing challenges obtaining authentic informed consent from potential participants. It is anticipated that HIV cure research, despite being in its infancy in South Africa, will introduce a new discourse into a population that is often struggling to understand the differences between 'cure', 'preventive and therapeutic vaccines' and other elements of the research process. Coupled with this, South Africa has a complex history of 'illegitimate' or 'false cures' for HIV. It is therefore logical to anticipate that HIV cure research may face significant challenges during consent processes. HIV prevention research in South Africa has demonstrated the importance of early community engagement in educating potential research participants and promoting community acceptance of research. Consequently, in an attempt to extrapolate from this experience of engaging with communities early regarding cure research, a 15-minute educational video entitled ' I have a dream: a world without HIV ' was developed to educate and ultimately empower potential research participants to make informed choices during consent processes in future HIV cure clinical trials. To aid others in the development of educational interventions, this paper discusses the challenges faced in developing this educational video.

Baseline and extensions approach to information retrieval of complex medical data: Poznan's approach to the bioCADDIE 2016

PubMed Central

Cieslewicz, Artur; Dutkiewicz, Jakub; Jedrzejek, Czeslaw

2018-01-01

Abstract Information retrieval from biomedical repositories has become a challenging task because of their increasing size and complexity. To facilitate the research aimed at improving the search for relevant documents, various information retrieval challenges have been launched. In this article, we present the improved medical information retrieval systems designed by Poznan University of Technology and Poznan University of Medical Sciences as a contribution to the bioCADDIE 2016 challenge—a task focusing on information retrieval from a collection of 794 992 datasets generated from 20 biomedical repositories. The system developed by our team utilizes the Terrier 4.2 search platform enhanced by a query expansion method using word embeddings. This approach, after post-challenge modifications and improvements (with particular regard to assigning proper weights for original and expanded terms), allowed us achieving the second best infNDCG measure (0.4539) compared with the challenge results and infAP 0.3978. This demonstrates that proper utilization of word embeddings can be a valuable addition to the information retrieval process. Some analysis is provided on related work involving other bioCADDIE contributions. We discuss the possibility of improving our results by using better word embedding schemes to find candidates for query expansion. Database URL: https://biocaddie.org/benchmark-data PMID:29688372

Social networking and online recruiting for HIV research: ethical challenges.

PubMed

Curtis, Brenda L

2014-02-01

Social networking sites and online advertising organizations provide HIV/AIDS researchers access to target populations, often reaching difficult-to-reach populations. However, this benefit to researchers raises many issues for the protections of prospective research participants. Traditional recruitment procedures have involved straightforward transactions between the researchers and prospective participants; online recruitment is a more complex and indirect form of communication involving many parties engaged in the collecting, aggregating, and storing of research participant data. Thus, increased access to online data has challenged the adequacy of current and established procedures for participants' protections, such as informed consent and privacy/confidentiality. Internet-based HIV/AIDS research recruitment and its ethical challenges are described, and research participant safeguards and best practices are outlined.

Echoes of the Past, Glimpses of the Future - Ongoing Trends in Assurance of EEE Parts for Spaceflight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sampson, Michael J.

2017-01-01

This presentation will review some past NASA presentations that had identified challenges and future trends in the assurance of Electrical, Electronic and Electromechanical (EEE) parts for spaceflight applications. It will contrast the concerns expressed in those presentations with the challenges of today and identify trends that give insight into the future. Common themes include the use of commercial parts, limited technical and physical resources, the pace of technology change and the difficulties in handling and testing individual parts as they become smaller and more complex. Some options for dealing with these challenges will be suggested to accommodate increasing numbers of smallsats, cubesats, constellations and other disruptive concepts, as space becomes more and more commercialized.

Social Networking and Online Recruiting for HIV Research: Ethical Challenges

PubMed Central

Curtis, Brenda L.

2015-01-01

Social networking sites and online advertising organizations provide HIV/AIDS researchers access to target populations, often reaching difficult-to-reach populations. However, this benefit to researchers raises many issues for the protections of prospective research participants. Traditional recruitment procedures have involved straightforward transactions between the researchers and prospective participants; online recruitment is a more complex and indirect form of communication involving many parties engaged in the collecting, aggregating, and storing of research participant data. Thus, increased access to online data has challenged the adequacy of current and established procedures for participants’ protections, such as informed consent and privacy/confidentiality. Internet-based HIV/AIDS research recruitment and its ethical challenges are described, and research participant safeguards and best practices are outlined. PMID:24572084

Future Skill Needs in Europe: Critical Labour Force Trends. Cedefop Research Paper. No 59

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2016

2016-01-01

The European labour market is challenged by changes in the demographic composition of the labour force and increasing work complexities and processes. Skills forecasting makes useful contribution to decisions by policy-makers, experts and individuals. In this publication, Cedefop presents the latest results of skills supply and demand forecasts.…

Fostering the Development and Implementation of Principles for Managing Ethics in Higher Education Institutions: An International Comparative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marmolejo, Francisco

2006-01-01

In today's world, higher education faces important opportunities and challenges, many of which are new and unexpected. The increased complexity of higher education institutions themselves is reflected in the expansion of their roles and responsibilities. These roles and responsibilities include: greater demands for regional engagement and other…

Can the Tools of Activity Theory Help Us in Advancing Understanding and Organisational Change in Undergraduate Medical Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Anne-Marie; Ledger, Alison; Kilminster, Sue; Fuller, Richard

2015-01-01

Continued changes to healthcare delivery in the UK, and an increasing focus on patient safety and quality improvement, require a radical rethink on how we enable graduates to begin work in challenging, complex environments. Professional regulatory bodies now require undergraduate medical schools to implement an "assistantship" period in…

Fundamental Physics Program and the NASA Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trinh, Eugene

2003-01-01

The accomplishments of Physics, the increasing power of its instruments, and its expanding reach into other sciences have generated an unprecedented set of scientific opportunities. The committee has identified six such Grand Challenges listed below in no particular order: Developing quantum technologies. Creating new materials. Understanding complex systems. Unifying the forces of Nature. Exploring the universe Applying Physics to Biology.

Education Requirements of Command Positions in the U.S. Border Patrol

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-12

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................110 viii ACRONYMS BPA ...and ports of entry.3 As the USBP changed, so did the requirements of its positions. The duties of the Border Patrol Agent ( BPA ) position today are...more complex, challenging, and demanding than they were twenty years ago.4 In just over a decade, most BPA positions increased in grade, including

Transition to Adult Health Care for Adolescents with Spina Bifida: Research Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawyer, Susan M.; Macnee, Sarah

2010-01-01

The increasing survival of children and young people with congenital disabilities such as spina bifida (SB) provides a challenge to health care systems globally about how best to respond to the multitude of health, developmental, and psychosocial needs of those affected by this complex disorder across the lifespan, not just in childhood and…

Planning the Fire Program for the Third Millennium

Treesearch

Richard A. Chase

1987-01-01

The fire program planner faces an increasingly complex task as diverse--and often contradictory--messages about objectives and constraints are received from political, administrative, budgetary, and social processes. Our principal challenge as we move into the 21st century is not one of looking for flashier technology to include in the planned fire program. Rather, we...

Creating a Learner-Centered Environment in Nursing Education: An Immersion Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steiner, Susan H.; Floyd, Evelyn; Hewett, Beverly J.; Lewis, Nicole C.; Walker, Eldon H.

2010-01-01

A call for change in nursing education has been issued in order to prepare the nurse of the future in a changing health care delivery system with increasing complexity. The learning environment is changing, including the faculty role. Innovative research-based pedagogies are suggested as a way to challenge traditional nursing education. The…

Application of Learning Technologies to Promote Holistic Thinking and Consensus Building in Global Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trieb, Carolin-Anna

2016-01-01

Purpose: Acting in an increasingly complex and dynamic global world requires students to analyze and discuss professionally many of the international challenges that the world is facing due to globalization. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate the implementation of information and learning technologies (ILTs) in the practical…

Meeting Legal Challenges. The School Leader's Library: Leading for Learning Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckham, Joseph

This book focuses on the influence that law and politics have on the educational system. This is a newly emerging view of schools in an increasingly pluralistic, complex, and technological society. In such a context, an understanding of legal principles and how those principles affect educational practice is essential for the school leader not…

Examining the Efficacy of Peer Network Interventions on the Social Interactions of High School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sreckovic, Melissa A.; Hume, Kara; Able, Harriet

2017-01-01

Developing positive peer relationships is important. Unfortunately, due to challenges in social communication and increased complexity of peer groups during adolescence, many secondary students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in limited positive social interactions with peers. This study examined the effects of a peer network…

Future trends in society and technology: implications for wilderness research and management

Treesearch

George H. Stankey

2000-01-01

Judging the impact of social and technological trends on the future of wilderness is complex. Declining public trust, growing demands for scrutiny, a need to recognize the link between biophysical and socioeconomic systems, and the need for criteria to select among alternative futures challenge us. A burgeoning global population will increase resource impacts, but more...

The Evolution of Software Publication in Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cantiello, Matteo

2018-01-01

Software is a fundamental component of the scientific research process. As astronomical discoveries increasingly rely on complex numerical calculations and the analysis of big data sets, publishing and documenting software is a fundamental step in ensuring transparency and reproducibility of results. I will briefly discuss the recent history of software publication and highlight the challenges and opportunities ahead.

From the NIH: A Systems Approach to Increasing the Diversity of the Biomedical Research Workforce

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valantine, Hannah A.; Lund, P. Kay; Gammie, Alison E.

2016-01-01

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is committed to attracting, developing, and supporting the best scientists from all groups as an integral part of excellence in training. Biomedical research workforce diversity, capitalizing on the full spectrum of skills, talents, and viewpoints, is essential for solving complex human health challenges.…

Democracy's Orphans: Rights, Responsibility, and the Role of the State in the Lives of Incarcerated Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, Joby

2010-01-01

Transition to adulthood is increasingly complex, extended, and challenging. Working-class Brown and Black young men face very difficult transitions, as they are overrepresented in the justice system, poverty, foster care, special education, and among victims of violence. What effects do these developments have on young people's places in free…

Developing Leadership in Higher Education: Perspectives from the USA, the UK and Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hempsall, Kay

2014-01-01

It is broadly acknowledged that leaders in the twenty-first century are required to navigate an increasingly complex landscape and that the types of challenges individuals and organisations face in the knowledge era require the capacity to adapt and respond to continual fluctuations and change. Outcomes from previous leadership research, combined…

Leading for Instructional Improvement in the Context of Accountability: Central Office Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rigby, Jessica Goodman; Corriell, Rebecca; Kuhl, Katie J.

2018-01-01

This case was written to help prepare central office leaders who are expected to design systems and lead toward instructional improvement in the context of both educational accountability and implementation of standards with increased rigor. The intent of this case study is to encourage educators to examine the complex and multiple challenges of…

The Challenge for Female Educational Leaders: An Examination of the Problem and Proposed Solutions through Educational and Social Change Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brathwaite, Frank

Despite the current need for strong leadership skills to facilitate task achievement, individual development, and social action in an increasingly complex society, women are failing to make significant headway in educational administration. Lack of leadership opportunities for women limits both individual and organizational potential. The problem…

Improving Students Soft Skills Using Thinking Process Profile Based on Personality Types

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sunarto, M. J. Dewiyani

2015-01-01

The challenge in education field these days rises as the cause of society's expectation for higher education. This increasingly complex expectation demands that higher education prepares the students to gain integrity. Higher education provides not only hard skills for the student, but also soft skills. By observing the hard skills side, in the…

Community-Based Collaboration for Early Childhood Teacher Education: Partner Experiences and Perspectives as Co-Teacher Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lees, Anna; Kennedy, Adam S.

2017-01-01

The relevance and effectiveness of traditional, course- and clinical-experience-based models of teacher preparation have been called into question, and institutions of teacher education must respond to the changing landscape of educational policy, which increasingly emphasizes that candidates must be prepared for challenges faced in complex,…

"Computer Games Can Get Your Brain Working": Student Experience and Perceptions of Digital Games in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beavis, Catherine; Muspratt, Sandy; Thompson, Roberta

2015-01-01

There is considerable enthusiasm in many quarters for the incorporation of digital games into the classroom, and the capacity of games to engage and challenge players, present complex representations and experiences, foster collaborative learning, and promote deep learning. But while there is increasing research documenting the progress and…

Digital transplantation pathology: combining whole slide imaging, multiplex staining and automated image analysis.

PubMed

Isse, K; Lesniak, A; Grama, K; Roysam, B; Minervini, M I; Demetris, A J

2012-01-01

Conventional histopathology is the gold standard for allograft monitoring, but its value proposition is increasingly questioned. "-Omics" analysis of tissues, peripheral blood and fluids and targeted serologic studies provide mechanistic insights into allograft injury not currently provided by conventional histology. Microscopic biopsy analysis, however, provides valuable and unique information: (a) spatial-temporal relationships; (b) rare events/cells; (c) complex structural context; and (d) integration into a "systems" model. Nevertheless, except for immunostaining, no transformative advancements have "modernized" routine microscopy in over 100 years. Pathologists now team with hardware and software engineers to exploit remarkable developments in digital imaging, nanoparticle multiplex staining, and computational image analysis software to bridge the traditional histology-global "-omic" analyses gap. Included are side-by-side comparisons, objective biopsy finding quantification, multiplexing, automated image analysis, and electronic data and resource sharing. Current utilization for teaching, quality assurance, conferencing, consultations, research and clinical trials is evolving toward implementation for low-volume, high-complexity clinical services like transplantation pathology. Cost, complexities of implementation, fluid/evolving standards, and unsettled medical/legal and regulatory issues remain as challenges. Regardless, challenges will be overcome and these technologies will enable transplant pathologists to increase information extraction from tissue specimens and contribute to cross-platform biomarker discovery for improved outcomes. ©Copyright 2011 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Adaptive sampling strategies with high-throughput molecular dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clementi, Cecilia

Despite recent significant hardware and software developments, the complete thermodynamic and kinetic characterization of large macromolecular complexes by molecular simulations still presents significant challenges. The high dimensionality of these systems and the complexity of the associated potential energy surfaces (creating multiple metastable regions connected by high free energy barriers) does not usually allow to adequately sample the relevant regions of their configurational space by means of a single, long Molecular Dynamics (MD) trajectory. Several different approaches have been proposed to tackle this sampling problem. We focus on the development of ensemble simulation strategies, where data from a large number of weakly coupled simulations are integrated to explore the configurational landscape of a complex system more efficiently. Ensemble methods are of increasing interest as the hardware roadmap is now mostly based on increasing core counts, rather than clock speeds. The main challenge in the development of an ensemble approach for efficient sampling is in the design of strategies to adaptively distribute the trajectories over the relevant regions of the systems' configurational space, without using any a priori information on the system global properties. We will discuss the definition of smart adaptive sampling approaches that can redirect computational resources towards unexplored yet relevant regions. Our approaches are based on new developments in dimensionality reduction for high dimensional dynamical systems, and optimal redistribution of resources. NSF CHE-1152344, NSF CHE-1265929, Welch Foundation C-1570.

Strategies for risk assessment and control in welding: challenges for developing countries.

PubMed

Hewitt, P J

2001-06-01

Metal arc welding ranges from primitive (manual) to increasingly complex automated welding processes. Welding occupies 1% of the labour force in some industrialised countries and increasing knowledge of health risks, necessitating improved assessment strategies and controls have been identified by the International Institute of Welding (IIW), ILO, WHO and other authoritative bodies. Challenges for developing countries need to be addressed. For small scale production and repair work, predominantly by manual metal arc on mild steel, the focus in developing economies has correctly been on control of obvious physical and acute health affects. Development introduces more sophisticated processes and hazards. Work pieces of stainless steel and consumables with chromium, nickel and manganese constituents are used with increasingly complex semi-manual or automated systems involving variety of fluxes or gasses. Uncritical adoption of new welding technologies by developing countries potentiates future health problems. Control should be integral at the design stage, otherwise substantive detriments and later costs can ensue. Developing countries need particular guidance on selection of the optimised welding consumables and processes to minimise such detriments. The role of the IIW and the MFRU are described. Applications of occupational hygiene principals of prevention and control of welding fume at source by process modification are presented.

Investigation of model-based physical design restrictions (Invited Paper)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucas, Kevin; Baron, Stanislas; Belledent, Jerome; Boone, Robert; Borjon, Amandine; Couderc, Christophe; Patterson, Kyle; Riviere-Cazaux, Lionel; Rody, Yves; Sundermann, Frank; Toublan, Olivier; Trouiller, Yorick; Urbani, Jean-Christophe; Wimmer, Karl

2005-05-01

As lithography and other patterning processes become more complex and more non-linear with each generation, the task of physical design rules necessarily increases in complexity also. The goal of the physical design rules is to define the boundary between the physical layout structures which will yield well from those which will not. This is essentially a rule-based pre-silicon guarantee of layout correctness. However the rapid increase in design rule requirement complexity has created logistical problems for both the design and process functions. Therefore, similar to the semiconductor industry's transition from rule-based to model-based optical proximity correction (OPC) due to increased patterning complexity, opportunities for improving physical design restrictions by implementing model-based physical design methods are evident. In this paper we analyze the possible need and applications for model-based physical design restrictions (MBPDR). We first analyze the traditional design rule evolution, development and usage methodologies for semiconductor manufacturers. Next we discuss examples of specific design rule challenges requiring new solution methods in the patterning regime of low K1 lithography and highly complex RET. We then evaluate possible working strategies for MBPDR in the process development and product design flows, including examples of recent model-based pre-silicon verification techniques. Finally we summarize with a proposed flow and key considerations for MBPDR implementation.

Integrated Information Increases with Fitness in the Evolution of Animats

PubMed Central

Edlund, Jeffrey A.; Chaumont, Nicolas; Hintze, Arend; Koch, Christof; Tononi, Giulio; Adami, Christoph

2011-01-01

One of the hallmarks of biological organisms is their ability to integrate disparate information sources to optimize their behavior in complex environments. How this capability can be quantified and related to the functional complexity of an organism remains a challenging problem, in particular since organismal functional complexity is not well-defined. We present here several candidate measures that quantify information and integration, and study their dependence on fitness as an artificial agent (“animat”) evolves over thousands of generations to solve a navigation task in a simple, simulated environment. We compare the ability of these measures to predict high fitness with more conventional information-theoretic processing measures. As the animat adapts by increasing its “fit” to the world, information integration and processing increase commensurately along the evolutionary line of descent. We suggest that the correlation of fitness with information integration and with processing measures implies that high fitness requires both information processing as well as integration, but that information integration may be a better measure when the task requires memory. A correlation of measures of information integration (but also information processing) and fitness strongly suggests that these measures reflect the functional complexity of the animat, and that such measures can be used to quantify functional complexity even in the absence of fitness data. PMID:22028639

The mathematics of cancer: integrating quantitative models.

PubMed

Altrock, Philipp M; Liu, Lin L; Michor, Franziska

2015-12-01

Mathematical modelling approaches have become increasingly abundant in cancer research. The complexity of cancer is well suited to quantitative approaches as it provides challenges and opportunities for new developments. In turn, mathematical modelling contributes to cancer research by helping to elucidate mechanisms and by providing quantitative predictions that can be validated. The recent expansion of quantitative models addresses many questions regarding tumour initiation, progression and metastases as well as intra-tumour heterogeneity, treatment responses and resistance. Mathematical models can complement experimental and clinical studies, but also challenge current paradigms, redefine our understanding of mechanisms driving tumorigenesis and shape future research in cancer biology.

Clean Energy Finance: Challenges and Opportunities of Early-Stage Energy Investing (Presentation)

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

Heap, D.; Pless, J.; Aieta, N.

Characterized by a changing landscape and new opportunities, today's increasingly complex energy decision space will need innovative financing and investment models to appropriately assess risk and profitability. This report provides an overview of the current state of clean energy finance across the entire spectrum but with a focus on early stage investing, and it includes insights from investors across all investment classes. Further, this report aims to provide a roadmap with the mechanisms, limitations, and considerations involved in making successful investments by identifying risks, challenges, and opportunities in the clean energy sector.

Training for laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy.

PubMed

Kuroki, Tamotsu; Fujioka, Hikaru

2018-05-10

In recent years, laparoscopic procedures have developed rapidly, and the reports of laparoscopic pancreatic resection including laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) have increased in number. Although LPD is a complex procedure with high mortality, the training system for LPD remains unestablished. Ensuring patient safety is extremely important, even in challenging surgeries such a LPD. At present, several tools have been developed for surgical education to ensure patient safety preoperatively, such as video learning, virtual reality simulators, and cadaver training. Although LPD is reported as a safe and feasible choice, LPD is still a challenging operation. An LPD training system should be established with a board-certified system.

The Study on University Financial Management under Knowledge Economy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yongfan, Xu

The coming of knowledge economy creates unprecedented situation of economy development. The trend of education's globalization as well as communication means frequently updated severely hit the system of financial management. Along with the deep going of education industrialization, and development of logistics management socialization, system and content of university financial management are increasingly expending and getting more and more complex that result in new challenge and problems to financial management. In order to step up with university development of internationalization and the logistics development of socialization, the financial management has to reform in response to this new challenge and trend.

Flat and complex temperate reefs provide similar support for fish: Evidence for a unimodal species-habitat relationship.

PubMed

Paxton, Avery B; Pickering, Emily A; Adler, Alyssa M; Taylor, J Christopher; Peterson, Charles H

2017-01-01

Structural complexity, a form of habitat heterogeneity, influences the structure and function of ecological communities, generally supporting increased species density, richness, and diversity. Recent research, however, suggests the most complex habitats may not harbor the highest density of individuals and number of species, especially in areas with elevated human influence. Understanding nuances in relationships between habitat heterogeneity and ecological communities is warranted to guide habitat-focused conservation and management efforts. We conducted fish and structural habitat surveys of thirty warm-temperate reefs on the southeastern US continental shelf to quantify how structural complexity influences fish communities. We found that intermediate complexity maximizes fish abundance on natural and artificial reefs, as well as species richness on natural reefs, challenging the current paradigm that abundance and other fish community metrics increase with increasing complexity. Naturally occurring rocky reefs of flat and complex morphologies supported equivalent abundance, biomass, species richness, and community composition of fishes. For flat and complex morphologies of rocky reefs to receive equal consideration as essential fish habitat (EFH), special attention should be given to detecting pavement type rocky reefs because their ephemeral nature makes them difficult to detect with typical seafloor mapping methods. Artificial reefs of intermediate complexity also maximized fish abundance, but human-made structures composed of low-lying concrete and metal ships differed in community types, with less complex, concrete structures supporting lower numbers of fishes classified largely as demersal species and metal ships protruding into the water column harboring higher numbers of fishes, including more pelagic species. Results of this study are essential to the process of evaluating habitat function provided by different types and shapes of reefs on the seafloor so that all EFH across a wide range of habitat complexity may be accurately identified and properly managed.

The effect of orthostatic stress on multiscale entropy of heart rate and blood pressure.

PubMed

Turianikova, Zuzana; Javorka, Kamil; Baumert, Mathias; Calkovska, Andrea; Javorka, Michal

2011-09-01

Cardiovascular control acts over multiple time scales, which introduces a significant amount of complexity to heart rate and blood pressure time series. Multiscale entropy (MSE) analysis has been developed to quantify the complexity of a time series over multiple time scales. In previous studies, MSE analyses identified impaired cardiovascular control and increased cardiovascular risk in various pathological conditions. Despite the increasing acceptance of the MSE technique in clinical research, information underpinning the involvement of the autonomic nervous system in the MSE of heart rate and blood pressure is lacking. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of orthostatic challenge on the MSE of heart rate and blood pressure variability (HRV, BPV) and the correlation between MSE (complexity measures) and traditional linear (time and frequency domain) measures. MSE analysis of HRV and BPV was performed in 28 healthy young subjects on 1000 consecutive heart beats in the supine and standing positions. Sample entropy values were assessed on scales of 1-10. We found that MSE of heart rate and blood pressure signals is sensitive to changes in autonomic balance caused by postural change from the supine to the standing position. The effect of orthostatic challenge on heart rate and blood pressure complexity depended on the time scale under investigation. Entropy values did not correlate with the mean values of heart rate and blood pressure and showed only weak correlations with linear HRV and BPV measures. In conclusion, the MSE analysis of heart rate and blood pressure provides a sensitive tool to detect changes in autonomic balance as induced by postural change.

Interdisciplinary challenges in the study of power grid resilience and stability and their relation to extreme weather events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heitzig, J.; Fujiwara, N.; Aihara, K.; Kurths, J.

2014-10-01

This topical issue collects contributions to the interdisciplinary study of power grid stability in face of increasing volatility of energy production and consumption due to increasing renewable energy infeed and changing climatic conditions. The individual papers focus on different aspects of this field and bring together modern achievements from various disciplines, in particular complex systems science, nonlinear data analysis, control theory, electrical engineering, and climatology. Main topics considered here are prediction and volatility of renewable infeed, modelling and theoretical analysis of power grid topology, dynamics and stability, relationships between stability and complex network topology, and improvements via topological changes or control. Impacts for the design of smart power grids are discussed in detail.

Accountability in the UK Healthcare System: An Overview

PubMed Central

Peckham, Stephen

2014-01-01

Recent changes in the English National Health Service (NHS) have introduced new complexities into the accountability arrangements for healthcare services. This commentary describes how the new organizational structures have challenged the traditional centralized accountability structures by creating a more dispersed system of governance for local health-care commissioners. It sets the context of discussions about accountability in the UK NHS and then describes the key changes in England following the implementation of the NHS reforms in April 2013. The commentary concludes that while there is increased complexity of accountability within a more decentralized and fragmented healthcare system, the government's goal of achieving increased local autonomy and greater control by general practitioners (GPs) will probably not be realized. In particular, the system will continue to have strongly centralized aspects, with increased regulation and central political responsibility. PMID:25305399

Challenges to evaluating complex interventions: a content analysis of published papers

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background There is continuing interest among practitioners, policymakers and researchers in the evaluation of complex interventions stemming from the need to further develop the evidence base on the effectiveness of healthcare and public health interventions, and an awareness that evaluation becomes more challenging if interventions are complex. We undertook an analysis of published journal articles in order to identify aspects of complexity described by writers, the fields in which complex interventions are being evaluated and the challenges experienced in design, implementation and evaluation. This paper outlines the findings of this documentary analysis. Methods The PubMed electronic database was searched for the ten year period, January 2002 to December 2011, using the term “complex intervention*” in the title and/or abstract of a paper. We extracted text from papers to a table and carried out a thematic analysis to identify authors’ descriptions of challenges faced in developing, implementing and evaluating complex interventions. Results The search resulted in a sample of 221 papers of which full text of 216 was obtained and 207 were included in the analysis. The 207 papers broadly cover clinical, public health and methodological topics. Challenges described included the content and standardisation of interventions, the impact of the people involved (staff and patients), the organisational context of implementation, the development of outcome measures, and evaluation. Conclusions Our analysis of these papers suggests that more detailed reporting of information on outcomes, context and intervention is required for complex interventions. Future revisions to reporting guidelines for both primary and secondary research may need to take aspects of complexity into account to enhance their value to both researchers and users of research. PMID:23758638

Modeling ultrasound propagation through material of increasing geometrical complexity.

PubMed

Odabaee, Maryam; Odabaee, Mostafa; Pelekanos, Matthew; Leinenga, Gerhard; Götz, Jürgen

2018-06-01

Ultrasound is increasingly being recognized as a neuromodulatory and therapeutic tool, inducing a broad range of bio-effects in the tissue of experimental animals and humans. To achieve these effects in a predictable manner in the human brain, the thick cancellous skull presents a problem, causing attenuation. In order to overcome this challenge, as a first step, the acoustic properties of a set of simple bone-modeling resin samples that displayed an increasing geometrical complexity (increasing step sizes) were analyzed. Using two Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) transducers, we found that Wiener deconvolution predicted the Ultrasound Acoustic Response (UAR) and attenuation caused by the samples. However, whereas the UAR of samples with step sizes larger than the wavelength could be accurately estimated, the prediction was not accurate when the sample had a smaller step size. Furthermore, a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) performed in ANSYS determined that the scattering and refraction of sound waves was significantly higher in complex samples with smaller step sizes compared to simple samples with a larger step size. Together, this reveals an interaction of frequency and geometrical complexity in predicting the UAR and attenuation. These findings could in future be applied to poro-visco-elastic materials that better model the human skull. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour.

PubMed

DePasquale, C; Neuberger, T; Hirrlinger, A M; Braithwaite, V A

2016-01-27

The ways in which challenging environments during development shape the brain and behaviour are increasingly being addressed. To date, studies typically consider only single variables, but the real world is more complex. Many factors simultaneously affect the brain and behaviour, and whether these work independently or interact remains untested. To address this, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were reared in a two-by-two design in housing that varied in structural complexity and/or exposure to a stressor. Fish experiencing both complexity (enrichment objects changed over time) and mild stress (daily net chasing) exhibited enhanced learning and were less anxious when tested as juveniles (between 77 and 90 days). Adults tested (aged 1 year) were also less anxious even though fish were kept in standard housing after three months of age (i.e. no chasing or enrichment). Volumetric measures of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that complexity alone generated fish with a larger brain, but this increase in size was not seen in fish that experienced both complexity and chasing, or chasing alone. The results highlight the importance of looking at multiple variables simultaneously, and reveal differential effects of complexity and stressful experiences during development of the brain and behaviour. © 2016 The Authors.

The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour

PubMed Central

Neuberger, T.; Hirrlinger, A. M.; Braithwaite, V. A.

2016-01-01

The ways in which challenging environments during development shape the brain and behaviour are increasingly being addressed. To date, studies typically consider only single variables, but the real world is more complex. Many factors simultaneously affect the brain and behaviour, and whether these work independently or interact remains untested. To address this, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were reared in a two-by-two design in housing that varied in structural complexity and/or exposure to a stressor. Fish experiencing both complexity (enrichment objects changed over time) and mild stress (daily net chasing) exhibited enhanced learning and were less anxious when tested as juveniles (between 77 and 90 days). Adults tested (aged 1 year) were also less anxious even though fish were kept in standard housing after three months of age (i.e. no chasing or enrichment). Volumetric measures of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that complexity alone generated fish with a larger brain, but this increase in size was not seen in fish that experienced both complexity and chasing, or chasing alone. The results highlight the importance of looking at multiple variables simultaneously, and reveal differential effects of complexity and stressful experiences during development of the brain and behaviour. PMID:26817780

Convergent and Divergent fMRI Responses in Children and Adults to Increasing Language Production Demands

PubMed Central

Krishnan, Saloni; Leech, Robert; Mercure, Evelyne; Lloyd-Fox, Sarah; Dick, Frederic

2015-01-01

In adults, patterns of neural activation associated with perhaps the most basic language skill—overt object naming—are extensively modulated by the psycholinguistic and visual complexity of the stimuli. Do children's brains react similarly when confronted with increasing processing demands, or they solve this problem in a different way? Here we scanned 37 children aged 7–13 and 19 young adults who performed a well-normed picture-naming task with 3 levels of difficulty. While neural organization for naming was largely similar in childhood and adulthood, adults had greater activation in all naming conditions over inferior temporal gyri and superior temporal gyri/supramarginal gyri. Manipulating naming complexity affected adults and children quite differently: neural activation, especially over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, showed complexity-dependent increases in adults, but complexity-dependent decreases in children. These represent fundamentally different responses to the linguistic and conceptual challenges of a simple naming task that makes no demands on literacy or metalinguistics. We discuss how these neural differences might result from different cognitive strategies used by adults and children during lexical retrieval/production as well as developmental changes in brain structure and functional connectivity. PMID:24907249

Joint denoising, demosaicing, and chromatic aberration correction for UHD video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jovanov, Ljubomir; Philips, Wilfried; Damstra, Klaas Jan; Ellenbroek, Frank

2017-09-01

High-resolution video capture is crucial for numerous applications such as surveillance, security, industrial inspection, medical imaging and digital entertainment. In the last two decades, we are witnessing a dramatic increase of the spatial resolution and the maximal frame rate of video capturing devices. In order to achieve further resolution increase, numerous challenges will be facing us. Due to the reduced size of the pixel, the amount of light also reduces, leading to the increased noise level. Moreover, the reduced pixel size makes the lens imprecisions more pronounced, which especially applies to chromatic aberrations. Even in the case when high quality lenses are used some chromatic aberration artefacts will remain. Next, noise level additionally increases due to the higher frame rates. To reduce the complexity and the price of the camera, one sensor captures all three colors, by relying on Color Filter Arrays. In order to obtain full resolution color image, missing color components have to be interpolated, i.e. demosaicked, which is more challenging than in the case of lower resolution, due to the increased noise and aberrations. In this paper, we propose a new method, which jointly performs chromatic aberration correction, denoising and demosaicking. By jointly performing the reduction of all artefacts, we are reducing the overall complexity of the system and the introduction of new artefacts. In order to reduce possible flicker we also perform temporal video enhancement. We evaluate the proposed method on a number of publicly available UHD sequences and on sequences recorded in our studio.

Addressing Complex Problems: Using Authentic Audiences and Challenges to Develop Adaptive Leadership and Socially Responsible Agency in Leadership Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andenoro, Anthony C.; Sowcik, Matthew J.; Balser, Teresa C.

2017-01-01

Complex and adaptive challenges threaten human well-being and sustainability. However, our leadership graduates often lack the capacity and or commitment to address these challenges in a meaningful way. This paper details a five-year study exploring the impact of an interdisciplinary undergraduate course on the development of global capacities,…

"I Wouldn't Choose It, but I Don't Regret Reading It": Scaffolding Students' Engagement with Complex Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simon, Lisa

2008-01-01

This article addresses the challenges of supporting students' engagement with complex, challenging texts. How do teachers sustain students' interactions with texts that many see as irrelevant to their lives? How do they provide space to name and challenge the simplistic or problematic portrayals of cultures and communities often found in the texts…

Polymer architectures via mass spectrometry and hyphenated techniques: A review.

PubMed

Crotty, Sarah; Gerişlioğlu, Selim; Endres, Kevin J; Wesdemiotis, Chrys; Schubert, Ulrich S

2016-08-17

This review covers the application of mass spectrometry (MS) and its hyphenated techniques to synthetic polymers of varying architectural complexities. The synthetic polymers are discussed as according to their architectural complexity from linear homopolymers and copolymers to stars, dendrimers, cyclic copolymers and other polymers. MS and tandem MS (MS/MS) has been extensively used for the analysis of synthetic polymers. However, the increase in structural or architectural complexity can result in analytical challenges that MS or MS/MS cannot overcome alone. Hyphenation to MS with different chromatographic techniques (2D × LC, SEC, HPLC etc.), utilization of other ionization methods (APCI, DESI etc.) and various mass analyzers (FT-ICR, quadrupole, time-of-flight, ion trap etc.) are applied to overcome these challenges and achieve more detailed structural characterizations of complex polymeric systems. In addition, computational methods (software: MassChrom2D, COCONUT, 2D maps etc.) have also reached polymer science to facilitate and accelerate data interpretation. Developments in technology and the comprehension of different polymer classes with diverse architectures have significantly improved, which allow for smart polymer designs to be examined and advanced. We present specific examples covering diverse analytical aspects as well as forthcoming prospects in polymer science. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Complex Adaptive System Models and the Genetic Analysis of Plasma HDL-Cholesterol Concentration

PubMed Central

Rea, Thomas J.; Brown, Christine M.; Sing, Charles F.

2006-01-01

Despite remarkable advances in diagnosis and therapy, ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in industrialized countries. Recent efforts to estimate the influence of genetic variation on IHD risk have focused on predicting individual plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration. Plasma HDL-C concentration (mg/dl), a quantitative risk factor for IHD, has a complex multifactorial etiology that involves the actions of many genes. Single gene variations may be necessary but are not individually sufficient to predict a statistically significant increase in risk of disease. The complexity of phenotype-genotype-environment relationships involved in determining plasma HDL-C concentration has challenged commonly held assumptions about genetic causation and has led to the question of which combination of variations, in which subset of genes, in which environmental strata of a particular population significantly improves our ability to predict high or low risk phenotypes. We document the limitations of inferences from genetic research based on commonly accepted biological models, consider how evidence for real-world dynamical interactions between HDL-C determinants challenges the simplifying assumptions implicit in traditional linear statistical genetic models, and conclude by considering research options for evaluating the utility of genetic information in predicting traits with complex etiologies. PMID:17146134

The AGING Initiative experience: a call for sustained support for team science networks.

PubMed

Garg, Tullika; Anzuoni, Kathryn; Landyn, Valentina; Hajduk, Alexandra; Waring, Stephen; Hanson, Leah R; Whitson, Heather E

2018-05-18

Team science, defined as collaborative research efforts that leverage the expertise of diverse disciplines, is recognised as a critical means to address complex healthcare challenges, but the practical implementation of team science can be difficult. Our objective is to describe the barriers, solutions and lessons learned from our team science experience as applied to the complex and growing challenge of multiple chronic conditions (MCC). MCC is the presence of two or more chronic conditions that have a collective adverse effect on health status, function or quality of life, and that require complex healthcare management, decision-making or coordination. Due to the increasing impact on the United States society, MCC research has been identified as a high priority research area by multiple federal agencies. In response to this need, two national research entities, the Healthcare Systems Research Network (HCSRN) and the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAIC), formed the Advancing Geriatrics Infrastructure and Network Growth (AGING) Initiative to build nationwide capacity for MCC team science. This article describes the structure, lessons learned and initial outcomes of the AGING Initiative. We call for funding mechanisms to sustain infrastructures that have demonstrated success in fostering team science and innovation in translating findings to policy change necessary to solve complex problems in healthcare.

Optimizing Decision Preparedness by Adapting Scenario Complexity and Automating Scenario Generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunne, Rob; Schatz, Sae; Flore, Stephen M.; Nicholson, Denise

2011-01-01

Klein's recognition-primed decision (RPD) framework proposes that experts make decisions by recognizing similarities between current decision situations and previous decision experiences. Unfortunately, military personnel arQ often presented with situations that they have not experienced before. Scenario-based training (S8T) can help mitigate this gap. However, SBT remains a challenging and inefficient training approach. To address these limitations, the authors present an innovative formulation of scenario complexity that contributes to the larger research goal of developing an automated scenario generation system. This system will enable trainees to effectively advance through a variety of increasingly complex decision situations and experiences. By adapting scenario complexities and automating generation, trainees will be provided with a greater variety of appropriately calibrated training events, thus broadening their repositories of experience. Preliminary results from empirical testing (N=24) of the proof-of-concept formula are presented, and future avenues of scenario complexity research are also discussed.

Control of Space-Based Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seifzer. W. J.; Taminger, K. M.

2007-01-01

Engineering a closed-loop control system for an electron beam welder for space-based additive manufacturing is challenging. For earth and space based applications, components must work in a vacuum and optical components become occluded with metal vapor deposition. For extraterrestrial applications added components increase launch weight, increase complexity, and increase space flight certification efforts. Here we present a software tool that closely couples path planning and E-beam parameter controls into the build process to increase flexibility. In an environment where data collection hinders real-time control, another approach is considered that will still yield a high quality build.

Learning from catchments to understand hydrological drought (HS Division Outstanding ECS Award Lecture)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Loon, Anne

2017-04-01

Drought is a global challenge. To be able to manage drought effectively on global or national scales without losing smaller scale variability and local context, we need to understand what the important hydrological drought processes are at different scales. Global scale models and satellite data are providing a global overview and catchment scale studies provide detailed site-specific information. I am interested in bridging these two scale levels by learning from catchments from around the world. Much information from local case studies is currently underused on larger scales because there is too much complexity. However, some of this complexity might be crucial on the level where people are facing the consequences of drought. In this talk, I will take you on a journey around the world to unlock catchment scale information and see if the comparison of many catchments gives us additional understanding of hydrological drought processes on the global scale. I will focus on the role of storage in different compartments of the terrestrial hydrological cycle, and how we as humans interact with that storage. I will discuss aspects of spatial and temporal variability in storage that are crucial for hydrological drought development and persistence, drawing from examples of catchments with storage in groundwater, lakes and wetlands, and snow and ice. The added complexity of human activities shifts the focus from natural to catchments with anthropogenic increases in storage (reservoirs), decreases in storage (groundwater abstraction), and changes in hydrological processes (urbanisation). We learn how local information is providing valuable insights, in some cases challenging theoretical understanding or model outcomes. Despite the challenges of working across countries, with a high number of collaborators, in a multitude of languages, under data-scarce conditions, the scientific advantages of bridging scales are substantial. The comparison of catchments around the world can inform global scale models, give the needed spatial variability to satellite data, and help us make steps in understanding and managing the complex challenge of drought, now and in the future.

Secretion of leukotriene C and other arachidonic acid metabolites by macrophages challenged with immunoglobulin E immune complexes

PubMed Central

1982-01-01

Resident mouse peritoneal macrophages release the slow-reacting substance leukotriene C (LTC) on exposure to particulate IgE immune complexes. Because these cells lose their responsiveness to an IgE stimulus after 4 h in culture, maximum release of 20:4 metabolites is observed before this time. However, a similar diminution in 20:4 metabolism was not observed with a zymosan stimulus. Freshly explanted cells are deficient in intracellular glutathione (GSH) (12.4 +/- 0.4 pmol/micrograms cell protein), but GSH increases to a steady state value of 30-35 pmol/micrograms of cell protein between 3 and 9 h of culture. Because GSH is required for the synthesis of LTC and prostaglandin (PG)E2, cultures challenged immediately after explanation have a diminished capacity to synthesize these 20:4 metabolites and release prostacyclin as the major product. By 4-5 h in culture, macrophages form significant amounts of LTC and PGE2. Under optimum conditions of maximum responsiveness to an IgE stimulus and GSH content (after 4 h of culture), macrophages challenged with latex beads coated with IgE immune complexes synthesize 1.0 +/- 0.3 pmol of LTC/microgram cell protein (60 +/- 18 pmol/10(6) cells) in addition to prostacyclin (8.2 +/- 0.8 pmol/micrograms cell protein) and PGE2 (4.7 +/- 1.5 pmol/micrograms cell protein). These amounts are quantitatively similar to the arachidonic acid metabolites produced by macrophages challenged with IgG immune complex-coated latex beads or zymosan. These data demonstrate that macrophages produce large quantities of LTC and other 20:4 metabolites in response to particle-bound IgE and antigen, provided that the appropriate in vitro conditions are met. The macrophage might, therefore, be a major source of slow-reacting substance and other 20:4 metabolites generated during IgE-mediated reactions in vivo. PMID:6759607

Interactive Visualization of Large-Scale Hydrological Data using Emerging Technologies in Web Systems and Parallel Programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2013-12-01

As geoscientists are confronted with increasingly massive datasets from environmental observations to simulations, one of the biggest challenges is having the right tools to gain scientific insight from the data and communicate the understanding to stakeholders. Recent developments in web technologies make it easy to manage, visualize and share large data sets with general public. Novel visualization techniques and dynamic user interfaces allow users to interact with data, and modify the parameters to create custom views of the data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. This requires developing new data models and intelligent knowledge discovery techniques to explore and extract information from complex computational simulations or large data repositories. Scientific visualization will be an increasingly important component to build comprehensive environmental information platforms. This presentation provides an overview of the trends and challenges in the field of scientific visualization, and demonstrates information visualization and communication tools developed within the light of these challenges.

NAIMA as a solution for future GMO diagnostics challenges.

PubMed

Dobnik, David; Morisset, Dany; Gruden, Kristina

2010-03-01

In the field of genetically modified organism (GMO) diagnostics, real-time PCR has been the method of choice for target detection and quantification in most laboratories. Despite its numerous advantages, however, the lack of a true multiplexing option may render real-time PCR less practical in the face of future GMO detection challenges such as the multiplicity and increasing complexity of new transgenic events, as well as the repeated occurrence of unauthorized GMOs on the market. In this context, we recently reported the development of a novel multiplex quantitative DNA-based target amplification method, named NASBA implemented microarray analysis (NAIMA), which is suitable for sensitive, specific and quantitative detection of GMOs on a microarray. In this article, the performance of NAIMA is compared with that of real-time PCR, the focus being their performances in view of the upcoming challenge to detect/quantify an increasing number of possible GMOs at a sustainable cost and affordable staff effort. Finally, we present our conclusions concerning the applicability of NAIMA for future use in GMO diagnostics.

Adolescent Development of Value-Guided Goal Pursuit.

PubMed

Davidow, Juliet Y; Insel, Catherine; Somerville, Leah H

2018-06-04

Adolescents are challenged to orchestrate goal-directed actions in increasingly independent and consequential ways. In doing so, it is advantageous to use information about value to select which goals to pursue and how much effort to devote to them. Here, we examine age-related changes in how individuals use value signals to orchestrate goal-directed behavior. Drawing on emerging literature on value-guided cognitive control and reinforcement learning, we demonstrate how value and task difficulty modulate the execution of goal-directed action in complex ways across development from childhood to adulthood. We propose that the scope of value-guided goal pursuit expands with age to include increasingly challenging cognitive demands, and scaffolds on the emergence of functional integration within brain networks supporting valuation, cognition, and action. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reforming funding for chronic illness: Medicare-CDM.

PubMed

Swerissen, Hal; Taylor, Michael J

2008-02-01

Chronic diseases are a major challenge for the Australian health care system in terms of both the provision of quality care and expenditure, and these challenges will only increase in the future. Various programs have been instituted under the Medicare system to provide increased funding for chronic care, but essentially these programs still follow the traditional fee-for-service model. This paper proposes a realignment and extension of current Medicare chronic disease management programs into a framework that provides general practitioners and other health professionals with the necessary "tools" for high quality care planning and ongoing management, and incorporating international models of outcome-linked funding. The integration of social support services with the Medicare system is also a necessary step in providing high quality care for patients with complex needs requiring additional support.

Progress and challenges associated with halal authentication of consumer packaged goods.

PubMed

Premanandh, Jagadeesan; Bin Salem, Samara

2017-11-01

Abusive business practices are increasingly evident in consumer packaged goods. Although consumers have the right to protect themselves against such practices, rapid urbanization and industrialization result in greater distances between producers and consumers, raising serious concerns on the supply chain. The operational complexities surrounding halal authentication pose serious challenges on the integrity of consumer packaged goods. This article attempts to address the progress and challenges associated with halal authentication. Advancement and concerns on the application of new, rapid analytical methods for halal authentication are discussed. The significance of zero tolerance policy in consumer packaged foods and its impact on analytical testing are presented. The role of halal assurance systems and their challenges are also considered. In conclusion, consensus on the establishment of one standard approach coupled with a sound traceability system and constant monitoring would certainly improve and ensure halalness of consumer packaged goods. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

The Use of Complex Adaptive Systems as a Generative Metaphor in an Action Research Study of an Organisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Callum

2008-01-01

Understanding the dynamic behaviour of organisations is challenging and this study uses a model of complex adaptive systems as a generative metaphor to address this challenge. The research question addressed is: How might a conceptual model of complex adaptive systems be used to assist in understanding the dynamic nature of organisations? Using an…

Why Is Improvement of Earth System Models so Elusive? Challenges and Strategies from Dust Aerosol Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Ronald L.; Garcia-Pando, Carlos Perez; Perlwitz, Jan; Ginoux, Paul

2015-01-01

Past decades have seen an accelerating increase in computing efficiency, while climate models are representing a rapidly widening set of physical processes. Yet simulations of some fundamental aspects of climate like precipitation or aerosol forcing remain highly uncertain and resistant to progress. Dust aerosol modeling of soil particles lofted by wind erosion has seen a similar conflict between increasing model sophistication and remaining uncertainty. Dust aerosols perturb the energy and water cycles by scattering radiation and acting as ice nuclei, while mediating atmospheric chemistry and marine photosynthesis (and thus the carbon cycle). These effects take place across scales from the dimensions of an ice crystal to the planetary-scale circulation that disperses dust far downwind of its parent soil. Representing this range leads to several modeling challenges. Should we limit complexity in our model, which consumes computer resources and inhibits interpretation? How do we decide if a process involving dust is worthy of inclusion within our model? Can we identify a minimal representation of a complex process that is efficient yet retains the physics relevant to climate? Answering these questions about the appropriate degree of representation is guided by model evaluation, which presents several more challenges. How do we proceed if the available observations do not directly constrain our process of interest? (This could result from competing processes that influence the observed variable and obscure the signature of our process of interest.) Examples will be presented from dust modeling, with lessons that might be more broadly applicable. The end result will either be clinical depression or there assuring promise of continued gainful employment as the community confronts these challenges.

The effect of maternal and paternal immune challenge on offspring immunity and reproduction in a cricket.

PubMed

McNamara, K B; van Lieshout, E; Simmons, L W

2014-06-01

Trans-generational immune priming is the transmission of enhanced immunity to offspring following a parental immune challenge. Although within-generation increased investment into immunity demonstrates clear costs on reproductive investment in a number of taxa, the potential for immune priming to impact on offspring reproductive investment has not been thoroughly investigated. We explored the reproductive costs of immune priming in a field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. To assess the relative importance of maternal and paternal immune status, mothers and fathers were immune-challenged with live bacteria or a control solution and assigned to one of four treatments in which one parent, neither or both parents were immune-challenged. Families of offspring were reared to adulthood under a food-restricted diet, and approximately 10 offspring in each family were assayed for two measures of immunocompetence. We additionally quantified offspring reproductive investment using sperm viability for males and ovary mass for females. We demonstrate that parental immune challenge has significant consequences for the immunocompetence and, in turn, reproductive investment of their male offspring. A complex interaction between maternal and paternal immune status increased the antibacterial immune response of male offspring. This increased immune response was associated with a reduction in son's sperm viability, implicating a trans-generational resource trade-off between investment into immunocompetence and reproduction. Our data also show that these costs are sexually dimorphic, as daughters did not demonstrate a similar increase in immunity, despite showing a reduction in ovary mass. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Advanced Materials, Technologies, and Complex Systems Analyses: Emerging Opportunities to Enhance Urban Water Security.

PubMed

Zodrow, Katherine R; Li, Qilin; Buono, Regina M; Chen, Wei; Daigger, Glen; Dueñas-Osorio, Leonardo; Elimelech, Menachem; Huang, Xia; Jiang, Guibin; Kim, Jae-Hong; Logan, Bruce E; Sedlak, David L; Westerhoff, Paul; Alvarez, Pedro J J

2017-09-19

Innovation in urban water systems is required to address the increasing demand for clean water due to population growth and aggravated water stress caused by water pollution, aging infrastructure, and climate change. Advances in materials science, modular water treatment technologies, and complex systems analyses, coupled with the drive to minimize the energy and environmental footprints of cities, provide new opportunities to ensure a resilient and safe water supply. We present a vision for enhancing efficiency and resiliency of urban water systems and discuss approaches and research needs for overcoming associated implementation challenges.

The Impact of Structural Barriers and Facilitators on Early Childhood Literacy Programs in Elementary Charter Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Denise; Pinder, Glen; Coles-White, D'Jaris

2015-01-01

Elementary charter schools increasingly serve students who are at-risk for reading challenges, giving them a critical role in establishing literacy for young children. This article examines the complexities of starting early childhood literacy programs in charter schools. Specifically, the first year of K-3 literacy programs in a new and a…

Academic Staff Involvement and Openness to Diversity in International Educational Organisations: Is There a Moderating Effect of Shared Language?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Selmer, Jan; Lauring, Jakob; Jonasson, Charlotte

2013-01-01

Joint work among academic staff is important for solving the ever-increasing number of complex tasks that are becoming part of everyday activities in higher education. At the same time, diversification and internationalisation may challenge collaboration processes and communication demands. Speaking a shared language consistently could be a way of…

K-8 Science Education: Elements That Matter. A Report from the 2007 North Carolina Science Summit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy, 2007

2007-01-01

Today's world is challenged by complex issues and citizens need ever-increasing scientific literacy to understand the impact of issues such as global warming, alternative energy, and genetic engineering, on their daily lives and to make informed decisions. Students need to be prepared to tackle issues such as these by being exposed to learning…

"Life Skills": A Single-Sex Classroom Intervention for Black Boys Transitioning from Middle School to High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flennaugh, Terry

2017-01-01

The transition from middle school to high school can be difficult for many students due to increases in school size, the structure of an academic schedule, and the complexity of social interactions in high school. However, Black boys face unique challenges during this transition period due to racism and structural inequalities. In response to…

Academic Accommodations for Postsecondary Students with Mental Health Disabilities in Ontario, Canada: A Review of the Literature and Reflections on Emerging Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Condra, Mike; Dineen, Mira; Gills, Helen; Jack-Davies, Anita; Condra, Eleanor

2015-01-01

An increasing number of students with mental health disabilities (MHDs) are enrolling at Canadian colleges and universities. This review examines the challenges and complexities of meeting the unique needs of these students at Ontario's postsecondary institutions, with a specific focus on the issue of academic accommodations. These complexities…

Dog and Pony Show: New Guidance for Service Animals in the School Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cossler, Christine T.

2011-01-01

The odds that a school district might be asked to allow a service dog or miniature horse into one of its facilities have increased tremendously in light of new legislative changes. With those changes comes a host of fresh challenges for school administrators and policy makers--not the least of which are complex disability discrimination laws and…

Psychological, Behavioral, and Educational Considerations for Children with Classified Disabilities and Diabetes within the School Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyckoff, Leah; Hanchon, Timothy; Gregg, S. Renee

2015-01-01

School nurses are answering a call to action to provide day-to-day care for an increasing number of students diagnosed with chronic illnesses. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent chronic health conditions identified among school-age children and presents a host of complex challenges for the school nurse, educators, and other support…

Training Pre-Service Chinese Language Teachers to Create Instructional Video to Enhance Classroom Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Lih-Ching Chen; Wang, Ming-Chian Ken

2014-01-01

Foreign language instruction is a complex and challenging task made even more so by situations in which the learner's native language is radically different from the foreign language being mastered. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of native English speakers seeking to learn Mandarin Chinese. The rapid increase in the availability and…

Hierarchical Bayesian spatial models for multispecies conservation planning and monitoring

Treesearch

Carlos Carroll; Devin S. Johnson; Jeffrey R. Dunk; William J. Zielinski

2010-01-01

Biologists who develop and apply habitat models are often familiar with the statistical challenges posed by their data’s spatial structure but are unsure of whether the use of complex spatial models will increase the utility of model results in planning. We compared the relative performance of nonspatial and hierarchical Bayesian spatial models for three vertebrate and...

Increasing Testing Efficiency through the Development of an IT-Based Adaptive Testing Tool for Competency Measurement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleinhans, Janne; Schumann, Matthias

2015-01-01

Purpose: This paper investigates the potential of computerized adaptive testing for CMs to reduce test time. In the context of education and training, competency measurement (CM) is a central challenge in competency management. For complex CMs, a compromise must be addressed between the time available and the quality of the measurements.…

Orientation to Self and Career: Constructivist Theory and Practice in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grier-Reed, Tabitha L.; Conkel-Ziebell, Julia L.

2009-01-01

As the world of work becomes increasingly dynamic and complex, career courses must shift to reflect the growing diversity of those in the beginning stages of career exploration. Constructivist career development has emerged as one way to help young adults meet the challenges of the 21st century. Yet, there is a dearth of constructivist career…

Searching for "A Third Space": A Creative Pathway towards International PhD Students' Academic Acculturation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliot, Dely Lazarte; Baumfield, Vivienne; Reid, Kate

2016-01-01

Undertaking a PhD is a challenging endeavour. Pursuing a doctoral education in a "foreign" context tends to increase the demands of this intellectual venture. The nature of research-based PhD programmes, often characterised by a lack of formal curricula where academic supervision lasts several years, may add another layer of complexity.…

Do You See Me? The Complex Experiences of Women of Color MSW Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vakalahi, Halaevalu F. O.; Sermon, Michelle; Richardson, Andrea; Dillard, Veronica; Moncrief, Aryka

2014-01-01

Universities have increased the number of female students of color. However, inconsistency remains in terms of the number of women of color in positions of power and privilege. This discussion attempts to forward the dialogue about the challenges as well as the resilience of female students of color based on the experiences of four female…

A Dialogue between Partnership and Feminism: Deconstructing Power and Exclusion in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy; Mercer, Gina

2018-01-01

Students as partners (SaP) has seen an increase in focus as an area of active student engagement in higher education. Many complexities and challenges have been shared in this evolving field regarding inclusivity and power. We discuss, in this dialogue, insights that can be uncovered by exploring SaP through a feminist lens--illuminating the fact…

An Alternative Expert Knowledge Transfer Model: A Case Study of an Indigenous Storytelling Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spaulding, Roderick Jay

2010-01-01

The increasing complexity of technical work, the demand for highly skilled workers, and the vital challenges facing the world at large have combined to create a need for better ways to transfer knowledge, especially expert knowledge. In this dissertation, I attempted to see if an approach to this process that is more holistic than is typical in…

Immunotherapy with the storage mite lepidoglyphus destructor.

PubMed

Armentia-Medina, A; Tapias, J A; Martín, J F; Ventas, P; Fernández, A

1995-01-01

We carried out a double-blind clinical trial of immunotherapy on 35 patients sensitized to the storage mite Lepidoglyphus destructor (Ld). Before and after 12 months of specific hyposensitization (Abelló Lab., Spain) we performed in vivo (skin tests with Ld, methacholine and challenge tests), and in vitro tests (specific IgE, IgG, IgG1 and IgG4 to Ld and specific IgE, IgG, IgG1 and IgG4 to their major allergen Lep dI). We also monitored the efficacy and safety of the immunotherapy with clinical and analytical controls (symptoms and medication score, detection of immune complexes). After therapy we found a significant decrease in specific skin reactivity, dose of positive challenge tests, and hyperresponsiveness to methacholine. Sputum eosinophilia decreased. Specific IgE to Ld was increased and we also observed an increase in specific IgG1 and IgG4 to Ld and Lep DI. The placebo group showed no changes in these variables. There were no severe secondary reactions after treatment with the extract. Patients-self-evaluation was favourable and their labour absence decreased. No development of circulating immune complexes was associated with this immunotherapy.

Potent Adjuvant Activity of Cationic Liposome-DNA Complexes for Genital Herpes Vaccines▿

PubMed Central

Bernstein, David I.; Cardin, Rhonda D.; Bravo, Fernando J.; Strasser, Jane E.; Farley, Nicholas; Chalk, Claudia; Lay, Marla; Fairman, Jeff

2009-01-01

Development of a herpes simplex virus (HSV) vaccine is a priority because these infections are common. It appears that potent adjuvants will be required to augment the immune response to subunit HSV vaccines. Therefore, we evaluated cationic liposome-DNA complexes (CLDC) as an adjuvant in a mouse model of genital herpes. Using a whole-virus vaccine (HVAC), we showed that the addition of CLDC improved antibody responses compared to vaccine alone. Most important, CLDC increased survival, reduced symptoms, and decreased vaginal virus replication compared to vaccine alone or vaccine administered with monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) plus trehalose dicorynomycolate (TDM) following intravaginal challenge of mice. When CLDC was added to an HSV gD2 vaccine, it increased the amount of gamma interferon that was produced from splenocytes stimulated with gD2 compared to the amount produced with gD2 alone or with MPL-alum. The addition of CLDC to the gD2 vaccine also improved the outcome following vaginal HSV type 2 challenge compared to vaccine alone and was equivalent to vaccination with an MPL-alum adjuvant. CLDC appears to be a potent adjuvant for HSV vaccines and should be evaluated further. PMID:19279167

Complexity in graduate medical education: a collaborative education agenda for internal medicine and geriatric medicine.

PubMed

Chang, Anna; Fernandez, Helen; Cayea, Danelle; Chheda, Shobhina; Paniagua, Miguel; Eckstrom, Elizabeth; Day, Hollis

2014-06-01

Internal medicine residents today face significant challenges in caring for an increasingly complex patient population within ever-changing education and health care environments. As a result, medical educators, health care system leaders, payers, and patients are demanding change and accountability in graduate medical education (GME). A 2012 Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) retreat identified medical education as an area for collaboration between internal medicine and geriatric medicine. The authors first determined a short-term research agenda for resident education by mapping selected internal medicine reporting milestones to geriatrics competencies, and listing available sample learner assessment tools. Next, the authors proposed a strategy for long-term collaboration in three priority areas in clinical medicine that are challenging for residents today: (1) team-based care, (2) transitions and readmissions, and (3) multi-morbidity. The short-term agenda focuses on learner assessment, while the long-term agenda allows for program evaluation and improvement. This model of collaboration in medical education combines the resources and expertise of internal medicine and geriatric medicine educators with the goal of increasing innovation and improving outcomes in GME targeting the needs of our residents and their patients.

Collaboration: The Paradigm of Practice Approach between the Forensic Psychiatrist and the Forensic Psychologist

PubMed Central

Gbadebo-Goyea, Ernest Ayodele; Akpudo, Hilary; Jackson, Cynthia D.; Wassef, Tamer; Barker, Narviar C.; Cunningham-Burley, Rhonda; Ali, Shahid A.; Jabeen, Shagufta; Bailey, Rahn Kennedy

2012-01-01

The importance and relevance of forensic practice to societal evolution has increased exponentially in recent years. As society evolves in its understanding of the complex relationships between mankind and society, we rely more and more on the services of forensic experts. This article elucidates the professions of forensic psychiatry and forensic psychology. We examine the two distinct professions from the spectrum of collaboration, integration of services, differences, and similarities. We also compare and contrast the educational background and training requirements for these two professions; and present illustrative scenarios and real life examples of the daily functions of both professionals. Lastly, we present demographic data for the areas of employment, numbers, and geographic distribution of the two professions. Forensic psychiatry is the interface between medicine and law, while forensic psychology is the interface between psychology and law. As such, these professions are mired with complexities and challenged by vulnerabilities. Professionals from both fields can serve as expert witnesses in court and therefore face similar challenges in their course of professional practice. Collaboration between these two professions has the potential to increase both the credibility and utility of forensic services to the courts, the individuals served, and the general public. PMID:23162478

Prescriptive authority for advanced practice nurses: current and future perspectives.

PubMed

McDermott, K C

1995-09-01

To present an overview of the issues related to prescriptive authority and advanced practice nurses (APNs) in oncology. Professional journals and books, print media, and professional and government releases. Discussion of issues related to complex political, educational, economic, and healthcare environmental factors. Strategies to achieve increased recognition for APN prescriptive authority include increasing APNs' knowledge about the effects of the political process on prescriptive authority, educating legislators and consumers, promoting standardization of pharmacology curricula, and encouraging formation of coalitions. Failure to pass a national healthcare plan, escalating managed-care markets, and the reform efforts of individual states to forge their own healthcare initiatives will challenge the APN's ability to practice and prescribe. The subject of prescriptive authority highlights the controversies and debates that APNs encounter in a dynamic healthcare environment. These include the complexity of state-to-state regulations, non-nursing professions making key decisions regarding scope of practice and prescriptive authority, and the challenge for APNs to carve out new roles while overcoming state regulatory inconsistencies and market-reform barriers. If not resolved, these issues will continue to prevent qualified APNs from providing appropriate and comprehensive care to patients with cancer.

The effect of early-life stress on airway inflammation in adult mice.

PubMed

Vig, Rattanjeet; Gordon, John R; Thébaud, Bernard; Befus, A Dean; Vliagoftis, Harissios

2010-01-01

Neonatal stress induces permanent physiological changes that may influence the immune system. Early-life stress increases asthma disease severity in children. We investigated the effects of early-life stress on allergic airway inflammation using a murine model of asthma coupled to maternal separation as an early-life stress stimulus. Maternally separated (MS) and unseparated control (CON) mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) beginning at day 31 after birth. Challenging mice with OVA increased airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and the number of inflammatory cells recovered in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), compared to saline-challenged mice. Challenging MS mice with OVA resulted in less total inflammatory cells, eosinophils, interferon-gamma, and interleukin-4 in BAL compared to CON mice. However, MS mice challenged with OVA exhibited AHR similar to CON mice challenged with OVA. In contrast, an enhanced stress protocol (MS+) involving removal of pups from their home cages following the removal of the dam resulted in inflammatory cell accumulation and cytokine levels in the BAL similar to CON mice and higher than MS mice. These findings indicate that the effect of early-life psychological factors on the development of airway inflammatory diseases such as asthma is very complex and depends on the quality of the psychological stress stimulus.

Harvest: a web-based biomedical data discovery and reporting application development platform.

PubMed

Italia, Michael J; Pennington, Jeffrey W; Ruth, Byron; Wrazien, Stacey; Loutrel, Jennifer G; Crenshaw, E Bryan; Miller, Jeffrey; White, Peter S

2013-01-01

Biomedical researchers share a common challenge of making complex data understandable and accessible. This need is increasingly acute as investigators seek opportunities for discovery amidst an exponential growth in the volume and complexity of laboratory and clinical data. To address this need, we developed Harvest, an open source framework that provides a set of modular components to aid the rapid development and deployment of custom data discovery software applications. Harvest incorporates visual representations of multidimensional data types in an intuitive, web-based interface that promotes a real-time, iterative approach to exploring complex clinical and experimental data. The Harvest architecture capitalizes on standards-based, open source technologies to address multiple functional needs critical to a research and development environment, including domain-specific data modeling, abstraction of complex data models, and a customizable web client.

Dosimetry for audit and clinical trials: challenges and requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kron, T.; Haworth, A.; Williams, I.

2013-06-01

Many important dosimetry audit networks for radiotherapy have their roots in clinical trial quality assurance (QA). In both scenarios it is essential to test two issues: does the treatment plan conform with the clinical requirements and is the plan a reasonable representation of what is actually delivered to a patient throughout their course of treatment. Part of a sound quality program would be an external audit of these issues with verification of the equivalence of plan and treatment typically referred to as a dosimetry audit. The increasing complexity of radiotherapy planning and delivery makes audits challenging. While verification of absolute dose delivered at a reference point was the standard of external dosimetry audits two decades ago this is often deemed inadequate for verification of treatment approaches such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). As such, most dosimetry audit networks have successfully introduced more complex tests of dose delivery using anthropomorphic phantoms that can be imaged, planned and treated as a patient would. The new challenge is to adapt this approach to ever more diversified radiotherapy procedures with image guided/adaptive radiotherapy, motion management and brachytherapy being the focus of current research.

Developing animals flout prominent assumptions of ecological physiology.

PubMed

Burggren, Warren W

2005-08-01

Every field of biology has its assumptions, but when they grow to be dogma, they can become constraining. This essay presents data-based challenges to several prominent assumptions of developmental physiologists. The ubiquity of allometry is such an assumption, yet animal development is characterized by rate changes that are counter to allometric predictions. Physiological complexity is assumed to increase with development, but examples are provided showing that complexity can be greatest at intermediate developmental stages. It is assumed that organs have functional equivalency in embryos and adults, yet embryonic structures can have quite different functions than inferred from adults. Another assumption challenged is the duality of neural control (typically sympathetic and parasympathetic), since one of these two regulatory mechanisms typically considerably precedes in development the appearance of the other. A final assumption challenged is the notion that divergent phylogeny creates divergent physiologies in embryos just as in adults, when in fact early in development disparate vertebrate taxa show great quantitative as well as qualitative similarity. Collectively, the inappropriateness of these prominent assumptions based on adult studies suggests that investigation of embryos, larvae and fetuses be conducted with appreciation for their potentially unique physiologies.

Promoting critical thinking and academic writing skills in nurse education.

PubMed

Borglin, Gunilla

2012-07-01

Although academic skills, conceptualised as writing and critical thinking, are a vital part of university studies, research indicates that many students leave without having mastered these skills effectively. This research also reflects on nursing students. Nursing could also be said to be hampered by a number of complex educational challenges that are likely to impact on the academic socialisation process in general. These challenges include being a relatively 'young' academic discipline, the 'theory-practice' divide, a knowledge bed lying on a complex intersection of two 'antithetical sciences' and, at least in the Scandinavian countries, an increasing number of nurse educators with a PhD in nursing science but with limited time to develop their own teaching skills. In combination, these challenges have the potential to act as stumbling blocks, both from a teaching and learning perspective. I would suggest that a departure in teaching from theoretical educational models, such as Lea and Street's 'academic literacies model,' including skills, socialisation and academic literacy models simultaneously, could be one of several ways forward to create a learning environment that takes these issues into account. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating an Academic Electronic Health Record: Challenges and Success Strategies.

PubMed

Herbert, Valerie M; Connors, Helen

2016-08-01

Technology is increasing the complexity in the role of today's nurse. Healthcare organizations are integrating more health information technologies and relying on the electronic health record for data collection, communication, and decision making. Nursing faculty need to prepare graduates for this environment and incorporate an academic electronic health record into a nursing curriculum to meet student-program outcomes. Although the need exists for student preparation, some nursing programs are struggling with implementation, whereas others have been successful. To better understand these complexities, this project was intended to identify current challenges and success strategies of effective academic electronic health record integration into nursing curricula. Using Rogers' 1962 Diffusion of Innovation theory as a framework for technology adoption, a descriptive survey design was used to gain insights from deans and program directors of nursing schools involved with the national Health Informatics & Technology Scholars faculty development program or Cerner's Academic Education Solution Consortium, working to integrate an academic electronic health record in their respective nursing schools. The participants' experiences highlighted approaches used by these schools to integrate these technologies. Data from this project provide nursing education with effective strategies and potential challenges that should be addressed for successful academic electronic health record integration.

Challenges and Alternatives to Plastics Recycling in the Automotive Sector.

PubMed

Miller, Lindsay; Soulliere, Katie; Sawyer-Beaulieu, Susan; Tseng, Simon; Tam, Edwin

2014-08-15

Plastics are increasingly a preferred material choice in designing and developing complex, consumer products, such as automobiles, because they are mouldable, lightweight, and are often perceived to be highly recyclable materials. However, actually recycling the heterogeneous plastics used in such durable items is challenging, and presents very different scenarios to how simple products, such as water bottles, are recovered via curbside or container recycling initiatives. While the technology exists to recycle plastics, their feasibility to do so from high level consumer or industrial applications is bounded by technological and economical restraints. Obstacles include the lack of market for recyclates, and the lack of cost efficient recovery infrastructures or processes. Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap between manufacturers, consumers, and end-of-life facility operators. For these reasons, end-of-life plastics are more likely to end up down-cycled, or as shredder residue and then landfilled. This paper reviews these challenges and several alternatives to recycling plastics in order to broaden the mindset surrounding plastics recycling to improve their sustainability. The paper focuses on the automotive sector for examples, but discussion can be applied to a wide range of plastic components from similarly complex products.

Challenges and Alternatives to Plastics Recycling in the Automotive Sector

PubMed Central

Miller, Lindsay; Soulliere, Katie; Sawyer-Beaulieu, Susan; Tseng, Simon; Tam, Edwin

2014-01-01

Plastics are increasingly a preferred material choice in designing and developing complex, consumer products, such as automobiles, because they are mouldable, lightweight, and are often perceived to be highly recyclable materials. However, actually recycling the heterogeneous plastics used in such durable items is challenging, and presents very different scenarios to how simple products, such as water bottles, are recovered via curbside or container recycling initiatives. While the technology exists to recycle plastics, their feasibility to do so from high level consumer or industrial applications is bounded by technological and economical restraints. Obstacles include the lack of market for recyclates, and the lack of cost efficient recovery infrastructures or processes. Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap between manufacturers, consumers, and end-of-life facility operators. For these reasons, end-of-life plastics are more likely to end up down-cycled, or as shredder residue and then landfilled. This paper reviews these challenges and several alternatives to recycling plastics in order to broaden the mindset surrounding plastics recycling to improve their sustainability. The paper focuses on the automotive sector for examples, but discussion can be applied to a wide range of plastic components from similarly complex products. PMID:28788167

The mixed reality of things: emerging challenges for human-information interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spicer, Ryan P.; Russell, Stephen M.; Rosenberg, Evan Suma

2017-05-01

Virtual and mixed reality technology has advanced tremendously over the past several years. This nascent medium has the potential to transform how people communicate over distance, train for unfamiliar tasks, operate in challenging environments, and how they visualize, interact, and make decisions based on complex data. At the same time, the marketplace has experienced a proliferation of network-connected devices and generalized sensors that are becoming increasingly accessible and ubiquitous. As the "Internet of Things" expands to encompass a predicted 50 billion connected devices by 2020, the volume and complexity of information generated in pervasive and virtualized environments will continue to grow exponentially. The convergence of these trends demands a theoretically grounded research agenda that can address emerging challenges for human-information interaction (HII). Virtual and mixed reality environments can provide controlled settings where HII phenomena can be observed and measured, new theories developed, and novel algorithms and interaction techniques evaluated. In this paper, we describe the intersection of pervasive computing with virtual and mixed reality, identify current research gaps and opportunities to advance the fundamental understanding of HII, and discuss implications for the design and development of cyber-human systems for both military and civilian use.

The direct support workforce in community supports to individuals with developmental disabilities: issues, implications, and promising practices.

PubMed

Hewitt, Amy; Larson, Sheryl

2007-01-01

Difficulties in finding, keeping, and ensuring the competence of the direct support workforce in community developmental disability services has long been a challenge for individuals, families, providers, and policy makers. Direct support staff recruitment, retention, and competence are widely reported as one of the most significant barriers to the sustainability, growth, and quality of community services for people with developmental disabilities (ANCOR [2001] State of the states report. Alexandria, VA: ANCOR; Colorado Department of Human Services, [2000] Response to Footnote 106 of the FY 2001 appropriations long bill: Capacity of the community services systems for persons with developmental disabilities in Colorado; Hewitt [2000] Dynamics of the workforce crisis. Presentation at the NASDDDS Fall meeting. Alexandria, VA). While long in existence, these challenges are ones of growing concern because the number of people demanding community services is increasing and the population of people from which to recruit workers is declining (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [2006] The supply of direct support professionals serving individuals with intellectual disabilities and other developmental disabilities: Report to Congress. Washington, DC: Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, ASPE, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). As the service system moves towards consumer direction, managed care, and more noncategorical service delivery systems, the difficulties of providing for an adequate and well-prepared workforce to support people with developmental disabilities becomes more complex and multifaceted. The solutions to those challenges are also more complex. This article reviews the literature regarding the complexity of the direct support workforce crisis, the effects of this crisis on various stakeholder groups, promising practices designed to address the challenges, and the related practice and policy implications. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for Education and Research in Weed Science

PubMed Central

Chauhan, Bhagirath S.; Matloob, Amar; Mahajan, Gulshan; Aslam, Farhena; Florentine, Singarayer K.; Jha, Prashant

2017-01-01

In modern agriculture, with more emphasis on high input systems, weed problems are likely to increase and become more complex. With heightened awareness of adverse effects of herbicide residues on human health and environment and the evolution of herbicide-resistant weed biotypes, a significant focus within weed science has now shifted to the development of eco-friendly technologies with reduced reliance on herbicides. Further, with the large-scale adoption of herbicide-resistant crops, and uncertain climatic optima under climate change, the problems for weed science have become multi-faceted. To handle these complex weed problems, a holistic line of action with multi-disciplinary approaches is required, including adjustments to technology, management practices, and legislation. Improved knowledge of weed ecology, biology, genetics, and molecular biology is essential for developing sustainable weed control practices. Additionally, judicious use of advanced technologies, such as site-specific weed management systems and decision support modeling, will play a significant role in reducing costs associated with weed control. Further, effective linkages between farmers and weed researchers will be necessary to facilitate the adoption of technological developments. To meet these challenges, priorities in research need to be determined and the education system for weed science needs to be reoriented. In respect of the latter imperative, closer collaboration between weed scientists and other disciplines can help in defining and solving the complex weed management challenges of the 21st century. This consensus will provide more versatile and diverse approaches to innovative teaching and training practices, which will be needed to prepare future weed science graduates who are capable of handling the anticipated challenges of weed science facing in contemporary agriculture. To build this capacity, mobilizing additional funding for both weed research and weed management education is essential. PMID:28928765

Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for Education and Research in Weed Science.

PubMed

Chauhan, Bhagirath S; Matloob, Amar; Mahajan, Gulshan; Aslam, Farhena; Florentine, Singarayer K; Jha, Prashant

2017-01-01

In modern agriculture, with more emphasis on high input systems, weed problems are likely to increase and become more complex. With heightened awareness of adverse effects of herbicide residues on human health and environment and the evolution of herbicide-resistant weed biotypes, a significant focus within weed science has now shifted to the development of eco-friendly technologies with reduced reliance on herbicides. Further, with the large-scale adoption of herbicide-resistant crops, and uncertain climatic optima under climate change, the problems for weed science have become multi-faceted. To handle these complex weed problems, a holistic line of action with multi-disciplinary approaches is required, including adjustments to technology, management practices, and legislation. Improved knowledge of weed ecology, biology, genetics, and molecular biology is essential for developing sustainable weed control practices. Additionally, judicious use of advanced technologies, such as site-specific weed management systems and decision support modeling, will play a significant role in reducing costs associated with weed control. Further, effective linkages between farmers and weed researchers will be necessary to facilitate the adoption of technological developments. To meet these challenges, priorities in research need to be determined and the education system for weed science needs to be reoriented. In respect of the latter imperative, closer collaboration between weed scientists and other disciplines can help in defining and solving the complex weed management challenges of the 21st century. This consensus will provide more versatile and diverse approaches to innovative teaching and training practices, which will be needed to prepare future weed science graduates who are capable of handling the anticipated challenges of weed science facing in contemporary agriculture. To build this capacity, mobilizing additional funding for both weed research and weed management education is essential.

High-Molecular-Weight Proanthocyanidins in Foods: Overcoming Analytical Challenges in Pursuit of Novel Dietary Bioactive Components.

PubMed

Neilson, Andrew P; O'Keefe, Sean F; Bolling, Bradley W

2016-01-01

Proanthocyanidins (PACs) are an abundant but complex class of polyphenols found in foods and botanicals. PACs are polymeric flavanols with a variety of linkages and subunits. Connectivity and degree of polymerization (DP) determine PAC bioavailability and bioactivity. Current quantitative and qualitative methods may ignore a large percentage of dietary PACs. Subsequent correlations between intake and activity are hindered by a lack of understanding of the true PAC complexity in many foods. Additionally, estimates of dietary intakes are likely inaccurate, as nutrient databank values are largely based on standards from cocoa (monomers to decamers) and blueberries (mean DP of 36). Improved analytical methodologies are needed to increase our understanding of the biological roles of these complex compounds.

Surficial geological tools in fluvial geomorphology: Chapter 2

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jacobson, Robert B.; O'Connor, James E.; Oguchi, Takashi

2016-01-01

Increasingly, environmental scientists are being asked to develop an understanding of how rivers and streams have been altered by environmental stresses, whether rivers are subject to physical or chemical hazards, how they can be restored, and how they will respond to future environmental change. These questions present substantive challenges to the discipline of fluvial geomorphology, especially since decades of geomorphologic research have demonstrated the general complexity of fluvial systems. It follows from the concept of complex response that synoptic and short-term historical views of rivers will often give misleading understanding of future behavior. Nevertheless, broadly trained geomorphologists can address questions involving complex natural systems by drawing from a tool box that commonly includes the principles and methods of geology, hydrology, hydraulics, engineering, and ecology.

Questioning the social intelligence hypothesis.

PubMed

Holekamp, Kay E

2007-02-01

The social intelligence hypothesis posits that complex cognition and enlarged "executive brains" evolved in response to challenges that are associated with social complexity. This hypothesis has been well supported, but some recent data are inconsistent with its predictions. It is becoming increasingly clear that multiple selective agents, and non-selective constraints, must have acted to shape cognitive abilities in humans and other animals. The task now is to develop a larger theoretical framework that takes into account both inter-specific differences and similarities in cognition. This new framework should facilitate consideration of how selection pressures that are associated with sociality interact with those that are imposed by non-social forms of environmental complexity, and how both types of functional demands interact with phylogenetic and developmental constraints.

The complexity of team training: what we have learned from aviation and its applications to medicine

PubMed Central

Hamman, W

2004-01-01

Errors in health care that compromise patient safety are tied to latent failures in the structure and function of systems. Teams of people perform most care delivered today, yet training often remains focused on individual responsibilities. Training programmes for all healthcare workers need to increase the educational experience of working in interdisciplinary teams. The complexities of team training require a multifunctional (systems) approach, which crosses organisational divisions to allow communication, accountability, and creation and maintenance of interdisciplinary teams. This report identifies challenges for medical education in performing the research, identifying performance measurements, and modifying educational curricula for the advancement of interdisciplinary teams, based on the complexity of team training identified in commercial aviation. PMID:15465959

The changing face of nanomaterials: Risk assessment challenges along the value chain.

PubMed

Mattsson, Mats-Olof; Simkó, Myrtill

2017-03-01

Risk assessment (RA) of manufactured nanomaterials (MNM) is essential for regulatory purposes and risk management activities. Similar to RA of "classical" chemicals, MNM RA requires knowledge about exposure as well as of hazard potential and dose response relationships. What makes MNM RA especially challenging is the multitude of materials (which is expected to increase substantially in the future), the complexity of MNM value chains and life cycles, the accompanying possible changes in material properties over time and in contact with various environmental and organismal milieus, and the difficulties to obtain proper exposure data and to consider the proper dose metric. This article discusses these challenges and also critically overviews the current state of the art regarding MNM RA approaches. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges of assuring crew safety in space shuttle missions with international cargoes.

PubMed

Vongsouthy, C; Stenger-Nguyen, P A; Nguyen, H V; Nguyen, P H; Huang, M C; Alexander, R G

2004-02-01

The top priority in America's manned space flight program is the assurance of crew and vehicle safety. This priority gained greater focus during and after the Space Shuttle return-to-flight mission (STS-26). One of the interesting challenges has been to assure crew safety and adequate protection of the Space Shuttle, as a national resource, from increasingly diverse cargoes and operations. The control of hazards associated with the deployment of complex payloads and cargoes has involved many international participants. These challenges are examined in some detail along with examples of how crew safety has evolved in the manned space program and how the international partners have addressed various scenarios involving control and mitigation of potential hazards to crew and vehicle safety. c2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Complex and unexpected dynamics in simple genetic regulatory networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borg, Yanika; Ullner, Ekkehard; Alagha, Afnan; Alsaedi, Ahmed; Nesbeth, Darren; Zaikin, Alexey

2014-03-01

One aim of synthetic biology is to construct increasingly complex genetic networks from interconnected simpler ones to address challenges in medicine and biotechnology. However, as systems increase in size and complexity, emergent properties lead to unexpected and complex dynamics due to nonlinear and nonequilibrium properties from component interactions. We focus on four different studies of biological systems which exhibit complex and unexpected dynamics. Using simple synthetic genetic networks, small and large populations of phase-coupled quorum sensing repressilators, Goodwin oscillators, and bistable switches, we review how coupled and stochastic components can result in clustering, chaos, noise-induced coherence and speed-dependent decision making. A system of repressilators exhibits oscillations, limit cycles, steady states or chaos depending on the nature and strength of the coupling mechanism. In large repressilator networks, rich dynamics can also be exhibited, such as clustering and chaos. In populations of Goodwin oscillators, noise can induce coherent oscillations. In bistable systems, the speed with which incoming external signals reach steady state can bias the network towards particular attractors. These studies showcase the range of dynamical behavior that simple synthetic genetic networks can exhibit. In addition, they demonstrate the ability of mathematical modeling to analyze nonlinearity and inhomogeneity within these systems.

Managing the complexity of nurse shortages: a case study of bank and agency staffing in an acute care Trust in Wales, UK.

PubMed

Massey, Lynn; Esain, Ann; Wallis, Marianne

2009-07-01

Managing nurse shortages is a major challenge in Trusts today given the worldwide shortage of nurses. To fill the gap created by a lack of permanent staff UK government agencies have increasingly used bank and agency staff. Managing this type of staffing effectively and efficiently, in the context of shrinking healthcare funds, is a major challenge in providing safe and quality healthcare. To analyse bank and agency nursing staffing patterns and factors that impact on these patterns. Case study within the largest hospital in one Welsh Integrated Healthcare Trust. De-identified bank and agency staffing electronic and manual database records and focus group interview with bank and agency office staff. A predictable bank and agency staffing pattern was found, wherein bank and agency nursing staff were used with increasing frequency towards the end of the week. Demand for bank and agency nursing staff occurred because of: hospital practices that fund a fixed staff establishment for nursing units, while patient numbers and acuity are variable; poor forward planning; sickness, and absence due to professional development or staff training. There is a need for managers to reconsider management and recruitment policies, particularly in relation to using bank and agency staff. The complexity of staffing challenges managers to focus on predictability of workload needs and other factors that affect staffing requirements, such as: professional development, flexible working rosters to match the need and minimize sickness and turnover of staff.

Planetary Cartography and Mapping: where we are Today, and where we are Heading For?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naß, A.; Di, K.; Elgner, S.; van Gasselt, S.; Hare, T.; Hargitai, H.; Karachevtseva, I.; Kersten, E.; Manaud, N.; Roatsch, T.; Rossi, A. P.; Skinner, J., Jr.; Wählisch, M.

2017-07-01

Planetary Cartography does not only provides the basis to support planning (e.g., landing-site selection, orbital observations, traverse planning) and to facilitate mission conduct during the lifetime of a mission (e.g., observation tracking and hazard avoidance). It also provides the means to create science products after successful termination of a planetary mission by distilling data into maps. After a mission's lifetime, data and higher level products like mosaics and digital terrain models (DTMs) are stored in archives - and eventually into maps and higher-level data products - to form a basis for research and for new scientific and engineering studies. The complexity of such tasks increases with every new dataset that has been put on this stack of information, and in the same way as the complexity of autonomous probes increases, also tools that support these challenges require new levels of sophistication. In planetary science, cartography and mapping have a history dating back to the roots of telescopic space exploration and are now facing new technological and organizational challenges with the rise of new missions, new global initiatives, organizations and opening research markets. The focus of this contribution is to summarize recent activities in Planetary Cartography, highlighting current issues the community is facing to derive the future opportunities in this field. By this we would like to invite cartographers/researchers to join this community and to start thinking about how we can jointly solve some of these challenges.

When is it MODY? Challenges in the Interpretation of Sequence Variants in MODY Genes

PubMed Central

Althari, Sara; Gloyn, Anna L.

2015-01-01

The genomics revolution has raised more questions than it has provided answers. Big data from large population-scale resequencing studies are increasingly deconstructing classic notions of Mendelian disease genetics, which support a simplistic correlation between mutational severity and phenotypic outcome. The boundaries are being blurred as the body of evidence showing monogenic disease-causing alleles in healthy genomes, and in the genomes of individu-als with increased common complex disease risk, continues to grow. In this review, we focus on the newly emerging challenges which pertain to the interpretation of sequence variants in genes implicated in the pathogenesis of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), a presumed mono-genic form of diabetes characterized by Mendelian inheritance. These challenges highlight the complexities surrounding the assignments of pathogenicity, in particular to rare protein-alerting variants, and bring to the forefront some profound clinical diagnostic implications. As MODY is both genetically and clinically heterogeneous, an accurate molecular diagnosis and cautious extrapolation of sequence data are critical to effective disease management and treatment. The biological and translational value of sequence information can only be attained by adopting a multitude of confirmatory analyses, which interrogate variant implication in disease from every possible angle. Indeed, studies which have effectively detected rare damaging variants in known MODY genes in normoglycemic individuals question the existence of a sin-gle gene mutation scenario: does monogenic diabetes exist when the genetic culprits of MODY have been systematical-ly identified in individuals without MODY? PMID:27111119

"I'm just trying to cope for both of us": Challenges and supports of family caregivers in participant-directed programs.

PubMed

Milliken, Aimee; Mahoney, Ellen K; Mahoney, Kevin J; Mignosa, Kate; Rodriguez, Isabella; Cuchetti, Catherine; Inoue, Megumi

2018-05-17

Recently, national attention has focused on the needs of family caregivers providing complex chronic care, noting the necessity to better understand the scope of challenges they encounter. Although a robust body of literature exists about the scope of family caregiving, little is known specifically about the experiences and perspectives of family caregivers who support participant directed (PD) participants, particularly across the caregiving trajectory. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe what family caregivers of individuals with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, aging, or chronic health conditions identify as the challenges they experience as complex, and their perceptions of the effectiveness and gaps in family support resources in PD. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded with a purposive sample of caregivers. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Fifty-four caregivers of individuals with a range of disabilities participated (age 34-78, M 59.9 ± 8.8; male 19%; spouse 17%, parent 61%). Six categories emerged from the analysis: contextualizing complexity, complexity in transitions, coping with complexity: advocacy & isolation, supportive support, unsupportive support, and systems challenges. Caregivers emphasized the interplay between unpredictability, transitions, and complexity and the interaction between the person receiving support, the caregiver's own situation, and the environment. Findings highlight the need, and provide a guide, for family assessment and for tailoring interventions matched to the profiles and self-identified challenges of families living with disability. Social workers can learn what families see as complex and what support broker behaviors families find helpful, and which not.

Characterizing Distributed Concurrent Engineering Teams: A Descriptive Framework for Aerospace Concurrent Engineering Design Teams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chattopadhyay, Debarati; Hihn, Jairus; Warfield, Keith

2011-01-01

As aerospace missions grow larger and more technically complex in the face of ever tighter budgets, it will become increasingly important to use concurrent engineering methods in the development of early conceptual designs because of their ability to facilitate rapid assessments and trades in a cost-efficient manner. To successfully accomplish these complex missions with limited funding, it is also essential to effectively leverage the strengths of individuals and teams across government, industry, academia, and international agencies by increased cooperation between organizations. As a result, the existing concurrent engineering teams will need to increasingly engage in distributed collaborative concurrent design. This paper is an extension of a recent white paper written by the Concurrent Engineering Working Group, which details the unique challenges of distributed collaborative concurrent engineering. This paper includes a short history of aerospace concurrent engineering, and defines the terms 'concurrent', 'collaborative' and 'distributed' in the context of aerospace concurrent engineering. In addition, a model for the levels of complexity of concurrent engineering teams is presented to provide a way to conceptualize information and data flow within these types of teams.

Relation between risk of falling and postural sway complexity in diabetes.

PubMed

Morrison, S; Colberg, S R; Parson, H K; Vinik, A I

2012-04-01

For older individuals with diabetes, any decline in balance control can be especially problematic since it is often a precursor to an increased risk of falling. This study was designed to evaluate differences in postural motion dynamics and falls risk for older individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) classified as fallers/non-fallers and, to assess what impact exercise has on balance and falls risk. The results demonstrated that the risk of falling is greater for those older individuals with multiple risk factors including diabetes and a previous falls history. The postural motion features of the high-risk individuals (T2DM-fallers) were also different, being characterized by increased variability and complexity, increased AP-ML coupling, less overall COP motion and increased velocity. One suggestion is that these individuals evoked a stiffening strategy during the more challenging postural tasks. Following training, a decline in falls risk was observed for all groups, with this effect being most pronounced for the T2DM-fallers. Interestingly, the COP motion of this group became more similar to controls, exhibiting decreased complexity and variability, and decreased velocity. The reciprocal changes in COP complexity support the broader view that age/disease-related changes in physiological complexity are bi-directional. Overall, these results show that, even for older T2DM individuals at greater risk of falling, targeted interventions can positively enhance their postural dynamics. Further, the finding that the pattern of postural motion variability and complexity was altered highlights that a decline in physiological complexity may not always be negatively associated with aging and/or disease. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Treatment Complexity in Cystic Fibrosis: Trends over Time and Associations with Site-Specific Outcomes

PubMed Central

Sawicki, Gregory S.; Ren, Clement L.; Konstan, Michael W.; Millar, Stefanie J.; Pasta, David J.; Quittner, Alexandra L.

2014-01-01

Background Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) have increasing treatment complexity and high treatment burden. We describe trends in treatment complexity and evaluate its relationship with health outcomes. Methods Using Epidemiologic Study of Cystic Fibrosis (ESCF) data, we developed a treatment complexity score (TCS) from 37 chronic therapies and assessed change by age group (6–13, 14–17, and 18+ years) over a three year period. Differences in average site TCS were evaluated by quartiles based on FEV1, BMI, or Treatment Burden score on the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire-Revised (CFQ-R). Results TCS scores were calculated for 7252 individual patients (42% child, 16% adolescent, 43% adult) across 153 sites. In 2003, mean TCS was 11.1 for children, 11.8 for adolescents, and 12.1 for adults. In all 3 age groups, TCS increased over 3 years; the increase in TCS from 2003–2005 for children was 1.25 (95% CI 1.16–1.34), for adolescents 0.77 (0.62–0.93), and for adults 1.20 (1.08–1.31) (all p<0.001 for trend over time). At the site level, there were no significant differences in mean TCS based on FEV1 quartile. Mean TCS was higher in the highest BMI z-score quartile. Across all 3 versions of the CFQ-R, mean TCS was lower at sites in the highest quartiles (lowest burden) for CFQ-R Treatment Burden scores. Conclusion Treatment complexity was highest among adults with CF, although over 3 years, we observed a significant increase in treatment complexity in all age groups. Such increases in treatment complexity pose a challenge to patient self-management and adherence. Future research is needed to understand the associations between treatment complexity and subsequent health outcomes to reduce treatment burden and improve disease management. PMID:23352205

Service Approaches to Young People with Complex Needs Leaving Out-of-Home Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malvaso, Catia; Delfabbro, Paul; Hackett, Louisa; Mills, Hayley

2016-01-01

Although leaving statutory out-of-home care can be a challenging time for many young people, it is recognised that young people who have multiple or complex needs find this transition particularly difficult. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by care leavers who have complex needs, as well as to identify some of…

GENETICS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Genetic counseling for congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and Kallmann syndrome: new challenges in the era of oligogenism and next-generation sequencing.

PubMed

Maione, Luigi; Dwyer, Andrew A; Francou, Bruno; Guiochon-Mantel, Anne; Binart, Nadine; Bouligand, Jérôme; Young, Jacques

2018-03-01

Congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) and Kallmann syndrome (KS) are rare, related diseases that prevent normal pubertal development and cause infertility in affected men and women. However, the infertility carries a good prognosis as increasing numbers of patients with CHH/KS are now able to have children through medically assisted procreation. These are genetic diseases that can be transmitted to patients' offspring. Importantly, patients and their families should be informed of this risk and given genetic counseling. CHH and KS are phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous diseases in which the risk of transmission largely depends on the gene(s) responsible(s). Inheritance may be classically Mendelian yet more complex; oligogenic modes of transmission have also been described. The prevalence of oligogenicity has risen dramatically since the advent of massively parallel next-generation sequencing (NGS) in which tens, hundreds or thousands of genes are sequenced at the same time. NGS is medically and economically more efficient and more rapid than traditional Sanger sequencing and is increasingly being used in medical practice. Thus, it seems plausible that oligogenic forms of CHH/KS will be increasingly identified making genetic counseling even more complex. In this context, the main challenge will be to differentiate true oligogenism from situations when several rare variants that do not have a clear phenotypic effect are identified by chance. This review aims to summarize the genetics of CHH/KS and to discuss the challenges of oligogenic transmission and also its role in incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity in a perspective of genetic counseling. © 2018 European Society of Endocrinology.

Panel discussion summary: do we need a revolution in design and process integration to enable sub-100-nm technology nodes?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grobman, Warren D.

2002-07-01

Dramatically increasing mask set costs, long-loop design-fabrication iterations, and lithography of unprecedented complexity and cost threaten to disrupt time-accepted IC industry progression as described by Moore"s Law. Practical and cost-effective IC manufacturing below the 100nm technology node presents significant and unique new challenges spanning multiple disciplines and overlapping traditionally separable components of the design-through-chip manufacturing flow. Lithographic and other process complexity is compounded by design, mask, and infrastructure technologies, which do not sufficiently account for increasingly stringent and complex manufacturing issues. Deep subwavelength and atomic-scale process and device physics effects increasingly invade and impact the design flow strongly at a time when the pressures for increased design productivity are escalating at a superlinear rate. Productivity gaps, both upstream in design and downstream in fabrication, are anticipated by many to increase due to dramatic increases in inherent complexity of the design-to-chip equation. Furthermore, the cost of lithographic equipment is increasing at an aggressive compound growth rate so large that we can no longer economically derive the benefit of the increased number of circuits per unit area unless we extend the life of lithographic equipment for more generations, and deeper into the subwavelength regime. Do these trends unambiguously lead to the conclusion that we need a revolution in design and design-process integration to enable the sub-100nm nodes? Or is such a premise similar to other well-known predictions of technology brick walls that never came true?

When weight management lasts. Lower perceived rule complexity increases adherence.

PubMed

Mata, Jutta; Todd, Peter M; Lippke, Sonia

2010-02-01

Maintaining behavior change is one of the major challenges in weight management and long-term weight loss. We investigated the impact of the cognitive complexity of eating rules on adherence to weight management programs. We studied whether popular weight management programs can fail if participants find the rules too complicated from a cognitive perspective, meaning that individuals are not able to recall or process all required information for deciding what to eat. The impact on program adherence of participants' perceptions of eating rule complexity and other behavioral factors known to influence adherence (including previous weight management, self-efficacy, and planning) was assessed via a longitudinal online questionnaire given to 390 participants on two different popular weight management regimens. As we show, the regimens, Weight Watchers and a popular German recipe diet (Brigitte), strongly differ in objective rule complexity and thus their cognitive demands on the dieter. Perceived rule complexity was the strongest factor associated with increased risk of quitting the cognitively demanding weight management program (Weight Watchers); it was not related to adherence length for the low cognitive demand program (Brigitte). Higher self-efficacy generally helped in maintaining a program. The results emphasize the importance of considering rule complexity to promote long-term weight management. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The case of value-based healthcare for people living with complex long-term conditions.

PubMed

Elf, Marie; Flink, Maria; Nilsson, Marie; Tistad, Malin; von Koch, Lena; Ytterberg, Charlotte

2017-01-11

There is a trend towards value-based health service, striving to cut costs while generating value for the patient. The overall objective comprises higher-quality health services and improved patient safety and cost efficiency. The approach could align with patient-centred care, as it entails a focus on the patient's experience of her or his entire cycle of care, including the use of well-defined outcome measurements. Challenges arise when the approach is applied to health services for people living with long-term complex conditions that require support from various healthcare services. The aim of this work is to critically discuss the value-based approach and its implications for patients with long-term complex conditions. Two cases from clinical practice and research form the foundation for our reasoning, illustrating several challenges regarding value-based health services for people living with long-term complex conditions. Achieving value-based health services that provide the health outcomes that matter to patients and providing greater patient-centredness will place increased demands on the healthcare system. Patients and their informal caregivers must be included in the development and establishment of outcome measures. The outcome measures must be standardized to allow evaluation of specific conditions at an aggregated level, but they must also be sensitive enough to capture each patient's individual needs and goals. Healthcare systems that strive to establish value-based services must collaborate beyond the organizational boundaries to create clear patient trajectories in order to avoid fragmentation. The shift towards value-based health services has the potential to align healthcare-service delivery with patient-centred care if serious efforts to take the patient's perspective into account are made. This is especially challenging in fragmented healthcare systems and for patients with long-term- and multi-setting-care needs.

Environmental Research Translation: Enhancing Interactions with Communities at Contaminated Sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez-Andreotta, M.; Brusseau, M. L. L.; Artiola, J. F.; Maier, R. M.; Gandolfi, A. J.

2015-12-01

The characterization and remediation of contaminated sites are complex endeavors fraught with numerous challenges. One particular challenge that is receiving increased attention is the development and encouragement of full participation by communities and community members affected by a given site in all facets of decision-making. Many disciplines have been grappling with the challenges associated with environmental and risk communication, public participation in environmental data generation and decision-making, and increasing community capacity. The concepts and methods developed by these disciplines are reviewed, with a focus on their relevance to the specific dynamics associated with contaminated sites. The contributions of these disciplines are then synthesized and integrated to help develop Environmental Research Translation (ERT), a proposed framework for environmental scientists to promote interaction and communication among involved parties at contaminated sites. This holistic approach is rooted in public participation approaches to science, which includes: a transdisciplinary team, effective collaboration, information transfer, public participation in environmental projects, and a cultural model of risk communication. Although there are challenges associated with the implementation of ERT, it is anticipated that application of this proposed translational science method could promote more robust community participation at contaminated sites.

Environmental Research Translation: Enhancing Interactions with Communities at Contaminated Sites

PubMed Central

Ramirez-Andreotta, Monica D.; Brusseau, Mark L.; Artiola, Janick F.; Maier, Raina M.; Gandolfi, A. Jay

2014-01-01

The characterization and remediation of contaminated sites are complex endeavors fraught with numerous challenges. One particular challenge that is receiving increased attention is the development and encouragement of full participation by communities and community members affected by a given site in all facets of decision-making. Many disciplines have been grappling with the challenges associated with environmental and risk communication, public participation in environmental data generation, and decision-making and increasing community capacity. The concepts and methods developed by these disciplines are reviewed, with a focus on their relevance to the specific dynamics associated with environmental contamination sites. The contributions of these disciplines are then synthesized and integrated to help develop Environmental Research Translation (ERT), a proposed framework for environmental scientists to promote interaction and communication among involved parties at contaminated sites. This holistic approach is rooted in public participation approaches to science, which includes: a transdisciplinary team, effective collaboration, information transfer, public participation in environmental projects, and a cultural model of risk communication. Although there are challenges associated with the implementation of ERT, it is anticipated that application of this proposed translational science method could promote more robust community participation at contaminated sites. PMID:25173762

Quantitative semi-automated analysis of morphogenesis with single-cell resolution in complex embryos

PubMed Central

Giurumescu, Claudiu A.; Kang, Sukryool; Planchon, Thomas A.; Betzig, Eric; Bloomekatz, Joshua; Yelon, Deborah; Cosman, Pamela; Chisholm, Andrew D.

2012-01-01

A quantitative understanding of tissue morphogenesis requires description of the movements of individual cells in space and over time. In transparent embryos, such as C. elegans, fluorescently labeled nuclei can be imaged in three-dimensional time-lapse (4D) movies and automatically tracked through early cleavage divisions up to ~350 nuclei. A similar analysis of later stages of C. elegans development has been challenging owing to the increased error rates of automated tracking of large numbers of densely packed nuclei. We present Nucleitracker4D, a freely available software solution for tracking nuclei in complex embryos that integrates automated tracking of nuclei in local searches with manual curation. Using these methods, we have been able to track >99% of all nuclei generated in the C. elegans embryo. Our analysis reveals that ventral enclosure of the epidermis is accompanied by complex coordinated migration of the neuronal substrate. We can efficiently track large numbers of migrating nuclei in 4D movies of zebrafish cardiac morphogenesis, suggesting that this approach is generally useful in situations in which the number, packing or dynamics of nuclei present challenges for automated tracking. PMID:23052905

The promise and challenge of personalized medicine: aging populations, complex diseases, and unmet medical need

PubMed Central

Henney, Adriano M

2012-01-01

Abstract The concept of personalized medicine is not new. It is being discussed with increasing interest in the medical, scientific, and general media because of the availability of advanced scientific and computational technologies, and the promise of the potential to improve the targeting and delivery of novel medicines. It is also being seen as one approach that may have a beneficial impact on reducing health care budgets. But what are the challenges that need to be addressed in its implementation in the clinic? This article poses some provocative questions and suggests some things that need to be considered. PMID:22661132

Revisiting the cognitive buffer hypothesis for the evolution of large brains

PubMed Central

Sol, Daniel

2008-01-01

Why have some animals evolved large brains despite substantial energetic and developmental costs? A classic answer is that a large brain facilitates the construction of behavioural responses to unusual, novel or complex socioecological challenges. This buffer effect should increase survival rates and favour a longer reproductive life, thereby compensating for the costs of delayed reproduction. Although still limited, evidence in birds and mammals is accumulating that a large brain facilitates the construction of novel and altered behavioural patterns and that this ability helps dealing with new ecological challenges more successfully, supporting the cognitive-buffer interpretation of the evolution of large brains. PMID:19049952

Wireless Sensor Network Security Enhancement Using Directional Antennas: State of the Art and Research Challenges.

PubMed

Curiac, Daniel-Ioan

2016-04-07

Being often deployed in remote or hostile environments, wireless sensor networks are vulnerable to various types of security attacks. A possible solution to reduce the security risks is to use directional antennas instead of omnidirectional ones or in conjunction with them. Due to their increased complexity, higher costs and larger sizes, directional antennas are not traditionally used in wireless sensor networks, but recent technology trends may support this method. This paper surveys existing state of the art approaches in the field, offering a broad perspective of the future use of directional antennas in mitigating security risks, together with new challenges and open research issues.

Responding to families with complex needs: a national survey of child and family health nurses.

PubMed

Rossiter, Chris; Schmied, Virginia; Kemp, Lynn; Fowler, Cathrine; Kruske, Sue; Homer, Caroline S E

2017-02-01

The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which Australian child and family health nurses work with families with complex needs and how their practice responds to the needs of these families. Many families with young children face challenges to their parenting capacity, potentially placing their children at risk of poorer developmental outcomes. Nurses increasingly work with families with mental health problems, trauma histories and/or substance dependence. Universal child health services must respond effectively to these challenges, to address health inequalities and to promote the best outcomes for all children and families. The descriptive study used cross-sectional data from the first national survey of child and family health nurses in Australia, conducted during 2011. Survey data reported how often, where and how child and family health nurses worked with families with complex needs and their confidence in nursing tasks. Many, but not all, of the 679 respondents saw families with complex needs in their regular weekly caseload. Child and family health nurses with diverse and complex caseloads reported using varied approaches to support their clients. They often undertook additional professional development and leadership roles compared with nurses who reported less complex caseloads. Most respondents reported high levels of professional confidence. For health services providing universal support and early intervention for families at risk, the findings underscore the importance of appropriate education, training and support for child and family health professionals. The findings can inform the organization and delivery of services for families in Australia and internationally. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMJ panel discussion overview on mask complexities, cost, and cycle time in 32-nm system LSI generation: conflict or concurrent?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosono, Kunihiro; Kato, Kokoro

2008-10-01

This is a report on a panel discussion organized in Photomask Japan 2008, where the challenges about "Mask Complexities, Cost, and Cycle Time in 32-nm System LSI Generation" were addressed to have a look over the possible solutions from the standpoints of chipmaker, commercial mask shop, DA tool vendor and equipments makers. The wrap-up is as follows: Mask complexities justify the mask cost, while the acceptable increase rate of 32nm-mask cost significantly differs between mask suppliers or users side. The efficiency progress by new tools or DFM has driven their cycle-time reductions. Mask complexities and cost will be crucial issues prior to cycle time, and there seems to be linear correlation between them. Controlling complexity and cycle time requires developing a mix of advanced technologies, and especially for cost reduction, shot prices in writers and processing rates in inspection tools have been improved remarkably by tool makers. In addition, activities of consortium in Japan (Mask D2I) are expected to enhance the total optimization of mask design, writing and inspection. The cycle-time reduction potentially drives the lowering of mask cost, and, on the other, the pattern complexities and tighter mask specifications get in the way to 32nm generation as well as the nano-economics and market challenges. There are still many difficult problems in mask manufacturing now, and we are sure to go ahead to overcome a 32nm hurdle with the advances of technologies and collaborations by not only technologies but also finance.

"It's not that straightforward": when family support is challenging for mothers living with mental illness.

PubMed

Perera, Dinali N; Short, Liz; Fernbacher, Sabin

2014-09-01

Mental health service providers often have limited or problematic understanding of parents' support needs or experiences and family relationships. Moreover, the impact of family life and relationships for mothers with mental illness, and whether these relationships are experienced as positive or negative, have been largely underinvestigated. This article aims to increase understanding about the complexity of family relationships and support for mothers. Findings may be useful for services when considering family involvement, and for how to better meet the needs of mothers with mental illness and support their recovery. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 8 mothers with mental illness and 11 mental health service providers. This article presents a grounded theory analysis of the complexity of family relationships and support for mothers with mental illness. Family relationships of mothers with mental illness can be complex, potentially difficult, and challenging. Problems in relationships with partners and families, and experiences of abuse, can have harmful consequences on parenting, on mothers' and children's well-being, and on the support mothers receive. This project highlights a need to recognize and work with positive aspects and difficulties in family relationships as part of mental health service provision. Policies can be reviewed to increase the likelihood that mental health care will combine family-sensitive practice with practice that acknowledges difficult family relationships and experiences of family violence in order to maximize support to mothers with mental illness and their children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

The difficulties of systematic reviews.

PubMed

Westgate, Martin J; Lindenmayer, David B

2017-10-01

The need for robust evidence to support conservation actions has driven the adoption of systematic approaches to research synthesis in ecology. However, applying systematic review to complex or open questions remains challenging, and this task is becoming more difficult as the quantity of scientific literature increases. We drew on the science of linguistics for guidance as to why the process of identifying and sorting information during systematic review remains so labor intensive, and to provide potential solutions. Several linguistic properties of peer-reviewed corpora-including nonrandom selection of review topics, small-world properties of semantic networks, and spatiotemporal variation in word meaning-greatly increase the effort needed to complete the systematic review process. Conversely, the resolution of these semantic complexities is a common motivation for narrative reviews, but this process is rarely enacted with the rigor applied during linguistic analysis. Therefore, linguistics provides a unifying framework for understanding some key challenges of systematic review and highlights 2 useful directions for future research. First, in cases where semantic complexity generates barriers to synthesis, ecologists should consider drawing on existing methods-such as natural language processing or the construction of research thesauri and ontologies-that provide tools for mapping and resolving that complexity. These tools could help individual researchers classify research material in a more robust manner and provide valuable guidance for future researchers on that topic. Second, a linguistic perspective highlights that scientific writing is a rich resource worthy of detailed study, an observation that can sometimes be lost during the search for data during systematic review or meta-analysis. For example, mapping semantic networks can reveal redundancy and complementarity among scientific concepts, leading to new insights and research questions. Consequently, wider adoption of linguistic approaches may facilitate improved rigor and richness in research synthesis. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin for targeted gene delivery of VEGF165-Ang-1 with PEI.

PubMed

Ma, Caili; Lv, Linlin; Liu, Yu; Yu, Yanni; You, Renchuan; Yang, Jicheng; Li, Mingzhong

2014-06-01

Vascularization is a crucial challenge in tissue engineering. One solution for this problem is to implant scaffolds that contain functional genes that promote vascularization by providing angiogenic growth factors via a gene delivery carrier. Poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) is a gene delivery carrier with high transfection efficiency but with cytotoxicity. To solve this problem, we utilized Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin (ASF), which has favorable cytocompatibility and biodegradability, RGD sequences and a negative charge, in conjunction with PEI, as the delivery vector for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) 165-angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) dual gene simultaneous expression plasmid, creating an ASF/PEI/pDNA complex. The results suggested that the zeta potential of the ASF/PEI/pDNA complex was significantly lower than that of the PEI/pDNA complex. Decreased nitrogen and increased oxygen on the surface of the complex demonstrated that the ASF had successfully combined with the surface of the PEI/pDNA. Furthermore, the complexes resisted digestion by nucleic acid enzymes and degradation by serum. L929 cells were cultured and transfected in vitro and improved cytotoxicity was found when the cells were transfected with ASF/PEI/pDNA compared with PEI/pDNA. In addition, the transfection efficiency and VEGF secretion increased. In general, this study provides a novel method for decreasing the cytotoxicity of PEI gene delivery vectors and increasing transfection efficiency of angiogenesis-related genes.

Non-visual spatial tasks reveal increased interactions with stance postural control.

PubMed

Woollacott, Marjorie; Vander Velde, Timothy

2008-05-07

The current investigation aimed to contrast the level and quality of dual-task interactions resulting from the combined performance of a challenging primary postural task and three specific, yet categorically dissociated, secondary central executive tasks. Experiments determined the extent to which modality (visual vs. auditory) and code (non-spatial vs. spatial) specific cognitive resources contributed to postural interference in young adults (n=9) in a dual-task setting. We hypothesized that the different forms of executive n-back task processing employed (visual-object, auditory-object and auditory-spatial) would display contrasting levels of interactions with tandem Romberg stance postural control, and that interactions within the spatial domain would be revealed as most vulnerable to dual-task interactions. Across all cognitive tasks employed, including auditory-object (aOBJ), auditory-spatial (aSPA), and visual-object (vOBJ) tasks, increasing n-back task complexity produced correlated increases in verbal reaction time measures. Increasing cognitive task complexity also resulted in consistent decreases in judgment accuracy. Postural performance was significantly influenced by the type of cognitive loading delivered. At comparable levels of cognitive task difficulty (n-back demands and accuracy judgments) the performance of challenging auditory-spatial tasks produced significantly greater levels of postural sway than either the auditory-object or visual-object based tasks. These results suggest that it is the employment of limited non-visual spatially based coding resources that may underlie previously observed visual dual-task interference effects with stance postural control in healthy young adults.

Economic Decision Making: Application of the Theory of Complex Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitt, Robert

In this chapter the complex systems are discussed in the context of economic and business policy and decision making. It will be showed and motivated that social systems are typically chaotic, non-linear and/or non-equilibrium and therefore complex systems. It is discussed that the rapid change in global consumer behaviour is underway, that further increases the complexity in business and management. For policy making under complexity, following principles are offered: openness and international competition, tolerance and variety of ideas, self-reliability and low dependence on external help. The chapter contains four applications that build on the theoretical motivation of complexity in social systems. The first application demonstrates that small economies have good prospects to gain from the global processes underway, if they can demonstrate production flexibility, reliable business ethics and good risk management. The second application elaborates on and discusses the opportunities and challenges in decision making under complexity from macro and micro economic perspective. In this environment, the challenges for corporate management are being also permanently changed: the balance between short term noise and long term chaos whose attractor includes customers, shareholders and employees must be found. The emergence of chaos in economic relationships is demonstrated by a simple system of differential equations that relate the stakeholders described above. The chapter concludes with two financial applications: about debt and risk management. The non-equilibrium economic establishment leads to additional problems by using excessive borrowing; unexpected downturns in economy can more easily kill companies. Finally, the demand for quantitative improvements in risk management is postulated. Development of the financial markets has triggered non-linearity to spike in prices of various production articles such as agricultural and other commodities that has added market risk management to the business model of many companies.

Implementing trials of complex interventions in community settings: the USC-Rancho Los Amigos pressure ulcer prevention study (PUPS).

PubMed

Clark, Florence; Pyatak, Elizabeth A; Carlson, Mike; Blanche, Erna Imperatore; Vigen, Cheryl; Hay, Joel; Mallinson, Trudy; Blanchard, Jeanine; Unger, Jennifer B; Garber, Susan L; Diaz, Jesus; Florindez, Lucia I; Atkins, Michal; Rubayi, Salah; Azen, Stanley Paul

2014-04-01

Randomized trials of complex, non-pharmacologic interventions implemented in home and community settings, such as the University of Southern California (USC)-Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (RLANRC) Pressure Ulcer Prevention Study (PUPS), present unique challenges with respect to (1) participant recruitment and retention, (2) intervention delivery and fidelity, (3) randomization and assessment, and (4) potential inadvertent treatment effects. We describe the methods employed to address the challenges confronted in implementing PUPS. In this randomized controlled trial, we are assessing the efficacy of a complex, preventive intervention in reducing the incidence of, and costs associated with, the development of medically serious pressure ulcers in people with spinal cord injury. Individuals with spinal cord injury recruited from RLANRC were assigned to either a 12-month preventive intervention group or a standard care control group. The primary outcome is the incidence of serious pressure ulcers with secondary endpoints including ulcer-related surgeries, medical treatment costs, and quality of life. These outcomes are assessed at 12 and 24 months after randomization. Additionally, we are studying the mediating mechanisms that account for intervention outcomes. PUPS has been successfully implemented, including recruitment of the target sample size of 170 participants, assurance of the integrity of intervention protocol delivery with an average 90% treatment adherence rate, and enactment of the assessment plan. However, implementation has been replete with challenges. To meet recruitment goals, we instituted a five-pronged approach customized for an underserved, ethnically diverse population. In intervention delivery, we increased staff time to overcome economic and cultural barriers to retention and adherence. To ensure treatment fidelity and replicability, we monitored intervention protocol delivery in accordance with a rigorous plan. Finally, we have overcome unanticipated assessment and design concerns related to (1) determining pressure ulcer incidence/severity, (2) randomization imbalance, and (3) inadvertent potential control group contamination. We have addressed the most daunting challenges encountered in the recruitment, assessment, and intervention phases of PUPS. Some challenges and solutions may not apply to trials conducted in other settings. Overcoming challenges has required a multifaceted approach incorporating individualization, flexibility, and persistence, as well as the ability to implement needed mid-course corrections.

Global megatrends and their implications for environmental assessment practice

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

Retief, Francois, E-mail: francois.retief@nwu.ac.za; Bond, Alan; Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University

This paper addresses the future of environmental assessment (EA) practice in light of a rapidly changing world. We apply a literature review-based methodology to firstly identify key global megatrends and then reflect upon the implications for EA practice based on some known challenges. The key megatrends identified are synthesised into six categories: i) demographics, ii) urbanization, iii) technological innovation, iv) power shifts, v) resource scarcity and vi) climate change. We then discuss the implications of these megatrends for EA practice against four known EA challenges namely: dealing with i) complexity and uncertainty, ii) efficiency, iii) significance and iv) communication andmore » participation. Our analysis suggests important implications for EA practice such as: increased difficulties with accuracy of prediction; the need for facilitative adaptation; an increase in the occurrence of unexpected events; higher expectations for procedural efficiency; challenges with information and communication management; dealing with significance judgements; and mitigation amidst resource scarcity and increasing pressures on earth systems. The megatrends underscore the need for continued evolution of EA thinking and practice, especially moving away from seeking a predictable single future or outcome towards the possibility of multiple scenarios with associated adaptability and enhanced system resilience capable of responding to rapid change.« less

The New Toxicology of Sophisticated Materials: Nanotoxicology and Beyond

PubMed Central

Maynard, Andrew D.; Warheit, David B.; Philbert, Martin A.

2011-01-01

It has long been recognized that the physical form of materials can mediate their toxicity—the health impacts of asbestiform materials, industrial aerosols, and ambient particulate matter are prime examples. Yet over the past 20 years, toxicology research has suggested complex and previously unrecognized associations between material physicochemistry at the nanoscale and biological interactions. With the rapid rise of the field of nanotechnology and the design and production of increasingly complex nanoscale materials, it has become ever more important to understand how the physical form and chemical composition of these materials interact synergistically to determine toxicity. As a result, a new field of research has emerged—nanotoxicology. Research within this field is highlighting the importance of material physicochemical properties in how dose is understood, how materials are characterized in a manner that enables quantitative data interpretation and comparison, and how materials move within, interact with, and are transformed by biological systems. Yet many of the substances that are the focus of current nanotoxicology studies are relatively simple materials that are at the vanguard of a new era of complex materials. Over the next 50 years, there will be a need to understand the toxicology of increasingly sophisticated materials that exhibit novel, dynamic and multifaceted functionality. If the toxicology community is to meet the challenge of ensuring the safe use of this new generation of substances, it will need to move beyond “nano” toxicology and toward a new toxicology of sophisticated materials. Here, we present a brief overview of the current state of the science on the toxicology of nanoscale materials and focus on three emerging toxicology-based challenges presented by sophisticated materials that will become increasingly important over the next 50 years: identifying relevant materials for study, physicochemical characterization, and biointeractions. PMID:21177774

Overview of Non-Volatile Testing and Screening Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Irom, Farokh

2001-01-01

Testing methods for memories and non-volatile memories have become increasingly sophisticated as they become denser and more complex. High frequency and faster rewrite times as well as smaller feature sizes have led to many testing challenges. This paper outlines several testing issues posed by novel memories and approaches to testing for radiation and reliability effects. We discuss methods for measurements of Total Ionizing Dose (TID).

New ethical challenges in science and technology

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

NONE

The published research features some of the nation's leading scientists and engineers, as well as science policy experts, and discusses a wide range of issues and topics. These include the economic and social pressure impacting biomedical research, the impossibility of predicting all the behaviors of increasingly complex, engineered systems, a look at the new federal guidelines for misconduct and new wrinkles on faculty conflicts of interest.

Meeting the Complex Needs of Urban Youth and Their Families through the 4Rs 2Ss Family Strengthening Program: The "Real World" Meets Evidence-Informed Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small, Latoya A.; Jackson, Jerrold; Gopalan, Geetha; McKay, Mary McKernan

2015-01-01

Background: Youth living in poverty face compounding familial and environmental was challenges in utilizing effective community mental health services. Ongoing stressors increase their drop-out rate in mental health service use. Difficulties also exist in staying engaged in services when involved with the child welfare system. This study examines…

Bermuda 2.0: reflections from Santa Cruz

PubMed Central

Reardon, Jenny; Ankeny, Rachel A.; Bangham, Jenny; W. Darling, Katherine; Hilgartner, Stephen; Jones, Kathryn Maxson; Shapiro, Beth; Stevens, Hallam

2016-01-01

Abstract In February 1996, the genome community met in Bermuda to formulate principles for circulating genomic data. Although it is now 20 years since the Bermuda Principles were formulated, they continue to play a central role in shaping genomic and data-sharing practices. However, since 1996, “openness” has become an increasingly complex issue. This commentary seeks to articulate three core challenges data-sharing faces today. PMID:28369360

Pensions, investments, and taxation.

PubMed

Gerstein, Mitchell

2010-01-01

Having for retirement has become increasingly challenging with retirement plan rules changing along with taxes and investment choices. The only certainty is that everyone needs to save money in order to be able to stop working. The best plan for a small business can be complex and confusing but rewarding if designed properly. There are a number of options available and many factors to consider in choosing the most appropriate plan.

Life in extreme environments: how will humans perform on Mars?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, D. J.

2000-01-01

This review of astronaut extravehicular activity (EVA) and the details of American and Soviet/Russian spacesuit design focuses on design recommendations to enhance astronaut safety and effectiveness. Innovative spacesuit design is essential, given the challenges of future exploration-class missions in which astronauts will be called upon to perform increasingly complex and physically demanding tasks in the extreme environments of microgravity and partial gravity.

The application of quantum mechanics in structure-based drug design.

PubMed

Mucs, Daniel; Bryce, Richard A

2013-03-01

Computational chemistry has become an established and valuable component in structure-based drug design. However the chemical complexity of many ligands and active sites challenges the accuracy of the empirical potentials commonly used to describe these systems. Consequently, there is a growing interest in utilizing electronic structure methods for addressing problems in protein-ligand recognition. In this review, the authors discuss recent progress in the development and application of quantum chemical approaches to modeling protein-ligand interactions. The authors specifically consider the development of quantum mechanics (QM) approaches for studying large molecular systems pertinent to biology, focusing on protein-ligand docking, protein-ligand binding affinities and ligand strain on binding. Although computation of binding energies remains a challenging and evolving area, current QM methods can underpin improved docking approaches and offer detailed insights into ligand strain and into the nature and relative strengths of complex active site interactions. The authors envisage that QM will become an increasingly routine and valued tool of the computational medicinal chemist.

Harlequin-Inspired Story-Based Learning: An Educational Innovation for Pediatric Nursing Communication.

PubMed

Shaw, Alison; Lind, Candace; Ewashen, Carol

2017-05-01

Effective communication with patients and families is essential for quality care in the pediatric environment. Despite this, the current structure and content of undergraduate nursing education often contributes to novice RNs feeling unprepared to manage complex pediatric communication situations. By merging the characteristics of the Harlequin persona with the structure of story-based learning, undergraduate students can be introduced to increasingly advanced pediatric communication scenarios in the classroom. Although story-based learning encourages students to identify and address the contextual and emotional elements of a story, the Harlequin encourages educators to challenge assumptions and upset the status quo. Nursing students can develop advanced communication abilities and learn to identify and cope with the emotions and complexities inherent in pediatric practice and communication. Harlequin-inspired story-based learning can enable nurse educators to create interesting, realistic, and challenging pediatric nursing stories designed to push students outside their comfort zones and enhance their advanced pediatric communication abilities. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(5):300-303.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

Rigged or rigorous? Partnerships for research and evaluation of complex social problems: Lessons from the field of violence against women and girls.

PubMed

Zimmerman, Cathy; Michau, Lori; Hossain, Mazeda; Kiss, Ligia; Borland, Rosilyne; Watts, Charlotte

2016-09-01

There is growing demand for robust evidence to address complex social phenomena such as violence against women and girls (VAWG). Research partnerships between scientists and non-governmental or international organizations (NGO/IO) are increasingly popular, but can pose challenges, including concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Drawing on our experience collaborating on VAWG research, we describe challenges and contributions that NGO/IO and academic partners can make at different stages of the research process and the effects that collaborations can have on scientific inquiry. Partners may struggle with differing priorities and misunderstandings about roles, limitations, and intentions. Benefits of partnerships include a shared vision of study goals, differing and complementary expertise, mutual respect, and a history of constructive collaboration. Our experience suggests that when investigating multi-faceted social problems, instead of 'rigging' study results, research collaborations can strengthen scientific rigor and offer the greatest potential for impact in the communities we seek to serve.

Translating Globalization and Democratization into Local Policy: Educational Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Law, Wing-Wah

2004-11-01

The past two decades have witnessed three important international trends: an increase in the number of democratic states; economic globalization; and educational reforms in light of the challenges of the new millennium. A great deal of research has addressed educational change in relation to either globalization or democratization, but little has been said about the complex interactions among all three processes. In view of recent educational reforms in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the present contribution examines the local nature of education policy in a globalized age. It challenges those globalization theories which minimize the role of the state and exaggerate the power of globalization over local factors. In particular, it explores how the governments of these two Chinese societies have employed democratization to generate and legitimate reform proposals and have used economic globalization to justify educational reforms. The study concludes by discussing the complex interrelations of these processes, including tensions between global and local concerns in educational reform.

Pediatric Care Coordination: Lessons Learned and Future Priorities.

PubMed

Cady, Rhonda G; Looman, Wendy S; Lindeke, Linda L; LaPlante, Bonnie; Lundeen, Barbara; Seeley, Amanda; Kautto, Mary E

2015-09-30

A fundamental component of the medical home model is care coordination. In Minnesota, this model informed design and implementation of the state's health care home (HCH) model, a key element of statewide healthcare reform legislation. Children with medical complexity (CMC) often require care from multiple specialists and community resources. Coordinating this multi-faceted care within the HCH is challenging. This article describes the need for specialized models of care coordination for CMC. Two models of care coordination for CMC were developed to address this challenge. The TeleFamilies Model of Pediatric Care Coordination uses an advanced practice registered nurse care (APRN) coordinator embedded within an established HCH. The PRoSPer Model of Pediatric Care Coordination uses a registered nurse/social worker care coordinator team embedded within a specialty care system. We describe key findings from implementation of these models, and conclude with lessons learned. Replication of the models is encouraged to increase the evidence base for care coordination for the growing population of children with medical complexities.

Current status of deepwater oil spill modelling in the Faroe-Shetland Channel, Northeast Atlantic, and future challenges.

PubMed

Gallego, Alejandro; O'Hara Murray, Rory; Berx, Barbara; Turrell, William R; Beegle-Krause, C J; Inall, Mark; Sherwin, Toby; Siddorn, John; Wakelin, Sarah; Vlasenko, Vasyl; Hole, Lars R; Dagestad, Knut Frode; Rees, John; Short, Lucy; Rønningen, Petter; Main, Charlotte E; Legrand, Sebastien; Gutierrez, Tony; Witte, Ursula; Mulanaphy, Nicole

2018-02-01

As oil reserves in established basins become depleted, exploration and production moves towards relatively unexploited areas, such as deep waters off the continental shelf. The Faroe-Shetland Channel (FSC, NE Atlantic) and adjacent areas have been subject to increased focus by the oil industry. In addition to extreme depths, metocean conditions in this region characterise an environment with high waves and strong winds, strong currents, complex circulation patterns, sharp density gradients, and large small- and mesoscale variability. These conditions pose operational challenges to oil spill response and question the suitability of current oil spill modelling frameworks (oil spill models and their forcing data) to adequately simulate the behaviour of a potential oil spill in the area. This article reviews the state of knowledge relevant to deepwater oil spill modelling for the FSC area and identifies knowledge gaps and research priorities. Our analysis should be relevant to other areas of complex oceanography. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proceedings of the Antenna Applications Symposium (32nd) Held in Monticello, Illinois on 16-18 September 2008. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-20

operational concepts. The adaptation or translations of these systems can provide an effective means of addressing many current and emerging challenges . The...providing stealth, cloaking, mimicry and other capabilities such as EM windowing to these platforms presents many challenges as their operational role...physical insight into a complex system or emerging technological challenges . A bio-system that shares synergistic goals with this complex system

Educational Philosophy and the Challenge of Complexity Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Keith

2008-01-01

Complexity theory challenges educational philosophy to reconsider accepted paradigms of teaching, learning and educational research. However, though attractive, not least because of its critique of positivism, its affinity to Dewey and Habermas, and its arguments for openness, diversity, relationships, agency and creativity, the theory is not…

Relating Climate and Enviornmental Stress to Conflict... or Cooperation?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelley, C. P.

2016-12-01

There are many factors which contribute to social unrest, including governance, economy, access to resources and others. As global climate change progresses, many regions and nations, particularly those that are most vulnerable and least resilient, will face increasing challenges with respect to water and food scarcity. Increasing population and demand for water, combined with declining access to groundwater, will greatly increase exisiting vulnerability. Syria, Yemen and other countries serve as examples of nations that have experienced increasing both environmental stress and conflict. The Syria case in particular has had clear global repercussions, most notably contributing to a global refugee crisis. However, there are also examples of nations that have experienced increasing environmental stress that instead demonstrated transboundary water cooperation rather than conflict. An important and emerging body of work is that which seeks to better understand and characterize real-time resilience and vulnerability in order to better mitigate the consequences of future regional climate change. Prediction of potential conflict is a formidable challenge, one that is highly complex and multivariate, operating on many different temporal and spatial scales.

From process complexity to communication effectiveness: A challenge to those within and outside of the environmental sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaiser, K. E.; McGlynn, B. L.

2014-12-01

Interdisciplinary work has become a cornerstone in research across the environmental sciences. Our work does so by evaluating biogeochemical cycling, specifically methane, in the context of landscape hydrology. Atmospheric methane is a greenhouse gas 27 times more potent than carbon dioxide and has been increasing at an unprecedented rate. This drastic increase in atmospheric methane has been attributed to anthropogenic activities such as burning of fossil fuels, ruminants, and rice cultivation, which together constitute approximately 67% of global methane sources. Characterizing CH4 flux in natural systems has remained difficult due to complex relationships among environmental variables (e.g. soil temperature and soil water content). To address this, we focus on how the redistribution of water in complex terrain influences the magnitude and direction of flux in upland and riparian soils. Distilling this complex behavior and scaling these observations is complicated by interacting feedback loops and uncertainties associated with global scale modeling. However, progress is critical given that predicting future climate is necessary to forecasting the quantity and distribution of available fresh water, and understanding how ecosystem processes, and energy/food production will be affected. Water sciences and environmental science as a whole must improve communication to a range of audiences, and advocate for researchers, policy makers, and business leaders to work together for a more sustainable future. A crucial step in this process is to optimize the appropriate level of information to convey that is both memorable and meaningful given the complexity of environmental systems. The challenge also extends to artists and filmmakers to present the subject in compelling ways that inspire audiences to take action in their own communities. True integration of professionals across environmental, social, political, and economic disciplines while motivating local involvement will be necessary for development and success of innovative solutions for improving the trajectory of climate change.

Case study method and problem-based learning: utilizing the pedagogical model of progressive complexity in nursing education.

PubMed

McMahon, Michelle A; Christopher, Kimberly A

2011-08-19

As the complexity of health care delivery continues to increase, educators are challenged to determine educational best practices to prepare BSN students for the ambiguous clinical practice setting. Integrative, active, and student-centered curricular methods are encouraged to foster student ability to use clinical judgment for problem solving and informed clinical decision making. The proposed pedagogical model of progressive complexity in nursing education suggests gradually introducing students to complex and multi-contextual clinical scenarios through the utilization of case studies and problem-based learning activities, with the intention to transition nursing students into autonomous learners and well-prepared practitioners at the culmination of a nursing program. Exemplar curricular activities are suggested to potentiate student development of a transferable problem solving skill set and a flexible knowledge base to better prepare students for practice in future novel clinical experiences, which is a mutual goal for both educators and students.

Ecosystem services provided by a complex coastal region: challenges of classification and mapping.

PubMed

Sousa, Lisa P; Sousa, Ana I; Alves, Fátima L; Lillebø, Ana I

2016-03-11

A variety of ecosystem services classification systems and mapping approaches are available in the scientific and technical literature, which needs to be selected and adapted when applied to complex territories (e.g. in the interface between water and land, estuary and sea). This paper provides a framework for addressing ecosystem services in complex coastal regions. The roadmap comprises the definition of the exact geographic boundaries of the study area; the use of CICES (Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services) for ecosystem services identification and classification; and the definition of qualitative indicators that will serve as basis to map the ecosystem services. Due to its complexity, the Ria de Aveiro coastal region was selected as case study, presenting an opportunity to explore the application of such approaches at a regional scale. The main challenges of implementing the proposed roadmap, together with its advantages are discussed in this research. The results highlight the importance of considering both the connectivity of natural systems and the complexity of the governance framework; the flexibility and robustness, but also the challenges when applying CICES at regional scale; and the challenges regarding ecosystem services mapping.

Ecosystem services provided by a complex coastal region: challenges of classification and mapping

PubMed Central

Sousa, Lisa P.; Sousa, Ana I.; Alves, Fátima L.; Lillebø, Ana I.

2016-01-01

A variety of ecosystem services classification systems and mapping approaches are available in the scientific and technical literature, which needs to be selected and adapted when applied to complex territories (e.g. in the interface between water and land, estuary and sea). This paper provides a framework for addressing ecosystem services in complex coastal regions. The roadmap comprises the definition of the exact geographic boundaries of the study area; the use of CICES (Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services) for ecosystem services identification and classification; and the definition of qualitative indicators that will serve as basis to map the ecosystem services. Due to its complexity, the Ria de Aveiro coastal region was selected as case study, presenting an opportunity to explore the application of such approaches at a regional scale. The main challenges of implementing the proposed roadmap, together with its advantages are discussed in this research. The results highlight the importance of considering both the connectivity of natural systems and the complexity of the governance framework; the flexibility and robustness, but also the challenges when applying CICES at regional scale; and the challenges regarding ecosystem services mapping. PMID:26964892

Taser and Conducted Energy Weapons.

PubMed

LeClair, Thomas G; Meriano, Tony

2015-01-01

It is clear that CEWs are an increasingly prevalent law enforcement tool, adopted to address a complex and challenging problem. The potential for serious injury from a single deployment of a CEW is extremely low. The debate regarding the link between these electrical weapons and sudden in-custody death is likely to continue because their use is often in complex and volatile situations. Any consideration of injuries has to be put into that context. One must also consider what injuries to a subject would result if an alternative force method was used. Furthermore, the potential benefits of CEWs, including reduction in injuries to the public and law-enforcement officers, need to be considered.

Construction of Matryoshka-type structures from supercharged protein nanocages.

PubMed

Beck, Tobias; Tetter, Stephan; Künzle, Matthias; Hilvert, Donald

2015-01-12

Designing nanoscaled hierarchical structures with increasing levels of complexity is challenging. Here we show that electrostatic interactions between two complementarily supercharged protein nanocages can be effectively utilized to create nested Matryoshka-type structures. Cage-within-cage complexes containing spatially ordered iron oxide nanoparticles spontaneously self-assemble upon mixing positively supercharged ferritin compartments with AaLS-13, a larger shell-forming protein with a negatively supercharged lumen. Exploiting engineered Coulombic interactions and protein dynamics in this way opens up new avenues for creating hierarchically organized supramolecular assemblies for application as delivery vehicles, reaction chambers, and artificial organelles. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The neurobiology of psychopathy.

PubMed

Glenn, Andrea L; Raine, Adrian

2008-09-01

Numerous studies have tackled the complex challenge of understanding the neural substrates of psychopathy, revealing that brain abnormalities exist on several levels and in several structures. As we discover more about complex neural networks, it becomes increasingly difficult to clarify how these systems interact with each other to produce the distinct pattern of behavioral and personality characteristics observed in psychopathy. The authors review the recent research on the neurobiology of psychopathy, beginning with molecular neuroscience work and progressing to the level of brain structures and their connectivity. Potential factors that may affect the development of brain impairments, as well as how some systems may be targeted for potential treatment, are discussed.

The complexities of governing in a social media world.

PubMed

Philpott, Thomas G; Swettenham, Julie

2012-01-01

The complexity of governing has increased with the Internet's introduction of social media. Boards need to be aware of social media impact upon external stakeholder relations, as well as legal responsibilities within the organization. This paper outlines the various implications of social media that a board needs to consider. A governance framework is used to help put the issues in perspective. The conclusion is that boards need to take social media seriously and ensure that their organization has a social media risk mitigation strategy for external communications, as well as eDiscovery. Various other strategies and tactics are suggested to help boards address the challenge.

Unplanned Complex Suicide-A Consideration of Multiple Methods.

PubMed

Ateriya, Navneet; Kanchan, Tanuj; Shekhawat, Raghvendra Singh; Setia, Puneet; Saraf, Ashish

2018-05-01

Detailed death investigations are mandatory to find out the exact cause and manner in non-natural deaths. In this reference, use of multiple methods in suicide poses a challenge for the investigators especially when the choice of methods to cause death is unplanned. There is an increased likelihood that doubts of homicide are raised in cases of unplanned complex suicides. A case of complex suicide is reported where the victim resorted to multiple methods to end his life, and what appeared to be an unplanned variant based on the death scene investigations. A meticulous crime scene examination, interviews of the victim's relatives and other witnesses, and a thorough autopsy are warranted to conclude on the cause and manner of death in all such cases. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Optimization of protocol design: a path to efficient, lower cost clinical trial execution

PubMed Central

Malikova, Marina A

2016-01-01

Managing clinical trials requires strategic planning and efficient execution. In order to achieve a timely delivery of important clinical trials’ outcomes, it is useful to establish standardized trial management guidelines and develop robust scoring methodology for evaluation of study protocol complexity. This review will explore the challenges clinical teams face in developing protocols to ensure that the right patients are enrolled and the right data are collected to demonstrate that a drug is safe and efficacious, while managing study costs and study complexity based on proposed comprehensive scoring model. Key factors to consider when developing protocols and techniques to minimize complexity will be discussed. A methodology to identify processes at planning phase, approaches to increase fiscal return and mitigate fiscal compliance risk for clinical trials will be addressed. PMID:28031939

Methoxyethanol, Ethoxyethanol, and Spectral Complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westerfield, J. H.; Riffe, Erika; Phillips, Maria; Johnson, Erika; Shipman, Steven

2017-06-01

Over the last few years, we have been working to improve the AUTOFIT programpand extend it to work on more complex spectra, especially spectra collected near room temperature. In this talk, we will discuss the problem of spectral complexity and the challenges it poses for moving to increasingly complicated systems. This will be highlighted by the cases of methoxyethanol, in which AUTOFIT was able to easily extract contributions from the ground state and four vibrationally excited states, and ethoxyethanol, in which AUTOFIT had difficulty identifying more than the ground vibrational state without the assistance of additional double resonance measurements. Seifert, N.A., Finneran, I.A., Perez, C., Zaleski, D.P., Neill, J.L., Steber, A.L., Suenram, R.D., Lesarri, A., Shipman, S.T., Pate, B.H., J. Mol. Spec. 312, 13-21 (2015)

Quantitative computational models of molecular self-assembly in systems biology

PubMed Central

Thomas, Marcus; Schwartz, Russell

2017-01-01

Molecular self-assembly is the dominant form of chemical reaction in living systems, yet efforts at systems biology modeling are only beginning to appreciate the need for and challenges to accurate quantitative modeling of self-assembly. Self-assembly reactions are essential to nearly every important process in cell and molecular biology and handling them is thus a necessary step in building comprehensive models of complex cellular systems. They present exceptional challenges, however, to standard methods for simulating complex systems. While the general systems biology world is just beginning to deal with these challenges, there is an extensive literature dealing with them for more specialized self-assembly modeling. This review will examine the challenges of self-assembly modeling, nascent efforts to deal with these challenges in the systems modeling community, and some of the solutions offered in prior work on self-assembly specifically. The review concludes with some consideration of the likely role of self-assembly in the future of complex biological system models more generally. PMID:28535149

Quantitative computational models of molecular self-assembly in systems biology.

PubMed

Thomas, Marcus; Schwartz, Russell

2017-05-23

Molecular self-assembly is the dominant form of chemical reaction in living systems, yet efforts at systems biology modeling are only beginning to appreciate the need for and challenges to accurate quantitative modeling of self-assembly. Self-assembly reactions are essential to nearly every important process in cell and molecular biology and handling them is thus a necessary step in building comprehensive models of complex cellular systems. They present exceptional challenges, however, to standard methods for simulating complex systems. While the general systems biology world is just beginning to deal with these challenges, there is an extensive literature dealing with them for more specialized self-assembly modeling. This review will examine the challenges of self-assembly modeling, nascent efforts to deal with these challenges in the systems modeling community, and some of the solutions offered in prior work on self-assembly specifically. The review concludes with some consideration of the likely role of self-assembly in the future of complex biological system models more generally.

Flat and complex temperate reefs provide similar support for fish: Evidence for a unimodal species-habitat relationship

PubMed Central

Pickering, Emily A.; Adler, Alyssa M.; Taylor, J. Christopher; Peterson, Charles H.

2017-01-01

Structural complexity, a form of habitat heterogeneity, influences the structure and function of ecological communities, generally supporting increased species density, richness, and diversity. Recent research, however, suggests the most complex habitats may not harbor the highest density of individuals and number of species, especially in areas with elevated human influence. Understanding nuances in relationships between habitat heterogeneity and ecological communities is warranted to guide habitat-focused conservation and management efforts. We conducted fish and structural habitat surveys of thirty warm-temperate reefs on the southeastern US continental shelf to quantify how structural complexity influences fish communities. We found that intermediate complexity maximizes fish abundance on natural and artificial reefs, as well as species richness on natural reefs, challenging the current paradigm that abundance and other fish community metrics increase with increasing complexity. Naturally occurring rocky reefs of flat and complex morphologies supported equivalent abundance, biomass, species richness, and community composition of fishes. For flat and complex morphologies of rocky reefs to receive equal consideration as essential fish habitat (EFH), special attention should be given to detecting pavement type rocky reefs because their ephemeral nature makes them difficult to detect with typical seafloor mapping methods. Artificial reefs of intermediate complexity also maximized fish abundance, but human-made structures composed of low-lying concrete and metal ships differed in community types, with less complex, concrete structures supporting lower numbers of fishes classified largely as demersal species and metal ships protruding into the water column harboring higher numbers of fishes, including more pelagic species. Results of this study are essential to the process of evaluating habitat function provided by different types and shapes of reefs on the seafloor so that all EFH across a wide range of habitat complexity may be accurately identified and properly managed. PMID:28873447

Non Volatile Flash Memory Radiation Tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Irom, Farokh; Nguyen, Duc N.; Allen, Greg

2012-01-01

Commercial flash memory industry has experienced a fast growth in the recent years, because of their wide spread usage in cell phones, mp3 players and digital cameras. On the other hand, there has been increased interest in the use of high density commercial nonvolatile flash memories in space because of ever increasing data requirements and strict power requirements. Because of flash memories complex structure; they cannot be treated as just simple memories in regards to testing and analysis. It becomes quite challenging to determine how they will respond in radiation environments.

Modular analysis of biological networks.

PubMed

Kaltenbach, Hans-Michael; Stelling, Jörg

2012-01-01

The analysis of complex biological networks has traditionally relied on decomposition into smaller, semi-autonomous units such as individual signaling pathways. With the increased scope of systems biology (models), rational approaches to modularization have become an important topic. With increasing acceptance of de facto modularity in biology, widely different definitions of what constitutes a module have sparked controversies. Here, we therefore review prominent classes of modular approaches based on formal network representations. Despite some promising research directions, several important theoretical challenges remain open on the way to formal, function-centered modular decompositions for dynamic biological networks.

Untangling Brain-Wide Dynamics in Consciousness by Cross-Embedding

PubMed Central

Tajima, Satohiro; Yanagawa, Toru; Fujii, Naotaka; Toyoizumi, Taro

2015-01-01

Brain-wide interactions generating complex neural dynamics are considered crucial for emergent cognitive functions. However, the irreducible nature of nonlinear and high-dimensional dynamical interactions challenges conventional reductionist approaches. We introduce a model-free method, based on embedding theorems in nonlinear state-space reconstruction, that permits a simultaneous characterization of complexity in local dynamics, directed interactions between brain areas, and how the complexity is produced by the interactions. We demonstrate this method in large-scale electrophysiological recordings from awake and anesthetized monkeys. The cross-embedding method captures structured interaction underlying cortex-wide dynamics that may be missed by conventional correlation-based analysis, demonstrating a critical role of time-series analysis in characterizing brain state. The method reveals a consciousness-related hierarchy of cortical areas, where dynamical complexity increases along with cross-area information flow. These findings demonstrate the advantages of the cross-embedding method in deciphering large-scale and heterogeneous neuronal systems, suggesting a crucial contribution by sensory-frontoparietal interactions to the emergence of complex brain dynamics during consciousness. PMID:26584045

Computational complexity of algorithms for sequence comparison, short-read assembly and genome alignment.

PubMed

Baichoo, Shakuntala; Ouzounis, Christos A

A multitude of algorithms for sequence comparison, short-read assembly and whole-genome alignment have been developed in the general context of molecular biology, to support technology development for high-throughput sequencing, numerous applications in genome biology and fundamental research on comparative genomics. The computational complexity of these algorithms has been previously reported in original research papers, yet this often neglected property has not been reviewed previously in a systematic manner and for a wider audience. We provide a review of space and time complexity of key sequence analysis algorithms and highlight their properties in a comprehensive manner, in order to identify potential opportunities for further research in algorithm or data structure optimization. The complexity aspect is poised to become pivotal as we will be facing challenges related to the continuous increase of genomic data on unprecedented scales and complexity in the foreseeable future, when robust biological simulation at the cell level and above becomes a reality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wildfires in California, August 17, 2015

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Very hot, dry and unstable conditions in California and across the Pacific Northwest add to the challenges facing firefighters as they battle blazes around the region. Cal Fire is urging Californians to be extremely cautious, especially for the next few days, as the current conditions increase the dangers authorities face. This image was taken by NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument around 2145 UTC (5:45 p.m. EDT) on August 17, 2015. Northern California is seeing smoke from the River Complex, Route Complex, South Complex, Fork Complex and Mad River Complex fires combine over a large area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest west of Redding, California, while the Rough Fire in Fresno County is spreading toward the Black Rock Reservoir, causing evacuations and road closures. Fires across the Pacific Northwest aren't limited to California. Please see the Suomi NPP VIIRS composites in NOAA View to see the growth and extent of fires over the past weeks. Credit: NASA/NOAA via NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

Complex coacervate-based materials for biomedicine.

PubMed

Blocher, Whitney C; Perry, Sarah L

2017-07-01

There has been increasing interest in complex coacervates for deriving and transporting biomaterials. Complex coacervates are a dense, polyelectrolyte-rich liquid that results from the electrostatic complexation of oppositely charged macroions. Coacervates have long been used as a strategy for encapsulation, particularly in food and personal care products. More recent efforts have focused on the utility of this class of materials for the encapsulation of small molecules, proteins, RNA, DNA, and other biomaterials for applications ranging from sensing to biomedicine. Furthermore, coacervate-related materials have found utility in other areas of biomedicine, including cartilage mimics, tissue culture scaffolds, and adhesives for wet, biological environments. Here, we discuss the self-assembly of complex coacervate-based materials, current challenges in the intelligent design of these materials, and their utility applications in the broad field of biomedicine. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2017, 9:e1442. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1442 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Multi-organisational Approach to Service Delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purchase, Valerie; Mills, John; Parry, Glenn

Who is involved in delivering a service? There has been growing recognition in a wide variety of contexts that service is increasingly being delivered by multi-rather than single-organisational entities. Such recognition is evident not only in our experience but in a number of areas of literature including strategy development, core competence analysis, operations and supply chain management, and is reflected in and further facilitated by ICT developments. Customers have always been involved in some degree in the process of value delivery and such involvement is increasing to include complex co-creation of value. Such interactions are challenging when they involve individual customers, however, this becomes ever more challenging when the 'customer' is another organisation or when there are multiple 'customers'. Within this chapter we will consider some of the key drivers for a multi-organisational approach to service delivery; examine the ways in which the parties involved in service co-creation have expanded to include multiple service providers and customers; and finally, identify some of the challenges created by a multi-organisational approach to service delivery.

Challenge theme 7: Information support for management of border security and environmental protection: Chapter 9 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parcher, Jean W.; Page, William R.

2013-01-01

Historically, international borders were located far from the major political and economic capitals of their countries and rarely received adequate planning or infrastructure development. Today, as a result of global economics and increased movement of goods between nations, border regions play a much greater role in commerce, tourism, and transportation. For example, Mexico is the second largest destination for United States exports (Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute, 2009). The rapid population and economic growth along the United States–Mexican border, undocumented human border crossings, and the unique natural diversity of resources in the Borderlands present challenges for border security and environmental protection. Assessing risks and implementing sustainable growth policies to protect the environment and quality of life greatly increase in complexity when the issues cross an international border, where social services, environmental regulations, lifestyles, and cultural beliefs are unique for each country. Shared airsheds, water and biological resources, national security issues, and disaster management needs require an integrated binational approach to assess risks and develop binational management strategies.

Urban drainage system planning and design--challenges with climate change and urbanization: a review.

PubMed

Yazdanfar, Zeinab; Sharma, Ashok

2015-01-01

Urban drainage systems are in general failing in their functions mainly due to non-stationary climate and rapid urbanization. As these systems are becoming less efficient, issues such as sewer overflows and increase in urban flooding leading to surge in pollutant loads to receiving water bodies are becoming pervasive rapidly. A comprehensive investigation is required to understand these factors impacting the functioning of urban drainage, which vary spatially and temporally and are more complex when weaving together. It is necessary to establish a cost-effective, integrated planning and design framework for every local area by incorporating fit for purpose alternatives. Carefully selected adaptive measures are required for the provision of sustainable drainage systems to meet combined challenges of climate change and urbanization. This paper reviews challenges associated with urban drainage systems and explores limitations and potentials of different adaptation alternatives. It is hoped that the paper would provide drainage engineers, water planners, and decision makers with the state of the art information and technologies regarding adaptation options to increase drainage systems efficiency under changing climate and urbanization.

Visions of Restoration in Fire-Adapted Forest Landscapes: Lessons from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program.

PubMed

Urgenson, Lauren S; Ryan, Clare M; Halpern, Charles B; Bakker, Jonathan D; Belote, R Travis; Franklin, Jerry F; Haugo, Ryan D; Nelson, Cara R; Waltz, Amy E M

2017-02-01

Collaborative approaches to natural resource management are becoming increasingly common on public lands. Negotiating a shared vision for desired conditions is a fundamental task of collaboration and serves as a foundation for developing management objectives and monitoring strategies. We explore the complex socio-ecological processes involved in developing a shared vision for collaborative restoration of fire-adapted forest landscapes. To understand participant perspectives and experiences, we analyzed interviews with 86 respondents from six collaboratives in the western U.S., part of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program established to encourage collaborative, science-based restoration on U.S. Forest Service lands. Although forest landscapes and group characteristics vary considerably, collaboratives faced common challenges to developing a shared vision for desired conditions. Three broad categories of challenges emerged: meeting multiple objectives, collaborative capacity and trust, and integrating ecological science and social values in decision-making. Collaborative groups also used common strategies to address these challenges, including some that addressed multiple challenges. These included use of issue-based recommendations, field visits, and landscape-level analysis; obtaining support from local agency leadership, engaging facilitators, and working in smaller groups (sub-groups); and science engagement. Increased understanding of the challenges to, and strategies for, developing a shared vision of desired conditions is critical if other collaboratives are to learn from these efforts.

Visions of Restoration in Fire-Adapted Forest Landscapes: Lessons from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urgenson, Lauren S.; Ryan, Clare M.; Halpern, Charles B.; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Belote, R. Travis; Franklin, Jerry F.; Haugo, Ryan D.; Nelson, Cara R.; Waltz, Amy E. M.

2017-02-01

Collaborative approaches to natural resource management are becoming increasingly common on public lands. Negotiating a shared vision for desired conditions is a fundamental task of collaboration and serves as a foundation for developing management objectives and monitoring strategies. We explore the complex socio-ecological processes involved in developing a shared vision for collaborative restoration of fire-adapted forest landscapes. To understand participant perspectives and experiences, we analyzed interviews with 86 respondents from six collaboratives in the western U.S., part of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program established to encourage collaborative, science-based restoration on U.S. Forest Service lands. Although forest landscapes and group characteristics vary considerably, collaboratives faced common challenges to developing a shared vision for desired conditions. Three broad categories of challenges emerged: meeting multiple objectives, collaborative capacity and trust, and integrating ecological science and social values in decision-making. Collaborative groups also used common strategies to address these challenges, including some that addressed multiple challenges. These included use of issue-based recommendations, field visits, and landscape-level analysis; obtaining support from local agency leadership, engaging facilitators, and working in smaller groups (sub-groups); and science engagement. Increased understanding of the challenges to, and strategies for, developing a shared vision of desired conditions is critical if other collaboratives are to learn from these efforts.

The Complexity of HIV Persistence and Pathogenesis in the Lung Under Antiretroviral Therapy: Challenges Beyond AIDS

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Abstract Antiretroviral therapy (ART) represents a significant milestone in the battle against AIDS. However, we continue learning about HIV and confronting challenges 30 years after its discovery. HIV has cleverly tricked both the host immune system and ART. First, the many HIV subtypes and recombinant forms have different susceptibilities to antiretroviral drugs, which may represent an issue in countries where ART is just being introduced. Second, even under the suppressive pressures of ART, HIV still increases inflammatory mediators, deregulates apoptosis and proliferation, and induces oxidative stress in the host. Third, the preference of HIV for CXCR4 as a co-receptor may also have noxious outcomes, including potential malignancies. Furthermore, HIV still replicates cryptically in anatomical reservoirs, including the lung. HIV impairs bronchoalveolar T-lymphocyte and macrophage immune responses, rendering the lung susceptible to comorbidities. In addition, HIV-infected individuals are significantly more susceptible to long-term HIV-associated complications. This review focuses on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary arterial hypertension, and lung cancer. Almost two decades after the advent of highly active ART, we now know that HIV-infected individuals on ART live as long as the uninfected population. Fortunately, its availability is rapidly increasing in low- and middle-income countries. Nevertheless, ART is not risk-free: the developed world is facing issues with antiretroviral drug toxicity, resistance, and drug–drug interactions, while developing countries are confronting issues with immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. Several aspects of the complexity of HIV persistence and challenges with ART are discussed, as well as suggestions for new avenues of research. PMID:24797368

A functional U-statistic method for association analysis of sequencing data.

PubMed

Jadhav, Sneha; Tong, Xiaoran; Lu, Qing

2017-11-01

Although sequencing studies hold great promise for uncovering novel variants predisposing to human diseases, the high dimensionality of the sequencing data brings tremendous challenges to data analysis. Moreover, for many complex diseases (e.g., psychiatric disorders) multiple related phenotypes are collected. These phenotypes can be different measurements of an underlying disease, or measurements characterizing multiple related diseases for studying common genetic mechanism. Although jointly analyzing these phenotypes could potentially increase the power of identifying disease-associated genes, the different types of phenotypes pose challenges for association analysis. To address these challenges, we propose a nonparametric method, functional U-statistic method (FU), for multivariate analysis of sequencing data. It first constructs smooth functions from individuals' sequencing data, and then tests the association of these functions with multiple phenotypes by using a U-statistic. The method provides a general framework for analyzing various types of phenotypes (e.g., binary and continuous phenotypes) with unknown distributions. Fitting the genetic variants within a gene using a smoothing function also allows us to capture complexities of gene structure (e.g., linkage disequilibrium, LD), which could potentially increase the power of association analysis. Through simulations, we compared our method to the multivariate outcome score test (MOST), and found that our test attained better performance than MOST. In a real data application, we apply our method to the sequencing data from Minnesota Twin Study (MTS) and found potential associations of several nicotine receptor subunit (CHRN) genes, including CHRNB3, associated with nicotine dependence and/or alcohol dependence. © 2017 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

Responses to a warming world: Integrating life history, immune investment, and pathogen resistance in a model insect species.

PubMed

Laughton, Alice M; O'Connor, Cian O; Knell, Robert J

2017-11-01

Environmental temperature has important effects on the physiology and life history of ectothermic animals, including investment in the immune system and the infectious capacity of pathogens. Numerous studies have examined individual components of these complex systems, but little is known about how they integrate when animals are exposed to different temperatures. Here, we use the Indian meal moth ( Plodia interpunctella ) to understand how immune investment and disease resistance react and potentially trade-off with other life-history traits. We recorded life-history (development time, survival, fecundity, and body size) and immunity (hemocyte counts, phenoloxidase activity) measures and tested resistance to bacterial ( E. coli ) and viral ( Plodia interpunctella granulosis virus) infection at five temperatures (20-30°C). While development time, lifespan, and size decreased with temperature as expected, moths exhibited different reproductive strategies in response to small changes in temperature. At cooler temperatures, oviposition rates were low but tended to increase toward the end of life, whereas warmer temperatures promoted initially high oviposition rates that rapidly declined after the first few days of adult life. Although warmer temperatures were associated with strong investment in early reproduction, there was no evidence of an associated trade-off with immune investment. Phenoloxidase activity increased most at cooler temperatures before plateauing, while hemocyte counts increased linearly with temperature. Resistance to bacterial challenge displayed a complex pattern, whereas survival after a viral challenge increased with rearing temperature. These results demonstrate that different immune system components and different pathogens can respond in distinct ways to changes in temperature. Overall, these data highlight the scope for significant changes in immunity, disease resistance, and host-parasite population dynamics to arise from small, biologically relevant changes to environmental temperature. In light of global warming, understanding these complex interactions is vital for predicting the potential impact of insect disease vectors and crop pests on public health and food security.

Improving self-management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

PubMed

Phillips, Anne

2016-01-06

Diabetes is an increasingly common life-long condition, which has significant physical, psychological and behavioural implications for individuals. Self-management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes can be complex and challenging. A collaborative approach to care, between healthcare professionals and patients, is essential to promote self-management skills and knowledge to help patients engage in shared decision making and manage any difficulties associated with a diagnosis of diabetes.

Mass Media and Health: Opportunities for Improving the Nation's Health. A Report to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and Office for Substance Abuse Prevention. Monograph Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Public Health Service (DHHS), Rockville, MD. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Several interested organizations and agencies completed an exploration of the complexities and challenges affecting the communication of health information through the mass media. The goal of this effort was to create a shared agenda for increasing cooperation between mass media and public health professionals in addressing the issues, problems,…

Faculty Perceptions of Effective Practices for Utilizing a Framework to Develop a Concept-Based Curriculum in Nursing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magorian, Kathryn G.

2013-01-01

All programs of healthcare education face increasing change and daunting challenges to prepare new graduates for the real world of practice as care providers in complex systems. The necessity for change in nursing education is at a critical level, called on from a variety of sources. New nurses must be able to enter practice as competent, safe,…

Virtual Surgical Planning in Craniofacial Surgery

PubMed Central

Chim, Harvey; Wetjen, Nicholas; Mardini, Samir

2014-01-01

The complex three-dimensional anatomy of the craniofacial skeleton creates a formidable challenge for surgical reconstruction. Advances in computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing technology have created increasing applications for virtual surgical planning in craniofacial surgery, such as preoperative planning, fabrication of cutting guides, and stereolithographic models and fabrication of custom implants. In this review, the authors describe current and evolving uses of virtual surgical planning in craniofacial surgery. PMID:25210509

Quantitative Medical Image Analysis for Clinical Development of Therapeutics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Analoui, Mostafa

There has been significant progress in development of therapeutics for prevention and management of several disease areas in recent years, leading to increased average life expectancy, as well as of quality of life, globally. However, due to complexity of addressing a number of medical needs and financial burden of development of new class of therapeutics, there is a need for better tools for decision making and validation of efficacy and safety of new compounds. Numerous biological markers (biomarkers) have been proposed either as adjunct to current clinical endpoints or as surrogates. Imaging biomarkers are among rapidly increasing biomarkers, being examined to expedite effective and rational drug development. Clinical imaging often involves a complex set of multi-modality data sets that require rapid and objective analysis, independent of reviewer's bias and training. In this chapter, an overview of imaging biomarkers for drug development is offered, along with challenges that necessitate quantitative and objective image analysis. Examples of automated and semi-automated analysis approaches are provided, along with technical review of such methods. These examples include the use of 3D MRI for osteoarthritis, ultrasound vascular imaging, and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI for oncology. Additionally, a brief overview of regulatory requirements is discussed. In conclusion, this chapter highlights key challenges and future directions in this area.

Environmental and socio-economic methodologies and solutions towards integrated water resources management.

PubMed

Friesen, Jan; Rodriguez Sinobas, Leonor; Foglia, Laura; Ludwig, Ralf

2017-03-01

Semi-arid regions are facing the challenge of managing water resources under conditions of increasing scarcity and drought. These are recently pressured by the impact of climate change favoring the shifting from using surface water to groundwater without taking sustainability issues into account. Likewise, water scarcity raises the competition for water among users, increasing the risk of social conflicts, as the availability of fresh water in sufficient quality and quantity is already one of the major factors limiting socio-economic development. In terms of hydrology, semi-arid regions are characterized by very complex hydro- and hydrogeological systems. The complexity of the water cycle contrasts strongly with the poor data availability, (1) which limits the number of analysis techniques and methods available to researchers, (2) limits the accuracy of models and predictions, and (3) consequently challenges the capabilities to develop appropriate management measures to mitigate or adapt the environment to scarcity and drought conditions. Integrated water resources management is a holistic approach to focus on both environmental as well as on socio-economic factors influencing water availability and supply. The management approaches and solutions adopted, e.g. in form of decision support for specific water resources systems, are often highly specific for individual case studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.