Use of multivariate statistics to identify unreliable data obtained using CASA.

PubMed

Martínez, Luis Becerril; Crispín, Rubén Huerta; Mendoza, Maximino Méndez; Gallegos, Oswaldo Hernández; Martínez, Andrés Aragón

2013-06-01

In order to identify unreliable data in a dataset of motility parameters obtained from a pilot study acquired by a veterinarian with experience in boar semen handling, but without experience in the operation of a computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system, a multivariate graphical and statistical analysis was performed. Sixteen boar semen samples were aliquoted then incubated with varying concentrations of progesterone from 0 to 3.33 µg/ml and analyzed in a CASA system. After standardization of the data, Chernoff faces were pictured for each measurement, and a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the dimensionality and pre-process the data before hierarchical clustering. The first twelve individual measurements showed abnormal features when Chernoff faces were drawn. PCA revealed that principal components 1 and 2 explained 63.08% of the variance in the dataset. Values of principal components for each individual measurement of semen samples were mapped to identify differences among treatment or among boars. Twelve individual measurements presented low values of principal component 1. Confidence ellipses on the map of principal components showed no statistically significant effects for treatment or boar. Hierarchical clustering realized on two first principal components produced three clusters. Cluster 1 contained evaluations of the two first samples in each treatment, each one of a different boar. With the exception of one individual measurement, all other measurements in cluster 1 were the same as observed in abnormal Chernoff faces. Unreliable data in cluster 1 are probably related to the operator inexperience with a CASA system. These findings could be used to objectively evaluate the skill level of an operator of a CASA system. This may be particularly useful in the quality control of semen analysis using CASA systems.

Power Provision Based on Self-Sacrificing Craft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinchey, Michael G. (Inventor); Sterrit, Roy (Inventor); Vassev, Emil I. (Inventor); Hinchey, Bridget (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A biologically-inspired system and method is provided for self-adapting behavior of swarm-based exploration missions, whereby individual components, for example, spacecraft, in the system can sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the entire system. The self-sacrifice can involve donating resources or assets, such as power provisions, to a different component of an autonomous system. A receiving component of the system can benefit from receiving the donated resource or power provision.

Five Year Computer Technology Forecast

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1972-12-01

The report delineates the various computer system components and extrapolates past trends in light of industry goals and physical limitations to predict what individual components and entire systems will look like in the second half of this decade. T...

Computational methodology to predict satellite system-level effects from impacts of untrackable space debris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welty, N.; Rudolph, M.; Schäfer, F.; Apeldoorn, J.; Janovsky, R.

2013-07-01

This paper presents a computational methodology to predict the satellite system-level effects resulting from impacts of untrackable space debris particles. This approach seeks to improve on traditional risk assessment practices by looking beyond the structural penetration of the satellite and predicting the physical damage to internal components and the associated functional impairment caused by untrackable debris impacts. The proposed method combines a debris flux model with the Schäfer-Ryan-Lambert ballistic limit equation (BLE), which accounts for the inherent shielding of components positioned behind the spacecraft structure wall. Individual debris particle impact trajectories and component shadowing effects are considered and the failure probabilities of individual satellite components as a function of mission time are calculated. These results are correlated to expected functional impairment using a Boolean logic model of the system functional architecture considering the functional dependencies and redundancies within the system.

The development of a non-cryogenic nitrogen/oxygen supply system. [using hydrazine/water electrolysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenough, B. M.; Mahan, R. E.

1974-01-01

A hydrazine/water electrolysis process system module design was fabricated and tested to demonstrate component and module performance. This module is capable of providing both the metabolic oxygen for crew needs and the oxygen and nitrogen for spacecraft leak makeup. The component designs evolved through previous R and D efforts, and were fabricated and tested individually and then were assembled into a complete module which was successfully tested for 1000 hours to demonstrate integration of the individual components. A survey was made of hydrazine sensor technology and a cell math model was derived.

Respiratory protective device design using control system techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burgess, W. A.; Yankovich, D.

1972-01-01

The feasibility of a control system analysis approach to provide a design base for respiratory protective devices is considered. A system design approach requires that all functions and components of the system be mathematically identified in a model of the RPD. The mathematical notations describe the operation of the components as closely as possible. The individual component mathematical descriptions are then combined to describe the complete RPD. Finally, analysis of the mathematical notation by control system theory is used to derive compensating component values that force the system to operate in a stable and predictable manner.

Apollo experience report: Command and service module electrical power distribution on subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munford, R. E.; Hendrix, B.

1974-01-01

A review of the design philosophy and development of the Apollo command and service modules electrical power distribution subsystem, a brief history of the evolution of the total system, and some of the more significant components within the system are discussed. The electrical power distribution primarily consisted of individual control units, interconnecting units, and associated protective devices. Because each unit within the system operated more or less independently of other units, the discussion of the subsystem proceeds generally in descending order of complexity; the discussion begins with the total system, progresses to the individual units of the system, and concludes with the components within the units.

Comprehensive system models: Strategies for evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Field, Christopher; Kutzbach, John E.; Ramanathan, V.; Maccracken, Michael C.

1992-01-01

The task of evaluating comprehensive earth system models is vast involving validations of every model component at every scale of organization, as well as tests of all the individual linkages. Even the most detailed evaluation of each of the component processes and the individual links among them should not, however, engender confidence in the performance of the whole. The integrated earth system is so rich with complex feedback loops, often involving components of the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, and cryosphere, that it is certain to exhibit emergent properties very difficult to predict from the perspective of a narrow focus on any individual component of the system. Therefore, a substantial share of the task of evaluating comprehensive earth system models must reside at the level of whole system evaluations. Since complete, integrated atmosphere/ ocean/ biosphere/ hydrology models are not yet operational, questions of evaluation must be addressed at the level of the kinds of earth system processes that the models should be competent to simulate, rather than at the level of specific performance criteria. Here, we have tried to identify examples of earth system processes that are difficult to simulate with existing models and that involve a rich enough suite of feedbacks that they are unlikely to be satisfactorily described by highly simplified or toy models. Our purpose is not to specify a checklist of evaluation criteria but to introduce characteristics of the earth system that may present useful opportunities for model testing and, of course, improvement.

Making the Invisible Visible: A Model for Delivery Systems in Adult Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alex, Jennifer L.; Miller, Elizabeth A.; Platt, R. Eric; Rachal, John R.; Gammill, Deidra M.

2007-01-01

Delivery systems are not well defined in adult education. Therefore, this article reviews the multiple components that overlap to affect the adult learner and uses them to create a model for a comprehensive delivery system in adult education with these individual components as sub-systems that are interrelated and inter-locked. These components…

A force transmission system based on a tulip-shaped electrostatic clutch for haptic display devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasaki, Hikaru; Shikida, Mitsuhiro; Sato, Kazuo

2006-12-01

This paper describes a novel type of force transmission system for haptic display devices. The system consists of an array of end-effecter elements, a force/displacement transmitter and a single actuator producing a large force/displacement. It has tulip-shaped electrostatic clutch devices to distribute the force/displacement from the actuator among the individual end effecters. The specifications of three components were determined to stimulate touched human fingers. The components were fabricated by using micro-electromechanical systems and conventional machining technologies, and finally they were assembled by hand. The performance of the assembled transmission system was experimentally examined and it was confirmed that each projection in the arrayed end effecters could be moved individually. The actuator in a system whose total size was only 3.0 cm × 3.0 cm × 4.0 cm produced a 600 mN force and displaced individual array elements by 18 µm.

Method of improving system performance and survivability through changing function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinchey, Michael G. (Inventor); Vassev, Emil I. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A biologically-inspired system and method is provided for self-adapting behavior of swarm-based exploration missions, whereby individual components, for example, spacecraft, in the system can sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the entire system. The swarm-based system can exhibit emergent self-adapting behavior. Each component can be configured to exhibit self-sacrifice behavior based on Autonomic System Specification Language (ASSL).

System Modeling of Lunar Oxygen Production: Mass and Power Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steffen, Christopher J.; Freeh, Joshua E.; Linne, Diane L.; Faykus, Eric W.; Gallo, Christopher A.; Green, Robert D.

2007-01-01

A systems analysis tool for estimating the mass and power requirements for a lunar oxygen production facility is introduced. The individual modeling components involve the chemical processing and cryogenic storage subsystems needed to process a beneficiated regolith stream into liquid oxygen via ilmenite reduction. The power can be supplied from one of six different fission reactor-converter systems. A baseline system analysis, capable of producing 15 metric tons of oxygen per annum, is presented. The influence of reactor-converter choice was seen to have a small but measurable impact on the system configuration and performance. Finally, the mission concept of operations can have a substantial impact upon individual component size and power requirements.

Solar industrial process heat systems: An assessment of standards for materials and components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossiter, W. J.; Shipp, W. E.

1981-09-01

A study was conducted to obtain information on the performance of materials and components in operational solar industrial process heat (PH) systems, and to provide recommendations for the development of standards including evaluative test procedures for materials and components. An assessment of the needs for standards for evaluating the long-term performance of materials and components of IPH systems was made. The assessment was based on the availability of existing standards, and information obtained from a field survey of operational systems, the literature, and discussions with individuals in the industry. Field inspections of 10 operational IPH systems were performed.

On Some Troubles with the Metaphysics of Fermionic Compositions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bigaj, Tomasz

2016-09-01

In this paper I discuss some metaphysical consequences of an unorthodox approach to the problem of the identity and individuality of "indistinguishable" quantum particles. This approach is based on the assumption that the only admissible way of individuating separate components of a given system is with the help of the permutation-invariant qualitative properties of the total system. Such a method of individuation, when applied to fermionic compositions occupying so-called GMW-nonentangled states, yields highly implausible consequences regarding the number of distinct components of a given composite system. I specify the problem (which I call the problem of fermionic inflation) in detail, and I consider several strategies of solving it. The preferred solution of the problem is based on the premise that spatial location should play a privileged role in identifying and making reference to quantum-mechanical systems.

An Individual-Tree Growth and Yield Prediction System for Uneven-Aged Shortleaf Pine Stands

Treesearch

Michael M. Huebschmann; Lawrence R. Gering; Thomas B. Lynch; Onesphore Bitoki; Paul A. Murphy

2000-01-01

A system of equations modeling the growth and development of uneven-aged shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) stands is described. The prediction system consists of two main components: (1) a distance-independent, individual-tree simulator containing equations that forecast ingrowth, basal-area growth, probability of survival, total and...

32 CFR 154.55 - Requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... for appropriate follow-up by DIS. DoD Components and industry will assist DIS in publicizing the availability of appropriate reporting channels. Additionally, DoD Components will augment the system when and... commander of the duty organization shall insure that the parent Component of the individual concerned is...

Using Movies to Analyse Gene Circuit Dynamics in Single Cells

PubMed Central

Locke, James CW; Elowitz, Michael B

2010-01-01

Preface Many bacterial systems rely on dynamic genetic circuits to control critical processes. A major goal of systems biology is to understand these behaviours in terms of individual genes and their interactions. However, traditional techniques based on population averages wash out critical dynamics that are either unsynchronized between cells or driven by fluctuations, or ‘noise,’ in cellular components. Recently, the combination of time-lapse microscopy, quantitative image analysis, and fluorescent protein reporters has enabled direct observation of multiple cellular components over time in individual cells. In conjunction with mathematical modelling, these techniques are now providing powerful insights into genetic circuit behaviour in diverse microbial systems. PMID:19369953

Proposal for Holistic Assessment of Urban System Resilience to Natural Disasters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koren, David; Kilar, Vojko; Rus, Katarina

2017-10-01

Urban system is a complex mix of interdependent components and dynamic interactions between them that enable it to function effectively. Resilience of urban system indicates the ability of a system to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner. In the relevant literature, most studies consider individual components separately. On the other hand, the purpose of this paper is to assess the urban system as a whole, considering all relevant components and their interactions. The goal is a study of possibilities for holistic evaluation of urban system resilience to natural disasters. Findings from the preliminary study are presented: (i) the definition of urban system and categorization of its components, (ii) a set of attributes of individual components with impact on disaster resilience of the entire system and (iii) review of different methods and approaches for resilience assessment. Based on literature review and extensive preliminary studies a new conceptual framework for urban resilience assessment is proposed. In the presented paper, a conceptual model of urban system by abstraction of its components as nodes (buildings), patches - specific nodes with spatial properties (open space), links (infrastructures) and base layer (community) is created. In the suggested model, each component is defined by its own quantitative attributes, which have been identified to have an important impact on the urban system resilience to natural disasters. System is presented as a mathematical graph model. Natural disaster is considered an external factor that affects the existing system and leads to some system distortion. In further analyses, mathematical simulation of various natural disasters scenarios is going to be carried out, followed by comparison of the system functionality before and after the accident. Various properties of the system (accessibility, transition, complexity etc.) are going to be analysed with graph theory. The final result is going to be an identification of critical points and system bottlenecks as basis for further actions of risk mitigation.

MEDIC: medical embedded device for individualized care.

PubMed

Wu, Winston H; Bui, Alex A T; Batalin, Maxim A; Au, Lawrence K; Binney, Jonathan D; Kaiser, William J

2008-02-01

Presented work highlights the development and initial validation of a medical embedded device for individualized care (MEDIC), which is based on a novel software architecture, enabling sensor management and disease prediction capabilities, and commercially available microelectronic components, sensors and conventional personal digital assistant (PDA) (or a cell phone). In this paper, we present a general architecture for a wearable sensor system that can be customized to an individual patient's needs. This architecture is based on embedded artificial intelligence that permits autonomous operation, sensor management and inference, and may be applied to a general purpose wearable medical diagnostics. A prototype of the system has been developed based on a standard PDA and wireless sensor nodes equipped with commercially available Bluetooth radio components, permitting real-time streaming of high-bandwidth data from various physiological and contextual sensors. We also present the results of abnormal gait diagnosis using the complete system from our evaluation, and illustrate how the wearable system and its operation can be remotely configured and managed by either enterprise systems or medical personnel at centralized locations. By using commercially available hardware components and software architecture presented in this paper, the MEDIC system can be rapidly configured, providing medical researchers with broadband sensor data from remote patients and platform access to best adapt operation for diagnostic operation objectives.

China SLAT Plan Template

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

Dietrich, Richard E.

2016-07-01

This document serves as the System-Level Acceptance Test (SLAT) Plan for Site Name, City, Country. This test plan is to provide independent testing of the Radiation Detection System (RDS) installed at Site Name to verify that Customs has been delivered a fully-functioning system as required by all contractual commitments. The system includes all installed hardware and software components. The SLAT plan will verify that separate components are working individually and collectively from a system perspective.

[Effect of population density on enzymatic activity of antioxidative and phenol oxidase systems of imagoes and nymphs of the marble cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea].

PubMed

Murzagulov, G S; Saltykova, E S; Gaĭfullina, L R; Nikolenko, A G

2013-01-01

The work deals with effect of density of population on functional activity of components pf protective system of adult individuals and nymphs of the marble cockroach. The resistance of individuals has been noted to decrease both at individual maintenance and under conditions of overpopulation. Changes in activities of enzymes of antioxidative and phenoloxidase systems are studied ion the insect hemolymph and intestine. Possible consequences of isolation and overpopulation are discussed both for stability and for individual development.

Technical Elements of Transportation. Grade 11-12. Course #8176 (Semester). Technology Education Course Guide. Industrial Arts/Technology Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Carolina State Dept. of Public Instruction, Raleigh. Div. of Vocational Education.

This guide is intended for use in teaching a course in the history of the development of transportation systems and the individual elements in such systems. The course is designed to break transportation systems down into their individual components so as to make it possible to study system types, media, technical elements, and environmental…

Thermal analysis, optimization and design of a Martian oxygen production plant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iyer, Venkatesh A.; Sridhar, K. R.

1991-01-01

The objective is to optimally design the thermal components of a system that uses carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Martian atmosphere to produce oxygen (O2) for spacecraft propulsion and/or life-support. Carbon dioxide is thermally decomposed into carbon monoxide (CO) and O2 followed by the electrochemical separation of O2. The design of the overall system and its various individual components depends on, among other things, the fraction of the stoichiometric yield of O2 that can be realized in the system and the temperature of operation of the electrochemical separation membrane. The analysis indicates that a substantial reduction could be obtained in the mass and power requirements of the system if the unreacted CO2 were to be recycled. The concepts of an optimum temperature of the zirconia cell and impracticality of plant operation at low cell efficiencies are also discussed. The design of the thermal equipment is such that the mass and power requirements of the individual components and of the overall system are optimized.

Game-theoretic strategies for asymmetric networked systems

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

Rao, Nageswara S.; Ma, Chris Y. T.; Hausken, Kjell

Abstract—We consider an infrastructure consisting of a network of systems each composed of discrete components that can be reinforced at a certain cost to guard against attacks. The network provides the vital connectivity between systems, and hence plays a critical, asymmetric role in the infrastructure operations. We characterize the system-level correlations using the aggregate failure correlation function that specifies the infrastructure failure probability given the failure of an individual system or network. The survival probabilities of systems and network satisfy first-order differential conditions that capture the component-level correlations. We formulate the problem of ensuring the infrastructure survival as a gamemore » between anattacker and a provider, using the sum-form and product-form utility functions, each composed of a survival probability term and a cost term. We derive Nash Equilibrium conditions which provide expressions for individual system survival probabilities, and also the expected capacity specified by the total number of operational components. These expressions differ only in a single term for the sum-form and product-form utilities, despite their significant differences.We apply these results to simplified models of distributed cloud computing infrastructures.« less

Army Science Board 1991 Summer Study - Soldier as a System

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-01

munitions, unit radio. All the multiple components of the Soldier System - the programs, organization, systems, technologies, and soldier types - interact ...functional interaction between soldieis ar.d their clothing and individual equipment; (2) the functional interaction of the equipment components...which must operate alone or together; and (3) the interaction between 6-,ldier-pc’forinanc,, equipment weight and total soldier-carn-ed load. The need

Using graph theory to analyze biological networks

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Understanding complex systems often requires a bottom-up analysis towards a systems biology approach. The need to investigate a system, not only as individual components but as a whole, emerges. This can be done by examining the elementary constituents individually and then how these are connected. The myriad components of a system and their interactions are best characterized as networks and they are mainly represented as graphs where thousands of nodes are connected with thousands of vertices. In this article we demonstrate approaches, models and methods from the graph theory universe and we discuss ways in which they can be used to reveal hidden properties and features of a network. This network profiling combined with knowledge extraction will help us to better understand the biological significance of the system. PMID:21527005

VASA: Interactive Computational Steering of Large Asynchronous Simulation Pipelines for Societal Infrastructure.

PubMed

Ko, Sungahn; Zhao, Jieqiong; Xia, Jing; Afzal, Shehzad; Wang, Xiaoyu; Abram, Greg; Elmqvist, Niklas; Kne, Len; Van Riper, David; Gaither, Kelly; Kennedy, Shaun; Tolone, William; Ribarsky, William; Ebert, David S

2014-12-01

We present VASA, a visual analytics platform consisting of a desktop application, a component model, and a suite of distributed simulation components for modeling the impact of societal threats such as weather, food contamination, and traffic on critical infrastructure such as supply chains, road networks, and power grids. Each component encapsulates a high-fidelity simulation model that together form an asynchronous simulation pipeline: a system of systems of individual simulations with a common data and parameter exchange format. At the heart of VASA is the Workbench, a visual analytics application providing three distinct features: (1) low-fidelity approximations of the distributed simulation components using local simulation proxies to enable analysts to interactively configure a simulation run; (2) computational steering mechanisms to manage the execution of individual simulation components; and (3) spatiotemporal and interactive methods to explore the combined results of a simulation run. We showcase the utility of the platform using examples involving supply chains during a hurricane as well as food contamination in a fast food restaurant chain.

Development and Testing of a USM High Altitude Balloon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thaheer, A. S. Mohamed; Ismail, N. A.; Yusoff, S. H. Md.; Nasirudin, M. A.

2018-04-01

This paper discusses on tests conducted on the component and subsystem level during development of the USM High Altitude Balloon (HAB). The tests conducted by selecting initial components then tested individually based on several case studies such as reliability test, camera viewing, power consumption, thermal capability, and parachute performance. Then, the component is integrated into sub-system level for integration and functionality test. The preliminary result is utilized to tune the components and sub-systems and trial launch is conducted where the sample images are recorded and atmospheric data successfully collected.

Internal motion in high vacuum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frank, J. M.

Three transfer and positioning mechanisms have been developed for the non-air exposed, multistep processing of components in vacuum chambers. The functions to be performed in all of the systems include ultraviolet/ozone cleaning, vacuum baking, deposition of thin films, and thermocompression sealing of the enclosures. Precise positioning of the components is required during the evaporation and sealing processes. The three methods of transporting and positioning the components were developed to accommodate the design criteria and goals of each individual system. The design philosophy, goals, and operation of the three mechanisms are discussed.

A Distributed Approach to System-Level Prognostics

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

the end of (useful) life ( EOL ) and/or the remaining useful life (RUL) of components, subsystems, or systems. The prognostics problem itself can be...system state estimate, computes EOL and/or RUL. In this paper, we focus on a model-based prognostics approach (Orchard & Vachtse- vanos, 2009; Daigle...been focused on individual components, and determining their EOL and RUL, e.g., (Orchard & Vachtsevanos, 2009; Saha & Goebel, 2009; Daigle & Goebel

Resolving components of wind accreting systems: a case study of Mira AB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karovska, M.

2004-12-01

Mass transfer in many systems occurs by wind interaction rather then by tidal interaction, because the primary does not fill its Roche surface. The nearby detached binary Mira AB provides a unique laboratory for studying wind accretion processes because this system can be resolved and the interacting components can be studied individually, which is not possible in most accreting systems. The study of Mira AB wind accretion and mass transfer may therefore help understand the accretion processes in many other astronomical systems.

Hierarchical control and performance evaluation of multi-vehicle autonomous systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balakirsky, Stephen; Scrapper, Chris; Messina, Elena

2005-05-01

This paper will describe how the Mobility Open Architecture Tools and Simulation (MOAST) framework can facilitate performance evaluations of RCS compliant multi-vehicle autonomous systems. This framework provides an environment that allows for simulated and real architectural components to function seamlessly together. By providing repeatable environmental conditions, this framework allows for the development of individual components as well as component performance metrics. MOAST is composed of high-fidelity and low-fidelity simulation systems, a detailed model of real-world terrain, actual hardware components, a central knowledge repository, and architectural glue to tie all of the components together. This paper will describe the framework"s components in detail and provide an example that illustrates how the framework can be utilized to develop and evaluate a single architectural component through the use of repeatable trials and experimentation that includes both virtual and real components functioning together

Automatic reactor control system for transient operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipinski, Walter C.; Bhattacharyya, Samit K.; Hanan, Nelson A.

Various programmatic considerations have delayed the upgrading of the TREAT reactor and the performance of the control system is not yet experimentally verified. The current schedule calls for the upgrading activities to occur last in the calendar year 1987. Detailed simulation results, coupled with earlier validation of individual components of the control strategy in TREAT, verify the performance of the algorithms. The control system operates within the safety envelope provided by a protection system designed to ensure reactor safety under conditions of spurious reactivity additions. The approach should be directly applicable to MMW systems, with appropriate accounting of temperature rate limitations of key components and of the inertia of the secondary system components.

Overview of the Systems Special Investigation Group investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mason, James B.; Dursch, Harry; Edelman, Joel

1993-01-01

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) carried a remarkable variety of electrical, mechanical, thermal, and optical systems, subsystems, and components. Nineteen of the fifty-seven experiments flown on LDEF contained functional systems that were active on-orbit. Almost all of the other experiments possessed at least a few specific components of interest to the Systems Special Investigation Group (Systems SIG), such as adhesives, seals, fasteners, optical components, and thermal blankets. Almost all top level functional testing of the active LDEF and experiment systems has been completed. Failure analysis of both LDEF hardware and individual experiments that failed to perform as designed has also been completed. Testing of system components and experimenter hardware of interest to the Systems SIG is ongoing. All available testing and analysis results were collected and integrated by the Systems SIG. An overview of our findings is provided. An LDEF Optical Experiment Database containing information for all 29 optical related experiments is also discussed.

Motor neuronal activity varies least among individuals when it matters most for behavior

PubMed Central

Cullins, Miranda J.; Shaw, Kendrick M.; Gill, Jeffrey P.

2014-01-01

How does motor neuronal variability affect behavior? To explore this question, we quantified activity of multiple individual identified motor neurons mediating biting and swallowing in intact, behaving Aplysia californica by recording from the protractor muscle and the three nerves containing the majority of motor neurons controlling the feeding musculature. We measured multiple motor components: duration of the activity of identified motor neurons as well as their relative timing. At the same time, we measured behavioral efficacy: amplitude of grasping movement during biting and amplitude of net inward food movement during swallowing. We observed that the total duration of the behaviors varied: Within animals, biting duration shortened from the first to the second and third bites; between animals, biting and swallowing durations varied. To study other sources of variation, motor components were divided by behavior duration (i.e., normalized). Even after normalization, distributions of motor component durations could distinguish animals as unique individuals. However, the degree to which a motor component varied among individuals depended on the role of that motor component in a behavior. Motor neuronal activity that was essential for the expression of biting or swallowing was similar among animals, whereas motor neuronal activity that was not essential for that behavior varied more from individual to individual. These results suggest that motor neuronal activity that matters most for the expression of a particular behavior may vary least from individual to individual. Shaping individual variability to ensure behavioral efficacy may be a general principle for the operation of motor systems. PMID:25411463

State Education Agencies, Information Systems, and the Expansion of State Power in the Era of Test-Based Accountability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anagnostopoulos, Dorothea; Rutledge, Stacey; Bali, Valentina

2013-01-01

This article examines how SEAs in three states designed, installed, and operated statewide, longitudinal student information systems (SLSIS). SLSIS track individual students' progress in K-12 schools, college, and beyond and link it to individual schools and teachers. They are key components of the information infrastructure of test-based…

Development of sustainable precision farming systems for swine: estimating real-time individual amino acid requirements in growing-finishing pigs.

PubMed

Hauschild, L; Lovatto, P A; Pomar, J; Pomar, C

2012-07-01

The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a mathematical model used to estimate the daily amino acid requirements of individual growing-finishing pigs. The model includes empirical and mechanistic model components. The empirical component estimates daily feed intake (DFI), BW, and daily gain (DG) based on individual pig information collected in real time. Based on DFI, BW, and DG estimates, the mechanistic component uses classic factorial equations to estimate the optimal concentration of amino acids that must be offered to each pig to meet its requirements. The model was evaluated with data from a study that investigated the effect of feeding pigs with a 3-phase or daily multiphase system. The DFI and BW values measured in this study were compared with those estimated by the empirical component of the model. The coherence of the values estimated by the mechanistic component was evaluated by analyzing if it followed a normal pattern of requirements. Lastly, the proposed model was evaluated by comparing its estimates with those generated by the existing growth model (InraPorc). The precision of the proposed model and InraPorc in estimating DFI and BW was evaluated through the mean absolute error. The empirical component results indicated that the DFI and BW trajectories of individual pigs fed ad libitum could be predicted 1 d (DFI) or 7 d (BW) ahead with the average mean absolute error of 12.45 and 1.85%, respectively. The average mean absolute error obtained with the InraPorc for the average individual of the population was 14.72% for DFI and 5.38% for BW. Major differences were observed when estimates from InraPorc were compared with individual observations. The proposed model, however, was effective in tracking the change in DFI and BW for each individual pig. The mechanistic model component estimated the optimal standardized ileal digestible Lys to NE ratio with reasonable between animal (average CV = 7%) and overtime (average CV = 14%) variation. Thus, the amino acid requirements estimated by model are animal- and time-dependent and follow, in real time, the individual DFI and BW growth patterns. The proposed model can follow the average feed intake and feed weight trajectory of each individual pig in real time with good accuracy. Based on these trajectories and using classical factorial equations, the model makes it possible to estimate dynamically the AA requirements of each animal, taking into account the intake and growth changes of the animal.

Defense strategies for cloud computing multi-site server infrastructures

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

Rao, Nageswara S.; Ma, Chris Y. T.; He, Fei

We consider cloud computing server infrastructures for big data applications, which consist of multiple server sites connected over a wide-area network. The sites house a number of servers, network elements and local-area connections, and the wide-area network plays a critical, asymmetric role of providing vital connectivity between them. We model this infrastructure as a system of systems, wherein the sites and wide-area network are represented by their cyber and physical components. These components can be disabled by cyber and physical attacks, and also can be protected against them using component reinforcements. The effects of attacks propagate within the systems, andmore » also beyond them via the wide-area network.We characterize these effects using correlations at two levels using: (a) aggregate failure correlation function that specifies the infrastructure failure probability given the failure of an individual site or network, and (b) first-order differential conditions on system survival probabilities that characterize the component-level correlations within individual systems. We formulate a game between an attacker and a provider using utility functions composed of survival probability and cost terms. At Nash Equilibrium, we derive expressions for the expected capacity of the infrastructure given by the number of operational servers connected to the network for sum-form, product-form and composite utility functions.« less

Parametric System Model for a Stirling Radioisotope Generator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmitz, Paul C.

2015-01-01

A Parametric System Model (PSM) was created in order to explore conceptual designs, the impact of component changes and power level on the performance of the Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG). Using the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS approximately 250 Wth) modules as the thermal building block from which a SRG is conceptualized, trade studies are performed to understand the importance of individual component scaling on isotope usage. Mathematical relationships based on heat and power throughput, temperature, mass, and volume were developed for each of the required subsystems. The PSM uses these relationships to perform component- and system-level trades.

Parametric System Model for a Stirling Radioisotope Generator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmitz, Paul C.

2014-01-01

A Parametric System Model (PSM) was created in order to explore conceptual designs, the impact of component changes and power level on the performance of Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG). Using the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS approximately 250 watt thermal) modules as the thermal building block around which a SRG is conceptualized, trade studies are performed to understand the importance of individual component scaling on isotope usage. Mathematical relationships based on heat and power throughput, temperature, mass and volume were developed for each of the required subsystems. The PSM uses these relationships to perform component and system level trades.

The next step in biology: a periodic table?

PubMed

Dhar, Pawan K

2007-08-01

Systems biology is an approach to explain the behaviour of a system in relation to its individual components. Synthetic biology uses key hierarchical and modular concepts of systems biology to engineer novel biological systems. In my opinion the next step in biology is to use molecule-to-phenotype data using these approaches and integrate them in the form a periodic table. A periodic table in biology would provide chassis to classify, systematize and compare diversity of component properties vis-a-vis system behaviour. Using periodic table it could be possible to compute higher- level interactions from component properties. This paper examines the concept of building a bio-periodic table using protein fold as the fundamental unit.

Closed-cycle gas dynamic laser design investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ketch, G. W.; Young, W. E.

1977-01-01

A conceptual design study was made of a closed cycle gas-dynamic laser to provide definition of the major components in the laser loop. The system potential application is for long range power transmission by way of high power laser beams to provide satellite propulsion energy for orbit changing or station keeping. A parametric cycle optimization was conducted to establish the thermodynamic requirements for the system components. A conceptual design was conducted of the closed cycle system and the individual components to define physical characteristics and establish the system size and weight. Technology confirmation experimental demonstration programs were outlined to develop, evaluate, and demonstrate the technology base needed for this closed cycle GDL system.

Software components for medical image visualization and surgical planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starreveld, Yves P.; Gobbi, David G.; Finnis, Kirk; Peters, Terence M.

2001-05-01

Purpose: The development of new applications in medical image visualization and surgical planning requires the completion of many common tasks such as image reading and re-sampling, segmentation, volume rendering, and surface display. Intra-operative use requires an interface to a tracking system and image registration, and the application requires basic, easy to understand user interface components. Rapid changes in computer and end-application hardware, as well as in operating systems and network environments make it desirable to have a hardware and operating system as an independent collection of reusable software components that can be assembled rapidly to prototype new applications. Methods: Using the OpenGL based Visualization Toolkit as a base, we have developed a set of components that implement the above mentioned tasks. The components are written in both C++ and Python, but all are accessible from Python, a byte compiled scripting language. The components have been used on the Red Hat Linux, Silicon Graphics Iris, Microsoft Windows, and Apple OS X platforms. Rigorous object-oriented software design methods have been applied to ensure hardware independence and a standard application programming interface (API). There are components to acquire, display, and register images from MRI, MRA, CT, Computed Rotational Angiography (CRA), Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA), 2D and 3D ultrasound, video and physiological recordings. Interfaces to various tracking systems for intra-operative use have also been implemented. Results: The described components have been implemented and tested. To date they have been used to create image manipulation and viewing tools, a deep brain functional atlas, a 3D ultrasound acquisition and display platform, a prototype minimally invasive robotic coronary artery bypass graft planning system, a tracked neuro-endoscope guidance system and a frame-based stereotaxy neurosurgery planning tool. The frame-based stereotaxy module has been licensed and certified for use in a commercial image guidance system. Conclusions: It is feasible to encapsulate image manipulation and surgical guidance tasks in individual, reusable software modules. These modules allow for faster development of new applications. The strict application of object oriented software design methods allows individual components of such a system to make the transition from the research environment to a commercial one.

Public Opinion as Collective Coorientation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tipton, Leonard; And Others

To conceptualize public opinion as something other than "mere aggregation" of individual opinions requires systemic models that identify component parts of public opinion and their structural/functional relationships. Operationalization requires asking respondents not only their individual opinion, but also their perception of public…

Understanding neurodynamical systems via Fuzzy Symbolic Dynamics.

PubMed

Dobosz, Krzysztof; Duch, Włodzisław

2010-05-01

Neurodynamical systems are characterized by a large number of signal streams, measuring activity of individual neurons, local field potentials, aggregated electrical (EEG) or magnetic potentials (MEG), oxygen use (fMRI) or activity of simulated neurons. Various basis set decomposition techniques are used to analyze such signals, trying to discover components that carry meaningful information, but these techniques tell us little about the global activity of the whole system. A novel technique called Fuzzy Symbolic Dynamics (FSD) is introduced to help in understanding of the multidimensional dynamical system's behavior. It is based on a fuzzy partitioning of the signal space that defines a non-linear mapping of the system's trajectory to the low-dimensional space of membership function activations. This allows for visualization of the trajectory showing various aspects of observed signals that may be difficult to discover looking at individual components, or to notice otherwise. FSD mapping can be applied to raw signals, transformed signals (for example, ICA components), or to signals defined in the time-frequency domain. To illustrate the method two FSD visualizations are presented: a model system with artificial radial oscillatory sources, and the output layer (50 neurons) of Respiratory Rhythm Generator (RRG) composed of 300 spiking neurons. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Obese individuals with more components of the metabolic syndrome and/or prediabetes demonstrate decreased activation of reward-related brain centers in response to food cues in both the fed and fasting states: a preliminary fMRI study.

PubMed

Farr, O M; Mantzoros, C S

2017-03-01

It remains unknown whether obese individuals with more components of the metabolic syndrome and/or prediabetes demonstrate altered activation of brain centers in response to food cues. We examined obese individuals with prediabetes (n=26) vs obese individuals without prediabetes (n=11) using fMRI. We also performed regression analyses on the basis of the number of MetS components per subject. Obese individuals with prediabetes have decreased activation of the reward-related putamen in the fasting state and decreased activation of the salience- and reward-related insula after eating. Obese individuals with more components of MetS demonstrate decreased activation of the putamen while fasting. All these activations remain significant when corrected for BMI, waist circumference (WC), HbA1c and gender. Decreased activation in the reward-related central nervous system areas among the obese is more pronounced in subjects with prediabetes and MetS. Prospective studies are needed to quantify their contributions to the development of prediabetes/MetS and to study whether they may predispose to the exacerbation of obesity and the development of comorbidities over time.

A Homeowner's Guide to Septic Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sponenberg, Torsten D.; And Others

This booklet provides basic information on septic system use and maintenance. Written for current and prospective homeowners, it offers guidelines for proper operation of household septic systems. In addition, (1) components of individual systems are diagrammatically explained; (2) suggestions for maintenance are outlined; (3) problem areas and…

On defense strategies for system of systems using aggregated correlations

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

Rao, Nageswara S.; Imam, Neena; Ma, Chris Y. T.

2017-04-01

We consider a System of Systems (SoS) wherein each system Si, i = 1; 2; ... ;N, is composed of discrete cyber and physical components which can be attacked and reinforced. We characterize the disruptions using aggregate failure correlation functions given by the conditional failure probability of SoS given the failure of an individual system. We formulate the problem of ensuring the survival of SoS as a game between an attacker and a provider, each with a utility function composed of asurvival probability term and a cost term, both expressed in terms of the number of components attacked and reinforced.more » The survival probabilities of systems satisfy simple product-form, first-order differential conditions, which simplify the Nash Equilibrium (NE) conditions. We derive the sensitivity functions that highlight the dependence of SoS survival probability at NE on cost terms, correlation functions, and individual system survival probabilities.We apply these results to a simplified model of distributed cloud computing infrastructure.« less

Case Management for Individuals with Mental Retardation. ARC Facts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association for Retarded Citizens, Arlington, TX.

A question-and-answer format is used in this fact sheet to provide information on case management for individuals with mental retardation. The fact sheet describes the major components of a case management system, the role of the case manager, the individual's or family's role in case management, providers of case management services and systems…

Multidisciplinary propulsion simulation using the numerical propulsion system simulator (NPSS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Claus, Russel W.

1994-01-01

Implementing new technology in aerospace propulsion systems is becoming prohibitively expensive. One of the major contributions to the high cost is the need to perform many large scale system tests. The traditional design analysis procedure decomposes the engine into isolated components and focuses attention on each single physical discipline (e.g., fluid for structural dynamics). Consequently, the interactions that naturally occur between components and disciplines can be masked by the limited interactions that occur between individuals or teams doing the design and must be uncovered during expensive engine testing. This overview will discuss a cooperative effort of NASA, industry, and universities to integrate disciplines, components, and high performance computing into a Numerical propulsion System Simulator (NPSS).

Personal Computer Transport Analysis Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiStefano, Frank, III; Wobick, Craig; Chapman, Kirt; McCloud, Peter

2012-01-01

The Personal Computer Transport Analysis Program (PCTAP) is C++ software used for analysis of thermal fluid systems. The program predicts thermal fluid system and component transients. The output consists of temperatures, flow rates, pressures, delta pressures, tank quantities, and gas quantities in the air, along with air scrubbing component performance. PCTAP s solution process assumes that the tubes in the system are well insulated so that only the heat transfer between fluid and tube wall and between adjacent tubes is modeled. The system described in the model file is broken down into its individual components; i.e., tubes, cold plates, heat exchangers, etc. A solution vector is built from the components and a flow is then simulated with fluid being transferred from one component to the next. The solution vector of components in the model file is built at the initiation of the run. This solution vector is simply a list of components in the order of their inlet dependency on other components. The component parameters are updated in the order in which they appear in the list at every time step. Once the solution vectors have been determined, PCTAP cycles through the components in the solution vector, executing their outlet function for each time-step increment.

A Review and Analysis of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders Using a Paradigm of Communication Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ostryn, Cheryl; Wolfe, Pamela S.; Rusch, Frank R.

2008-01-01

Research related to the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with individuals having autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) was examined using a communication competence paradigm detailed by J. C. Light (1988, 1989, 2003). Communication components were operationalized based on skills identified in ASD research. A review was conducted…

Man as the main component of the closed ecological system of the spacecraft or planetary station.

PubMed

Parin, V V; Adamovich, B A

1968-01-01

Current life-support systems of the spacecraft provide human requirements for food, water and oxygen only. Advanced life-support systems will involve man as their main component and will ensure completely his material and energy requirements. The design of individual components of such systems will assure their entire suitability and mutual control effects. Optimization of the performance of the crew and ecological system, on the basis of the information characterizing their function, demands efficient methods of collection and treatment of the information obtained through wireless recording of physiological parameters and their automatic treatment. Peculiarities of interplanetary missions and planetary stations make it necessary to conform the schedule of physiological recordings with the work-and-rest cycle of the space crew and inertness of components of the ecological system, especially of those responsible for oxygen regeneration. It is rational to model ecological systems and their components, taking into consideration the correction effect of the information on the health conditions and performance of the crewmen. Wide application of physiological data will allow the selection of optimal designs and sharply increase reliability of ecological systems.

Study of component technologies for fuel cell on-site integrated energy system. Volume 2: Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, W. D.; Mathias, S.

1980-01-01

This data base catalogue was compiled in order to facilitate the analysis of various on site integrated energy system with fuel cell power plants. The catalogue is divided into two sections. The first characterizes individual components in terms of their performance profiles as a function of design parameters. The second characterizes total heating and cooling systems in terms of energy output as a function of input and control variables. The integrated fuel cell systems diagrams and the computer analysis of systems are included as well as the cash flows series for baseline systems.

RADC Fault Tolerant System Reliability Evaluation Facility

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-10-01

Adiagnostic fault handling circuitry for limited confi gurati ons 1epalrable 5ystes No TeS TSTsLmtda # H this point Por odic m ai ntenance qFo No *!i0 Teles...for using the "group" feature of MIREM. Groups must be inputted directly into an architectural file. Such a feature is needed for modeling internal...Sample System To Illustrate REST This system contains five sets which may be individual components or redundant groups of components, There are four

Life and reliability models for helicopter transmissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Savage, M.; Knorr, R. J.; Coy, J. J.

1982-01-01

Computer models of life and reliability are presented for planetary gear trains with a fixed ring gear, input applied to the sun gear, and output taken from the planet arm. For this transmission the input and output shafts are co-axial and the input and output torques are assumed to be coaxial with these shafts. Thrust and side loading are neglected. The reliability model is based on the Weibull distributions of the individual reliabilities of the in transmission components. The system model is also a Weibull distribution. The load versus life model for the system is a power relationship as the models for the individual components. The load-life exponent and basic dynamic capacity are developed as functions of the components capacities. The models are used to compare three and four planet, 150 kW (200 hp), 5:1 reduction transmissions with 1500 rpm input speed to illustrate their use.

Human factors in air traffic control: problems at the interfaces.

PubMed

Shouksmith, George

2003-10-01

The triangular ISIS model for describing the operation of human factors in complex sociotechnical organisations or systems is applied in this research to a large international air traffic control system. A large sample of senior Air Traffic Controllers were randomly assigned to small focus discussion groups, whose task was to identify problems occurring at the interfaces of the three major human factor components: individual, system impacts, and social. From these discussions, a number of significant interface problems, which could adversely affect the functioning of the Air Traffic Control System, emerged. The majority of these occurred at the Individual-System Impact and Individual-Social interfaces and involved a perceived need for further interface centered training.

Quantitative Genetic Interactions Reveal Layers of Biological Modularity

PubMed Central

Beltrao, Pedro; Cagney, Gerard; Krogan, Nevan J.

2010-01-01

In the past, biomedical research has embraced a reductionist approach, primarily focused on characterizing the individual components that comprise a system of interest. Recent technical developments have significantly increased the size and scope of data describing biological systems. At the same time, advances in the field of systems biology have evoked a broader view of how the underlying components are interconnected. In this essay, we discuss how quantitative genetic interaction mapping has enhanced our view of biological systems, allowing a deeper functional interrogation at different biological scales. PMID:20510918

The Program Evaluation Guide: A Preliminary Review of Special Education Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nulty, Elizabeth C.

2017-01-01

Special education programs vary in the quality of services provided across states, cities, and school districts. There are three major components necessary for a quality special education program for children with complex learning needs. These components include systems level analysis, capacity building for staff, and strong individual student…

Efficient techniques for forced response involving linear modal components interconnected by discrete nonlinear connection elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avitabile, Peter; O'Callahan, John

2009-01-01

Generally, response analysis of systems containing discrete nonlinear connection elements such as typical mounting connections require the physical finite element system matrices to be used in a direct integration algorithm to compute the nonlinear response analysis solution. Due to the large size of these physical matrices, forced nonlinear response analysis requires significant computational resources. Usually, the individual components of the system are analyzed and tested as separate components and their individual behavior may essentially be linear when compared to the total assembled system. However, the joining of these linear subsystems using highly nonlinear connection elements causes the entire system to become nonlinear. It would be advantageous if these linear modal subsystems could be utilized in the forced nonlinear response analysis since much effort has usually been expended in fine tuning and adjusting the analytical models to reflect the tested subsystem configuration. Several more efficient techniques have been developed to address this class of problem. Three of these techniques given as: equivalent reduced model technique (ERMT);modal modification response technique (MMRT); andcomponent element method (CEM); are presented in this paper and are compared to traditional methods.

Chapter 15: Potential Surprises: Compound Extremes and Tipping Elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kopp, R. E.; Hayhoe, K.; Easterling, D. R.; Hall, T.; Horton, R.; Kunkel, K. E.; LeGrande, A. N.

2017-01-01

The Earth system is made up of many components that interact in complex ways across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. As a result of these interactions the behavior of the system cannot be predicted by looking at individual components in isolation. Negative feedbacks, or self-stabilizing cycles, within and between components of the Earth system can dampen changes (Ch. 2: Physical Drivers of Climate Change). However, their stabilizing effects render such feedbacks of less concern from a risk perspective than positive feedbacks, or self-reinforcing cycles. Positive feedbacks magnify both natural and anthropogenic changes. Some Earth system components, such as arctic sea ice and the polar ice sheets, may exhibit thresholds beyond which these self-reinforcing cycles can drive the component, or the entire system, into a radically different state. Although the probabilities of these state shifts may be difficult to assess, their consequences could be high, potentially exceeding anything anticipated by climate model projections for the coming century.

Software for integrated manufacturing systems, part 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volz, R. A.; Naylor, A. W.

1987-01-01

Part 1 presented an overview of the unified approach to manufacturing software. The specific characteristics of the approach that allow it to realize the goals of reduced cost, increased reliability and increased flexibility are considered. Why the blending of a components view, distributed languages, generics and formal models is important, why each individual part of this approach is essential, and why each component will typically have each of these parts are examined. An example of a specification for a real material handling system is presented using the approach and compared with the standard interface specification given by the manufacturer. Use of the component in a distributed manufacturing system is then compared with use of the traditional specification with a more traditional approach to designing the system. An overview is also provided of the underlying mechanisms used for implementing distributed manufacturing systems using the unified software/hardware component approach.

Condition monitoring of distributed systems using two-stage Bayesian inference data fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaramillo, Víctor H.; Ottewill, James R.; Dudek, Rafał; Lepiarczyk, Dariusz; Pawlik, Paweł

2017-03-01

In industrial practice, condition monitoring is typically applied to critical machinery. A particular piece of machinery may have its own condition monitoring system that allows the health condition of said piece of equipment to be assessed independently of any connected assets. However, industrial machines are typically complex sets of components that continuously interact with one another. In some cases, dynamics resulting from the inception and development of a fault can propagate between individual components. For example, a fault in one component may lead to an increased vibration level in both the faulty component, as well as in connected healthy components. In such cases, a condition monitoring system focusing on a specific element in a connected set of components may either incorrectly indicate a fault, or conversely, a fault might be missed or masked due to the interaction of a piece of equipment with neighboring machines. In such cases, a more holistic condition monitoring approach that can not only account for such interactions, but utilize them to provide a more complete and definitive diagnostic picture of the health of the machinery is highly desirable. In this paper, a Two-Stage Bayesian Inference approach allowing data from separate condition monitoring systems to be combined is presented. Data from distributed condition monitoring systems are combined in two stages, the first data fusion occurring at a local, or component, level, and the second fusion combining data at a global level. Data obtained from an experimental rig consisting of an electric motor, two gearboxes, and a load, operating under a range of different fault conditions is used to illustrate the efficacy of the method at pinpointing the root cause of a problem. The obtained results suggest that the approach is adept at refining the diagnostic information obtained from each of the different machine components monitored, therefore improving the reliability of the health assessment of each individual element, as well as the entire piece of machinery.

Long-term bridge performance high priority bridge performance issues.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-10-01

Bridge performance is a multifaceted issue involving performance of materials and protective systems, : performance of individual components of the bridge, and performance of the structural system as a whole. The : Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP)...

Organic watermelon production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The increasing perception by consumers that organic food tastes better and is healthier continues to expand the demand for organically produced crops. Research investigating certified organic production requires a systems approach to determine the optimum combination of individual components to max...

System for estimating fatigue damage

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

LeMonds, Jeffrey; Guzzo, Judith Ann; Liu, Shaopeng

In one aspect, a system for estimating fatigue damage in a riser string is provided. The system includes a plurality of accelerometers which can be deployed along a riser string and a communications link to transmit accelerometer data from the plurality of accelerometers to one or more data processors in real time. With data from a limited number of accelerometers located at sensor locations, the system estimates an optimized current profile along the entire length of the riser including riser locations where no accelerometer is present. The optimized current profile is then used to estimate damage rates to individual risermore » components and to update a total accumulated damage to individual riser components. The number of sensor locations is small relative to the length of a deepwater riser string, and a riser string several miles long can be reliably monitored along its entire length by fewer than twenty sensor locations.« less

In vivo generation of DNA sequence diversity for cellular barcoding

PubMed Central

Peikon, Ian D.; Gizatullina, Diana I.; Zador, Anthony M.

2014-01-01

Heterogeneity is a ubiquitous feature of biological systems. A complete understanding of such systems requires a method for uniquely identifying and tracking individual components and their interactions with each other. We have developed a novel method of uniquely tagging individual cells in vivo with a genetic ‘barcode’ that can be recovered by DNA sequencing. Our method is a two-component system comprised of a genetic barcode cassette whose fragments are shuffled by Rci, a site-specific DNA invertase. The system is highly scalable, with the potential to generate theoretical diversities in the billions. We demonstrate the feasibility of this technique in Escherichia coli. Currently, this method could be employed to track the dynamics of populations of microbes through various bottlenecks. Advances of this method should prove useful in tracking interactions of cells within a network, and/or heterogeneity within complex biological samples. PMID:25013177

Simplified Phased-Mission System Analysis for Systems with Independent Component Repairs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Somani, Arun K.

1996-01-01

Accurate analysis of reliability of system requires that it accounts for all major variations in system's operation. Most reliability analyses assume that the system configuration, success criteria, and component behavior remain the same. However, multiple phases are natural. We present a new computationally efficient technique for analysis of phased-mission systems where the operational states of a system can be described by combinations of components states (such as fault trees or assertions). Moreover, individual components may be repaired, if failed, as part of system operation but repairs are independent of the system state. For repairable systems Markov analysis techniques are used but they suffer from state space explosion. That limits the size of system that can be analyzed and it is expensive in computation. We avoid the state space explosion. The phase algebra is used to account for the effects of variable configurations, repairs, and success criteria from phase to phase. Our technique yields exact (as opposed to approximate) results. We demonstrate our technique by means of several examples and present numerical results to show the effects of phases and repairs on the system reliability/availability.

Optimization of replacement and inspection decisions for multiple components on a power system

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

Mauney, D.A.

1994-12-31

The use of optimization on the rescheduling of replacement dates provided a very proactive approach to deciding when components on individual units need to be addressed with a run/repair/replace decision. Including the effects of time value of money and taxes and unit need inside the spreadsheet model allowed the decision maker to concentrate on the effects of engineering input and replacement date decisions on the final net present value (NPV). The personal computer (PC)-based model was applied to a group of 140 forced outage critical fossil plant tube components across a power system. The estimated resulting NPV of the optimizationmore » was in the tens of millions of dollars. This PC spreadsheet model allows the interaction of inputs from structural reliability risk assessment models, plant foreman interviews, and actual failure history on a by component by unit basis across a complete power production system. This model includes not only the forced outage performance of these components caused by tube failures but, in addition, the forecasted need of the individual units on the power system and the expected cost of their replacement power if forced off line. The use of cash flow analysis techniques in the spreadsheet model results in the calculation of an NPV for a whole combination of replacement dates. This allows rapid assessments of {open_quotes}what if{close_quotes} scenarios of major maintenance projects on a systemwide basis and not just on a unit-by-unit basis.« less

Return-to-Work Within a Complex and Dynamic Organizational Work Disability System.

PubMed

Jetha, Arif; Pransky, Glenn; Fish, Jon; Hettinger, Lawrence J

2016-09-01

Background Return-to-work (RTW) within a complex organizational system can be associated with suboptimal outcomes. Purpose To apply a sociotechnical systems perspective to investigate complexity in RTW; to utilize system dynamics modeling (SDM) to examine how feedback relationships between individual, psychosocial, and organizational factors make up the work disability system and influence RTW. Methods SDMs were developed within two companies. Thirty stakeholders including senior managers, and frontline supervisors and workers participated in model building sessions. Participants were asked questions that elicited information about the structure of the work disability system and were translated into feedback loops. To parameterize the model, participants were asked to estimate the shape and magnitude of the relationship between key model components. Data from published literature were also accessed to supplement participant estimates. Data were entered into a model created in the software program Vensim. Simulations were conducted to examine how financial incentives and light duty work disability-related policies, utilized by the participating companies, influenced RTW likelihood and preparedness. Results The SDMs were multidimensional, including individual attitudinal characteristics, health factors, and organizational components. Among the causal pathways uncovered, psychosocial components including workplace social support, supervisor and co-worker pressure, and supervisor-frontline worker communication impacted RTW likelihood and preparedness. Interestingly, SDM simulations showed that work disability-related policies in both companies resulted in a diminishing or opposing impact on RTW preparedness and likelihood. Conclusion SDM provides a novel systems view of RTW. Policy and psychosocial component relationships within the system have important implications for RTW, and may contribute to unanticipated outcomes.

Detailed Post-Soft Impact Progressive Damage Assessment for Hybrid Structure Jet Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siddens, Aaron; Bayandor, Javid; Celestina, Mark L.

2014-01-01

Currently, certification of engine designs for resistance to bird strike is reliant on physical tests. Predictive modeling of engine structural damage has mostly been limited to evaluation of individual forward section components, such as fan blades within a fixed frame of reference, to direct impact with a bird. Such models must be extended to include interactions among engine components under operating conditions to evaluate the full extent of engine damage. This paper presents the results of a study aim to develop a methodology for evaluating bird strike damage in advanced propulsion systems incorporating hybrid composite/metal structures. The initial degradation and failure of individual fan blades struck by a bird were investigated. Subsequent damage to other fan blades and engine components due to resultant violent fan assembly vibrations and fragmentation was further evaluated. Various modeling parameters for the bird and engine components were investigated to determine guidelines for accurately capturing initial damage and progressive failure of engine components. Then, a novel hybrid structure modeling approach was investigated and incorporated into the crashworthiness methodology. Such a tool is invaluable to the process of design, development, and certification of future advanced propulsion systems.

Individual Component Map of Rotatory Strength (ICM-RS) and Rotatory Strength Density (RSD) plots as analysis tools of circular dicroism spectra of complex systems.

PubMed

Chang, Le; Baseggio, Oscar; Sementa, Luca; Cheng, Daojian; Fronzoni, Giovanna; Toffoli, Daniele; Aprà, Edoardo; Stener, Mauro; Fortunelli, Alessandro

2018-06-13

We introduce Individual Component Maps of Rotatory Strength (ICM-RS) and Rotatory Strength Density (RSD) plots as analysis tools of chiro-optical linear response spectra deriving from time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) simulations. ICM-RS and RSD allow one to visualize the origin of chiro-optical response in momentum or real space, including signed contributions and therefore highlighting cancellation terms that are ubiquitous in chirality phenomena, and should be especially useful in analyzing the spectra of complex systems. As test cases, we use ICM-RS and RSD to analyze circular dichroism spectra of selected (Ag-Au)30(SR)18 monolayer-protected metal nanoclusters, showing the potential of the proposed tools to derive insight and understanding, and eventually rational design, in chiro-optical studies of complex systems.

Modeling Earth's Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallant, Amy; Lee, Hee-Sun; Pryputniewicz, Sara

2012-01-01

Systems thinking suggests that one can best understand a complex system by studying the interrelationships of its component parts rather than looking at the individual parts in isolation. With ongoing concern about the effects of climate change, using innovative materials to help students understand how Earth's systems connect with each other is…

Aircraft Pneudraulic Systems Mechanic (AFSC 42354).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Air Univ., Gunter AFS, Ala. Extension Course Inst.

This four-volume student text is designed for use by Air Force personnel enrolled in a self-study extension course for aircraft pneudraulic systems mechanics. Covered in the individual volumes are shop administration; fundamentals, materials, and equipment of pneudraulics; pneudraulic components; and pneudraulic systems. Each volume in the set…

Brain evolution and development: adaptation, allometry and constraint

PubMed Central

Barton, Robert A.

2016-01-01

Phenotypic traits are products of two processes: evolution and development. But how do these processes combine to produce integrated phenotypes? Comparative studies identify consistent patterns of covariation, or allometries, between brain and body size, and between brain components, indicating the presence of significant constraints limiting independent evolution of separate parts. These constraints are poorly understood, but in principle could be either developmental or functional. The developmental constraints hypothesis suggests that individual components (brain and body size, or individual brain components) tend to evolve together because natural selection operates on relatively simple developmental mechanisms that affect the growth of all parts in a concerted manner. The functional constraints hypothesis suggests that correlated change reflects the action of selection on distributed functional systems connecting the different sub-components, predicting more complex patterns of mosaic change at the level of the functional systems and more complex genetic and developmental mechanisms. These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive but make different predictions. We review recent genetic and neurodevelopmental evidence, concluding that functional rather than developmental constraints are the main cause of the observed patterns. PMID:27629025

Computer technology for self-management: a scoping review.

PubMed

Jacelon, Cynthia S; Gibbs, Molly A; Ridgway, John Ve

2016-05-01

The purpose of this scoping review of literature is to explore the types of computer-based systems used for self-management of chronic disease, the goals and success of these systems, the value added by technology integration and the target audience for these systems. Technology is changing the way health care is provided and the way that individuals manage their health. Individuals with chronic diseases are now able to use computer-based systems to self-manage their health. These systems have the ability to remind users of daily activities, and to help them recognise when symptoms are worsening and intervention is indicated. However, there are many questions about the types of systems available, the goals of these systems and the success with which individuals with chronic illness are using them. This is a scoping review in which the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed and IEEE Xplore databases were searched. A total of 303 articles were reviewed, 89 articles were read in-depth and 30 were included in the scoping review. The Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition model was used to evaluate the value added by the technology integration. Research on technology for self-management was conducted in 13 countries. Data analysis identified five kinds of platforms on which the systems were based, some systems were focused on a specific disease management processes, others were not. For individuals to effectively use systems to maintain maximum wellness, the systems must have a strong component of self-management and provide the user with meaningful information regarding their health states. Clinicians should choose systems for their clients based on the design, components and goals of the systems. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

SEPAC flight software detailed design specifications, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

The detailed design specifications (as built) for the SEPAC Flight Software are defined. The design includes a description of the total software system and of each individual module within the system. The design specifications describe the decomposition of the software system into its major components. The system structure is expressed in the following forms: the control-flow hierarchy of the system, the data-flow structure of the system, the task hierarchy, the memory structure, and the software to hardware configuration mapping. The component design description includes details on the following elements: register conventions, module (subroutines) invocaton, module functions, interrupt servicing, data definitions, and database structure.

The legal system, the U.S. Forest Service, and human-caused wildfires.

Treesearch

Linda R. Donoghue; Donna M. Paananen

1984-01-01

Presents an overview of the American legal system; describes the relations and interactions between the Forest Service and legal system components and processes; discusses how individuals enter, move through, and leave the legal system; and describes the current status of Forest Service law enforcement efforts directed at wildfire violations.

Universal distribution of component frequencies in biological and technological systems

PubMed Central

Pang, Tin Yau; Maslov, Sergei

2013-01-01

Bacterial genomes and large-scale computer software projects both consist of a large number of components (genes or software packages) connected via a network of mutual dependencies. Components can be easily added or removed from individual systems, and their use frequencies vary over many orders of magnitude. We study this frequency distribution in genomes of ∼500 bacterial species and in over 2 million Linux computers and find that in both cases it is described by the same scale-free power-law distribution with an additional peak near the tail of the distribution corresponding to nearly universal components. We argue that the existence of a power law distribution of frequencies of components is a general property of any modular system with a multilayered dependency network. We demonstrate that the frequency of a component is positively correlated with its dependency degree given by the total number of upstream components whose operation directly or indirectly depends on the selected component. The observed frequency/dependency degree distributions are reproduced in a simple mathematically tractable model introduced and analyzed in this study. PMID:23530195

Effect of the dietary inclusion of soybean components on the innate immune system in zebrafish.

PubMed

Fuentes-Appelgren, Pamela; Opazo, Rafael; Barros, Luis; Feijoó, Carmen G; Urzúa, Victoria; Romero, Jaime

2014-02-01

Some components of plant-based meals, such as saponins and vegetal proteins, have been proposed as inducers of intestinal inflammation in some fish. However, the molecular and cellular bases for this phenomenon have not been reported. In this work, zebrafish were used as a model to evaluate the effects of individual soybean meal components, such as saponins and soy proteins. Zebrafish larvae fed a fish meal feed containing soy components were assessed according to low and high inclusion levels. The granulocytes associated with the digestive tract and the induction of genes related to the immune system were quantitated as markers of the effects of the dietary components. A significant increase in the number of granulocytes was observed after feeding fish diets containing high saponin or soy protein contents. These dietary components also induced the expression of genes related to the innate immune system, including myeloid-specific peroxidase, as well as the complement protein and cytokines. These results reveal the influence of dietary components on the stimulation of the immune system. These observations could be significant to understanding the contributions of saponin and soy protein to the onset of enteritis in aqua-cultured fish, and this knowledge may aid in defining the role of the innate immune system in other inflammatory diseases involving dietary components in mammals.

Architecting Systems for Human Space Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wocken, Gerald

2002-01-01

Human-system interactions have been largely overlooked in the traditional systems engineering process. Awareness of human factors (HF) has increased in the past few years, but the involvement of HF specialists is still often too little and too late. In systems involving long-duration human space flight, it is essential that the human component be properly considered in the initial architectural definition phase, as well as throughout the system design process. HF analysis must include not only the strengths and limitations of humans in general, but the variability between individuals and within an individual over time, and the dynamics of group interactions.

Beam-guidance optics for high-power fiber laser systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohring, Bernd; Tassini, Leonardo; Protz, Rudolf; Zoz, Jürgen

2013-05-01

The realization of a high-energy laser weapon system by coupling a large number of industrial high-power fiber lasers is investigated. To perform the combination of the individual beams of the different fiber lasers within the optical path of the laser weapon, a special optical set-up is used. Each optical component is realized either as reflective component oras refractive optics. Both possibilities were investigated by simulations and experiments. From the results, the general aspects for the layout of the beam-guidance optics for a high-power fiber laser system are derived.

Design of fuel cell powered data centers for sufficient reliability and availability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ritchie, Alexa J.; Brouwer, Jacob

2018-04-01

It is challenging to design a sufficiently reliable fuel cell electrical system for use in data centers, which require 99.9999% uptime. Such a system could lower emissions and increase data center efficiency, but the reliability and availability of such a system must be analyzed and understood. Currently, extensive backup equipment is used to ensure electricity availability. The proposed design alternative uses multiple fuel cell systems each supporting a small number of servers to eliminate backup power equipment provided the fuel cell design has sufficient reliability and availability. Potential system designs are explored for the entire data center and for individual fuel cells. Reliability block diagram analysis of the fuel cell systems was accomplished to understand the reliability of the systems without repair or redundant technologies. From this analysis, it was apparent that redundant components would be necessary. A program was written in MATLAB to show that the desired system reliability could be achieved by a combination of parallel components, regardless of the number of additional components needed. Having shown that the desired reliability was achievable through some combination of components, a dynamic programming analysis was undertaken to assess the ideal allocation of parallel components.

Using Dual Process Models to Examine Impulsivity Throughout Neural Maturation.

PubMed

Leshem, Rotem

2016-01-01

The multivariate construct of impulsivity is examined through neural systems and connections that comprise the executive functioning system. It is proposed that cognitive and behavioral components of impulsivity can be divided into two distinct groups, mediated by (1) the cognitive control system: deficits in top-down cognitive control processes referred to as action/cognitive impulsivity and (2) the socioemotional system: related to bottom-up affective/motivational processes referred to as affective impulsivity. Examination of impulsivity from a developmental viewpoint can guide future research, potentially enabling the selection of more effective interventions for impulsive individuals, based on the cognitive components requiring improvement.

A summary of the mechanical design, testing and performance of the IMP-H and J attitude control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Metzger, J. R.

1974-01-01

The main aspects of the attitude control system used on both the IMP-H and J spacecraft are presented. The mechanical configuration is described. Information on all the specific components comprising the flight system is provided. The acceptance and qualification testing of both individual components and the installed system are summarized. Functional information regarding the operation and performance in relation to the orbiting spacecraft and its mission is included. Related topics which are discussed are: (1) safety requirements, (2) servicing procedures, (3) anomalous behavior, and (4) pyrotechnic devices.

Variability in blood and blood component utilization as assessed by an anesthesia information management system.

PubMed

Frank, Steven M; Savage, Will J; Rothschild, Jim A; Rivers, Richard J; Ness, Paul M; Paul, Sharon L; Ulatowski, John A

2012-07-01

Data can be collected for various purposes with anesthesia information management systems. The authors describe methods for using data acquired from an anesthesia information management system to assess intraoperative utilization of blood and blood components. Over an 18-month period, data were collected on 48,086 surgical patients at a tertiary care academic medical center. All data were acquired with an automated anesthesia recordkeeping system. Detailed reports were generated for blood and blood component utilization according to surgical service and surgical procedure, and for individual surgeons and anesthesiologists. Transfusion hemoglobin trigger and target concentrations were compared among surgical services and procedures, and between individual medical providers. For all patients given erythrocytes, the mean transfusion hemoglobin trigger was 8.4 ± 1.5, and the target was 10.2 ± 1.5 g/dl. Variation was significant among surgical services (trigger range: 7.5 ± 1.2-9.5 ± 1.1, P = 0.0001; target range: 9.1 ± 1.2-11.3 ± 1.4 g/dl, P = 0.002), surgeons (trigger range: 7.2 ± 0.7-9.8 ± 1.0, P = 0.001; target range: 8.8 ± 0.9-11.8 ± 1.3 g/dl, P = 0.001), and anesthesiologists (trigger range: 7.2 ± 0.8-9.6 ± 1.2, P = 0.001; target range: 9.0 ± 0.9-11.7 ± 1.3 g/dl, P = 0.0004). The use of erythrocyte salvage, fresh frozen plasma, and platelets varied threefold to fourfold among individual surgeons compared with their peers performing the same surgical procedure. The use of data acquired from an anesthesia information management system allowed a detailed analysis of blood component utilization, which revealed significant variation among surgical services and surgical procedures, and among individual anesthesiologists and surgeons compared with their peers. Incorporating these methods of data acquisition and analysis into a blood management program could reduce unnecessary transfusions, an outcome that may increase patient safety and reduce costs.

Implementing a Microcontroller Watchdog with a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Straka, Bartholomew

2013-01-01

Reliability is crucial to safety. Redundancy of important system components greatly enhances reliability and hence safety. Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are useful for monitoring systems and handling the logic necessary to keep them running with minimal interruption when individual components fail. A complete microcontroller watchdog with logic for failure handling can be implemented in a hardware description language (HDL.). HDL-based designs are vendor-independent and can be used on many FPGAs with low overhead.

Tools and Techniques for Adding Fault Tolerance to Distributed and Parallel Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-07

is rapidly approaching dimensions where fault tolerance can no longer be ignored. No matter how reliable the i .nd~ividual components May be, the...The scale of parallel computing systems is rapidly approaching dimensions where 41to’- erance can no longer be ignored. No matter how relitble the...those employed in the Tandem [71 and Stratus [35] systems, is clearly impractical. * No matter how reliable the individual components are, the sheer

Quantifying the ice-albedo feedback through decoupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kravitz, B.; Rasch, P. J.

2017-12-01

The ice-albedo feedback involves numerous individual components, whereby warming induces sea ice melt, inducing reduced surface albedo, inducing increased surface shortwave absorption, causing further warming. Here we attempt to quantify the sea ice albedo feedback using an analogue of the "partial radiative perturbation" method, but where the governing mechanisms are directly decoupled in a climate model. As an example, we can isolate the insulating effects of sea ice on surface energy and moisture fluxes by allowing sea ice thickness to change but fixing Arctic surface albedo, or vice versa. Here we present results from such idealized simulations using the Community Earth System Model in which individual components are successively fixed, effectively decoupling the ice-albedo feedback loop. We isolate the different components of this feedback, including temperature change, sea ice extent/thickness, and air-sea exchange of heat and moisture. We explore the interactions between these different components, as well as the strengths of the total feedback in the decoupled feedback loop, to quantify contributions from individual pieces. We also quantify the non-additivity of the effects of the components as a means of investigating the dominant sources of nonlinearity in the ice-albedo feedback.

Is the Young UY Auriga System a Triple?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wittal, Matthew; Prato, Lisa A.; Schaefer, Gail; Ciardi, David R.; Thomas, Allen; Biddle, Lauren; Avilez, Ian; Muzzio, Ryan; Patience, Jennifer; Beichman, Charles

2017-01-01

In an effort to understand the nature of the young binary, UY Aur, we examined the variable behavior of the entire, unresolved 0.9 arcsecond system, as well as the behavior of the angularly resolved, individual A and B components. UY Aur is an approximately 2 Myr old, classical T Tauri in the Taurus-Auriga star forming region and is one of a handful of young systems to host a primordial circumbinary disk, as well as individual circumstellar disks. Using the the facility infrared, high-resolution NIRSPEC spectrograph behind the adaptive optics system at the 10-meter Keck II telescope, we observed a dramatic change in the spectra of UY Aur B between 2003 and 2010. We also identified flux variability in the individual components of 1—2 magnitudes, particularly in the secondary star, on the basis of historical photometry. Thermal dust and line emission observed with millimeter interferometry indicates complex dynamical behavior of the circumbinary and circumstellar dust and led Tang et al. (2014) to speculate that UY Aur B may itself be a binary. Our adaptive optics imaging with the Keck II telescope showed no evidence for a close companion to the B component, although the marked change in our spectra of this star suggest that it could be a spectroscopic binary. We are currently limited by the paucity of angularly resolved observations, both photometric and spectroscopic, hampering the interpretation of the data. High-cadence, angularly resolved spectroscopy and photometry will be required to confirm the potential higher-order multiplicity of this system. This research was supported in part by NSF grants AST-1461200 and AST-1313399.

Effects of a small talking facial image on autonomic activity: the moderating influence of dispositional BIS and BAS sensitivities and emotions.

PubMed

Ravaja, Niklas

2004-01-01

We examined the moderating influence of dispositional behavioral inhibition system and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivities, Negative Affect, and Positive Affect on the relationship between a small moving vs. static facial image and autonomic responses when viewing/listening to news messages read by a newscaster among 36 young adults. Autonomic parameters measured were respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), low-frequency (LF) component of heart rate variability (HRV), electrodermal activity, and pulse transit time (PTT). The results showed that dispositional BAS sensitivity, particularly BAS Fun Seeking, and Negative Affect interacted with facial image motion in predicting autonomic nervous system activity. A moving facial image was related to lower RSA and LF component of HRV and shorter PTTs as compared to a static facial image among high BAS individuals. Even a small talking facial image may contribute to sustained attentional engagement among high BAS individuals, given that the BAS directs attention toward the positive cue and a moving social stimulus may act as a positive incentive for high BAS individuals.

Kepler observations of the asteroseismic binary HD 176465

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, T. R.; Benomar, O.; Silva Aguirre, V.; Ball, W. H.; Bedding, T. R.; Chaplin, W. J.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Garcia, R. A.; Gizon, L.; Stello, D.; Aigrain, S.; Antia, H. M.; Appourchaux, T.; Bazot, M.; Campante, T. L.; Creevey, O. L.; Davies, G. R.; Elsworth, Y. P.; Gaulme, P.; Handberg, R.; Hekker, S.; Houdek, G.; Howe, R.; Huber, D.; Karoff, C.; Marques, J. P.; Mathur, S.; McQuillan, A.; Metcalfe, T. S.; Mosser, B.; Nielsen, M. B.; Régulo, C.; Salabert, D.; Stahn, T.

2017-05-01

Binary star systems are important for understanding stellar structure and evolution, and are especially useful when oscillations can be detected and analysed with asteroseismology. However, only four systems are known in which solar-like oscillations are detected in both components. Here, we analyse the fifth such system, HD 176465, which was observed by Kepler. We carefully analysed the system's power spectrum to measure individual mode frequencies, adapting our methods where necessary to accommodate the fact that both stars oscillate in a similar frequency range. We also modelled the two stars independently by fitting stellar models to the frequencies and complementaryparameters. We are able to cleanly separate the oscillation modes in both systems. The stellar models produce compatible ages and initial compositions for the stars, as is expected from their common and contemporaneous origin. Combining the individual ages, the system is about 3.0 ± 0.5 Gyr old. The two components of HD 176465 are young physically-similar oscillating solar analogues, the first such system to be found, and provide important constraints for stellar evolution and asteroseismology.

High quality digital holographic reconstruction on analog film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelsen, B.; Hartmann, P.

2017-05-01

High quality real-time digital holographic reconstruction, i.e. at 30 Hz frame rates, has been at the forefront of research and has been hailed as the holy grail of display systems. While these efforts have produced a fascinating array of computer algorithms and technology, many applications of reconstructing high quality digital holograms do not require such high frame rates. In fact, applications such as 3D holographic lithography even require a stationary mask. Typical devices used for digital hologram reconstruction are based on spatial-light-modulator technology and this technology is great for reconstructing arbitrary holograms on the fly; however, it lacks the high spatial resolution achievable by its analog counterpart, holographic film. Analog holographic film is therefore the method of choice for reconstructing highquality static holograms. The challenge lies in taking a static, high-quality digitally calculated hologram and effectively writing it to holographic film. We have developed a theoretical system based on a tunable phase plate, an intensity adjustable high-coherence laser and a slip-stick based piezo rotation stage to effectively produce a digitally calculated hologram on analog film. The configuration reproduces the individual components, both the amplitude and phase, of the hologram in the Fourier domain. These Fourier components are then individually written on the holographic film after interfering with a reference beam. The system is analogous to writing angularly multiplexed plane waves with individual component phase control.

Vibration signature analysis of multistage gear transmission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choy, F. K.; Tu, Y. K.; Savage, M.; Townsend, D. P.

1989-01-01

An analysis is presented for multistage multimesh gear transmission systems. The analysis predicts the overall system dynamics and the transmissibility to the gear box or the enclosed structure. The modal synthesis approach of the analysis treats the uncoupled lateral/torsional model characteristics of each stage or component independently. The vibration signature analysis evaluates the global dynamics coupling in the system. The method synthesizes the interaction of each modal component or stage with the nonlinear gear mesh dynamics and the modal support geometry characteristics. The analysis simulates transient and steady state vibration events to determine the resulting torque variations, speeds, changes, rotor imbalances, and support gear box motion excitations. A vibration signature analysis examines the overall dynamic characteristics of the system, and the individual model component responses. The gear box vibration analysis also examines the spectral characteristics of the support system.

Knowledge based translation and problem solving in an intelligent individualized instruction system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jung, Namho; Biegel, John E.

1994-01-01

An Intelligent Individualized Instruction I(sup 3) system is being built to provide computerized instruction. We present the roles of a translator and a problem solver in an intelligent computer system. The modular design of the system provides for easier development and allows for future expansion and maintenance. CLIPS modules and classes are utilized for the purpose of the modular design and inter module communications. CLIPS facts and rules are used to represent the system components and the knowledge base. CLIPS provides an inferencing mechanism to allow the I(sup 3) system to solve problems presented to it in English.

Characterization of exhaust emissions from diesel-powered passenger cars with particular reference to unregulated components

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

Lies, K.H.; Postulka, A.; Gring, H.

Besides regulated components VW's research program in the field of characterization of diesel emissions comprises a detailed analysis of the particulates and a comprehensive study of a number of unregulated gaseous compounds. The following chemical compounds and classes of compounds are measured: particulates, traces of metals, major elements, sulfates, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, aldehydes, ammonia, phenols, individual hydrocarbons, and odor (DOAS). The test fleet of this investigation included a number of VW and Audi cars equipped with 4-, and 5-cylinder diesel engines (naturally aspirated and turbocharged). All measurements were performed on a chassis dynamometer in accordance with themore » specification of the known US-test-procedures: Federal Test Procedure, Sulfate Emission Test, Fuel Economy Test. For sampling , in principle, the dilution tunnel technique was used combined with an automatically working collection system. This micro-processor controlled system involves 13 individual sample lines, 8 for gaseous and 5 for particulate components.« less

Digital halftoning methods for selectively partitioning error into achromatic and chromatic channels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mulligan, Jeffrey B.

1990-01-01

A method is described for reducing the visibility of artifacts arising in the display of quantized color images on CRT displays. The method is based on the differential spatial sensitivity of the human visual system to chromatic and achromatic modulations. Because the visual system has the highest spatial and temporal acuity for the luminance component of an image, a technique which will reduce luminance artifacts at the expense of introducing high-frequency chromatic errors is sought. A method based on controlling the correlations between the quantization errors in the individual phosphor images is explored. The luminance component is greatest when the phosphor errors are positively correlated, and is minimized when the phosphor errors are negatively correlated. The greatest effect of the correlation is obtained when the intensity quantization step sizes of the individual phosphors have equal luminances. For the ordered dither algorithm, a version of the method can be implemented by simply inverting the matrix of thresholds for one of the color components.

Spacesuit Portable Life Support System Breadboard (PLSS 1.0) Development and Test Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vogel, Matt R.; Watts, Carly

2011-01-01

A multi-year effort has been carried out at NASA-JSC to develop an advanced Extravehicular Activity (EVA) PLSS design intended to further the current state of the art by increasing operational flexibility, reducing consumables, and increasing robustness. Previous efforts have focused on modeling and analyzing the advanced PLSS architecture, as well as developing key enabling technologies. Like the current International Space Station (ISS) Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) PLSS, the advanced PLSS comprises of three subsystems required to sustain the crew during EVA including the Thermal, Ventilation, and Oxygen Subsystems. This multi-year effort has culminated in the construction and operation of PLSS 1.0, a test rig that simulates full functionality of the advanced PLSS design. PLSS 1.0 integrates commercial off the shelf hardware with prototype technology development components, including the primary and secondary oxygen regulators, ventilation loop fan, Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swingbed, and Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME). Testing accumulated 239 hours over 45 days, while executing 172 test points. Specific PLSS 1.0 test objectives assessed during this testing include: confirming key individual components perform in a system level test as they have performed during component level testing; identifying unexpected system-level interactions; operating PLSS 1.0 in nominal steady-state EVA modes to baseline subsystem performance with respect to metabolic rate, ventilation loop pressure and flow rate, and environmental conditions; simulating nominal transient EVA operational scenarios; simulating contingency EVA operational scenarios; and further evaluating individual technology development components. Successful testing of the PLSS 1.0 provided a large database of test results that characterize system level and component performance. With the exception of several minor anomalies, the PLSS 1.0 test rig performed as expected; furthermore, many system responses trended in accordance with pre-test predictions.

Simulation system architecture design for generic communications link

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsang, Chit-Sang; Ratliff, Jim

1986-01-01

This paper addresses a computer simulation system architecture design for generic digital communications systems. It addresses the issues of an overall system architecture in order to achieve a user-friendly, efficient, and yet easily implementable simulation system. The system block diagram and its individual functional components are described in detail. Software implementation is discussed with the VAX/VMS operating system used as a target environment.

Semantically Enhanced Online Configuration of Feedback Control Schemes.

PubMed

Milis, Georgios M; Panayiotou, Christos G; Polycarpou, Marios M

2018-03-01

Recent progress toward the realization of the "Internet of Things" has improved the ability of physical and soft/cyber entities to operate effectively within large-scale, heterogeneous systems. It is important that such capacity be accompanied by feedback control capabilities sufficient to ensure that the overall systems behave according to their specifications and meet their functional objectives. To achieve this, such systems require new architectures that facilitate the online deployment, composition, interoperability, and scalability of control system components. Most current control systems lack scalability and interoperability because their design is based on a fixed configuration of specific components, with knowledge of their individual characteristics only implicitly passed through the design. This paper addresses the need for flexibility when replacing components or installing new components, which might occur when an existing component is upgraded or when a new application requires a new component, without the need to readjust or redesign the overall system. A semantically enhanced feedback control architecture is introduced for a class of systems, aimed at accommodating new components into a closed-loop control framework by exploiting the semantic inference capabilities of an ontology-based knowledge model. This architecture supports continuous operation of the control system, a crucial property for large-scale systems for which interruptions have negative impact on key performance metrics that may include human comfort and welfare or economy costs. A case-study example from the smart buildings domain is used to illustrate the proposed architecture and semantic inference mechanisms.

Performance monitoring can boost turboexpander efficiency

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

McIntire, R.

1982-07-05

Focuses on the turboexpander/refrigeration system's radial expander and radial compressor. Explains that radial expander efficiency depends on mass flow rate, inlet pressure, inlet temperature, discharge pressure, gas composition, and shaft speed. Discusses quantifying the performance of the separate components over a range of operating conditions; estimating the increase in performance associated with any hardware change; and developing an analytical (computer) model of the entire system by using the performance curve of individual components. Emphasizes antisurge control and modifying Q/N (flow rate/ shaft speed).

Creation of a virtual cutaneous tissue bank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaFramboise, William A.; Shah, Sujal; Hoy, R. W.; Letbetter, D.; Petrosko, P.; Vennare, R.; Johnson, Peter C.

2000-04-01

Cellular and non-cellular constituents of skin contain fundamental morphometric features and structural patterns that correlate with tissue function. High resolution digital image acquisitions performed using an automated system and proprietary software to assemble adjacent images and create a contiguous, lossless, digital representation of individual microscope slide specimens. Serial extraction, evaluation and statistical analysis of cutaneous feature is performed utilizing an automated analysis system, to derive normal cutaneous parameters comprising essential structural skin components. Automated digital cutaneous analysis allows for fast extraction of microanatomic dat with accuracy approximating manual measurement. The process provides rapid assessment of feature both within individual specimens and across sample populations. The images, component data, and statistical analysis comprise a bioinformatics database to serve as an architectural blueprint for skin tissue engineering and as a diagnostic standard of comparison for pathologic specimens.

Design and control strategies for CELSS - Integrating mechanistic paradigms and biological complexities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, B., III; Kaufmann, R.; Reinhold, C.

1981-01-01

Systems analysis and control theory consideration are given to simulations of both individual components and total systems, in order to develop a reliable control strategy for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) which includes complex biological components. Because of the numerous nonlinearities and tight coupling within the biological component, classical control theory may be inadequate and the statistical analysis of factorial experiments more useful. The range in control characteristics of particular species may simplify the overall task by providing an appropriate balance of stability and controllability to match species function in the overall design. The ultimate goal of this research is the coordination of biological and mechanical subsystems in order to achieve a self-supporting environment.

Engine Data Interpretation System (EDIS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cost, Thomas L.; Hofmann, Martin O.

1990-01-01

A prototype of an expert system was developed which applies qualitative or model-based reasoning to the task of post-test analysis and diagnosis of data resulting from a rocket engine firing. A combined component-based and process theory approach is adopted as the basis for system modeling. Such an approach provides a framework for explaining both normal and deviant system behavior in terms of individual component functionality. The diagnosis function is applied to digitized sensor time-histories generated during engine firings. The generic system is applicable to any liquid rocket engine but was adapted specifically in this work to the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). The system is applied to idealized data resulting from turbomachinery malfunction in the SSME.

E-Learning System for Experiments Involving Construction of Practical Electronic Circuits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takemura, Atsushi

2013-01-01

This paper proposes a novel e-learning system for technical experiments involving the construction of practical electronic circuits; this system would meet the various demands of individual experimenters. This mixed mode is beneficial for practical use in that an experimenter who does not have sufficient circuit components for circuit making can…

Improving Collaborative School-Agency Transition Planning: A Statewide DBMS Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Randolph L.; Roessler, Richard T.

1997-01-01

Describes the development and components of a referral database management system developed by the Arkansas Transition Project. The system enables individualized-education-plan team members to refer students with disabilities directly to adult agencies and to receive a monitoring report describing the agency response to the referral. The system is…

40 CFR 141.718 - Treatment performance toolbox components.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

.... (a) Combined filter performance. Systems using conventional filtration treatment or direct filtration... the criteria in this paragraph. Combined filter effluent (CFE) turbidity must be less than or equal to... § 141.74(a) and (c). (b) Individual filter performance. Systems using conventional filtration treatment...

40 CFR 141.718 - Treatment performance toolbox components.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

.... (a) Combined filter performance. Systems using conventional filtration treatment or direct filtration... the criteria in this paragraph. Combined filter effluent (CFE) turbidity must be less than or equal to... § 141.74(a) and (c). (b) Individual filter performance. Systems using conventional filtration treatment...

University of Virginia infrared sensor experiment (UVIRSE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawson, Jeffrey R.; Bell, Meredith A.; Powers, Michael C.; Laufer, Gabriel

2001-03-01

A suite consisting of an infrared sensor, optical sensors and a video camera are prepared for launch by a group of students at University of Virginia (UVA) and James Madison University (JMU). The sensors are a first step in the development of a Gas Filter Correlation Radiometer (GFCR) that will detect stratospheric methane (CH4) when flown on sub-orbital sounding rockets and/or from the hypersonic X-34 reusable launch vehicle. The current payload has a threefold purpose: (a) to provide space heritage to a thermoelectrically cooled mercury cadmium telluride sensor, (b) to demonstrate methods for correlating the IR reading of the sensor with ground topography, and (c) to flight test all the payload components that will become part of the sub- orbital methane GFCR sensor. Once completed the system will serve as host to other undergraduate research design projects that require space environment, microgravity, or remote sensing capabilities. The payload components have been received and tested, and the supporting structure has been designed and built. Data from previous rocket flights was used to analyze the environmental strains placed on the experiment and components. Payload components are being integrated and tested as a system to ensure functionality in the flight environment. This includes thermal testing for individual components, vibration testing from individual components and overall payload, and load testing of the external structure. Launch is scheduled for Spring 2001.

Compatibility Assessment Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Egbert, James Allen

2016-01-01

In support of ground system development for the Space Launch System (SLS), engineers are tasked with building immense engineering models of extreme complexity. The various systems require rigorous analysis of pneumatics, hydraulic, cryogenic, and hypergolic systems. There are certain standards that each of these systems must meet, in the form of pressure vessel system (PVS) certification reports. These reports can be hundreds of pages long, and require many hours to compile. Traditionally, each component is analyzed individually, often utilizing hand calculations in the design process. The objective of this opportunity is to perform these analyses in an integrated fashion with the parametric CADCAE environment. This allows for systems to be analyzed on an assembly level in a semi-automated fashion, which greatly improves accuracy and efficiency. To accomplish this, component specific parameters were stored in the Windchill database to individual Creo Parametric models based on spec control drawings. These parameters were then accessed by using the Prime Analysis within Creo Parametric. MathCAD Prime spreadsheets were created that automatically extracted these parameters, performed calculations, and generated reports. The reports described component compatibility based on local conditions such as pressure, temperature, density, and flow rates. The reports also determined component pairing compatibility, such as properly sizing relief valves with regulators. The reports stored the input conditions that were used to determine compatibility to increase traceability of component selection. The desired workflow for using this tool would begin with a Creo Schematics diagram of a PVS system. This schematic would store local conditions and locations of components. The schematic would then populate an assembly within Creo Parametric, using Windchill database parts. These parts would have their attributes already assigned, and the MathCAD spreadsheets could begin running through database parts to determine which components would be suited for specific locations within the assembly. This eliminates a significant amount of time from the design process, and makes initial analysis assessments more accurate. Each component that would be checked for a location within the assembly would generate a report, showing whether the component was compatible. These reports could be used to generate the PVS report without the need to perform the same analysis multiple times. This process also has the potential to be expanded upon to further automate PVS reports. The integration of software codes or macros could be used to automatically check through hundreds of parts for each location on the schematic. If the software could recognize which type of component would be necessary for each location, it is possible that simply starting the macro could completely choose all the components needed for the schematic, and in turn the system. This would save many hours of work initially selecting components, which could end up saving money. Overall, this process helps to automate initial component selections for PVS systems to fit local design specifications. These selections will automatically generate reports showing how the design criteria are met by the specific component that was chosen. These reports will contribute to easier compilation of the PVS certification reports, which currently take a great amount of time and effort to produce.

Crew systems: integrating human and technical subsystems for the exploration of space.

PubMed

Connors, M M; Harrison, A A; Summit, J

1994-07-01

Space exploration missions will require combining human and technical subsystems into overall "crew systems" capable of performing under the rigorous conditions of outer space. This report describes substantive and conceptual relationships among humans, intelligent machines, and communication systems, and explores how these components may be combined to complement and strengthen one another. We identify key research issues in the combination of humans and technology and examine the role of individual differences, group processes, and environmental conditions. We conclude that a crew system is, in effect, a social cyborg, a living system consisting of multiple individuals whose capabilities are extended by advanced technology.

Crew systems: integrating human and technical subsystems for the exploration of space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connors, M. M.; Harrison, A. A.; Summit, J.

1994-01-01

Space exploration missions will require combining human and technical subsystems into overall "crew systems" capable of performing under the rigorous conditions of outer space. This report describes substantive and conceptual relationships among humans, intelligent machines, and communication systems, and explores how these components may be combined to complement and strengthen one another. We identify key research issues in the combination of humans and technology and examine the role of individual differences, group processes, and environmental conditions. We conclude that a crew system is, in effect, a social cyborg, a living system consisting of multiple individuals whose capabilities are extended by advanced technology.

Integrating Water, Actors, and Structure to Study Socio-Hydro-Ecological Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hale, R. L.; Armstrong, A.; Baker, M. A.; Bedingfield, S.; Betts, D.; Buahin, C. A.; Buchert, M.; Crowl, T.; Dupont, R.; Endter-Wada, J.; Flint, C.; Grant, J.; Hinners, S.; Horns, D.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Jackson-Smith, D.; Jones, A. S.; Licon, C.; Null, S. E.; Odame, A.; Pataki, D. E.; Rosenberg, D. E.; Runburg, M.; Stoker, P.; Strong, C.

2014-12-01

Urbanization, climate uncertainty, and ecosystem change represent major challenges for managing water resources. Water systems and the forces acting upon them are complex, and there is a need to understand and generically represent the most important system components and linkages. We developed a framework to facilitate understanding of water systems including potential vulnerabilities and opportunities for sustainability. Our goal was to produce an interdisciplinary framework for water resources research to address water issues across scales (e.g., city to region) and domains (e.g., water supply and quality, urban and transitioning landscapes). An interdisciplinary project (iUTAH - innovative Urban Transitions and Aridregion Hydro-sustainability) with a large (N=~100), diverse team having expertise spanning the hydrologic, biological, ecological, engineering, social, planning, and policy sciences motivated the development of this framework. The framework was developed through review of the literature, meetings with individual researchers, and workshops with participants. The Structure-Water-Actor Framework (SWAF) includes three main components: water (quality and quantity), structure (natural, built, and social), and actors (individual and organizational). Key linkages include: 1) ecological and hydrological processes, 2) ecosystem and geomorphic change, 3) planning, design, and policy, 4) perceptions, information, and experience, 5) resource access, and 6) operational water use and management. Our expansive view of structure includes natural, built, and social components, allowing us to examine a broad set of tools and levers for water managers and decision-makers to affect system sustainability and understand system outcomes. We validate the SWAF and illustrate its flexibility to generate insights for three research and management problems: green stormwater infrastructure in an arid environment, regional water supply and demand, and urban river restoration. These applications show that the framework can help identify key components and linkages across diverse water systems.

Polytherm of the CO(NH2)2-KNO3-H2O phase diagram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yulina, I. V.; Trunin, A. S.

2017-05-01

The crystallization polytherm of the ternary CO(NH2)2-KNO3-H2O system is plotted for the first time via visual polythermal analysis and calculating ternary eutonics characteristics from data on the boundary elements of two-component systems. The ternary eutonics modeling error does not exceed 3.5%. In addition to the crystallization fields of individual components, the field of the redox reaction that occurs in the system between potassium nitrate and carbamide is shown in the CO(NH2)2-KNO3-H2O diagram by a dashed outline.

Readiness of food composition databases and food component analysis systems for nutrigenomics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The study objective was to discuss the international implications of using nutrigenomics as the basis for individualized health promotion and chronic disease prevention and the challenges it presents to existing nutrient databases and nutrient analysis systems. Definitions and research methods of nu...

36 CFR 1225.12 - How are records schedules developed?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... activity to identify records series, systems, and nonrecord materials. (c) Determine the appropriate scope of the records schedule items, e.g., individual series/system component, work process, group of related work processes, or broad program area. (d) Evaluate the period of time the agency needs each...

36 CFR 1225.12 - How are records schedules developed?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... activity to identify records series, systems, and nonrecord materials. (c) Determine the appropriate scope of the records schedule items, e.g., individual series/system component, work process, group of related work processes, or broad program area. (d) Evaluate the period of time the agency needs each...

36 CFR 1225.12 - How are records schedules developed?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... activity to identify records series, systems, and nonrecord materials. (c) Determine the appropriate scope of the records schedule items, e.g., individual series/system component, work process, group of related work processes, or broad program area. (d) Evaluate the period of time the agency needs each...

Distillation Designs for the Lunar Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boul, Peter J.; Lange,Kevin E.; Conger, Bruce; Anderson, Molly

2010-01-01

Gravity-based distillation methods may be applied to the purification of wastewater on the lunar base. These solutions to water processing are robust physical separation techniques, which may be more advantageous than many other techniques for their simplicity in design and operation. The two techniques can be used in conjunction with each other to obtain high purity water. The components and feed compositions for modeling waste water streams are presented in conjunction with the Aspen property system for traditional stage distillation. While the individual components for each of the waste streams will vary naturally within certain bounds, an analog model for waste water processing is suggested based on typical concentration ranges for these components. Target purity levels for recycled water are determined for each individual component based on NASA s required maximum contaminant levels for potable water Optimum parameters such as reflux ratio, feed stage location, and processing rates are determined with respect to the power consumption of the process. Multistage distillation is evaluated for components in wastewater to determine the minimum number of stages necessary for each of 65 components in humidity condensate and urine wastewater mixed streams.

PVC: health implications and production trends.

PubMed Central

Karstadt, M

1976-01-01

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is a complex plastic system. Individual components of the PVC system, including residual vinyl chloride monomer (RVCM) and certain additives, may pose risks of harm to human health. There have been significant reductions in the RVCM content of PVC resin since 1974, reducing the cancer risk of workers in PVC fabrication plants and consumers of PVC products. A "no-effect" level for vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)-induced carcinogenesis has not been found to date; therefore, the significance of human exposure to low levels of RVCM remains to be determined. Exposure to PVC dust may cause pulmonary dysfunctions. Pulmonary and other possible health effects of PVC dust require further study. The PVC plastics system should be characterized as to interactions among its various components and as to interactions of the components and the PVC system as a whole with biological systems. Images FIGURE 1. FIGURE 2. PMID:799961

Integrating a geographic information system, a scientific visualization system and an orographic precipitation model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hay, L.; Knapp, L.

1996-01-01

Investigating natural, potential, and man-induced impacts on hydrological systems commonly requires complex modelling with overlapping data requirements, and massive amounts of one- to four-dimensional data at multiple scales and formats. Given the complexity of most hydrological studies, the requisite software infrastructure must incorporate many components including simulation modelling, spatial analysis and flexible, intuitive displays. There is a general requirement for a set of capabilities to support scientific analysis which, at this time, can only come from an integration of several software components. Integration of geographic information systems (GISs) and scientific visualization systems (SVSs) is a powerful technique for developing and analysing complex models. This paper describes the integration of an orographic precipitation model, a GIS and a SVS. The combination of these individual components provides a robust infrastructure which allows the scientist to work with the full dimensionality of the data and to examine the data in a more intuitive manner.

Documenting Models for Interoperability and Reusability ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Many modeling frameworks compartmentalize science via individual models that link sets of small components to create larger modeling workflows. Developing integrated watershed models increasingly requires coupling multidisciplinary, independent models, as well as collaboration between scientific communities, since component-based modeling can integrate models from different disciplines. Integrated Environmental Modeling (IEM) systems focus on transferring information between components by capturing a conceptual site model; establishing local metadata standards for input/output of models and databases; managing data flow between models and throughout the system; facilitating quality control of data exchanges (e.g., checking units, unit conversions, transfers between software languages); warning and error handling; and coordinating sensitivity/uncertainty analyses. Although many computational software systems facilitate communication between, and execution of, components, there are no common approaches, protocols, or standards for turn-key linkages between software systems and models, especially if modifying components is not the intent. Using a standard ontology, this paper reviews how models can be described for discovery, understanding, evaluation, access, and implementation to facilitate interoperability and reusability. In the proceedings of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs), 8th International Congress on Environmental Mod

Equivalent reduced model technique development for nonlinear system dynamic response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thibault, Louis; Avitabile, Peter; Foley, Jason; Wolfson, Janet

2013-04-01

The dynamic response of structural systems commonly involves nonlinear effects. Often times, structural systems are made up of several components, whose individual behavior is essentially linear compared to the total assembled system. However, the assembly of linear components using highly nonlinear connection elements or contact regions causes the entire system to become nonlinear. Conventional transient nonlinear integration of the equations of motion can be extremely computationally intensive, especially when the finite element models describing the components are very large and detailed. In this work, the equivalent reduced model technique (ERMT) is developed to address complicated nonlinear contact problems. ERMT utilizes a highly accurate model reduction scheme, the System equivalent reduction expansion process (SEREP). Extremely reduced order models that provide dynamic characteristics of linear components, which are interconnected with highly nonlinear connection elements, are formulated with SEREP for the dynamic response evaluation using direct integration techniques. The full-space solution will be compared to the response obtained using drastically reduced models to make evident the usefulness of the technique for a variety of analytical cases.

Development Of Autonomous Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanade, Takeo

1989-03-01

In the last several years at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, we have been working on two projects for developing autonomous systems: Nablab for Autonomous Land Vehicle and Ambler for Mars Rover. These two systems are for different purposes: the Navlab is a four-wheeled vehicle (van) for road and open terrain navigation, and the Ambler is a six-legged locomotor for Mars exploration. The two projects, however, share many common aspects. Both are large-scale integrated systems for navigation. In addition to the development of individual components (eg., construction and control of the vehicle, vision and perception, and planning), integration of those component technologies into a system by means of an appropriate architecture is a major issue.

The locator system for wandering individuals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidson, Shayla

1992-01-01

Configurations and operation strategies are described for a wanderer locator system based on wireless radio frequency communication designed to monitor elderly patients who may wander beyond safe perimeters in the home or in an institutional setting. The modular components of this wandering notification system are (1) portable transmitter/receivers to be worn or carried by the patient and the caretaker, (2) detectors to be mounted in doorways or other perimeters of a safe area, (3) programmable central processing units to control, communicate with, and/or trace the portable and remote devices, and (4) a cathode ray tube that can display information on patient location or system status. Photographs of all system components and illustrations of operations concepts are included.

Feasibility study for a microwave-powered ozone sniffer aircraft, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Using 3-D design techniques and the Advanced Surface Design Software on the Computervision Designer V-X Interactive Graphics System, the aircraft configuration was created. The canard, tail, vertical tail, and main wing were created on the system using Wing Generator, a Computervision based program introduced in Appendix A.2. The individual components of the plane were created separately and were later individually imported to the master database. An isometric view of the final configuration is presented.

Investigating the reasons of variability in Si IV and C IV broad absorption line troughs of quasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stathopoulos, Dimitrios; Lyratzi, Evangelia; Danezis, Emmanuel; Antoniou, Antonios; Tzimeas, Dimitrios

2017-09-01

In this paper we analyze the C IV and Si IV broad absorption troughs of two BALQSOs (J101056.69+355833.3, J114548.38+393746.6) to the individual components they consist of. By analyzing a BAL trough to its components we have the advantage to study the variations of the individual absorbing systems in the line of sight and not just the variations of the whole absorption trough or the variations of selected portions of BAL troughs exhibiting changes. We find that the velocity shifts and FWHMs (Full Width at Half Maximum) of the individual components do not vary between an interval of six years. All variable components show changes in the optical depths at line centers which are manifested as variations in the EW (Equivalent Width) of the components. In both BALQSOs, over corresponding velocities, Si IV has higher incidence of variability than C IV. From our analysis, evidence is in favour of different covering fractions between C IV and Si IV. Finally, although most of our results favour the crossing cloud scenario as the cause of variability, there is also strong piece of evidence indicating changing ionization as the source of variability. Thus, a mixed situation where both physical mechanisms contribute to BAL variability is the most possible scenario.

Pilot study to examine use of transverse vibration nondestructive evaluation for assessing floor systems

Treesearch

Zhiyong Cai; Robert J. Ross; Michael O. Hunt; Lawrence A. Soltis

2002-01-01

Evaluation of existing timber structures requires procedures to evaluate in situ structural members and components. This report evaluates the transverse vibration response of laboratory-built floor systems with new and salvaged joists. The objectives were to 1) compare floor system response to individual member response; 2) examine response sensitivity to location of...

Mountain Plains Learning Experience Guide: Automotive Repair. Course: Automotive Fuel Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osland, Walt

One of twelve individualized courses included in an automotive repair curriculum, this course covers the theory, operation, and repair of the carburetor, fuel pump, and other related fuel system components and parts. The course is comprised of six units: (1) Fundamentals of Fuel Systems, (2) Fuel Pumps, (3) Fuel Lines and Filters, (4) Carburetors,…

Mountain Plains Learning Experience Guide: Automotive Repair. Course: Brake Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schramm, C.; Osland, Walt

One of twelve individualized courses included in an automotive repair curriculum, this course covers theory, operation, and repair of drum brakes, disc brakes, and brake system components. The course is comprised of six units: (1) Fundamentals of Brake Systems, (2) Master Cylinder, (3) Drum Brakes, (4) Disc Brakes, (5) Power Brakes, and (6)…

Vulnerability and cosusceptibility determine the size of network cascades

DOE PAGES

Yang, Yang; Nishikawa, Takashi; Motter, Adilson E.

2017-01-27

In a network, a local disturbance can propagate and eventually cause a substantial part of the system to fail in cascade events that are easy to conceptualize but extraordinarily difficult to predict. Furthermore, we develop a statistical framework that can predict cascade size distributions by incorporating two ingredients only: the vulnerability of individual components and the cosusceptibility of groups of components (i.e., their tendency to fail together). Using cascades in power grids as a representative example, we show that correlations between component failures define structured and often surprisingly large groups of cosusceptible components. Aside from their implications for blackout studies,more » these results provide insights and a new modeling framework for understanding cascades in financial systems, food webs, and complex networks in general.« less

Computer Aided Drafting. Instructor's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Michael A.

This guide is intended for use in introducing students to the operation and applications of computer-aided drafting (CAD) systems. The following topics are covered in the individual lessons: understanding CAD (CAD versus traditional manual drafting and care of software and hardware); using the components of a CAD system (primary and other input…

31 CFR 1.22 - Requirements relating to systems of records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... First Amendment rights. No component shall maintain a record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment (e.g. speech), unless the maintenance of such record is: (1...

31 CFR 1.22 - Requirements relating to systems of records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... First Amendment rights. No component shall maintain a record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment (e.g. speech), unless the maintenance of such record is: (1...

31 CFR 1.22 - Requirements relating to systems of records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... First Amendment rights. No component shall maintain a record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment (e.g. speech), unless the maintenance of such record is: (1...

31 CFR 1.22 - Requirements relating to systems of records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... First Amendment rights. No component shall maintain a record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment (e.g. speech), unless the maintenance of such record is: (1...

An inter-professional approach to personalized medicine education: one institution's experience.

PubMed

Formea, Christine M; Nicholson, Wayne T; Vitek, Carolyn Rohrer

2015-03-01

Personalized medicine offers the promise of better diagnoses, targeted therapies and individualized treatment plans. Pharmacogenomics is an integral component of personalized medicine; it aids in the prediction of an individual's response to medications. Despite growing public acceptance and emerging clinical evidence, this rapidly expanding field of medicine is slow to be adopted and utilized by healthcare providers, although many believe that they should be knowledgeable and able to apply pharmacogenomics in clinical practice. Institutional infrastructure must be built to support pharmacogenomic implementation. Multidisciplinary education for healthcare providers is a critical component for pharmacogenomics to achieve its full potential to optimize patient care. We describe our recent experience at the Mayo Clinic implementing pharmacogenomics education in a large, academic healthcare system facilitated by the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine.

Integrating Existing Simulation Components into a Cohesive Simulation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McLaughlin, Brian J.; Barrett, Larry K.

2012-01-01

A tradition of leveraging the re-use of components to help manage costs has evolved in the development of complex system. This tradition continues on in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Program with the cloning of the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite for the JPSS-1 mission, including the instrument complement. One benefit of re-use on a mission is the availability of existing simulation assets from the systems that were previously built. An issue arises in the continual shift of technology over a long mission, or multi-mission, lifecycle. As the missions mature, the requirements for the observatory simulations evolve. The challenge in this environment becomes re-using the existing components in that ever-changing landscape. To meet this challenge, the system must: establish an operational architecture that minimizes impacts on the implementation of individual components, consolidate the satisfaction of new high-impact requirements into system-level infrastructure, and build in a long-term view of system adaptation that spans the full lifecycle of the simulation system. The Flight Vehicle Test Suite (FVTS) within the JPSS Program is defining and executing this approach to ensure a robust simulation capability for the JPSS multi-mission environment

Physical and geometrical parameters of VCBS XIII: HIP 105947

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gumaan Masda, Suhail; Al-Wardat, Mashhoor Ahmed; Pathan, Jiyaulla Khan Moula Khan

2018-06-01

The best physical and geometrical parameters of the main sequence close visual binary system (CVBS), HIP 105947, are presented. These parameters have been constructed conclusively using Al-Wardat’s complex method for analyzing CVBSs, which is a method for constructing a synthetic spectral energy distribution (SED) for the entire binary system using individual SEDs for each component star. The model atmospheres are in its turn built using the Kurucz (ATLAS9) line-blanketed plane-parallel models. At the same time, the orbital parameters for the system are calculated using Tokovinin’s dynamical method for constructing the best orbits of an interferometric binary system. Moreover, the mass-sum of the components, as well as the Δθ and Δρ residuals for the system, is introduced. The combination of Al-Wardat’s and Tokovinin’s methods yields the best estimations of the physical and geometrical parameters. The positions of the components in the system on the evolutionary tracks and isochrones are plotted and the formation and evolution of the system are discussed.

New observations and new models of spin-orbit coupling in binary asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margot, Jean-Luc; Naidu, Shantanu

2015-08-01

The YORP-induced rotational fission hypothesis is the leading candidate for explaining the formation of binaries, triples, and pairs among small (<20 km) asteroids (e.g., Margot et al, Asteroids IV, subm., 2015). Various evolutionary paths following rotational fission have been suggested, but many important questions remain about the evolutionary mechanisms and timescales. We test hypotheses about the evolution of binary asteroids by obtaining precise descriptions of the orbits and components of binary systems with radar and by examining the system dynamics with detailed numerical simulations. Predictions for component spin states and orbital precession rates can then be compared to observables in our data sets or in other data sets to elucidate the states of various systems and their likely evolutionary paths.Accurate simulations require knowledge of the masses, shapes, and spin states of individual binary components. Because radar observations can provide exquisite data sets spanning days with spatial resolutions at the decameter level, we can invert for the component shapes and measure spin states. We can also solve for the mutual orbit by fitting the observed separations between components. In addition, the superb (10e-7--10e-8) fractional uncertainties in range allow us to measure the reflex motions directly, allowing masses of individual components to be determined.We use recently published observations of the binary 2000 DP107 (Naidu et al. AJ, subm., 2015) and that of other systems to simulate the dynamics of components in well-characterized binary systems (Naidu and Margot, AJ 149, 80, 2015). We model the coupled spin and orbital motions of two rigid, ellipsoidal bodies under the influence of their mutual gravitational potential. We use surface of section plots to map the possible spin configurations of the satellites. For asynchronous satellites, the analysis reveals large regions of phase space where the spin state of the satellite is chaotic. The presence of chaotic regions may substantially increase spin synchronization timescales, delay BYORP-type evolution, extend the lifetime of binaries, and explain the observed fraction of asynchronous binaries.

The Formation and Development of Cognitive Activity of Students in the Learning Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saparkyzy, Zhannat; Isatayeva, Gulzhan; Kozhabekova, Zahida; Zhakesheva, Aimzhan; Koptayeva, Gulzhamal; Agabekova, Gulzhan; Agabekova, Sholpan

2016-01-01

In this article we will discuss how the holding of a special and dedicated work helped to change the levels of formation of the major components of cognitive activity. Cognitive activity with the content aspect is a system of perceptual, mnemonic and intellectual activity and from the form--as an individual, joint, or pseudo-individual pseudo…

Systems Engineering and Integration for Technology Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Kruss J.

2006-01-01

The Architecture, Habitability & Integration group (AH&I) is a system engineering and integration test team within the NASA Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) at Johnson Space Center. AH&I identifies and resolves system-level integration issues within the research and technology development community. The timely resolution of these integration issues is fundamental to the development of human system requirements and exploration capability. The integration of the many individual components necessary to construct an artificial environment is difficult. The necessary interactions between individual components and systems must be approached in a piece-wise fashion to achieve repeatable results. A formal systems engineering (SE) approach to define, develop, and integrate quality systems within the life support community has been developed. This approach will allow a Research & Technology Program to systematically approach the development, management, and quality of technology deliverables to the various exploration missions. A tiered system engineering structure has been proposed to implement best systems engineering practices across all development levels from basic research to working assemblies. These practices will be implemented through a management plan across all applicable programs, projects, elements and teams. While many of the engineering practices are common to other industries, the implementation is specific to technology development. An accounting of the systems engineering management philosophy will be discussed and the associated programmatic processes will be presented.

Lightning Protection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Lightning Technologies, Inc., Pittsfield, MA, - a spinoff company founded by president J. Anderson Plumer, a former NASA contractor employee who developed his expertise with General Electric Company's High Voltage Laboratory - was a key player in Langley Research Center's Storm Hazards Research Program. Lightning Technologies used its NASA acquired experience to develop protective measures for electronic systems and composite structures on aircraft, both of which are particularly susceptible to lightning damage. The company also provides protection design and verification testing services for complete aircraft systems or individual components. Most aircraft component manufacturers are among Lightning Technologies' clients.

Team Synergies in Sport: Theory and Measures.

PubMed

Araújo, Duarte; Davids, Keith

2016-01-01

Individual players act as a coherent unit during team sports performance, forming a team synergy. A synergy is a collective property of a task-specific organization of individuals, such that the degrees of freedom of each individual in the system are coupled, enabling the degrees of freedom of different individuals to co-regulate each other. Here, we present an explanation for the emergence of such collective behaviors, indicating how these can be assessed and understood through the measurement of key system properties that exist, considering the contribution of each individual and beyond These include: to (i) dimensional compression, a process resulting in independent degree of freedom being coupled so that the synergy has fewer degrees of freedom than the set of components from which it arises; (ii) reciprocal compensation, if one element do not produce its function, other elements should display changes in their contributions so that task goals are still attained; (iii) interpersonal linkages, the specific contribution of each element to a group task; and (iv), degeneracy, structurally different components performing a similar, but not necessarily identical, function with respect to context. A primary goal of our analysis is to highlight the principles and tools required to understand coherent and dynamic team behaviors, as well as the performance conditions that make such team synergies possible, through perceptual attunement to shared affordances in individual performers. A key conclusion is that teams can be trained to perceive how to use and share specific affordances, explaining how individual's behaviors self-organize into a group synergy. Ecological dynamics explanations of team behaviors can transit beyond mere ratification of sport performance, providing a comprehensive conceptual framework to guide the implementation of diagnostic measures by sport scientists, sport psychologists and performance analysts. Complex adaptive systems, synergies, group behaviors, team sport performance, ecological dynamics, performance analysis.

Pharmacokinetic Modeling of JP-8 Jet Fuel Components: II. A Conceptual Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-12-01

example, a single type of (simple) binary interaction between 300 components would require the specification of some 105 interaction coefficients . One...individual substances, via binary mechanisms, is enough to predict the interactions present in the mixture. Secondly, complex mixtures can often be...approximated as pseudo- binary systems, consisting of the compound of interest plus a single interacting complex vehicle with well-defined, composite

Radial velocities of southern visual multiple stars

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

Tokovinin, Andrei; Pribulla, Theodor; Fischer, Debra, E-mail: atokovinin@ctio.noao.edu, E-mail: pribulla@ta3.sk, E-mail: debra.fischer@gmail.com

2015-01-01

High-resolution spectra of visual multiple stars were taken in 2008–2009 to detect or confirm spectroscopic subsystems and to determine their orbits. Radial velocities of 93 late-type stars belonging to visual multiple systems were measured by numerical cross-correlation. We provide the individual velocities, the width, and the amplitude of the Gaussians that approximate the correlations. The new information on the multiple systems resulting from these data is discussed. We discovered double-lined binaries in HD 41742B, HD 56593C, and HD 122613AB, confirmed several other known subsystems, and constrained the existence of subsystems in some visual binaries where both components turned out tomore » have similar velocities. The orbits of double-lined subsystems with periods of 148 and 13 days are computed for HD 104471 Aa,Ab and HD 210349 Aa,Ab, respectively. We estimate individual magnitudes and masses of the components in these triple systems and update the outer orbit of HD 104471 AB.« less

Variable plant spacing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bledsoe, Jim; Weiss, Lee

1988-01-01

The goal of this project was to develop a system for varying the spacings between soybean plants as they grow to maximize the number of plants grown in a given volume. The project was studied to aid in the development of NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). The resulting design consists of plant trays which are three dimensional trapezoids arranged into circles in a compact geometrical configuration. These circles are stacked together in back to back pairs to form a long cylinder. In each growth tray, plants will be housed in individual containers containing a nutrient delivery system and a plant support mechanism. Between the containers, a half trellis has been designed to space the plants for maximum space efficiency. The design allows for localized seeding and harvesting mechanisms due to the chambers' geometrical configuration. In addition, the components have been designed for ease of cleaning and minimal maintenance. Next semester, the individual components will be constructed and tested to determine the success of the design.

Mapping behavioural evolution onto brain evolution: the strategic roles of conserved organization in individuals and species.

PubMed

Finlay, Barbara L; Hinz, Flora; Darlington, Richard B

2011-07-27

The pattern of individual variation in brain component structure in pigs, minks and laboratory mice is very similar to variation across species in the same components, at a reduced scale. This conserved pattern of allometric scaling resembles robotic architectures designed to be robust to changes in computing power and task demands, and may reflect the mechanism by which both growing and evolving brains defend basic sensory, motor and homeostatic functions at multiple scales. Conserved scaling rules also have implications for species-specific sensory and social communication systems, motor competencies and cognitive abilities. The role of relative changes in neuron number in the central nervous system in producing species-specific behaviour is thus highly constrained, while changes in the sensory and motor periphery, and in motivational and attentional systems increase in probability as the principal loci producing important changes in functional neuroanatomy between species. By their nature, these loci require renewed attention to development and life history in the initial organization and production of species-specific behavioural abilities.

Spatial-simultaneous and spatial-sequential working memory in individuals with Down syndrome: the effect of configuration.

PubMed

Carretti, Barbara; Lanfranchi, Silvia; Mammarella, Irene C

2013-01-01

Earlier research showed that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is better preserved in Down syndrome (DS) than verbal WM. Some differences emerged, however, when VSWM performance was broken down into its various components, and more recent studies revealed that the spatial-simultaneous component of VSWM is more impaired than the spatial-sequential one. The difficulty of managing more than one item at a time is also evident when the information to be recalled is structured. To further analyze this issue, we investigated the advantage of material being structured in spatial-simultaneous and spatial-sequential tasks by comparing the performance of a group of individuals with DS and a group of typically-developing children matched for mental age. Both groups were presented with VSWM tasks in which both the presentation format (simultaneous vs. sequential) and the type of configuration (pattern vs. random) were manipulated. Findings indicated that individuals with DS took less advantage of the pattern configuration in the spatial-simultaneous task than TD children; in contrast, the two groups' performance did not differ in the pattern configuration of the spatial-sequential task. Taken together, these results confirmed difficulties relating to the spatial-simultaneous component of VSWM in individuals with DS, supporting the importance of distinguishing between different components within this system. The findings are discussed in terms of factors influencing this specific deficit. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Robotic air vehicle. Blending artificial intelligence with conventional software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcnulty, Christa; Graham, Joyce; Roewer, Paul

1987-01-01

The Robotic Air Vehicle (RAV) system is described. The program's objectives were to design, implement, and demonstrate cooperating expert systems for piloting robotic air vehicles. The development of this system merges conventional programming used in passive navigation with Artificial Intelligence techniques such as voice recognition, spatial reasoning, and expert systems. The individual components of the RAV system are discussed as well as their interactions with each other and how they operate as a system.

An architecture for object-oriented intelligent control of power systems in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holmquist, Sven G.; Jayaram, Prakash; Jansen, Ben H.

1993-01-01

A control system for autonomous distribution and control of electrical power during space missions is being developed. This system should free the astronauts from localizing faults and reconfiguring loads if problems with the power distribution and generation components occur. The control system uses an object-oriented simulation model of the power system and first principle knowledge to detect, identify, and isolate faults. Each power system component is represented as a separate object with knowledge of its normal behavior. The reasoning process takes place at three different levels of abstraction: the Physical Component Model (PCM) level, the Electrical Equivalent Model (EEM) level, and the Functional System Model (FSM) level, with the PCM the lowest level of abstraction and the FSM the highest. At the EEM level the power system components are reasoned about as their electrical equivalents, e.g, a resistive load is thought of as a resistor. However, at the PCM level detailed knowledge about the component's specific characteristics is taken into account. The FSM level models the system at the subsystem level, a level appropriate for reconfiguration and scheduling. The control system operates in two modes, a reactive and a proactive mode, simultaneously. In the reactive mode the control system receives measurement data from the power system and compares these values with values determined through simulation to detect the existence of a fault. The nature of the fault is then identified through a model-based reasoning process using mainly the EEM. Compound component models are constructed at the EEM level and used in the fault identification process. In the proactive mode the reasoning takes place at the PCM level. Individual components determine their future health status using a physical model and measured historical data. In case changes in the health status seem imminent the component warns the control system about its impending failure. The fault isolation process uses the FSM level for its reasoning base.

Component-Level Selection and Qualification for the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Laser Altimeter Transmitter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frese, Erich A.; Chiragh, Furqan L.; Switzer, Robert; Vasilyev, Aleksey A.; Thomes, Joe; Coyle, D. Barry; Stysley, Paul R.

2018-01-01

Flight quality solid-state lasers require a unique and extensive set of testing and qualification processes, both at the system and component levels to insure the laser's promised performance. As important as the overall laser transmitter design is, the quality and performance of individual subassemblies, optics, and electro-optics dictate the final laser unit's quality. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) laser transmitters employ all the usual components typical for a diode-pumped, solid-state laser, yet must each go through their own individual process of specification, modeling, performance demonstration, inspection, and destructive testing. These qualification processes and results for the laser crystals, laser diode arrays, electro-optics, and optics, will be reviewed as well as the relevant critical issues encountered, prior to their installation in the GEDI flight laser units.

Fluid and electrolyte control systems in the human body: A study report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, R. J.

1973-01-01

Research in the area of modeling of the fluid and electrolyte system is briefly reviewed and a model of this system, which is adequate for a basic description of the requisite physiological processes, is presented. The use of this model as an individual subsystem model and as a component of a more complete human model is discussed.

Oceanographic scanner system design study, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The design is reported of a dual mode multispectral scanner, capable of satisfying both overland and oceanographic requirements. A complete system description and performance summary of the scanner are given. In addition, subsystem and component descriptions and performance analyses are treated in individual sections. The design of the scanner, with minimum modifications, interfaces to the ERTS spacecraft and the ground data handling system.

A Bayes network approach to uncertainty quantification in hierarchically developed computational models

DOE PAGES

Urbina, Angel; Mahadevan, Sankaran; Paez, Thomas L.

2012-03-01

Here, performance assessment of complex systems is ideally accomplished through system-level testing, but because they are expensive, such tests are seldom performed. On the other hand, for economic reasons, data from tests on individual components that are parts of complex systems are more readily available. The lack of system-level data leads to a need to build computational models of systems and use them for performance prediction in lieu of experiments. Because their complexity, models are sometimes built in a hierarchical manner, starting with simple components, progressing to collections of components, and finally, to the full system. Quantification of uncertainty inmore » the predicted response of a system model is required in order to establish confidence in the representation of actual system behavior. This paper proposes a framework for the complex, but very practical problem of quantification of uncertainty in system-level model predictions. It is based on Bayes networks and uses the available data at multiple levels of complexity (i.e., components, subsystem, etc.). Because epistemic sources of uncertainty were shown to be secondary, in this application, aleatoric only uncertainty is included in the present uncertainty quantification. An example showing application of the techniques to uncertainty quantification of measures of response of a real, complex aerospace system is included.« less

Going in Cycles: Courseware and Material Development for Written Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schulze, Mathias; Liebscher, Grit

2010-01-01

The development of both the materials for an intermediate-level hybrid German writing course and the software in a virtual learning environment for the course may be viewed as activity systems. Viewing the individual components of each system as interrelated enables us to conceptualize the complexities of the development process, which goes well…

The Personalized System of Instruction in Fitness Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colquitt, Gavin; Pritchard, Tony; McCollum, Starla

2011-01-01

Fitness education is an important component in the promotion of health-enhancing behaviors that lead to physically active lifestyles. However, using a teacher-centered approach to teach fitness may be boring and may limit the application of the content to the individual student. The personalized system of instruction (PSI) is an instructional…

Quantitative Synthesis and Component Analysis of Single-Participant Studies on the Picture Exchange Communication System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tincani, Matt; Devis, Kathryn

2011-01-01

The "Picture Exchange Communication System" (PECS) has emerged as the augmentative communication intervention of choice for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a supporting body of single-participant studies. This report describes a meta-analysis of 16 single-participant studies on PECS with percentage of nonoverlapping data…

User's guide to the Reliability Estimation System Testbed (REST)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicol, David M.; Palumbo, Daniel L.; Rifkin, Adam

1992-01-01

The Reliability Estimation System Testbed is an X-window based reliability modeling tool that was created to explore the use of the Reliability Modeling Language (RML). RML was defined to support several reliability analysis techniques including modularization, graphical representation, Failure Mode Effects Simulation (FMES), and parallel processing. These techniques are most useful in modeling large systems. Using modularization, an analyst can create reliability models for individual system components. The modules can be tested separately and then combined to compute the total system reliability. Because a one-to-one relationship can be established between system components and the reliability modules, a graphical user interface may be used to describe the system model. RML was designed to permit message passing between modules. This feature enables reliability modeling based on a run time simulation of the system wide effects of a component's failure modes. The use of failure modes effects simulation enhances the analyst's ability to correctly express system behavior when using the modularization approach to reliability modeling. To alleviate the computation bottleneck often found in large reliability models, REST was designed to take advantage of parallel processing on hypercube processors.

Precision Orbit of δ Delphini and Prospects for Astrometric Detection of Exoplanets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gardner, Tyler; Monnier, John D.; Fekel, Francis C.; Williamson, Mike; Duncan, Douglas K.; White, Timothy R.; Ireland, Michael; Adams, Fred C.; Barman, Travis; Baron, Fabien; ten Brummelaar, Theo; Che, Xiao; Huber, Daniel; Kraus, Stefan; Roettenbacher, Rachael M.; Schaefer, Gail; Sturmann, Judit; Sturmann, Laszlo; Swihart, Samuel J.; Zhao, Ming

2018-03-01

Combining visual and spectroscopic orbits of binary stars leads to a determination of the full 3D orbit, individual masses, and distance to the system. We present a full analysis of the evolved binary system δ Delphini using astrometric data from the MIRC and PAVO instruments on the CHARA long-baseline interferometer, 97 new spectra from the Fairborn Observatory, and 87 unpublished spectra from the Lick Observatory. We determine the full set of orbital elements for δ Del, along with masses of 1.78 ± 0.07 M ⊙ and 1.62 ± 0.07 M ⊙ for each component, and a distance of 63.61 ± 0.89 pc. These results are important in two contexts: for testing stellar evolution models and for defining the detection capabilities for future planet searches. We find that the evolutionary state of this system is puzzling, as our measured flux ratios, radii, and masses imply a ∼200 Myr age difference between the components, using standard stellar evolution models. Possible explanations for this age discrepancy include mass transfer scenarios with a now-ejected tertiary companion. For individual measurements taken over a span of two years, we achieve <10 μas precision on the differential position with 10 minute observations. The high precision of our astrometric orbit suggests that exoplanet detection capabilities are within reach of MIRC at CHARA. We compute exoplanet detection limits around δ Del and conclude that, if this precision is extended to wider systems, we should be able to detect most exoplanets >2 M J on orbits >0.75 au around individual components of hot binary stars via differential astrometry.

A Framework for Integrated Component and System Analyses of Instabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahuja, Vineet; Erwin, James; Arunajatesan, Srinivasan; Cattafesta, Lou; Liu, Fei

2010-01-01

Instabilities associated with fluid handling and operation in liquid rocket propulsion systems and test facilities usually manifest themselves as structural vibrations or some form of structural damage. While the source of the instability is directly related to the performance of a component such as a turbopump, valve or a flow control element, the associated pressure fluctuations as they propagate through the system have the potential to amplify and resonate with natural modes of the structural elements and components of the system. In this paper, the authors have developed an innovative multi-level approach that involves analysis at the component and systems level. The primary source of the unsteadiness is modeled with a high-fidelity hybrid RANS/LES based CFD methodology that has been previously used to study instabilities in feed systems. This high fidelity approach is used to quantify the instability and understand the physics associated with the instability. System response to the driving instability is determined through a transfer matrix approach wherein the incoming and outgoing pressure and velocity fluctuations are related through a transfer (or transmission) matrix. The coefficients of the transfer matrix for each component (i.e. valve, pipe, orifice etc.) are individually derived from the flow physics associated with the component. A demonstration case representing a test loop/test facility comprised of a network of elements is constructed with the transfer matrix approach and the amplification of modes analyzed as the instability propagates through the test loop.

The NuMI neutrino beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adamson, P.; Anderson, K.; Andrews, M.; Andrews, R.; Anghel, I.; Augustine, D.; Aurisano, A.; Avvakumov, S.; Ayres, D. S.; Baller, B.; Barish, B.; Barr, G.; Barrett, W. L.; Bernstein, R. H.; Biggs, J.; Bishai, M.; Blake, A.; Bocean, V.; Bock, G. J.; Boehnlein, D. J.; Bogert, D.; Bourkland, K.; Cao, S. V.; Castromonte, C. M.; Childress, S.; Choudhary, B. C.; Coelho, J. A. B.; Cobb, J. H.; Corwin, L.; Crane, D.; Cravens, J. P.; Cronin-Hennessy, D.; Ducar, R. J.; De Jong, J. K.; Devan, A. V.; Devenish, N. E.; Diwan, M. V.; Erwin, A. R.; Escobar, C. O.; Evans, J. J.; Falk, E.; Feldman, G. J.; Fields, T. H.; Ford, R.; Frohne, M. V.; Gallagher, H. R.; Garkusha, V.; Gomes, R. A.; Goodman, M. C.; Gouffon, P.; Graf, N.; Gran, R.; Grossman, N.; Grzelak, K.; Habig, A.; Hahn, S. R.; Harding, D.; Harris, D.; Harris, P. G.; Hartnell, J.; Hatcher, R.; Hays, S.; Heller, K.; Holin, A.; Huang, J.; Hylen, J.; Ibrahim, A.; Indurthy, D.; Irwin, G. M.; Isvan, Z.; Jaffe, D. E.; James, C.; Jensen, D.; Johnstone, J.; Kafka, T.; Kasahara, S. M. S.; Koizumi, G.; Kopp, S.; Kordosky, M.; Kreymer, A.; Lang, K.; Laughton, C.; Lefeuvre, G.; Ling, J.; Litchfield, P. J.; Loiacono, L.; Lucas, P.; Mann, W. A.; Marchionni, A.; Marshak, M. L.; Mayer, N.; McGivern, C.; Medeiros, M. M.; Mehdiyev, R.; Meier, J. R.; Messier, M. D.; Michael, D. G.; Milburn, R. H.; Miller, J. L.; Miller, W. H.; Mishra, S. R.; Moed Sher, S.; Moore, C. D.; Morfín, J.; Mualem, L.; Mufson, S.; Murgia, S.; Murtagh, M.; Musser, J.; Naples, D.; Nelson, J. K.; Newman, H. B.; Nichol, R. J.; Nowak, J. A.; O`Connor, J.; Oliver, W. P.; Olsen, M.; Orchanian, M.; Osprey, S.; Pahlka, R. B.; Paley, J.; Para, A.; Patterson, R. B.; Patzak, T.; Pavlović, Ž.; Pawloski, G.; Perch, A.; Peterson, E. A.; Petyt, D. A.; Pfützner, M. M.; Phan-Budd, S.; Plunkett, R. K.; Poonthottathil, N.; Prieto, P.; Pushka, D.; Qiu, X.; Radovic, A.; Rameika, R. A.; Ratchford, J.; Rebel, B.; Reilly, R.; Rosenfeld, C.; Rubin, H. A.; Ruddick, K.; Sanchez, M. C.; Saoulidou, N.; Sauer, L.; Schneps, J.; Schoo, D.; Schreckenberger, A.; Schreiner, P.; Shanahan, P.; Sharma, R.; Smart, W.; Smith, C.; Sousa, A.; Stefanik, A.; Tagg, N.; Talaga, R. L.; Tassotto, G.; Thomas, J.; Thompson, J.; Thomson, M. A.; Tian, X.; Timmons, A.; Tinsley, D.; Tognini, S. C.; Toner, R.; Torretta, D.; Trostin, I.; Tzanakos, G.; Urheim, J.; Vahle, P.; Vaziri, K.; Villegas, E.; Viren, B.; Vogel, G.; Webber, R. C.; Weber, A.; Webb, R. C.; Wehmann, A.; White, C.; Whitehead, L.; Whitehead, L. H.; Wojcicki, S. G.; Wong-Squires, M. L.; Yang, T.; Yumiceva, F. X.; Zarucheisky, V.; Zwaska, R.

2016-01-01

This paper describes the hardware and operations of the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam at Fermilab. It elaborates on the design considerations for the beam as a whole and for individual elements. The most important design details of individual components are described. Beam monitoring systems and procedures, including the tuning and alignment of the beam and NuMI long-term performance, are also discussed.

Battle Damage Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-01

has been an increasing move towards armor systems which are both structural and protection components at the same time. Analysis of material response...the materials can move. As the FE analysis progresses the component will move while the mesh remains motionless (Figure 4). Individual nodes and cells...this parameter. This subroutine needs many inputs, such as the speed of sound in the material , the FE size mesh and the safety factor, which prevents

LABCON - Laboratory Job Control program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reams, L. T.

1969-01-01

Computer program LABCON controls the budget system in a component test laboratory whose workload is made up from many individual budget allocations. A common denominator is applied to an incoming job, to which all effort is charged and accounted for.

A Stakeholder-Based System Dynamics Model of Return-to-Work: A Research Protocol.

PubMed

Jetha, Arif; Pransky, Glenn; Fish, Jon; Jeffries, Susan; Hettinger, Lawrence J

2015-07-16

Returning to work following a job-related injury or illness can be a complex process, influenced by a range of interrelated personal, psychosocial, and organizational components. System dynamics modelling (SDM) takes a sociotechnical systems perspective to view return-to-work (RTW) as a system made up of multiple feedback relationships between influential components. To build the RTW SDM, a mixed-method approach will be used. The first stage, that has already been completed, involved creating a baseline model using key informant interviews. Second, in two manufacturing companies, stakeholder-based models will be developed through interviews and focus groups with senior management, frontline workers, and frontline supervisors. Participants will be asked about the RTW process in general and more targeted questions regarding influential components. Participants will also be led through a reference mode exercise where they will be asked to estimate the direction, shape and magnitude of relationships between influential components. Data will be entered into the software program Vensim that provides a platform for visualizing system-structure and simulating the effects of adapting components. Finally, preliminary model validity testing will be conducted to provide insights on model generalizability and sensitivity. The proposed methodology will create a SDM of the RTW process using feedback relationships of influential components. It will also provide an important simulation tool to understand system behaviour that underlies complex RTW cases, and examine anticipated and unanticipated consequences of disability management policies. Significance for public healthWhile the incidence of occupational injuries and illnesses has declined over the past two decades, the proportion resulting in sickness absence has actually increased. Implementing strategies to address sickness absences and promote return-to-work (RTW) can significantly benefit physical and mental health, and work outcomes like worker engagement, job satisfaction and job strain. As a key social determinant of health, participation in paid work can also ensure that work-disabled individuals generate income necessary for access to housing, education, food, and social services that also benefit health. Improving RTW outcomes can also have significant societal benefits such as a reduction in workers compensation costs, increased economic activity and less burden on social assistance programs. Despite its benefits, returning to work after injury or illness is not a straightforward process and can be complicated by the individual, psychosocial, organizational and regulatory components that influence a disabled person's ability to resume work activities.

C1q complement component and -antibodies reflect SLE activity and kidney involvement.

PubMed

Horák, P; Hermanová, Z; Zadrazil, J; Ciferská, H; Ordeltová, M; Kusá, L; Zurek, M; Tichý, T

2006-07-01

The role of the complement system in the pathogenesis of systemic diseases is very ambivalent. In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), many abnormalities in the activation of the complement system have been reported. The most important antibodies formed against the complement system in SLE are the ones associated with the C1q component. The aim of this study was to assess separately the anti-C1q antibodies and C1q component in the serum from 65 patients with SLE, then in individuals with (n=33) and without (n=32) lupus nephritis and with active (n=36) and nonactive (n=29) form of the disease (European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement, ECLAM>3, ECLAM

Optical Amplifier Based Space Solar Power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fork, Richard L.

2001-01-01

The objective was to design a safe optical power beaming system for use in space. Research was focused on identification of strategies and structures that would enable achievement near diffraction limited optical beam quality, highly efficient electrical to optical conversion, and high average power in combination in a single system. Efforts centered on producing high efficiency, low mass of the overall system, low operating temperature, precision pointing and tracking capability, compatibility with useful satellite orbits, component and system reliability, and long component and system life in space. A system based on increasing the power handled by each individual module to an optimum and the number of modules in the complete structure was planned. We were concerned with identifying the most economical and rapid path to commercially viable safe space solar power.

Quantification of Degeneracy in Biological Systems for Characterization of Functional Interactions Between Modules

PubMed Central

Li, Yao; Dwivedi, Gaurav; Huang, Wen; Yi, Yingfei

2012-01-01

There is an evolutionary advantage in having multiple components with overlapping functionality (i.e degeneracy) in organisms. While theoretical considerations of degeneracy have been well established in neural networks using information theory, the same concepts have not been developed for differential systems, which form the basis of many biochemical reaction network descriptions in systems biology. Here we establish mathematical definitions of degeneracy, complexity and robustness that allow for the quantification of these properties in a system. By exciting a dynamical system with noise, the mutual information associated with a selected observable output and the interacting subspaces of input components can be used to define both complexity and degeneracy. The calculation of degeneracy in a biological network is a useful metric for evaluating features such as the sensitivity of a biological network to environmental evolutionary pressure. Using a two-receptor signal transduction network, we find that redundant components will not yield high degeneracy whereas compensatory mechanisms established by pathway crosstalk will. This form of analysis permits interrogation of large-scale differential systems for non-identical, functionally equivalent features that have evolved to maintain homeostasis during disruption of individual components. PMID:22619750

Fundamental Stellar Parameters with HST/FGS Dynamical Masses and HST/STIS Spectroscopy of M Dwarf Binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dieterich, Sergio; Henry, Todd J.; Benedict, George Fritz; Jao, Wei-Chun; White, Russel; RECONS Team

2017-01-01

Mass is the most fundamental stellar parameter, and yet model independent dynamical masses can only be obtained for a small subset of closely separated binaries. The high angular resolution needed to characterize individual components of those systems means that little is known about the details of their atmospheric properties. We discuss the results of HST/STIS observations yielding spatially resolved optical spectra for six closely separated M dwarf systems, all of which have HST/FGS precision dynamical masses for the individual components ranging from 0.4 to 0.076 MSol. We assume coevality and equal metallicity for the components of each system and use those constraints to perform stringent tests of the leading atmospheric and evolutionary model families throughout the M dwarf mass range. We find the latest models to be in good agreement with observations. We discuss specific spectral diagnostic features such as the well-known gravity sensitive Na and K lines and address ways to break the temperature-metallicity-gravity degeneracy that often hinders the interpretation of these features. We single out a comparison between the systems GJ 469 AB and G 250-29 AB, which have nearly identical mass configurations but different metallicities, thus causing marked differences in atmospheric properties and overall luminosities.This work is funded by NASA grant HST-GO-12938. and By the NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship program through NSF grant AST-1400680.

Public health preparedness in Alberta: a systems-level study.

PubMed

Moore, Douglas; Shiell, Alan; Noseworthy, Tom; Russell, Margaret; Predy, Gerald

2006-12-28

Recent international and national events have brought critical attention to the Canadian public health system and how prepared the system is to respond to various types of contemporary public health threats. This article describes the study design and methods being used to conduct a systems-level analysis of public health preparedness in the province of Alberta, Canada. The project is being funded under the Health Research Fund, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. We use an embedded, multiple-case study design, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods to measure empirically the degree of inter-organizational coordination existing among public health agencies in Alberta, Canada. We situate our measures of inter-organizational network ties within a systems-level framework to assess the relative influence of inter-organizational ties, individual organizational attributes, and institutional environmental features on public health preparedness. The relative contribution of each component is examined for two potential public health threats: pandemic influenza and West Nile virus. The organizational dimensions of public health preparedness depend on a complex mix of individual organizational characteristics, inter-agency relationships, and institutional environmental factors. Our study is designed to discriminate among these different system components and assess the independent influence of each on the other, as well as the overall level of public health preparedness in Alberta. While all agree that competent organizations and functioning networks are important components of public health preparedness, this study is one of the first to use formal network analysis to study the role of inter-agency networks in the development of prepared public health systems.

Major component analysis of dynamic networks of physiologic organ interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Kang K. L.; Bartsch, Ronny P.; Ma, Qianli D. Y.; Ivanov, Plamen Ch

2015-09-01

The human organism is a complex network of interconnected organ systems, where the behavior of one system affects the dynamics of other systems. Identifying and quantifying dynamical networks of diverse physiologic systems under varied conditions is a challenge due to the complexity in the output dynamics of the individual systems and the transient and nonlinear characteristics of their coupling. We introduce a novel computational method based on the concept of time delay stability and major component analysis to investigate how organ systems interact as a network to coordinate their functions. We analyze a large database of continuously recorded multi-channel physiologic signals from healthy young subjects during night-time sleep. We identify a network of dynamic interactions between key physiologic systems in the human organism. Further, we find that each physiologic state is characterized by a distinct network structure with different relative contribution from individual organ systems to the global network dynamics. Specifically, we observe a gradual decrease in the strength of coupling of heart and respiration to the rest of the network with transition from wake to deep sleep, and in contrast, an increased relative contribution to network dynamics from chin and leg muscle tone and eye movement, demonstrating a robust association between network topology and physiologic function.

A Universal Definition of Life: Autonomy and Open-Ended Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz-Mirazo, Kepa; Peretó, Juli; Moreno, Alvaro

2004-06-01

Life is a complex phenomenon that not only requires individual self-producing and self-sustaining systems but also a historical-collective organization of those individual systems, which brings about characteristic evolutionary dynamics. On these lines, we propose to define universally living beings as autonomous systems with open-ended evolution capacities, and we claim that all such systems must have a semi-permeable active boundary (membrane), an energy transduction apparatus (set of energy currencies) and, at least, two types of functionally interdependent macromolecular components (catalysts and records). The latter is required to articulate a `phenotype-genotype' decoupling that leads to a scenario where the global network of autonomous systems allows for an open-ended increase in the complexity of the individual agents. Thus, the basic-individual organization of biological systems depends critically on being instructed by patterns (informational records) whose generation and reliable transmission cannot be explained but take into account the complete historical network of relationships among those systems. We conclude that a proper definition of life should consider both levels, individual and collective: living systems cannot be fully constituted without being part of the evolutionary process of a whole ecosystem. Finally, we also discuss a few practical implications of the definition for different programs of research.

Comparison and Assessment of Three Advanced Land Surface Models in Simulating Terrestrial Water Storage Components over the United States

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

Xia, Youlong; Mocko, David; Huang, Maoyi

2017-03-01

In preparation for next generation North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS), 3 three advanced land surface models (CLM4.0, Noah-MP, and CLSM-F2.5) were run from 1979 4 to 2014 within the NLDAS-based framework. Monthly total water storage anomaly (TWSA) and 5 its individual water storage components were evaluated against satellite-based and in situ 6 observations, and reference reanalysis products at basin-wide and statewide scales. In general, all 7 three models are able to reasonably capture the monthly and interannual variability and 8 magnitudes for TWSA. However, contributions of the anomalies of individual water 9 components to TWSA are very dependentmore » on the model and basin. A major contributor to the 10 TWSA is the anomaly of total column soil moisture content (SMCA) for CLM4.0 and Noah-MP 11 or groundwater storage anomaly (GWSA) for CLSM-F2.5 although other components such as 12 the anomaly of snow water equivalent (SWEA) also play some role. For each individual water 13 storage component, the models are able to capture broad features such as monthly and 14 interannual variability. However, there are large inter-model differences and quantitative 15 uncertainties in this study. Therefore, it should be thought of as a preliminary synthesis and 16 analysis.« less

Polymer materials and component evaluation in acidic-radiation environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celina, M.; Gillen, K. T.; Malone, G. M.; Clough, R. L.; Nelson, W. H.

2001-07-01

Polymeric materials used for cable/wire insulation, electrical connectors, O-rings, seals, and in critical components such as motors, level switches and resistive thermo-devices were evaluated under accelerated degradation conditions in combined radiation-oxidative elevated-temperature acidic-vapor (nitric/oxalic) environments relevant to conditions in isotope processing facilities. Experiments included the assessment of individual materials such as PEEK, polyimides, polyolefin based cable insulation, EPDM rubbers, various epoxy systems, commercial caulking materials as well as some functional testing of components. We discuss how to conduct laboratory experiments to simulate such complex hostile environments, describe some degradation effects encountered, and evaluate the impact on appropriate material and component selection.

NASIS data base management system - IBM 360/370 OS MVT implementation. 2: Overviews

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The systems overviews of the NASA Aerospace Safety Information System (NASIS) are presented. The overviews are directed toward informing management of a system's capabilities and requirements. The intent of the overviews is to introduce the system features to interested individuals. Each overview contains a description of the component's activities and roles in the overall system. The description includes charts and diagrams and a discussion of the performance requirements and growth potential of the module.

Team Synergies in Sport: Theory and Measures

PubMed Central

Araújo, Duarte; Davids, Keith

2016-01-01

Individual players act as a coherent unit during team sports performance, forming a team synergy. A synergy is a collective property of a task-specific organization of individuals, such that the degrees of freedom of each individual in the system are coupled, enabling the degrees of freedom of different individuals to co-regulate each other. Here, we present an explanation for the emergence of such collective behaviors, indicating how these can be assessed and understood through the measurement of key system properties that exist, considering the contribution of each individual and beyond These include: to (i) dimensional compression, a process resulting in independent degree of freedom being coupled so that the synergy has fewer degrees of freedom than the set of components from which it arises; (ii) reciprocal compensation, if one element do not produce its function, other elements should display changes in their contributions so that task goals are still attained; (iii) interpersonal linkages, the specific contribution of each element to a group task; and (iv), degeneracy, structurally different components performing a similar, but not necessarily identical, function with respect to context. A primary goal of our analysis is to highlight the principles and tools required to understand coherent and dynamic team behaviors, as well as the performance conditions that make such team synergies possible, through perceptual attunement to shared affordances in individual performers. A key conclusion is that teams can be trained to perceive how to use and share specific affordances, explaining how individual’s behaviors self-organize into a group synergy. Ecological dynamics explanations of team behaviors can transit beyond mere ratification of sport performance, providing a comprehensive conceptual framework to guide the implementation of diagnostic measures by sport scientists, sport psychologists and performance analysts. Complex adaptive systems, synergies, group behaviors, team sport performance, ecological dynamics, performance analysis. PMID:27708609

Robustness mechanisms in primate societies: a perturbation study

PubMed Central

Flack, Jessica C; Krakauer, David C; de Waal, Frans B. M

2005-01-01

Conflict management mechanisms have a direct, critical effect on system robustness because they mitigate conflict intensity and help repair damaged relationships. However, robustness mechanisms can also have indirect effects on system integrity by facilitating interactions among components. We explore the indirect role that conflict management mechanisms play in the maintenance of social system robustness, using a perturbation technique to ‘knockout’ components responsible for effective conflict management. We explore the effects of knockout on pigtailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) social organization, using a captive group of 84 individuals. This system is ideal in addressing this question because there is heterogeneity in performance of conflict management. Consequently, conflict managers can be easily removed without disrupting other control structures. We find that powerful conflict managers are essential in maintaining social order for the benefit of all members of society. We show that knockout of components responsible for conflict management results in system destabilization by significantly increasing mean levels of conflict and aggression, decreasing socio-positive interaction and decreasing the operation of repair mechanisms. PMID:16024369

Robust encoding of stimulus identity and concentration in the accessory olfactory system.

PubMed

Arnson, Hannah A; Holy, Timothy E

2013-08-14

Sensory systems represent stimulus identity and intensity, but in the neural periphery these two variables are typically intertwined. Moreover, stable detection may be complicated by environmental uncertainty; stimulus properties can differ over time and circumstance in ways that are not necessarily biologically relevant. We explored these issues in the context of the mouse accessory olfactory system, which specializes in detection of chemical social cues and infers myriad aspects of the identity and physiological state of conspecifics from complex mixtures, such as urine. Using mixtures of sulfated steroids, key constituents of urine, we found that spiking responses of individual vomeronasal sensory neurons encode both individual compounds and mixtures in a manner consistent with a simple model of receptor-ligand interactions. Although typical neurons did not accurately encode concentration over a large dynamic range, from population activity it was possible to reliably estimate the log-concentration of pure compounds over several orders of magnitude. For binary mixtures, simple models failed to accurately segment the individual components, largely because of the prevalence of neurons responsive to both components. By accounting for such overlaps during model tuning, we show that, from neuronal firing, one can accurately estimate log-concentration of both components, even when tested across widely varying concentrations. With this foundation, the difference of logarithms, log A - log B = log A/B, provides a natural mechanism to accurately estimate concentration ratios. Thus, we show that a biophysically plausible circuit model can reconstruct concentration ratios from observed neuronal firing, representing a powerful mechanism to separate stimulus identity from absolute concentration.

Reliable and Affordable Control Systems Active Combustor Pattern Factor Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCarty, Bob; Tomondi, Chris; McGinley, Ray

2004-01-01

Active, closed-loop control of combustor pattern factor is a cooperative effort between Honeywell (formerly AlliedSignal) Engines and Systems and the NASA Glenn Research Center to reduce emissions and turbine-stator vane temperature variations, thereby enhancing engine performance and life, and reducing direct operating costs. Total fuel flow supplied to the engine is established by the speed/power control, but the distribution to individual atomizers will be controlled by the Active Combustor Pattern Factor Control (ACPFC). This system consist of three major components: multiple, thin-film sensors located on the turbine-stator vanes; fuel-flow modulators for individual atomizers; and control logic and algorithms within the electronic control.

Social knowledge and the construction of drinking water preference.

PubMed

Soares, Ana Carolina Cordeiro; Carmo, Rose Ferraz; Bevilacqua, Paula Dias

2017-10-01

The analytical categories of Health Surveillance territorialization and daily life guided the design of this study, which aimed to understand from the methodological framework of qualitative research the factors involved in the use of individual supply solutions (ISS) as drinking water sources. We conducted semi-structured interviews with residents of 22 households set at a municipality in the Zona da Mata Mineira. Statements were fully transcribed, processed through content analysis and interpreted based on the psychosocial theory of social representations. It was possible to apprehend the social and affective components of social representations. The social component characterized by the representation of water from IWSS ISS water as clean and of good quality seemed to drive or justify the "resistance" of individuals to use water from public supply. The affective component referred to the use of IWSS water from ISS as a return to and protection of individuals' origins, a way to strengthen respondents' identity. The results pointed out that people's perceptions and demands might guide actions aimed to stimulate trust in the use of public system water and the choice of this source of supply, contributing to health protection.

A System for the Individualization and Optimization of Learning Through Computer Management of the Educational Process. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schure, Alexander

A computer-based system model for the monitoring and management of the instructional process was conceived, developed and refined through the techniques of systems analysis. This report describes the various aspects and components of this project in a series of independent and self-contained units. The first unit provides an overview of the entire…

Research Notes -- Openness and Evolvability -- Legal Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-01

certain they have sufficient legal access to essential IP in order to ensure future independent maintenance and evolution of the system . If the...communications requirements legally enforceable? One of the goals of an open system is to enable individual granules to be developed by different...must remain legally bound to meet all requirements at least until the component has been successfully integrated into the overall system . Determine

Effect of high-frequency spectral components in computer recognition of dysarthric speech based on a Mel-cepstral stochastic model.

PubMed

Polur, Prasad D; Miller, Gerald E

2005-01-01

Computer speech recognition of individuals with dysarthria, such as cerebral palsy patients, requires a robust technique that can handle conditions of very high variability and limited training data. In this study, a hidden Markov model (HMM) was constructed and conditions investigated that would provide improved performance for a dysarthric speech (isolated word) recognition system intended to act as an assistive/control tool. In particular, we investigated the effect of high-frequency spectral components on the recognition rate of the system to determine if they contributed useful additional information to the system. A small-size vocabulary spoken by three cerebral palsy subjects was chosen. Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients extracted with the use of 15 ms frames served as training input to an ergodic HMM setup. Subsequent results demonstrated that no significant useful information was available to the system for enhancing its ability to discriminate dysarthric speech above 5.5 kHz in the current set of dysarthric data. The level of variability in input dysarthric speech patterns limits the reliability of the system. However, its application as a rehabilitation/control tool to assist dysarthric motor-impaired individuals such as cerebral palsy subjects holds sufficient promise.

Modes of Interaction between Individuals Dominate the Topologies of Real World Networks

PubMed Central

Lee, Insuk; Kim, Eiru; Marcotte, Edward M.

2015-01-01

We find that the topologies of real world networks, such as those formed within human societies, by the Internet, or among cellular proteins, are dominated by the mode of the interactions considered among the individuals. Specifically, a major dichotomy in previously studied networks arises from modeling networks in terms of pairwise versus group tasks. The former often intrinsically give rise to scale-free, disassortative, hierarchical networks, whereas the latter often give rise to single- or broad-scale, assortative, nonhierarchical networks. These dependencies explain contrasting observations among previous topological analyses of real world complex systems. We also observe this trend in systems with natural hierarchies, in which alternate representations of the same networks, but which capture different levels of the hierarchy, manifest these signature topological differences. For example, in both the Internet and cellular proteomes, networks of lower-level system components (routers within domains or proteins within biological processes) are assortative and nonhierarchical, whereas networks of upper-level system components (internet domains or biological processes) are disassortative and hierarchical. Our results demonstrate that network topologies of complex systems must be interpreted in light of their hierarchical natures and interaction types. PMID:25793969

a New Architecture for Intelligent Systems with Logic Based Languages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, K. K.; Saini, Sanju

2008-10-01

People communicate with each other in sentences that incorporate two kinds of information: propositions about some subject, and metalevel speech acts that specify how the propositional information is used—as an assertion, a command, a question, or a promise. By means of speech acts, a group of people who have different areas of expertise can cooperate and dynamically reconfigure their social interactions to perform tasks and solve problems that would be difficult or impossible for any single individual. This paper proposes a framework for intelligent systems that consist of a variety of specialized components together with logic-based languages that can express propositions and speech acts about those propositions. The result is a system with a dynamically changing architecture that can be reconfigured in various ways: by a human knowledge engineer who specifies a script of speech acts that determine how the components interact; by a planning component that generates the speech acts to redirect the other components; or by a committee of components, which might include human assistants, whose speech acts serve to redirect one another. The components communicate by sending messages to a Linda-like blackboard, in which components accept messages that are either directed to them or that they consider themselves competent to handle.

Effectiveness of Online Advising on Honors Student Retention and Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VanDieren, Monica

2016-01-01

Academic advising is an important component of a student's education, and more often universities are turning to technology to aid in this task. This paper presents a case study of an online advising system that complements a university degree audit system by providing honors students and advisors up-to-date details on individual progress towards…

Scientific Models Help Students Understand the Water Cycle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forbes, Cory; Vo, Tina; Zangori, Laura; Schwarz, Christina

2015-01-01

The water cycle is a large, complex system that encompasses ideas across the K-12 science curriculum. By the time students leave fifth grade, they should understand "that a system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual parts cannot" and be able to describe both components and processes…

76 FR 4458 - Privacy Act of 1974; Report of Modified or Altered System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-25

..., any component of the Department, or any employee of the Department in his or her official capacity; (b... or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice has agreed to represent such employee, for... computer room is protected by an automatic sprinkler system, numerous automatic sensors (e.g., water, heat...

Tailoring Software for Multiple Processor Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-10-01

resource management decisions . Despite the lack of programming support, the use of multiple processor systems has grown sub- -stantially. Software has...making resource management decisions . Specifically, program- 1 mers need not allocate specific hardware resources to individual program components...Instead, such allocation decisions are automatically made based on high-level resource directives stated by ap- plication programmers, where each directive

Swatch Testing at Elevated Wind Speeds

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-17

closures, for improved system performance. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Swatch Testing; Individual Protective Equipment (IPE) 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION...new wind tunnel swatch technique allows the systematic testing IPE components, such as fasteners, seams, and closures, for improved system...protective overgarment) achieve this isolation by sealing users in a chemically impermeable garment . Heat stress becomes a major problem with this

Principal Component Analysis for Enhancement of Infrared Spectra Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haney, Ricky Lance

The issue of air quality within the aircraft cabin is receiving increasing attention from both pilot and flight attendant unions. This is due to exposure events caused by poor air quality that in some cases may have contained toxic oil components due to bleed air that flows from outside the aircraft and then through the engines into the aircraft cabin. Significant short and long-term medical issues for aircraft crew have been attributed to exposure. The need for air quality monitoring is especially evident in the fact that currently within an aircraft there are no sensors to monitor the air quality and potentially harmful gas levels (detect-to-warn sensors), much less systems to monitor and purify the air (detect-to-treat sensors) within the aircraft cabin. The specific purpose of this research is to utilize a mathematical technique called principal component analysis (PCA) in conjunction with principal component regression (PCR) and proportionality constant calculations (PCC) to simplify complex, multi-component infrared (IR) spectra data sets into a reduced data set used for determination of the concentrations of the individual components. Use of PCA can significantly simplify data analysis as well as improve the ability to determine concentrations of individual target species in gas mixtures where significant band overlap occurs in the IR spectrum region. Application of this analytical numerical technique to IR spectrum analysis is important in improving performance of commercial sensors that airlines and aircraft manufacturers could potentially use in an aircraft cabin environment for multi-gas component monitoring. The approach of this research is two-fold, consisting of a PCA application to compare simulation and experimental results with the corresponding PCR and PCC to determine quantitatively the component concentrations within a mixture. The experimental data sets consist of both two and three component systems that could potentially be present as air contaminants in an aircraft cabin. In addition, experimental data sets are analyzed for a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) aqueous solution mixture to determine H2O2 concentrations at various levels that could be produced during use of a vapor phase hydrogen peroxide (VPHP) decontamination system. After the PCA application to two and three component systems, the analysis technique is further expanded to include the monitoring of potential bleed air contaminants from engine oil combustion. Simulation data sets created from database spectra were utilized to predict gas components and concentrations in unknown engine oil samples at high temperatures as well as time-evolved gases from the heating of engine oils.

Role of Components in the Formation of Self-microemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems.

PubMed

Gurram, A K; Deshpande, P B; Kar, S S; Nayak, Usha Y; Udupa, N; Reddy, M S

2015-01-01

Pharmaceutical research is focused in designing novel drug delivery systems to improve the bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs. Self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems, one among the lipid-based dosage forms were proven to be promising in improving the oral bioavailability of such drugs by enhancing solubility, permeability and avoiding first-pass metabolism via enhanced lymphatic transport. Further, they have been successful in avoiding both inter and intra individual variations as well as the dose disproportionality. Aqueous insoluble drugs, in general, show greater solubility in lipid based excipients, and hence they are formulated as lipid based drug delivery systems. The extent of solubility of a hydrophobic drug in lipid excipients i.e. oil, surfactant and co-surfactant (components of self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems) greatly affects the drug loading and in producing stable self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems. The present review highlighted the influence of physicochemical factors and structural features of the hydrophobic drug on its solubility in lipid excipients and an attempt was made to explore the role of each component of self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems in the formation of stable microemulsion upon dilution.

Preliminary results of steady state characterization of near term electric vehicle breadboard propulsion system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sargent, N. B.

1980-01-01

The steady state test results on a breadboard version of the General Electric Near Term Electric Vehicle (ETV-1) are discussed. The breadboard was built using exact duplicate vehicle propulsion system components with few exceptions. Full instrumentation was provided to measure individual component efficiencies. Tests were conducted on a 50 hp dynamometer in a road load simulator facility. Characterization of the propulsion system over the lower half of the speed-torque operating range has shown the system efficiency to be composed of a predominant motor loss plus a speed dependent transaxle loss. At the lower speeds with normal road loads the armature chopper loss is also a significant factor. At the conditions corresponding to a cycle for which the vehicle system was specifically designed, the efficiencies are near optimum.

The NuMI neutrino beam

DOE PAGES

Adamson, P.; Anderson, K.; Andrews, M.; ...

2015-10-20

Our paper describes the hardware and operations of the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam at Fermilab. It elaborates on the design considerations for the beam as a whole and for individual elements. The most important part of our design details pertaining to individual components is described. Beam monitoring systems and procedures, including the tuning and alignment of the beam and NuMI long-term performance, are also discussed.

Cytomegalovirus infection enhances the immune response to influenza.

PubMed

Furman, David; Jojic, Vladimir; Sharma, Shalini; Shen-Orr, Shai S; Angel, Cesar J L; Onengut-Gumuscu, Suna; Kidd, Brian A; Maecker, Holden T; Concannon, Patrick; Dekker, Cornelia L; Thomas, Paul G; Davis, Mark M

2015-04-01

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a β-herpesvirus present in a latent form in most people worldwide. In immunosuppressed individuals, CMV can reactivate and cause serious clinical complications, but the effect of the latent state on healthy people remains elusive. We undertook a systems approach to understand the differences between seropositive and negative subjects and measured hundreds of immune system components from blood samples including cytokines and chemokines, immune cell phenotyping, gene expression, ex vivo cell responses to cytokine stimuli, and the antibody response to seasonal influenza vaccination. As expected, we found decreased responses to vaccination and an overall down-regulation of immune components in aged individuals regardless of CMV status. In contrast, CMV-seropositive young adults exhibited enhanced antibody responses to influenza vaccination, increased CD8(+) T cell sensitivity, and elevated levels of circulating interferon-γ compared to seronegative individuals. Experiments with young mice infected with murine CMV also showed significant protection from an influenza virus challenge compared with uninfected animals, although this effect declined with time. These data show that CMV and its murine equivalent can have a beneficial effect on the immune response of young, healthy individuals, which may explain the ubiquity of CMV infection in humans and many other species. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

How Does Adult Attachment Affect Human Recognition of Love-related and Sex-related Stimuli: An ERP Study.

PubMed

Hou, Juan; Chen, Xin; Liu, Jinqun; Yao, Fangshu; Huang, Jiani; Ndasauka, Yamikani; Ma, Ru; Zhang, Yuting; Lan, Jing; Liu, Lu; Fang, Xiaoyi

2016-01-01

In the present study, we investigated the relationship among three emotion-motivation systems (adult attachment, romantic love, and sex). We recorded event-related potentials in 37 healthy volunteers who had experienced romantic love while they viewed SEX, LOVE, FRIEND, SPORT, and NEUTRAL images. We also measured adult attachment styles, level of passionate love and sexual attitudes. As expected, results showed that, firstly, response to love-related image-stimuli and sex-related image-stimuli on the electrophysiological data significantly different on N1, N2, and positive slow wave (PSW) components. Secondly, the different adult attachment styles affected individuals' recognition processing in response to love-related and sex-related images, especially, to sex-related images. Further analysis showed that voltages elicited by fearful attachment style individuals were significantly lower than voltages elicited by secure and dismissing attachment style individuals on sex-related images at frontal sites, on N1 and N2 components. Thirdly, from behavior data, we found that adult attachment styles were not significantly related to any dimension of sexual attitudes but were significantly related to passionate love scale (PLS) total points. Thus, the behavior results were not in line with the electrophysiological results. The present study proved that adult attachment styles might mediate individuals' lust and attraction systems.

Direct measurements of the optical cross sections and refractive indices of individual volatile and hygroscopic aerosol particles.

PubMed

Mason, B J; Cotterell, M I; Preston, T C; Orr-Ewing, A J; Reid, J P

2015-06-04

We present measurements of the evolving extinction cross sections of individual aerosol particles (spanning 700-2500 nm in radius) during the evaporation of volatile components or hygroscopic growth using a combination of a single particle trap formed from a Bessel light beam and cavity ring-down spectroscopy. For single component organic aerosol droplets of 1,2,6-hexanetriol, polyethylene glycol 400, and glycerol, the slow evaporation of the organic component (over time scales of 1000 to 10,000 s) leads to a time-varying size and extinction cross section that can be used to estimate the refractive index of the droplet. Measurements on binary aqueous-inorganic aerosol droplets containing one of the inorganic solutes ammonium bisulfate, ammonium sulfate, sodium nitrate, or sodium chloride (over time scales of 1000 to 15,000 s) under conditions of changing relative humidity show that extinction cross-section measurements are consistent with expectations from accepted models for the variation in droplet refractive index with hygroscopic growth. In addition, we use these systems to establish an experimental protocol for future single particle extinction measurements. The advantages of mapping out the evolving light extinction cross-section of an individual particle over extended time frames accompanied by hygroscopic cycling or component evaporation are discussed.

A 20-channel magnetoencephalography system based on optically pumped magnetometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borna, Amir; Carter, Tony R.; Goldberg, Josh D.; Colombo, Anthony P.; Jau, Yuan-Yu; Berry, Christopher; McKay, Jim; Stephen, Julia; Weisend, Michael; Schwindt, Peter D. D.

2017-12-01

We describe a multichannel magnetoencephalography (MEG) system that uses optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) to sense the magnetic fields of the human brain. The system consists of an array of 20 OPM channels conforming to the human subject’s head, a person-sized magnetic shield containing the array and the human subject, a laser system to drive the OPM array, and various control and data acquisition systems. We conducted two MEG experiments: auditory evoked magnetic field and somatosensory evoked magnetic field, on three healthy male subjects, using both our OPM array and a 306-channel Elekta-Neuromag superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) MEG system. The described OPM array measures the tangential components of the magnetic field as opposed to the radial component measured by most SQUID-based MEG systems. Herein, we compare the results of the OPM- and SQUID-based MEG systems on the auditory and somatosensory data recorded in the same individuals on both systems.

The hemoglobin system of the primitive fish, Amia calva: isolation and functional characterization of the individual hemoglobin components.

PubMed

Weber, R E; Sullivan, B; Bonaventura, J; Bonaventura, C

1976-05-20

Blood from the primitive holostean fish, the bowfin, Amia calva, contains 2 mo of ATP per mol of hemoglobin. The hemolysates contain at least five tetrameric hemoglobin components which differ in their oxygen affinities and their response to cofactors such as ATP. The binding of oxygen by each chromatographically isolated component, including a cathodal component, is influenced by pH and organic phosphates; there is no significant differentiation of function or structure as seen in trout and certain other fish hemolysates. Kinetic analyses of ligand binding indicate that the Bohr and Root effects of Amia calva hemoglobins are best explained by changes in both the "on" and "off" constants. At low pH, the increase in the "off" constant is smaller than for most other Root hemoglobins. The hemoglobin system of Amina calva is functionally undifferentiated and may be representative of the ancestral condition in teleosts.

Microphone Array Phased Processing System (MAPPS): Version 4.0 Manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watts, Michael E.; Mosher, Marianne; Barnes, Michael; Bardina, Jorge

1999-01-01

A processing system has been developed to meet increasing demands for detailed noise measurement of individual model components. The Microphone Array Phased Processing System (MAPPS) uses graphical user interfaces to control all aspects of data processing and visualization. The system uses networked parallel computers to provide noise maps at selected frequencies in a near real-time testing environment. The system has been successfully used in the NASA Ames 7- by 10-Foot Wind Tunnel.

Modelling of Biometric Identification System with Given Parameters Using Colored Petri Nets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrosyan, G.; Ter-Vardanyan, L.; Gaboutchian, A.

2017-05-01

Biometric identification systems use given parameters and function on the basis of Colored Petri Nets as a modelling language developed for systems in which communication, synchronization and distributed resources play an important role. Colored Petri Nets combine the strengths of Classical Petri Nets with the power of a high-level programming language. Coloured Petri Nets have both, formal intuitive and graphical presentations. Graphical CPN model consists of a set of interacting modules which include a network of places, transitions and arcs. Mathematical representation has a well-defined syntax and semantics, as well as defines system behavioural properties. One of the best known features used in biometric is the human finger print pattern. During the last decade other human features have become of interest, such as iris-based or face recognition. The objective of this paper is to introduce the fundamental concepts of Petri Nets in relation to tooth shape analysis. Biometric identification systems functioning has two phases: data enrollment phase and identification phase. During the data enrollment phase images of teeth are added to database. This record contains enrollment data as a noisy version of the biometrical data corresponding to the individual. During the identification phase an unknown individual is observed again and is compared to the enrollment data in the database and then system estimates the individual. The purpose of modeling biometric identification system by means of Petri Nets is to reveal the following aspects of the functioning model: the efficiency of the model, behavior of the model, mistakes and accidents in the model, feasibility of the model simplification or substitution of its separate components for more effective components without interfering system functioning. The results of biometric identification system modeling and evaluating are presented and discussed.

Prebiotics in the management of components of the metabolic syndrome.

PubMed

O'Connor, Sarah; Chouinard-Castonguay, Sarah; Gagnon, Claudia; Rudkowska, Iwona

2017-10-01

Components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), including abdominal obesity, low-grade chronic systemic inflammation, altered glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure, are major threats to healthy aging in modern societies. The connection between MetS components and gut microflora is now acknowledged and multiple therapeutic strategies have been proposed to change the composition of the gut microbiota in order to promote optimal metabolic health. Prebiotics have the ability to favour growth of beneficial bacteria, especially short-chain fatty-acids (SCFA) producers. Increased SCFA in the gut is associated with improved satiety and weight loss, reduced systemic inflammation by increasing the gut barrier function, and improved glucose and lipid metabolism. The objective of this review is to examine the recent literature in order to determine the types and doses of prebiotics that could be recommended for the management of MetS. A review of the literature was executed using the MEDLINE database and clinical trials from 2013 to 2017 were selected for analysis. In conclusion, a daily supplementation of 10g of inulin, resistant starches or fructo-oligosaccharide-enriched inulin could have beneficial effects on MetS components in individuals with type 2 diabetes. In healthy subjects or in individuals with the MetS, the results are too heterogeneous and scarce to be able to set any specific recommendations. More clinical studies are needed to better understand the role of prebiotics in the management of MetS components. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intrinsic Connectivity Provides the Baseline Framework for Variability in Motor Performance: A Multivariate Fusion Analysis of Low- and High-Frequency Resting-State Oscillations and Antisaccade Performance.

PubMed

Jamadar, Sharna D; Egan, Gary F; Calhoun, Vince D; Johnson, Beth; Fielding, Joanne

2016-07-01

Intrinsic brain activity provides the functional framework for the brain's full repertoire of behavioral responses; that is, a common mechanism underlies intrinsic and extrinsic neural activity, with extrinsic activity building upon the underlying baseline intrinsic activity. The generation of a motor movement in response to sensory stimulation is one of the most fundamental functions of the central nervous system. Since saccadic eye movements are among our most stereotyped motor responses, we hypothesized that individual variability in the ability to inhibit a prepotent saccade and make a voluntary antisaccade would be related to individual variability in intrinsic connectivity. Twenty-three individuals completed the antisaccade task and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A multivariate analysis of covariance identified relationships between fMRI oscillations (0.01-0.2 Hz) of resting-state networks determined using high-dimensional independent component analysis and antisaccade performance (latency, error rate). Significant multivariate relationships between antisaccade latency and directional error rate were obtained in independent components across the entire brain. Some of the relationships were obtained in components that overlapped substantially with the task; however, many were obtained in components that showed little overlap with the task. The current results demonstrate that even in the absence of a task, spectral power in regions showing little overlap with task activity predicts an individual's performance on a saccade task.

BIOPHYSICAL EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL COMPONENT LEVELS AND SELECTED CONFIGURATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS COLD-WEATHER CLOTHING ENSEMBLE

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-01-02

TECHNICAL REPORT NO. T18-01 DATE January 2018 BIOPHYSICAL EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL COMPONENT...USARIEM TECHNICAL REPORT T18-01 BIOPHYSICAL EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL COMPONENT LEVELS AND...OF TABLES Table Page Table 1. Clothing and individual equipment descriptions ................................................. 3 Table 2. Surface

Structural basis of a rationally rewired protein-protein interface critical to bacterial signaling

PubMed Central

Podgornaia, Anna I.; Casino, Patricia; Marina, Alberto; Laub, Michael T.

2013-01-01

Summary Two-component signal transduction systems typically involve a sensor histidine kinase that specifically phosphorylates a single, cognate response regulator. This protein-protein interaction relies on molecular recognition via a small set of residues in each protein. To better understand how these residues determine the specificity of kinase-substrate interactions, we rationally rewired the interaction interface of a Thermotoga maritima two-component system, HK853-RR468, to match that found in a different two-component system, E. coli PhoR-PhoB. The rewired proteins interacted robustly with each other, but no longer interacted with the parent proteins. Analysis of the crystal structures of the wild-type and mutant protein complexes, along with a systematic mutagenesis study, reveals how individual mutations contribute to the rewiring of interaction specificity. Our approach and conclusions have implications for studies of other protein-protein interactions, protein evolution, and the design of novel protein interfaces. PMID:23954504

Modeling of short-term mechanism of arterial pressure control in the cardiovascular system: object-oriented and acausal approach.

PubMed

Kulhánek, Tomáš; Kofránek, Jiří; Mateják, Marek

2014-11-01

This letter introduces an alternative approach to modeling the cardiovascular system with a short-term control mechanism published in Computers in Biology and Medicine, Vol. 47 (2014), pp. 104-112. We recommend using abstract components on a distinct physical level, separating the model into hydraulic components, subsystems of the cardiovascular system and individual subsystems of the control mechanism and scenario. We recommend utilizing an acausal modeling feature of Modelica language, which allows model variables to be expressed declaratively. Furthermore, the Modelica tool identifies which are the dependent and independent variables upon compilation. An example of our approach is introduced on several elementary components representing the hydraulic resistance to fluid flow and the elastic response of the vessel, among others. The introduced model implementation can be more reusable and understandable for the general scientific community. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficient Data Generation and Publication as a Test Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Einstein, Craig Jakob

2017-01-01

A tool to facilitate the generation and publication of test data was created to test the individual components of a command and control system designed to launch spacecraft. Specifically, this tool was built to ensure messages are properly passed between system components. The tool can also be used to test whether the appropriate groups have access (read/write privileges) to the correct messages. The messages passed between system components take the form of unique identifiers with associated values. These identifiers are alphanumeric strings that identify the type of message and the additional parameters that are contained within the message. The values that are passed with the message depend on the identifier. The data generation tool allows for the efficient creation and publication of these messages. A configuration file can be used to set the parameters of the tool and also specify which messages to pass.

Radial Velocities of 41 Kepler Eclipsing Binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matson, Rachel A.; Gies, Douglas R.; Guo, Zhao; Williams, Stephen J.

2017-12-01

Eclipsing binaries are vital for directly determining stellar parameters without reliance on models or scaling relations. Spectroscopically derived parameters of detached and semi-detached binaries allow us to determine component masses that can inform theories of stellar and binary evolution. Here we present moderate resolution ground-based spectra of stars in close binary systems with and without (detected) tertiary companions observed by NASA’s Kepler mission and analyzed for eclipse timing variations. We obtain radial velocities and spectroscopic orbits for five single-lined and 35 double-lined systems, and confirm one false positive eclipsing binary. For the double-lined spectroscopic binaries, we also determine individual component masses and examine the mass ratio {M}2/{M}1 distribution, which is dominated by binaries with like-mass pairs and semi-detached classical Algol systems that have undergone mass transfer. Finally, we constrain the mass of the tertiary component for five double-lined binaries with previously detected companions.

Performance monitoring can boost turboexpander efficiency

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

McIntire, R.

1982-07-05

This paper discusses ways of improving the productivity of the turboexpander/refrigeration system's radial expander and radial compressor through systematic review of component performance. It reviews several techniques to determine the performance of an expander and compressor. It suggests that any performance improvement program requires quantifying the performance of separate components over a range of operating conditions; estimating the increase in performance associated with any hardware change; and developing an analytical (computer) model of the entire system by using the performance curve of individual components. The model is used to quantify the economic benefits of any change in the system, eithermore » a change in operating procedures or a hardware modification. Topics include proper ways of using antisurge control valves and modifying flow rate/shaft speed (Q/N). It is noted that compressor efficiency depends on the incidence angle of blade at the rotor leading edge and the angle of the incoming gas stream.« less

Mechanistic controls on diverse fates of terrestrial organic components in the East China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Chun; Wagner, Thomas; Talbot, Helen M.; Weijers, Johan W. H.; Pan, Jian-Ming; Pancost, Richard D.

2013-09-01

Terrestrial carbon transferred from the land to sea is a critical component of the global carbon cycle. A range of geochemical proxies has been developed to fingerprint the fate of terrestrial organic matter (TOM) in marine sediments. However, discrepancies among different proxies limit our ability to quantify and interpret the terrestrial signals in marine sediments, with consequences for the investigation of both the modern carbon cycle and past environmental change. To mechanistically understand these discrepancies, we examined the distributions of a range of terrestrial proxies and their aquatic counterparts (i.e. marine proxies) in the Yangtze river-East China Sea (YR-ECS) shelf system, where TOM experiences extensive modification during transport and burial. TOM proxies in the YR-ECS system collectively fit a power-law model but with distinct attenuation rates (the a∗ values) for individual molecular proxy groups. Among a range of TOM proxies, the modeled a∗ values decrease in the order: soil-marker BHPs > triterpenols > lignin > HMW n-alkanols > branched GDGTs > HMW n-alkanes for biomarkers; and Rsoil > BIT > %TOMiso for proxies tracing %TOM. Rapid loss of TOM components through dissociation in the narrow estuary, followed by oxidation over the wide open shelf, are best described by power curves. Inherent chemical reactivity (i.e. the number of functional groups), responses to hydraulic sorting, and in situ production regulate the individual attenuation rates. Of them, chemical reactivity plays the most important role on proxy behavior, supported by a strong correlation between a∗ values and standard molal Gibbs energies. Both, physical protection and chemical reactivity fundamentally control the overall behavior of TOM components, with the relative importance being setting-dependant: The former is relatively important in the estuary, whereas the later is the primary control over the open shelf. Moreover, regional variation of different marine-counterparts is also significant over the river-ECS shelf system, seemingly regulated by regional nutrient distributions. Therefore, for %TOM estimates using molecular ratio approaches, the specific behavior of individual terrestrial components and marine-counterparts and the physical, biological and chemical characteristics of depositional settings all need to be considered.

Apollo experience report: Descent propulsion system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hammock, W. R., Jr.; Currie, E. C.; Fisher, A. E.

1973-01-01

The propulsion system for the descent stage of the lunar module was designed to provide thrust to transfer the fully loaded lunar module with two crewmen from the lunar parking orbit to the lunar surface. A history of the development of this system is presented. Development was accomplished primarily by ground testing of individual components and by testing the integrated system. Unique features of the descent propulsion system were the deep throttling capability and the use of a lightweight cryogenic helium pressurization system.

5 CFR 430.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

..., including customers and employees. Critical element means a key component of an executive's work that.... Performance management system means the framework of policies and practices that an agency establishes under..., developing, evaluating, and rewarding both individual and organizational performance and for using resulting...

5 CFR 430.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

..., including customers and employees. Critical element means a key component of an executive's work that.... Performance management system means the framework of policies and practices that an agency establishes under..., developing, evaluating, and rewarding both individual and organizational performance and for using resulting...

5 CFR 430.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

..., including customers and employees. Critical element means a key component of an executive's work that.... Performance management system means the framework of policies and practices that an agency establishes under..., developing, evaluating, and rewarding both individual and organizational performance and for using resulting...

34 CFR 303.340 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... written plan for providing early intervention services to a child eligible under this part and the child's... REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES Program and Service Components of a Statewide System of Early Intervention Services Individualized...

Spectroscopic obit for the eclipsing binary IQ Persei

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

Young, A.

1975-10-01

Spectroscopic orbital elements are derived for the eclipsing binary IQ Per. Faint secondary lines are detected, and a mass ratio and individual masses are inferred. The components are found to be on the main sequence, and the system is detached. (auth)

Ohio School Design Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio School Facilities Commission, Columbus.

This manual presents guidance to facility designers, school administrators, staff, and students for the development of school facilities being constructed under Ohio's Classroom Facilities Assistance Program. It provides critical analysis of individual spaces and material/system components necessary for the construction of elementary and secondary…

Applicability and Limitations of Reliability Allocation Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruz, Jose A.

2016-01-01

Reliability allocation process may be described as the process of assigning reliability requirements to individual components within a system to attain the specified system reliability. For large systems, the allocation process is often performed at different stages of system design. The allocation process often begins at the conceptual stage. As the system design develops, more information about components and the operating environment becomes available, different allocation methods can be considered. Reliability allocation methods are usually divided into two categories: weighting factors and optimal reliability allocation. When properly applied, these methods can produce reasonable approximations. Reliability allocation techniques have limitations and implied assumptions that need to be understood by system engineers. Applying reliability allocation techniques without understanding their limitations and assumptions can produce unrealistic results. This report addresses weighting factors, optimal reliability allocation techniques, and identifies the applicability and limitations of each reliability allocation technique.

Tracking by Identification Using Computer Vision and Radio

PubMed Central

Mandeljc, Rok; Kovačič, Stanislav; Kristan, Matej; Perš, Janez

2013-01-01

We present a novel system for detection, localization and tracking of multiple people, which fuses a multi-view computer vision approach with a radio-based localization system. The proposed fusion combines the best of both worlds, excellent computer-vision-based localization, and strong identity information provided by the radio system, and is therefore able to perform tracking by identification, which makes it impervious to propagated identity switches. We present comprehensive methodology for evaluation of systems that perform person localization in world coordinate system and use it to evaluate the proposed system as well as its components. Experimental results on a challenging indoor dataset, which involves multiple people walking around a realistically cluttered room, confirm that proposed fusion of both systems significantly outperforms its individual components. Compared to the radio-based system, it achieves better localization results, while at the same time it successfully prevents propagation of identity switches that occur in pure computer-vision-based tracking. PMID:23262485

The planetary and interstellar components of meteorites - A review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marvin, Ursula B.

1987-01-01

Recent analyses show that, although most meteorites are collisional debris of asteroids, three meteorites collected on the Antarctic ice sheet were projected to earth from the highlands of the moon, and eight meteorites have chemical and isotopic compositions suggestive of derivation from Mars. Although meteorites are primarily of interest to planetary scientists for the abundance of clues they hold to the materials and processes that formed the solar system, they have begun to engage the attention of astrochemists because of isotopic and mineralogical indications that they contain interstellar components. Although each individual observation to this effect is inconclusive, the body of evidence is becoming ever more persuasive. This paper reviews the main classes of meteorites and their probable sources, with special emphasis on components that appear to be exotic to the solar system.

Dissecting components of population-level variation in seed production and the evolution of masting behavior.

Treesearch

W. D. Koenig; D. Kelly; V. L. Sork; R. P. Duncan; J. S. Elkinton; M.S. Peltonen; R. D. Westfall

2003-01-01

Mast-fruiting or masting behavior is the cumulative result of the reproductive patterns of individuals within a population and thus involves components of individual variability, between-individual synchrony, and endogenous cycles of temporal autocorrelation. Extending prior work by Herrera, we explore the interrelationships of these components using data on individual...

Scaling Impacts in Life Support Architecture and Technology Selection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lange, Kevin

2016-01-01

For long-duration space missions outside of Earth orbit, reliability considerations will drive higher levels of redundancy and/or on-board spares for life support equipment. Component scaling will be a critical element in minimizing overall launch mass while maintaining an acceptable level of system reliability. Building on an earlier reliability study (AIAA 2012-3491), this paper considers the impact of alternative scaling approaches, including the design of technology assemblies and their individual components to maximum, nominal, survival, or other fractional requirements. The optimal level of life support system closure is evaluated for deep-space missions of varying duration using equivalent system mass (ESM) as the comparative basis. Reliability impacts are included in ESM by estimating the number of component spares required to meet a target system reliability. Common cause failures are included in the analysis. ISS and ISS-derived life support technologies are considered along with selected alternatives. This study focusses on minimizing launch mass, which may be enabling for deep-space missions.

Modular cell biology: retroactivity and insulation

PubMed Central

Del Vecchio, Domitilla; Ninfa, Alexander J; Sontag, Eduardo D

2008-01-01

Modularity plays a fundamental role in the prediction of the behavior of a system from the behavior of its components, guaranteeing that the properties of individual components do not change upon interconnection. Just as electrical, hydraulic, and other physical systems often do not display modularity, nor do many biochemical systems, and specifically, genetic networks. Here, we study the effect of interconnections on the input–output dynamic characteristics of transcriptional components, focusing on a property, which we call ‘retroactivity', that plays a role analogous to non-zero output impedance in electrical systems. In transcriptional networks, retroactivity is large when the amount of transcription factor is comparable to, or smaller than, the amount of promoter-binding sites, or when the affinity of such binding sites is high. To attenuate the effect of retroactivity, we propose a feedback mechanism inspired by the design of amplifiers in electronics. We introduce, in particular, a mechanism based on a phosphorylation–dephosphorylation cycle. This mechanism enjoys a remarkable insulation property, due to the fast timescales of the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation reactions. PMID:18277378

How many fish in a tank? Constructing an automated fish counting system by using PTV analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abe, S.; Takagi, T.; Takehara, K.; Kimura, N.; Hiraishi, T.; Komeyama, K.; Torisawa, S.; Asaumi, S.

2017-02-01

Because escape from a net cage and mortality are constant problems in fish farming, health control and management of facilities are important in aquaculture. In particular, the development of an accurate fish counting system has been strongly desired for the Pacific Bluefin tuna farming industry owing to the high market value of these fish. The current fish counting method, which involves human counting, results in poor accuracy; moreover, the method is cumbersome because the aquaculture net cage is so large that fish can only be counted when they move to another net cage. Therefore, we have developed an automated fish counting system by applying particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) analysis to a shoal of swimming fish inside a net cage. In essence, we treated the swimming fish as tracer particles and estimated the number of fish by analyzing the corresponding motion vectors. The proposed fish counting system comprises two main components: image processing and motion analysis, where the image-processing component abstracts the foreground and the motion analysis component traces the individual's motion. In this study, we developed a Region Extraction and Centroid Computation (RECC) method and a Kalman filter and Chi-square (KC) test for the two main components. To evaluate the efficiency of our method, we constructed a closed system, placed an underwater video camera with a spherical curved lens at the bottom of the tank, and recorded a 360° view of a swimming school of Japanese rice fish (Oryzias latipes). Our study showed that almost all fish could be abstracted by the RECC method and the motion vectors could be calculated by the KC test. The recognition rate was approximately 90% when more than 180 individuals were observed within the frame of the video camera. These results suggest that the presented method has potential application as a fish counting system for industrial aquaculture.

Theoretical studies of system performance and adaptive optics design parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyson, Robert K.

1990-08-01

The ultimate performance of an adaptive optics (AO) system can be sensitive to specific design parameters of individual components. The type and configuration of a wavefront sensor or the shape of individual deformable mirror actuator influence functions can have a profound effect on the correctability of the AO system. This paper will discuss the results of a theoretical study which employed both closed form analytic solutions and computer models. A parametric analysis of wavefront sensor characteristics, noise, and subaperture geometry are independently evaluated against system response to an aberrated wave characteristic of atmospheric turbulence. Similarly, the shape and extent of the deformable mirror influence function and the placement and number of actuators is evaluated to characterize the effects of fitting error and coupling.

The Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System and Insulin Resistance in Humans

PubMed Central

Underwood, Patricia C

2012-01-01

Alterations in the renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) contribute to the underlying pathophysiology of insulin resistance in humans; however, individual differences in the treatment response of insulin resistance to RAAS blockade persist. Thus, understanding inter-individual differences in the relationship between the RAAS and insulin resistance may provide insights into improved personalized treatments and improved outcomes. The effects of the systemic RAAS on blood pressure regulation and glucose metabolism have been studied extensively; however, recent discoveries on the influence of local tissue RAAS in the skeletal muscle, heart, vasculature, adipocytes, and pancreas have led to an improved understanding of how activated tissue RAAS influences the development of insulin resistance and diabetes in humans. Angiotensin II (ANGII) is the predominant RAAS component contributing to insulin resistance; however, other players such as aldosterone, renin, and ACE2 are also involved. This review examines the role of local ANGII activity on insulin resistance development in skeletal muscle, adipocytes, and pancreas, followed by a discussion of the other RAAS components implicated in insulin resistance, including ACE2, Ang1-7, renin, and aldosterone. PMID:23242734

Secondary Startup Neutron Sources as a Source of Tritium in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Reactor Coolant System (RCS)

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

Shaver, Mark W.; Lanning, Donald D.

2010-02-01

The hypothesis of this paper is that the Zircaloy clad fuel source is minimal and that secondary startup neutron sources are the significant contributors of the tritium in the RCS that was previously assigned to release from fuel. Currently there are large uncertainties in the attribution of tritium in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Reactor Coolant System (RCS). The measured amount of tritium in the coolant cannot be separated out empirically into its individual sources. Therefore, to quantify individual contributors, all sources of tritium in the RCS of a PWR must be understood theoretically and verified by the sum ofmore » the individual components equaling the measured values.« less

Knowledge From Pictures (KFP)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Truszkowski, Walt; Paterra, Frank; Bailin, Sidney

1993-01-01

The old maxim goes: 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. The objective of the research reported in this paper is to demonstrate this idea as it relates to the knowledge acquisition process and the automated development of an expert system's rule base. A prototype tool, the Knowledge From Pictures (KFP) tool, has been developed which configures an expert system's rule base by an automated analysis of and reasoning about a 'picture', i.e., a graphical representation of some target system to be supported by the diagnostic capabilities of the expert system under development. This rule base, when refined, could then be used by the expert system for target system monitoring and fault analysis in an operational setting. Most people, when faced with the problem of understanding the behavior of a complicated system, resort to the use of some picture or graphical representation of the system as an aid in thinking about it. This depiction provides a means of helping the individual to visualize the bahavior and dynamics of the system under study. An analysis of the picture augmented with the individual's background information, allows the problem solver to codify knowledge about the system. This knowledge can, in turn, be used to develop computer programs to automatically monitor the system's performance. The approach taken is this research was to mimic this knowledge acquisition paradigm. A prototype tool was developed which provides the user: (1) a mechanism for graphically representing sample system-configurations appropriate for the domain, and (2) a linguistic device for annotating the graphical representation with the behaviors and mutual influences of the components depicted in the graphic. The KFP tool, reasoning from the graphical depiction along with user-supplied annotations of component behaviors and inter-component influences, generates a rule base that could be used in automating the fault detection, isolation, and repair of the system.

A Generic Modeling Process to Support Functional Fault Model Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maul, William A.; Hemminger, Joseph A.; Oostdyk, Rebecca; Bis, Rachael A.

2016-01-01

Functional fault models (FFMs) are qualitative representations of a system's failure space that are used to provide a diagnostic of the modeled system. An FFM simulates the failure effect propagation paths within a system between failure modes and observation points. These models contain a significant amount of information about the system including the design, operation and off nominal behavior. The development and verification of the models can be costly in both time and resources. In addition, models depicting similar components can be distinct, both in appearance and function, when created individually, because there are numerous ways of representing the failure space within each component. Generic application of FFMs has the advantages of software code reuse: reduction of time and resources in both development and verification, and a standard set of component models from which future system models can be generated with common appearance and diagnostic performance. This paper outlines the motivation to develop a generic modeling process for FFMs at the component level and the effort to implement that process through modeling conventions and a software tool. The implementation of this generic modeling process within a fault isolation demonstration for NASA's Advanced Ground System Maintenance (AGSM) Integrated Health Management (IHM) project is presented and the impact discussed.

Stockpile Dismantlement Database Training Materials

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

Not Available

1993-11-01

This document, the Stockpile Dismantlement Database (SDDB) training materials is designed to familiarize the user with the SDDB windowing system and the data entry steps for Component Characterization for Disposition. The foundation of information required for every part is depicted by using numbered graphic and text steps. The individual entering data is lead step by step through generic and specific examples. These training materials are intended to be supplements to individual on-the-job training.

Moisture and Structural Analysis for High Performance Hybrid Wall Assemblies

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

Grin, A.; Lstiburek, J.

2012-09-01

This report describes the work conducted by the Building Science Corporation (BSC) Building America Research Team's 'Energy Efficient Housing Research Partnerships' project. Based on past experience in the Building America program, they have found that combinations of materials and approaches---in other words, systems--usually provide optimum performance. No single manufacturer typically provides all of the components for an assembly, nor has the specific understanding of all the individual components necessary for optimum performance.

40 CFR 195.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... program. Device/measurement device means a unit, component, or system designed to measure radon gas or... application for each location from which it provides radon measurement services. After the application is... exam means the exam which evaluates individuals who provide radon measurement services in a residential...

49 CFR 236.903 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... electrical, mechanical, hardware, or software) that is part of a system or subsystem. Configuration..., including the hardware components and software version, is documented and maintained through the life-cycle... or compensates individuals to perform the duties specified in § 236.921 (a). Executive software means...

49 CFR 236.903 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... electrical, mechanical, hardware, or software) that is part of a system or subsystem. Configuration..., including the hardware components and software version, is documented and maintained through the life-cycle... or compensates individuals to perform the duties specified in § 236.921 (a). Executive software means...

49 CFR 236.903 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... electrical, mechanical, hardware, or software) that is part of a system or subsystem. Configuration..., including the hardware components and software version, is documented and maintained through the life-cycle... or compensates individuals to perform the duties specified in § 236.921 (a). Executive software means...

49 CFR 236.903 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... electrical, mechanical, hardware, or software) that is part of a system or subsystem. Configuration..., including the hardware components and software version, is documented and maintained through the life-cycle... or compensates individuals to perform the duties specified in § 236.921 (a). Executive software means...

Inter- and intra-individual differences in skin hydration and surface lipids measured with mid-infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ezerskaia, A.; Pereira, S. F.; Urbach, H. P.; Varghese, B.

2016-03-01

Skin health is characterized by heterogeneous system of water and lipids in upper layers providing protection from external environment and preventing loss of vital components of the body. Skin hydration (moisture) and sebum (skin surface lipids) are considered to be important factors in skin health; a right balance between these components is an indication of healthy skin and plays a central role in protecting and preserving skin integrity. In this manuscript we present inter- and intra-individual variation in skin hydration and surface lipids measured with a home-built experimental prototype based on infrared spectroscopy. Results show good agreement with measurements performed by commercially available instruments Corneometer and Sebumeter used for skin hydration and sebum measurements respectively.

Creating an Adaptive Technology Using a Cheminformatics System to Read Aloud Chemical Compound Names for People with Visual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamijo, Haruo; Morii, Shingo; Yamaguchi, Wataru; Toyooka, Naoki; Tada-Umezaki, Masahito; Hirobayashi, Shigeki

2016-01-01

Various tactile methods, such as Braille, have been employed to enhance the recognition ability of chemical structures by individuals with visual disabilities. However, it is unknown whether reading aloud the names of chemical compounds would be effective in this regard. There are no systems currently available using an audio component to assist…

Rotor Smoothing and Vibration Monitoring Results for the US Army VMEP

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

individual component CI detection thresholds, and development of models for diagnostics, prognostics , and anomaly detection . Figure 16 VMEP Server...and prognostics are of current interest. Development of those systems requires large amounts of data (collection, monitoring , manipulation) to capture...development of automated systems and for continuous updating of algorithms to improve detection , classification, and prognostic performance. A test

Just in Time Assurance

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

constrained to the objects it manages A local reference monitor can be maintained, updated, and replaced with minimal effect on the rest of the system...Compositional assurance is the path towards the goal of JIT Assurance Construct individual assurance case for each trusted tcomponen Provide argument that...local policies combine to enforce the overall system policy Composability enables JIT Assurance A component can be patched, upgraded, refreshed

The GRASP 3: Graphical Reliability Analysis Simulation Program. Version 3: A users' manual and modelling guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phillips, D. T.; Manseur, B.; Foster, J. W.

1982-01-01

Alternate definitions of system failure create complex analysis for which analytic solutions are available only for simple, special cases. The GRASP methodology is a computer simulation approach for solving all classes of problems in which both failure and repair events are modeled according to the probability laws of the individual components of the system.

Self-sustained vibrations in volcanic areas extracted by Independent Component Analysis: a review and new results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Lauro, E.; de Martino, S.; Falanga, M.; Palo, M.

2011-12-01

We investigate the physical processes associated with volcanic tremor and explosions. A volcano is a complex system where a fluid source interacts with the solid edifice so generating seismic waves in a regime of low turbulence. Although the complex behavior escapes a simple universal description, the phases of activity generate stable (self-sustained) oscillations that can be described as a non-linear dynamical system of low dimensionality. So, the system requires to be investigated with non-linear methods able to individuate, decompose, and extract the main characteristics of the phenomenon. Independent Component Analysis (ICA), an entropy-based technique is a good candidate for this purpose. Here, we review the results of ICA applied to seismic signals acquired in some volcanic areas. We emphasize analogies and differences among the self-oscillations individuated in three cases: Stromboli (Italy), Erebus (Antarctica) and Volcán de Colima (Mexico). The waveforms of the extracted independent components are specific for each volcano, whereas the similarity can be ascribed to a very general common source mechanism involving the interaction between gas/magma flow and solid structures (the volcanic edifice). Indeed, chocking phenomena or inhomogeneities in the volcanic cavity can play the same role in generating self-oscillations as the languid and the reed do in musical instruments. The understanding of these background oscillations is relevant not only for explaining the volcanic source process and to make a forecast into the future, but sheds light on the physics of complex systems developing low turbulence.

A sensitivity analysis of central flat-plate photovoltaic systems and implications for national photovoltaics program planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crosetti, M. R.

1985-01-01

The sensitivity of the National Photovoltaic Research Program goals to changes in individual photovoltaic system parameters is explored. Using the relationship between lifetime cost and system performance parameters, tests were made to see how overall photovoltaic system energy costs are affected by changes in the goals set for module cost and efficiency, system component costs and efficiencies, operation and maintenance costs, and indirect costs. The results are presented in tables and figures for easy reference.

Design of a flight director/configuration management system for piloted STOL approaches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoh, R. H.; Klein, R. H.; Johnson, W. A.

1973-01-01

The design and characteristics of a flight director for V/STOL aircraft are discussed. A configuration management system for piloted STOL approaches is described. The individual components of the overall system designed to reduce pilot workload to an acceptable level during curved, decelerating, and descending STOL approaches are defined. The application of the system to augmentor wing aircraft is analyzed. System performance checks and piloted evaluations were conducted on a flight simulator and the results are summarized.

Visual Computing Environment Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawrence, Charles (Compiler)

1998-01-01

The Visual Computing Environment (VCE) is a framework for intercomponent and multidisciplinary computational simulations. Many current engineering analysis codes simulate various aspects of aircraft engine operation. For example, existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes can model the airflow through individual engine components such as the inlet, compressor, combustor, turbine, or nozzle. Currently, these codes are run in isolation, making intercomponent and complete system simulations very difficult to perform. In addition, management and utilization of these engineering codes for coupled component simulations is a complex, laborious task, requiring substantial experience and effort. To facilitate multicomponent aircraft engine analysis, the CFD Research Corporation (CFDRC) is developing the VCE system. This system, which is part of NASA's Numerical Propulsion Simulation System (NPSS) program, can couple various engineering disciplines, such as CFD, structural analysis, and thermal analysis.

Automatic assembly of micro-optical components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gengenbach, Ulrich K.

1996-12-01

Automatic assembly becomes an important issue as hybrid micro systems enter industrial fabrication. Moving from a laboratory scale production with manual assembly and bonding processes to automatic assembly requires a thorough re- evaluation of the design, the characteristics of the individual components and of the processes involved. Parts supply for automatic operation, sensitive and intelligent grippers adapted to size, surface and material properties of the microcomponents gain importance when the superior sensory and handling skills of a human are to be replaced by a machine. This holds in particular for the automatic assembly of micro-optical components. The paper outlines these issues exemplified at the automatic assembly of a micro-optical duplexer consisting of a micro-optical bench fabricated by the LIGA technique, two spherical lenses, a wavelength filter and an optical fiber. Spherical lenses, wavelength filter and optical fiber are supplied by third party vendors, which raises the question of parts supply for automatic assembly. The bonding processes for these components include press fit and adhesive bonding. The prototype assembly system with all relevant components e.g. handling system, parts supply, grippers and control is described. Results of first automatic assembly tests are presented.

Adaptation to Environmental Stimuli within the Host: Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

PubMed Central

Bretl, Daniel J.; Demetriadou, Chrystalla; Zahrt, Thomas C.

2011-01-01

Summary: Pathogenic microorganisms encounter a variety of environmental stresses following infection of their respective hosts. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of tuberculosis, is an unusual bacterial pathogen in that it is able to establish lifelong infections in individuals within granulomatous lesions that are formed following a productive immune response. Adaptation to this highly dynamic environment is thought to be mediated primarily through transcriptional reprogramming initiated in response to recognition of stimuli, including low-oxygen tension, nutrient depletion, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, altered pH, toxic lipid moieties, cell wall/cell membrane-perturbing agents, and other environmental cues. To survive continued exposure to these potentially adverse factors, M. tuberculosis encodes a variety of regulatory factors, including 11 complete two-component signal transduction systems (TCSSs) and several orphaned response regulators (RRs) and sensor kinases (SKs). This report reviews our current knowledge of the TCSSs present in M. tuberculosis. In particular, we discuss the biochemical and functional characteristics of individual RRs and SKs, the environmental stimuli regulating their activation, the regulons controlled by the various TCSSs, and the known or postulated role(s) of individual TCSSs in the context of M. tuberculosis physiology and/or pathogenesis. PMID:22126994

Vertebrate pheromones and other semiochemicals: the potential for accommodating complexity in signalling by volatile compounds for vertebrate management

PubMed Central

Pickett, John A.; Barasa, Stephen; Birkett, Michael A.

2014-01-01

The interaction between volatile and non-volatile, e.g. proteinaceous, components of pheromone and other semiochemical-based signalling systems presents a daunting set of problems for exploitation in the management of vertebrates, good or bad. Aggravating this is the complexity of the mixtures involved with pheromones, not only by definition associated with each species, but also with individual members of that species and their positions within their immediate communities. Nonetheless, already in some contexts, particularly where signals are perceived at other trophic levels from those of the vertebrates, e.g. by arthropods, reductionist approaches can be applied whereby the integrity of complex volatile mixtures is maintained, but perturbed by augmentation with individual components. In the present article, this is illustrated for cattle husbandry, fish farming and human health. So far, crude formulations have been used to imitate volatile semiochemical interactions with non-volatile components, but new approaches must be developed to accommodate more sophisticated interactions and not least the activities of the non-volatile, particularly proteinaceous components, currently being deduced. PMID:25109967

Developing an Automated Science Analysis System for Mars Surface Exploration for MSL and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gulick, V. C.; Hart, S. D.; Shi, X.; Siegel, V. L.

2004-01-01

We are developing an automated science analysis system that could be utilized by robotic or human explorers on Mars (or even in remote locations on Earth) to improve the quality and quantity of science data returned. Three components of this system (our rock, layer, and horizon detectors) [1] have been incorporated into the JPL CLARITY system for possible use by MSL and future Mars robotic missions. Two other components include a multi-spectral image compression (SPEC) algorithm for pancam-type images with multiple filters and image fusion algorithms that identify the in focus regions of individual images in an image focal series [2]. Recently, we have been working to combine image and spectral data, and other knowledge to identify both rocks and minerals. Here we present our progress on developing an igneous rock detection system.

An evaluation of multiple-schedule variations to reduce high-rate requests in the picture exchange communication system.

PubMed

Landa, Robin; Hanley, Gregory P

2016-06-01

Using procedures similar to those of Tiger, Hanley, and Heal (2006), we compared two multiple-schedule variations (S+/S- and S+ only) to treat high-rate requests for edible items in the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Two individuals with autism participated, after they showed persistent requests for edible items after PECS training. Stimulus control was achieved only with the multiple schedule that involved presentation of a discriminative stimulus during reinforcement components and its removal during extinction components (S+ only). Discriminated requests were maintained for the 1 participant who experienced schedule thinning. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Purification and crystallization of components of the protein-synthesizing system from Thermus thermophilus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garber, M. B.; Agalarov, S. Ch.; Eliseikina, I. A.; Sedelnikova, S. E.; Tishchenko, S. V.; Shirokov, V. A.; Yusupov, M. M.; Reshetnikova, L. S.; Trakhanov, S. D.; Tukalo, M. A.; Yaremchuk, A. D.

1991-03-01

An extreme thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus has been chosen as a source for the isolation of components of the protein-synthesizing system to investigate their structures by X-ray crystallographic methods. The scheme of simultaneous isolation of ribosomes, tRNA, three elongation factors, several aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and several enzymes has been developed. Methods of purification of ribosomes and individual ribosomal proteins without denaturation were elaborated. Crystals of the elongation factor G, the 70S ribosome, the 30S ribosomal subunit, six ribosomal proteins and three aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases have been obtained. Structural investigations of EF-G and the 70S ribosome are underway.

High-resolution global irradiance monitoring from photovoltaic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buchmann, Tina; Pfeilsticker, Klaus; Siegmund, Alexander; Meilinger, Stefanie; Mayer, Bernhard; Pinitz, Sven; Steinbrecht, Wolfgang

2016-04-01

Reliable and regional differentiated power forecasts are required to guarantee an efficient and economic energy transition towards renewable energies. Amongst other renewable energy technologies, e.g. wind mills, photovoltaic systems are an essential component of this transition being cost-efficient and simply to install. Reliable power forecasts are however required for a grid integration of photovoltaic systems, which among other data requires high-resolution spatio-temporal global irradiance data. Hence the generation of robust reviewed global irradiance data is an essential contribution for the energy transition. To achieve this goal our studies introduce a novel method which makes use of photovoltaic power generation in order to infer global irradiance. The method allows to determine high-resolution temporal global irradiance data (one data point every 15 minutes at each location) from power data of operated photovoltaic systems. Due to the multitude of installed photovoltaic systems (in Germany) the detailed spatial coverage is much better than for example only using global irradiance data from conventional pyranometer networks (e.g. from the German Weather Service). Our designated method is composed of two components: a forward component, i.e. to conclude from predicted global irradiance to photovoltaic (PV) power, and a backward component, i.e. from PV power with suitable calibration to global irradiance. The forward process is modelled by using the radiation transport model libRadtran (B. Mayer and A. Kylling (1)) for clear skies to obtain the characteristics (orientation, size, temperature dependence, …) of individual PV systems. For PV systems in the vicinity of a meteorological station, these data are validated against calibrated pyranometer readings. The forward-modelled global irradiance is used to determine the power efficiency for each photovoltaic system using non-linear optimisation techniques. The backward component uses the power efficiency and meteorological parameters (e.g. from the model COSMO-DE) to calculate global irradiance by means of the generated power of individual photovoltaic systems. For the year 2012, our method is tested for PV systems in the Allgäu region (south Germany), the distribution area of the system operator "AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co". The test region includes 215 online-monitored photovoltaic systems and one pyranometer station located at the DWD (Deutscher WetterDienst) weather station Hohenpeißenberg (operated by the German Weather Service). The present talk provides an introduction to the newly developed method along with first results for clear sky scenarios. (1) B. Mayer and A. Kylling (2005): Technical note: The libRadtran software package for radiative transfer calculations - description and examples of use. In: Chemistry and Physics Chemistry and Physics. Page: 1855 - 1877

A federated design for a neurobiological simulation engine: the CBI federated software architecture.

PubMed

Cornelis, Hugo; Coop, Allan D; Bower, James M

2012-01-01

Simulator interoperability and extensibility has become a growing requirement in computational biology. To address this, we have developed a federated software architecture. It is federated by its union of independent disparate systems under a single cohesive view, provides interoperability through its capability to communicate, execute programs, or transfer data among different independent applications, and supports extensibility by enabling simulator expansion or enhancement without the need for major changes to system infrastructure. Historically, simulator interoperability has relied on development of declarative markup languages such as the neuron modeling language NeuroML, while simulator extension typically occurred through modification of existing functionality. The software architecture we describe here allows for both these approaches. However, it is designed to support alternative paradigms of interoperability and extensibility through the provision of logical relationships and defined application programming interfaces. They allow any appropriately configured component or software application to be incorporated into a simulator. The architecture defines independent functional modules that run stand-alone. They are arranged in logical layers that naturally correspond to the occurrence of high-level data (biological concepts) versus low-level data (numerical values) and distinguish data from control functions. The modular nature of the architecture and its independence from a given technology facilitates communication about similar concepts and functions for both users and developers. It provides several advantages for multiple independent contributions to software development. Importantly, these include: (1) Reduction in complexity of individual simulator components when compared to the complexity of a complete simulator, (2) Documentation of individual components in terms of their inputs and outputs, (3) Easy removal or replacement of unnecessary or obsoleted components, (4) Stand-alone testing of components, and (5) Clear delineation of the development scope of new components.

A Federated Design for a Neurobiological Simulation Engine: The CBI Federated Software Architecture

PubMed Central

Cornelis, Hugo; Coop, Allan D.; Bower, James M.

2012-01-01

Simulator interoperability and extensibility has become a growing requirement in computational biology. To address this, we have developed a federated software architecture. It is federated by its union of independent disparate systems under a single cohesive view, provides interoperability through its capability to communicate, execute programs, or transfer data among different independent applications, and supports extensibility by enabling simulator expansion or enhancement without the need for major changes to system infrastructure. Historically, simulator interoperability has relied on development of declarative markup languages such as the neuron modeling language NeuroML, while simulator extension typically occurred through modification of existing functionality. The software architecture we describe here allows for both these approaches. However, it is designed to support alternative paradigms of interoperability and extensibility through the provision of logical relationships and defined application programming interfaces. They allow any appropriately configured component or software application to be incorporated into a simulator. The architecture defines independent functional modules that run stand-alone. They are arranged in logical layers that naturally correspond to the occurrence of high-level data (biological concepts) versus low-level data (numerical values) and distinguish data from control functions. The modular nature of the architecture and its independence from a given technology facilitates communication about similar concepts and functions for both users and developers. It provides several advantages for multiple independent contributions to software development. Importantly, these include: (1) Reduction in complexity of individual simulator components when compared to the complexity of a complete simulator, (2) Documentation of individual components in terms of their inputs and outputs, (3) Easy removal or replacement of unnecessary or obsoleted components, (4) Stand-alone testing of components, and (5) Clear delineation of the development scope of new components. PMID:22242154

Neural Systems Underlying Individual Differences in Intertemporal Decision-making.

PubMed

Elton, Amanda; Smith, Christopher T; Parrish, Michael H; Boettiger, Charlotte A

2017-03-01

Excessively choosing immediate over larger future rewards, or delay discounting (DD), associates with multiple clinical conditions. Individual differences in DD likely depend on variations in the activation of and functional interactions between networks, representing possible endophenotypes for associated disorders, including alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Numerous fMRI studies have probed the neural bases of DD, but investigations of large-scale networks remain scant. We addressed this gap by testing whether activation within large-scale networks during Now/Later decision-making predicts individual differences in DD. To do so, we scanned 95 social drinkers (18-40 years old; 50 women) using fMRI during hypothetical choices between small monetary amounts available "today" or larger amounts available later. We identified neural networks engaged during Now/Later choice using independent component analysis and tested the relationship between component activation and degree of DD. The activity of two components during Now/Later choice correlated with individual DD rates: A temporal lobe network positively correlated with DD, whereas a frontoparietal-striatal network negatively correlated with DD. Activation differences between these networks predicted individual differences in DD, and their negative correlation during Now/Later choice suggests functional competition. A generalized psychophysiological interactions analysis confirmed a decrease in their functional connectivity during decision-making. The functional connectivity of these two networks negatively correlates with alcohol-related harm, potentially implicating these networks in AUDs. These findings provide novel insight into the neural underpinnings of individual differences in impulsive decision-making with potential implications for addiction and related disorders in which impulsivity is a defining feature.

Preliminary design of a mini-Brayton Compressor-Alternator-Turbine (CAT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The preliminary design of a mini-Brayton compressor-alternator-turbine system is discussed. The program design goals are listed. The optimum system characteristics over the entire range of power output were determined by performing a wide-range parametric study. The ability to develop the required components to the degree necessary within the limitations of present technology is evaluated. The sensitivity of the system to various individual design parameters was analyzed.

Agent-Based Modeling in Systems Pharmacology.

PubMed

Cosgrove, J; Butler, J; Alden, K; Read, M; Kumar, V; Cucurull-Sanchez, L; Timmis, J; Coles, M

2015-11-01

Modeling and simulation (M&S) techniques provide a platform for knowledge integration and hypothesis testing to gain insights into biological systems that would not be possible a priori. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is an M&S technique that focuses on describing individual components rather than homogenous populations. This tutorial introduces ABM to systems pharmacologists, using relevant case studies to highlight how ABM-specific strengths have yielded success in the area of preclinical mechanistic modeling.

Levels of Autonomy and Autonomous System Performance Assessment for Intelligent Unmanned Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

LIDAR and camera sensors that is driven entirely by teleoperation would be AL 0. If that same robot used its LIDAR and camera data to generate a...obstacle detection, mapping, path planning 3 CMMAD semi- autonomous counter- mine system (Few 2010) Talon UGV, camera, LIDAR , metal detector...NCAP framework are performed on individual UMS components and do not require mission level evaluations. For example, bench testing of camera, LIDAR

Effective Management of a Volunteer Corps.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tedrick, Ted; And Others

1984-01-01

Prior to improving volunteer services, a leisure agency should have a realistic expectation of the desired accomplishments, both in individual and organizational terms. A systems approach to volunteer management is discussed that includes the components of planning and coordination; recruitment and orientation; training and placement; and…

Designing flexibility into the U.S. transportation system : adapting to the challenges of climate change

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-01-01

Fundamental to the application of engineering design standards is an understanding of how environmental factors and conditions will affect both the behavior of the overall structure itself as well as of the individual material components of the desig...

Political Education as a Means of Political Socialization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grabe, Weronika; Knobelsdorf, Wodzimierz

1980-01-01

This essay describes the dimensions of political socialization with systematic political education as a major component. Both promote individual acceptance of political norms--particularly where government and school systems are tightly linked. The authors argue that political socialization should promote effective citizenship rather than simply…

Supervising Knowledge Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duffy, Francis M.

This paper summarizes a new paradigm of instructional supervision, which shifts the focus on supervision from an examination of individual behavior to the improvement of work processes and social system components of the school district. The paradigm, called "Knowledge Work Supervision," helps teams of teachers and specially trained supervisors…

Developing a Simulated-Person Methodology Workshop: An Experiential Education Initiative for Educators and Simulators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peisachovich, Eva Hava; Nelles, L. J.; Johnson, Samantha; Nicholson, Laura; Gal, Raya; Kerr, Barbara; Celia, Popovic; Epstein, Iris; Da Silva, Celina

2017-01-01

Numerous forecasts suggest that professional-competence development depends on human encounters. Interaction between organizations, tasks, and individual providers influence human behaviour, affect organizations' or systems' performance, and are a key component of professional-competence development. Further, insufficient or ineffective…

The renin-angiotensin system in thyroid disorders and its role in cardiovascular and renal manifestations.

PubMed

Vargas, Félix; Rodríguez-Gómez, Isabel; Vargas-Tendero, Pablo; Jimenez, Eugenio; Montiel, Mercedes

2012-04-01

Thyroid disorders are among the most common endocrine diseases and affect virtually all physiological systems, with an especially marked impact on cardiovascular and renal systems. This review summarizes the effects of thyroid hormones on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and the participation of the RAS in the cardiovascular and renal manifestations of thyroid disorders. Thyroid hormones are important regulators of cardiac and renal mass, vascular function, renal sodium handling, and consequently blood pressure (BP). The RAS acts globally to control cardiovascular and renal functions, while RAS components act systemically and locally in individual organs. Various authors have implicated the systemic and local RAS in the mediation of functional and structural changes in cardiovascular and renal tissues due to abnormal thyroid hormone levels. This review analyzes the influence of thyroid hormones on RAS components and discusses the role of the RAS in BP, cardiac mass, vascular function, and renal abnormalities in thyroid disorders.

LIHE Spectral Dynamics and Jaguar Data Acquisition System Measurement Assurance Results 2014.

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

Covert, Timothy T.; Willis, Michael David; Radtke, Gregg Arthur

2015-06-01

The Light Initiated High Explosive (LIHE) facility performs high rigor, high consequence impulse testing for the nuclear weapons (NW) community. To support the facility mission, LIHE's extensive data acquisition system (DAS) is comprised of several discrete components as well as a fully integrated system. Due to the high consequence and high rigor of the testing performed at LIHE, a measurement assurance plan (MAP) was developed in collaboration with NW system customers to meet their data quality needs and to provide assurance of the robustness of the LIHE DAS. While individual components of the DAS have been calibrated by the SNLmore » Primary Standards Laboratory (PSL), the integrated nature of this complex system requires verification of the complete system, from end-to-end. This measurement assurance plan (MAP) report documents the results of verification and validation procedures used to ensure that the data quality meets customer requirements.« less

Bioequivalence of saxagliptin/dapagliflozin fixed-dose combination tablets compared with coadministration of the individual tablets to healthy subjects.

PubMed

Vakkalagadda, Blisse; Vetter, Marion L; Rana, Jignasa; Smith, Charles H; Huang, Jian; Karkas, Jennifer; Boulton, David W; LaCreta, Frank

2015-12-01

Saxagliptin and dapagliflozin are individually indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The bioequivalence of saxagliptin/dapagliflozin 2.5/5 mg and 5/10 mg fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablets compared with coadministration of the individual tablets and the food effect on both strengths of saxagliptin/dapagliflozin FDCs were evaluated in this open-label, randomized, single-dose crossover study. Healthy subjects were randomized to saxagliptin 2.5 mg + dapagliflozin 5 mg fasted, 2.5/5 mg FDC fasted, 2.5/5 mg FDC fed (Cohort 1) or saxagliptin 5 mg + dapagliflozin 10 mg fasted, 5/10 mg FDC fasted, 5/10 mg FDC fed (Cohort 2). Serial blood samples for pharmacokinetics of saxagliptin and dapagliflozin were obtained predose and up to 60 h postdose. Bioequivalence of FDC tablets versus individual components was concluded if the 90% CIs for FDC to individual component geometric mean ratios of C max, AUC 0-T, and AUC inf of both analytes were between 0.80 and 1.25. Seventy-two subjects were randomized; 71 (98.6%) completed the study. Saxagliptin/dapagliflozin 2.5/5 mg and 5/10 mg FDC tablets were bioequivalent to the individual tablets administered concomitantly. Food had no clinically meaningful effect on saxagliptin or dapagliflozin overall systemic exposure. Saxagliptin/dapagliflozin FDC tablets were bioequivalent to coadministration of the individual components in healthy subjects under fasted conditions and food had no clinically meaningful effect on bioavailability.

Universal and individual characteristics of postural sway during quiet standing in healthy young adults

PubMed Central

Yamamoto, Tomohisa; Smith, Charles E; Suzuki, Yasuyuki; Kiyono, Ken; Tanahashi, Takao; Sakoda, Saburo; Morasso, Pietro; Nomura, Taishin

2015-01-01

The time course of the center of pressure (CoP) during human quiet standing, corresponding to body sway, is a stochastic process, influenced by a variety of features of the underlying neuro-musculo-skeletal system, such as postural stability and flexibility. Due to complexity of the process, sway patterns have been characterized in an empirical way by a number of indices, such as sway size and mean sway velocity. Here, we describe a statistical approach with the aim of estimating “universal” indices, namely parameters that are independent of individual body characteristics and thus are not “hidden” by the presence of individual, daily, and circadian variations of sway; in this manner it is possible to characterize the common aspects of sway dynamics across healthy young adults, in the assumption that they might reflect underlying neural control during quiet standing. Such universal indices are identified by analyzing intra and inter-subject variability of various indices, after sorting out individual-specific indices that contribute to individual discriminations. It is shown that the universal indices characterize mainly slow components of sway, such as scaling exponents of power-law behavior at a low-frequency regime. On the other hand, most of the individual-specific indices contributing to the individual discriminations exhibit significant correlation with body parameters, and they can be associated with fast oscillatory components of sway. These results are consistent with a mechanistic hypothesis claiming that the slow and the fast components of sway are associated, respectively, with neural control and biomechanics, supporting our assumption that the universal characteristics of postural sway might represent neural control strategies during quiet standing. PMID:25780094

Individualized Prediction of Reading Comprehension Ability Using Gray Matter Volume.

PubMed

Cui, Zaixu; Su, Mengmeng; Li, Liangjie; Shu, Hua; Gong, Gaolang

2018-05-01

Reading comprehension is a crucial reading skill for learning and putatively contains 2 key components: reading decoding and linguistic comprehension. Current understanding of the neural mechanism underlying these reading comprehension components is lacking, and whether and how neuroanatomical features can be used to predict these 2 skills remain largely unexplored. In the present study, we analyzed a large sample from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset and successfully built multivariate predictive models for these 2 skills using whole-brain gray matter volume features. The results showed that these models effectively captured individual differences in these 2 skills and were able to significantly predict these components of reading comprehension for unseen individuals. The strict cross-validation using the HCP cohort and another independent cohort of children demonstrated the model generalizability. The identified gray matter regions contributing to the skill prediction consisted of a wide range of regions covering the putative reading, cerebellum, and subcortical systems. Interestingly, there were gender differences in the predictive models, with the female-specific model overestimating the males' abilities. Moreover, the identified contributing gray matter regions for the female-specific and male-specific models exhibited considerable differences, supporting a gender-dependent neuroanatomical substrate for reading comprehension.

Separation of musical instruments based on amplitude and frequency comodulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobson, Barry D.; Cauwenberghs, Gert; Quatieri, Thomas F.

2002-05-01

In previous work, amplitude comodulation was investigated as a basis for monaural source separation. Amplitude comodulation refers to similarities in amplitude envelopes of individual spectral components emitted by particular types of sources. In many types of musical instruments, amplitudes of all resonant modes rise/fall, and start/stop together during the course of normal playing. We found that under certain well-defined conditions, a mixture of constant frequency, amplitude comodulated sources can unambiguously be decomposed into its constituents on the basis of these similarities. In this work, system performance was improved by relaxing the constant frequency requirement. String instruments, for example, which are normally played with vibrato, are both amplitude and frequency comodulated sources, and could not be properly tracked under the constant frequency assumption upon which our original algorithm was based. Frequency comodulation refers to similarities in frequency variations of individual harmonics emitted by these types of sources. The analytical difficulty is in defining a representation of the source which properly tracks frequency varying components. A simple, fixed filter bank can only track an individual spectral component for the duration in which it is within the passband of one of the filters. Alternatives are therefore explored which are amenable to real-time implementation.

Reconstructing a Large-Scale Population for Social Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Zongchen; Meng, Rongqing; Ge, Yuanzheng; Qiu, Xiaogang

The advent of social simulation has provided an opportunity to research on social systems. More and more researchers tend to describe the components of social systems in a more detailed level. Any simulation needs the support of population data to initialize and implement the simulation systems. However, it's impossible to get the data which provide full information about individuals and households. We propose a two-step method to reconstruct a large-scale population for a Chinese city according to Chinese culture. Firstly, a baseline population is generated through gathering individuals into households one by one; secondly, social relationships such as friendship are assigned to the baseline population. Through a case study, a population of 3,112,559 individuals gathered in 1,133,835 households is reconstructed for Urumqi city, and the results show that the generated data can respect the real data quite well. The generated data can be applied to support modeling of some social phenomenon.

A research project to develop and evaluate a technical education component on materials technology for orientation to space-age technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobs, J. A.

1976-01-01

A project was initiated to develop, implement, and evaluate a prototype component for self-pacing, individualized instruction on basic materials science. Results of this project indicate that systematically developed, self-paced instruction provides an effective means for orienting nontraditional college students and secondary students, especially minorities, to both engineering technology and basic materials science. In addition, students using such a system gain greater chances for mastering subject matter than with conventional modes of instruction.

Materials for bioresorbable radio frequency electronics.

PubMed

Hwang, Suk-Won; Huang, Xian; Seo, Jung-Hun; Song, Jun-Kyul; Kim, Stanley; Hage-Ali, Sami; Chung, Hyun-Joong; Tao, Hu; Omenetto, Fiorenzo G; Ma, Zhenqiang; Rogers, John A

2013-07-12

Materials, device designs and manufacturing approaches are presented for classes of RF electronic components that are capable of complete dissolution in water or biofluids. All individual passive/active components as well as system-level examples such as wireless RF energy harvesting circuits exploit active materials that are biocompatible. The results provide diverse building blocks for physically transient forms of electronics, of particular potential value in bioresorbable medical implants with wireless power transmission and communication capabilities. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Overview of SDCM - The Spacecraft Design and Cost Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferebee, Melvin J.; Farmer, Jeffery T.; Andersen, Gregory C.; Flamm, Jeffery D.; Badi, Deborah M.

1988-01-01

The Spacecraft Design and Cost Model (SDCM) is a computer-aided design and analysis tool for synthesizing spacecraft configurations, integrating their subsystems, and generating information concerning on-orbit servicing and costs. SDCM uses a bottom-up method in which the cost and performance parameters for subsystem components are first calculated; the model then sums the contributions from individual components in order to obtain an estimate of sizes and costs for each candidate configuration within a selected spacecraft system. An optimum spacraft configuration can then be selected.

An object oriented generic controller using CLIPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nivens, Cody R.

1990-01-01

In today's applications, the need for the division of code and data has focused on the growth of object oriented programming. This philosophy gives software engineers greater control over the environment of an application. Yet the use of object oriented design does not exclude the need for greater understanding by the application of what the controller is doing. Such understanding is only possible by using expert systems. Providing a controller that is capable of controlling an object by using rule-based expertise would expedite the use of both object oriented design and expert knowledge of the dynamic of an environment in modern controllers. This project presents a model of a controller that uses the CLIPS expert system and objects in C++ to create a generic controller. The polymorphic abilities of C++ allow for the design of a generic component stored in individual data files. Accompanying the component is a set of rules written in CLIPS which provide the following: the control of individual components, the input of sensory data from components and the ability to find the status of a given component. Along with the data describing the application, a set of inference rules written in CLIPS allows the application to make use of sensory facts and status and control abilities. As a demonstration of this ability, the control of the environment of a house is provided. This demonstration includes the data files describing the rooms and their contents as far as devices, windows and doors. The rules used for the home consist of the flow of people in the house and the control of devices by the home owner.

[Problems in the individual adaptation of working women].

PubMed

Grebeneva, O V; Balaeva, E A

2008-01-01

The mechanisms of development of dysadaptive changes were revealed in factory workers in relation to congenital personality traits and the schemes of individual adaptation strategies were defined. At the same time increased anxiety leading to the accelerated rates of aging preceded impaired adaptive processes. The differences in the female adaptive patterns were determined by both the degree of emotional stability and the baseline energy capacities of the cardiorespiratory system and the involvement of a mental component in adaptation.

An examination of effect estimation in factorial and standardly-tailored designs

PubMed Central

Allore, Heather G; Murphy, Terrence E

2012-01-01

Background Many clinical trials are designed to test an intervention arm against a control arm wherein all subjects are equally eligible for all interventional components. Factorial designs have extended this to test multiple intervention components and their interactions. A newer design referred to as a ‘standardly-tailored’ design, is a multicomponent interventional trial that applies individual interventional components to modify risk factors identified a priori and tests whether health outcomes differ between treatment arms. Standardly-tailored designs do not require that all subjects be eligible for every interventional component. Although standardly-tailored designs yield an estimate for the net effect of the multicomponent intervention, it has not yet been shown if they permit separate, unbiased estimation of individual component effects. The ability to estimate the most potent interventional components has direct bearing on conducting second stage translational research. Purpose We present statistical issues related to the estimation of individual component effects in trials of geriatric conditions using factorial and standardly-tailored designs. The medical community is interested in second stage translational research involving the transfer of results from a randomized clinical trial to a community setting. Before such research is undertaken, main effects and synergistic and or antagonistic interactions between them should be identified. Knowledge of the relative strength and direction of the effects of the individual components and their interactions facilitates the successful transfer of clinically significant findings and may potentially reduce the number of interventional components needed. Therefore the current inability of the standardly-tailored design to provide unbiased estimates of individual interventional components is a serious limitation in their applicability to second stage translational research. Methods We discuss estimation of individual component effects from the family of factorial designs and this limitation for standardly-tailored designs. We use the phrase ‘factorial designs’ to describe full-factorial designs and their derivatives including the fractional factorial, partial factorial, incomplete factorial and modified reciprocal designs. We suggest two potential directions for designing multicomponent interventions to facilitate unbiased estimates of individual interventional components. Results Full factorial designs and their variants are the most common multicomponent trial design described in the literature and differ meaningfully from standardly-tailored designs. Factorial and standardly-tailored designs result in similar estimates of net effect with different levels of precision. Unbiased estimation of individual component effects from a standardly-tailored design will require new methodology. Limitations Although clinically relevant in geriatrics, previous applications of standardly-tailored designs have not provided unbiased estimates of the effects of individual interventional components. Discussion Future directions to estimate individual component effects from standardly-tailored designs include applying D-optimal designs and creating independent linear combinations of risk factors analogous to factor analysis. Conclusion Methods are needed to extract unbiased estimates of the effects of individual interventional components from standardly-tailored designs. PMID:18375650

Integrated communication and control systems. I - Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halevi, Yoram; Ray, Asok

1988-01-01

The paper presents the results of an ICCS analysis focusing on discrete-time control systems subject to time-varying delays. The present analytical technique is applicable to integrated dynamic systems such as those encountered in advanced aircraft, spacecraft, and the real-time control of robots and machine tools via a high-speed network within an autonomous manufacturing environment. The significance of data latency and missynchronization between individual system components in ICCS networks is discussed in view of the time-varying delays.

Model-Drive Architecture for Agent-Based Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gradanin, Denis; Singh, H. Lally; Bohner, Shawn A.; Hinchey, Michael G.

2004-01-01

The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach uses a platform-independent model to define system functionality, or requirements, using some specification language. The requirements are then translated to a platform-specific model for implementation. An agent architecture based on the human cognitive model of planning, the Cognitive Agent Architecture (Cougaar) is selected for the implementation platform. The resulting Cougaar MDA prescribes certain kinds of models to be used, how those models may be prepared and the relationships of the different kinds of models. Using the existing Cougaar architecture, the level of application composition is elevated from individual components to domain level model specifications in order to generate software artifacts. The software artifacts generation is based on a metamodel. Each component maps to a UML structured component which is then converted into multiple artifacts: Cougaar/Java code, documentation, and test cases.

Computational models for the analysis/design of hypersonic scramjet components. I - Combustor and nozzle models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dash, S. M.; Sinha, N.; Wolf, D. E.; York, B. J.

1986-01-01

An overview of computational models developed for the complete, design-oriented analysis of a scramjet propulsion system is provided. The modular approach taken involves the use of different PNS models to analyze the individual propulsion system components. The external compression and internal inlet flowfields are analyzed by the SCRAMP and SCRINT components discussed in Part II of this paper. The combustor is analyzed by the SCORCH code which is based upon SPLITP PNS pressure-split methodology formulated by Dash and Sinha. The nozzle is analyzed by the SCHNOZ code which is based upon SCIPVIS PNS shock-capturing methodology formulated by Dash and Wolf. The current status of these models, previous developments leading to this status, and, progress towards future hybrid and 3D versions are discussed in this paper.

A Supplement to the Component Four Implementation Booklet. Broad Goal Definition in Emerald School District. SPECS: School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagle, John M.; Walker, Harold E.

The School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System (SPECS) is an overall design for districtwide program assessment and development. It is both a way of interrelating planning and evaluation of individual programs and a way of comparing the outcomes of all district programs with the district's community-defined educational goals. This…

Global Gene Expression Profiles Identify Metastasis Regulatory Networks | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

Metastasis is a systemic disease in which cancer cells break away from a tumor and migrate to other parts of the body, usually via the blood or lymphatic systems, to form new tumors. Metastatic tumors are difficult to treat and account for the majority of cancer-related deaths. Susceptibility to metastasis is known to have a genetic component, with some individuals more

Application of Smart Infrastructure Systems approach to precision medicine.

PubMed

Govindaraju, Diddahally R; Annaswamy, Anuradha M

2015-12-01

All biological variation is hierarchically organized dynamic network system of genomic components, organelles, cells, tissues, organs, individuals, families, populations and metapopulations. Individuals are axial in this hierarchy, as they represent antecedent, attendant and anticipated aspects of health, disease, evolution and medical care. Humans show individual specific genetic and clinical features such as complexity, cooperation, resilience, robustness, vulnerability, self-organization, latent and emergent behavior during their development, growth and senescence. Accurate collection, measurement, organization and analyses of individual specific data, embedded at all stratified levels of biological, demographic and cultural diversity - the big data - is necessary to make informed decisions on health, disease and longevity; which is a central theme of precision medicine initiative (PMI). This initiative also calls for the development of novel analytical approaches to handle complex multidimensional data. Here we suggest the application of Smart Infrastructure Systems (SIS) approach to accomplish some of the goals set forth by the PMI on the premise that biological systems and the SIS share many common features. The latter has been successfully employed in managing complex networks of non-linear adaptive controls, commonly encountered in smart engineering systems. We highlight their concordance and discuss the utility of the SIS approach in precision medicine programs.

A variational approach to dynamics of flexible multibody systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Shih-Chin; Haug, Edward J.; Kim, Sung-Soo

1989-01-01

This paper presents a variational formulation of constrained dynamics of flexible multibody systems, using a vector-variational calculus approach. Body reference frames are used to define global position and orientation of individual bodies in the system, located and oriented by position of its origin and Euler parameters, respectively. Small strain linear elastic deformation of individual components, relative to their body references frames, is defined by linear combinations of deformation modes that are induced by constraint reaction forces and normal modes of vibration. A library of kinematic couplings between flexible and/or rigid bodies is defined and analyzed. Variational equations of motion for multibody systems are obtained and reduced to mixed differential-algebraic equations of motion. A space structure that must deform during deployment is analyzed, to illustrate use of the methods developed.

40 CFR 63.181 - Recordkeeping requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... subpart. Individual components in an instrumentation system need not be identified. (5) Identification of... subpart, and documentation of the integrity of the weld for any removed connectors, as required in § 63... that is subject to the provisions of this subpart. Examples of suitable documentation are records of...

40 CFR 63.181 - Recordkeeping requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... subpart. Individual components in an instrumentation system need not be identified. (5) Identification of... subpart, and documentation of the integrity of the weld for any removed connectors, as required in § 63... that is subject to the provisions of this subpart. Examples of suitable documentation are records of...

40 CFR 63.181 - Recordkeeping requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... subpart. Individual components in an instrumentation system need not be identified. (5) Identification of... subpart, and documentation of the integrity of the weld for any removed connectors, as required in § 63... that is subject to the provisions of this subpart. Examples of suitable documentation are records of...

47 CFR 2.1517 - Data recording/reporting requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... comparative information. (e) A description of any modifications made to the EUT or other system components.../reporting requirements. The test report for an EPIRB shall contain the following information: (a) Specific... individual responsible, either directly or indirectly, for production or marketing of the device tested that...

Biocomposites: The natural fiber contribution from bast and woody plants

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A composite material is generally described as a combination of two or more phases at the macroscopic level which results in an improved system with superior characteristics than that of its individual components alone. Research was conducted to determine the impact of retting treatments (chemical ...

Global Gene Expression Profiles Identify Metastasis Regulatory Networks | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

Metastasis is a systemic disease in which cancer cells break away from a tumor and migrate to other parts of the body, usually via the blood or lymphatic systems, to form new tumors. Metastatic tumors are difficult to treat and account for the majority of cancer-related deaths. Susceptibility to metastasis is known to have a genetic component, with some individuals more predisposed than others. However, because of the complex interchange between random genomic and epigenetic events that contribute to the disease, characterization of individual genes or small numbers of genes is not sufficient to understand the processes leading up to metastasis.

Compact electrochemical sensor system and method for field testing for metals in saliva or other fluids

DOEpatents

Lin, Yuehe; Bennett, Wendy D.; Timchalk, Charles; Thrall, Karla D.

2004-03-02

Microanalytical systems based on a microfluidics/electrochemical detection scheme are described. Individual modules, such as microfabricated piezoelectrically actuated pumps and a microelectrochemical cell were integrated onto portable platforms. This allowed rapid change-out and repair of individual components by incorporating "plug and play" concepts now standard in PC's. Different integration schemes were used for construction of the microanalytical systems based on microfluidics/electrochemical detection. In one scheme, all individual modules were integrated in the surface of the standard microfluidic platform based on a plug-and-play design. Microelectrochemical flow cell which integrated three electrodes based on a wall-jet design was fabricated on polymer substrate. The microelectrochemical flow cell was then plugged directly into the microfluidic platform. Another integration scheme was based on a multilayer lamination method utilizing stacking modules with different functionality to achieve a compact microanalytical device. Application of the microanalytical system for detection of lead in, for example, river water and saliva samples using stripping voltammetry is described.

A 20-channel magnetoencephalography system based on optically pumped magnetometers

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

Borna, Amir; Carter, Tony R.; Goldberg, Josh D.

In this paper, we describe a multichannel magnetoencephalography (MEG) system that uses optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) to sense the magnetic fields of the human brain. The system consists of an array of 20 OPM channels conforming to the human subject's head, a person-sized magnetic shield containing the array and the human subject, a laser system to drive the OPM array, and various control and data acquisition systems. We conducted two MEG experiments: auditory evoked magnetic field and somatosensory evoked magnetic field, on three healthy male subjects, using both our OPM array and a 306-channel Elekta-Neuromag superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)more » MEG system. The described OPM array measures the tangential components of the magnetic field as opposed to the radial component measured by most SQUID-based MEG systems. Finally, herein, we compare the results of the OPM- and SQUID-based MEG systems on the auditory and somatosensory data recorded in the same individuals on both systems.« less

A 20-channel magnetoencephalography system based on optically pumped magnetometers

DOE PAGES

Borna, Amir; Carter, Tony R.; Goldberg, Josh D.; ...

2017-10-16

In this paper, we describe a multichannel magnetoencephalography (MEG) system that uses optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) to sense the magnetic fields of the human brain. The system consists of an array of 20 OPM channels conforming to the human subject's head, a person-sized magnetic shield containing the array and the human subject, a laser system to drive the OPM array, and various control and data acquisition systems. We conducted two MEG experiments: auditory evoked magnetic field and somatosensory evoked magnetic field, on three healthy male subjects, using both our OPM array and a 306-channel Elekta-Neuromag superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)more » MEG system. The described OPM array measures the tangential components of the magnetic field as opposed to the radial component measured by most SQUID-based MEG systems. Finally, herein, we compare the results of the OPM- and SQUID-based MEG systems on the auditory and somatosensory data recorded in the same individuals on both systems.« less

Shuttle cryogenic supply system optimization study. Volume 5A-1: Users manual for math models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The Integrated Math Model for Cryogenic Systems is a flexible, broadly applicable systems parametric analysis tool. The program will effectively accommodate systems of considerable complexity involving large numbers of performance dependent variables such as are found in the individual and integrated cryogen systems. Basically, the program logic structure pursues an orderly progression path through any given system in much the same fashion as is employed for manual systems analysis. The system configuration schematic is converted to an alpha-numeric formatted configuration data table input starting with the cryogen consumer and identifying all components, such as lines, fittings, and valves, each in its proper order and ending with the cryogen supply source assembly. Then, for each of the constituent component assemblies, such as gas generators, turbo machinery, heat exchangers, and accumulators, the performance requirements are assembled in input data tabulations. Systems operating constraints and duty cycle definitions are further added as input data coded to the configuration operating sequence.

Unique honey bee (Apis mellifera) hive component-based communities as detected by a hybrid of phospholipid fatty-acid and fatty-acid methyl ester analyses.

PubMed

Grubbs, Kirk J; Scott, Jarrod J; Budsberg, Kevin J; Read, Harry; Balser, Teri C; Currie, Cameron R

2015-01-01

Microbial communities (microbiomes) are associated with almost all metazoans, including the honey bee Apis mellifera. Honey bees are social insects, maintaining complex hive systems composed of a variety of integral components including bees, comb, propolis, honey, and stored pollen. Given that the different components within hives can be physically separated and are nutritionally variable, we hypothesize that unique microbial communities may occur within the different microenvironments of honey bee colonies. To explore this hypothesis and to provide further insights into the microbiome of honey bees, we use a hybrid of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) analysis to produce broad, lipid-based microbial community profiles of stored pollen, adults, pupae, honey, empty comb, and propolis for 11 honey bee hives. Averaging component lipid profiles by hive, we show that, in decreasing order, lipid markers representing fungi, Gram-negative bacteria, and Gram-positive bacteria have the highest relative abundances within honey bee colonies. Our lipid profiles reveal the presence of viable microbial communities in each of the six hive components sampled, with overall microbial community richness varying from lowest to highest in honey, comb, pupae, pollen, adults and propolis, respectively. Finally, microbial community lipid profiles were more similar when compared by component than by hive, location, or sampling year. Specifically, we found that individual hive components typically exhibited several dominant lipids and that these dominant lipids differ between components. Principal component and two-way clustering analyses both support significant grouping of lipids by hive component. Our findings indicate that in addition to the microbial communities present in individual workers, honey bee hives have resident microbial communities associated with different colony components.

Unique Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Hive Component-Based Communities as Detected by a Hybrid of Phospholipid Fatty-Acid and Fatty-Acid Methyl Ester Analyses

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Microbial communities (microbiomes) are associated with almost all metazoans, including the honey bee Apis mellifera. Honey bees are social insects, maintaining complex hive systems composed of a variety of integral components including bees, comb, propolis, honey, and stored pollen. Given that the different components within hives can be physically separated and are nutritionally variable, we hypothesize that unique microbial communities may occur within the different microenvironments of honey bee colonies. To explore this hypothesis and to provide further insights into the microbiome of honey bees, we use a hybrid of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) analysis to produce broad, lipid-based microbial community profiles of stored pollen, adults, pupae, honey, empty comb, and propolis for 11 honey bee hives. Averaging component lipid profiles by hive, we show that, in decreasing order, lipid markers representing fungi, Gram-negative bacteria, and Gram-positive bacteria have the highest relative abundances within honey bee colonies. Our lipid profiles reveal the presence of viable microbial communities in each of the six hive components sampled, with overall microbial community richness varying from lowest to highest in honey, comb, pupae, pollen, adults and propolis, respectively. Finally, microbial community lipid profiles were more similar when compared by component than by hive, location, or sampling year. Specifically, we found that individual hive components typically exhibited several dominant lipids and that these dominant lipids differ between components. Principal component and two-way clustering analyses both support significant grouping of lipids by hive component. Our findings indicate that in addition to the microbial communities present in individual workers, honey bee hives have resident microbial communities associated with different colony components. PMID:25849080

The Multiple Gyrotron System on the DIII-D Tokamak

DOE PAGES

Lohr, J.; Anderson, J.; Brambila, R.; ...

2015-08-28

A major component of the versatile heating systems on the DIII-D tokamak is the gyrotron complex. This system routinely operates at 110 GHz with 4.7 MW generated rf power for electron cyclotron heating and current drive. The complex is being upgraded with the addition of new depressed collector potential gyrotrons operating at 117.5 GHz and generating rf power in excess of 1.0 MW each. The long term upgrade plan calls for 10 gyrotrons at the higher frequency being phased in as resources permit, for an injected power near 10 MW. This article presents a summary of the current status ofmore » the DIII-D gyrotron complex, its performance, individual components, testing procedures, operational parameters, plans, and a brief summary of the experiments for which the system is currently being used.« less

Calibration of Reduced Dynamic Models of Power Systems using Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) Data

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

Zhou, Ning; Lu, Shuai; Singh, Ruchi

2011-09-23

Accuracy of a power system dynamic model is essential to the secure and efficient operation of the system. Lower confidence on model accuracy usually leads to conservative operation and lowers asset usage. To improve model accuracy, identification algorithms have been developed to calibrate parameters of individual components using measurement data from staged tests. To facilitate online dynamic studies for large power system interconnections, this paper proposes a model reduction and calibration approach using phasor measurement unit (PMU) data. First, a model reduction method is used to reduce the number of dynamic components. Then, a calibration algorithm is developed to estimatemore » parameters of the reduced model. This approach will help to maintain an accurate dynamic model suitable for online dynamic studies. The performance of the proposed method is verified through simulation studies.« less

Technique for Early Reliability Prediction of Software Components Using Behaviour Models

PubMed Central

Ali, Awad; N. A. Jawawi, Dayang; Adham Isa, Mohd; Imran Babar, Muhammad

2016-01-01

Behaviour models are the most commonly used input for predicting the reliability of a software system at the early design stage. A component behaviour model reveals the structure and behaviour of the component during the execution of system-level functionalities. There are various challenges related to component reliability prediction at the early design stage based on behaviour models. For example, most of the current reliability techniques do not provide fine-grained sequential behaviour models of individual components and fail to consider the loop entry and exit points in the reliability computation. Moreover, some of the current techniques do not tackle the problem of operational data unavailability and the lack of analysis results that can be valuable for software architects at the early design stage. This paper proposes a reliability prediction technique that, pragmatically, synthesizes system behaviour in the form of a state machine, given a set of scenarios and corresponding constraints as input. The state machine is utilized as a base for generating the component-relevant operational data. The state machine is also used as a source for identifying the nodes and edges of a component probabilistic dependency graph (CPDG). Based on the CPDG, a stack-based algorithm is used to compute the reliability. The proposed technique is evaluated by a comparison with existing techniques and the application of sensitivity analysis to a robotic wheelchair system as a case study. The results indicate that the proposed technique is more relevant at the early design stage compared to existing works, and can provide a more realistic and meaningful prediction. PMID:27668748

Measuring the immune system: a comprehensive approach for the analysis of immune functions in humans.

PubMed

Claus, Maren; Dychus, Nicole; Ebel, Melanie; Damaschke, Jürgen; Maydych, Viktoriya; Wolf, Oliver T; Kleinsorge, Thomas; Watzl, Carsten

2016-10-01

The immune system is essential to provide protection from infections and cancer. Disturbances in immune function can therefore directly affect the health of the affected individual. Many extrinsic and intrinsic factors such as exposure to chemicals, stress, nutrition and age have been reported to influence the immune system. These influences can affect various components of the immune system, and we are just beginning to understand the causalities of these changes. To investigate such disturbances, it is therefore essential to analyze the different components of the immune system in a comprehensive fashion. Here, we demonstrate such an approach which provides information about total number of leukocytes, detailed quantitative and qualitative changes in the composition of lymphocyte subsets, cytokine levels in serum and functional properties of T cells, NK cells and monocytes. Using samples from a cohort of 24 healthy volunteers, we demonstrate the feasibility of our approach to detect changes in immune functions.

Systemic Case Formulation, Individualized Process Monitoring, and State Dynamics in a Case of Dissociative Identity Disorder.

PubMed

Schiepek, Günter K; Stöger-Schmidinger, Barbara; Aichhorn, Wolfgang; Schöller, Helmut; Aas, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Objective: The aim of this case report is to demonstrate the feasibility of a systemic procedure (synergetic process management) including modeling of the idiographic psychological system and continuous high-frequency monitoring of change dynamics in a case of dissociative identity disorder. The psychotherapy was realized in a day treatment center with a female client diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and dissociative identity disorder. Methods: A three hour long co-creative session at the beginning of the treatment period allowed for modeling the systemic network of the client's dynamics of cognitions, emotions, and behavior. The components (variables) of this idiographic system model (ISM) were used to create items for an individualized process questionnaire for the client. The questionnaire was administered daily through an internet-based monitoring tool (Synergetic Navigation System, SNS), to capture the client's individual change process continuously throughout the therapy and after-care period. The resulting time series were reflected by therapist and client in therapeutic feedback sessions. Results: For the client it was important to see how the personality states dominating her daily life were represented by her idiographic system model and how the transitions between each state could be explained and understood by the activating and inhibiting relations between the cognitive-emotional components of that system. Continuous monitoring of her cognitions, emotions, and behavior via SNS allowed for identification of important triggers, dynamic patterns, and psychological mechanisms behind seemingly erratic state fluctuations. These insights enabled a change in management of the dynamics and an intensified trauma-focused therapy. Conclusion: By making use of the systemic case formulation technique and subsequent daily online monitoring, client and therapist continuously refer to detailed visualizations of the mental and behavioral network and its dynamics (e.g., order transitions). Effects on self-related information processing, on identity development, and toward a more pronounced autonomy in life (instead of feeling helpless against the chaoticity of state dynamics) were evident in the presented case and documented by the monitoring system.

Analysis of the multiple system with chemically peculiar component φ Draconis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liška, J.

2016-09-01

The star ϕ Dra comprises a spectroscopic binary and a third star that together form a visual triple system. It is one of the brightest chemically peculiar stars of the upper main sequence. Despite these facts, no comprehensive study of its multiplicity has been performed yet. In this work, we present a detailed analysis of the triple system based on available measurements. We use radial velocities taken from four sources in the literature in a re-analysis of the inner spectroscopic binary (Aab). An incorrect value of the orbital period of the inner system Aab about 27 d was accepted in literature more than 40 yr. A new solution of orbit with the 128-d period was determined. Relative position measurements of the outer visual binary system (AB) from Washington Double Star Catalog were compared with known orbital models. Furthermore, it was shown that astrometric motion in system AB is well described by the model of Andrade with a 308-yr orbital period. Parameters of A and B components were utilized to estimate individual brightness for all components and their masses from evolutionary tracks. Although we found several facts which support the gravitational bond between them, unbound solution cannot be fully excluded yet.

Emotion-based learning systems and the development of morality.

PubMed

Blair, R J R

2017-10-01

In this paper it is proposed that important components of moral development and moral judgment rely on two forms of emotional learning: stimulus-reinforcement and response-outcome learning. Data in support of this position will be primarily drawn from work with individuals with the developmental condition of psychopathy as well as fMRI studies with healthy individuals. Individuals with psychopathy show impairment on moral judgment tasks and a pronounced increased risk for instrumental antisocial behavior. It will be argued that these impairments are developmental consequences of impaired stimulus-aversive conditioning on the basis of distress cue reinforcers and response-outcome learning in individuals with this disorder. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Global Stress Classification System for Materials Used in Solar Energy Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slamova, Karolina; Schill, Christian; Herrmann, Jan; Datta, Pawan; Chih Wang, Chien

2016-08-01

Depending on the geographical location, the individual or combined impact of environmental stress factors and corresponding performance losses for solar applications varies significantly. Therefore, as a strategy to reduce investment risks and operating and maintenance costs, it is necessary to adapt the materials and components of solar energy systems specifically to regional environmental conditions. The project «GloBe Solar» supports this strategy by focusing on the development of a global stress classification system for materials in solar energy applications. The aim of this classification system is to assist in the identification of the individual stress conditions for every location on the earth's surface. The stress classification system could serve as a decision support tool for the industry (manufacturers, investors, lenders and project developers) and help to improve knowledge and services that can provide higher confidence to solar power systems.

The Use of Probabilistic Methods to Evaluate the Systems Impact of Component Design Improvements on Large Turbofan Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Packard, Michael H.

2002-01-01

Probabilistic Structural Analysis (PSA) is now commonly used for predicting the distribution of time/cycles to failure of turbine blades and other engine components. These distributions are typically based on fatigue/fracture and creep failure modes of these components. Additionally, reliability analysis is used for taking test data related to particular failure modes and calculating failure rate distributions of electronic and electromechanical components. How can these individual failure time distributions of structural, electronic and electromechanical component failure modes be effectively combined into a top level model for overall system evaluation of component upgrades, changes in maintenance intervals, or line replaceable unit (LRU) redesign? This paper shows an example of how various probabilistic failure predictions for turbine engine components can be evaluated and combined to show their effect on overall engine performance. A generic model of a turbofan engine was modeled using various Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) tools (Quantitative Risk Assessment Software (QRAS) etc.). Hypothetical PSA results for a number of structural components along with mitigation factors that would restrict the failure mode from propagating to a Loss of Mission (LOM) failure were used in the models. The output of this program includes an overall failure distribution for LOM of the system. The rank and contribution to the overall Mission Success (MS) is also given for each failure mode and each subsystem. This application methodology demonstrates the effectiveness of PRA for assessing the performance of large turbine engines. Additionally, the effects of system changes and upgrades, the application of different maintenance intervals, inclusion of new sensor detection of faults and other upgrades were evaluated in determining overall turbine engine reliability.

Proates a computer modelling system for power plant: Its description and application to heatrate improvement within PowerGen

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

Green, C.H.; Ready, A.B.; Rea, J.

1995-06-01

Versions of the computer program PROATES (PROcess Analysis for Thermal Energy Systems) have been used since 1979 to analyse plant performance improvement proposals relating to existing plant and also to evaluate new plant designs. Several plant modifications have been made to improve performance based on the model predictions and the predicted performance has been realised in practice. The program was born out of a need to model the overall steady state performance of complex plant to enable proposals to change plant component items or operating strategy to be evaluated. To do this with confidence it is necessary to model themore » multiple thermodynamic interactions between the plant components. The modelling system is modular in concept allowing the configuration of individual plant components to represent any particular power plant design. A library exists of physics based modules which have been extensively validated and which provide representations of a wide range of boiler, turbine and CW system components. Changes to model data and construction is achieved via a user friendly graphical model editing/analysis front-end with results being presented via the computer screen or hard copy. The paper describes briefly the modelling system but concentrates mainly on the application of the modelling system to assess design re-optimisation, firing with different fuels and the re-powering of an existing plant.« less

Experimental optimization of the FireFly 600 photovoltaic off-grid system.

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

Boyson, William Earl; Orozco, Ron; Ralph, Mark E.

2003-10-01

A comprehensive evaluation and experimental optimization of the FireFly{trademark} 600 off-grid photovoltaic system manufactured by Energia Total, Ltd. was conducted at Sandia National Laboratories in May and June of 2001. This evaluation was conducted at the request of the manufacturer and addressed performance of individual system components, overall system functionality and performance, safety concerns, and compliance with applicable codes and standards. A primary goal of the effort was to identify areas for improvement in performance, reliability, and safety. New system test procedures were developed during the effort.

Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Regulation: Insights from the Polyvagal Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin, Marilyn A.; Riniolo, Todd C.; Porges, Stephen W.

2007-01-01

The current study provides the first published evidence that the parasympathetic component of the autonomic nervous system differentiates the response profiles between individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and controls. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a non-invasive marker of the influence of the myelinated vagal…

Developing Human Resources for the Technical Workforce: A Comparative Study of Korea and Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawley, Joshua D.; Paek, Jeeyon

2005-01-01

Asian countries face significant and growing shortages of technically skilled workers. Vocational-technical systems are key components of national human resource development. Using labor market data from Thailand and Korea, this paper analyzes the economic payoff for individual investment in vocational-technical education, and subsequent…

Module Eleven: Capacitance; Basic Electricity and Electronics Individualized Learning System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington, DC.

In this module the student will learn about another circuit quantity, capacitance, and discover the effects of this component on circuit current, voltage, and power. The module is divided into seven lessons: the capacitor, theory of capacitance, total capacitance, RC (resistive-capacitive circuit) time constant, capacitive reactance, phase and…

Preparation for Employment: Programs at Illinois Public Community Colleges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois Community Coll. Board, Springfield.

This report highlights the involvement of Illinois public community colleges in preparing individuals for employment, including instruction and services offered to students and businesses. After providing an overview of the state's community college system, the report describes the following components and aspects of employment preparation: (1)…

Module Eight: Induction; Basic Electricity and Electronics Individualized Learning System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington, DC.

The module covers in greater depth electromagnetic induction, its effects, and how it is used to advantage in electrical circuits; and the physical components, called inductors, designed to take advantage of the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction. This module is divided into four lessons: electromagnetism; inductors and flux density, inducing…

Semi-automated identification of leopard frogs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petrovska-Delacrétaz, Dijana; Edwards, Aaron; Chiasson, John; Chollet, Gérard; Pilliod, David S.

2014-01-01

Principal component analysis is used to implement a semi-automatic recognition system to identify recaptured northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens). Results of both open set and closed set experiments are given. The presented algorithm is shown to provide accurate identification of 209 individual leopard frogs from a total set of 1386 images.

SPECS 2. Component Two: Program Budgeting and Cost Accounting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DuVall, Lloyd A.

The School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System (SPECS) is an overall design for districtwide program assessment and development. It is both a way of interrelating planning and evaluation of individual programs and a way of comparing the outcomes of all district programs with the district's community-defined educational goals. Component…

Economic Literacy: An Instructional Guide for Vocational Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackman, Linda L.; And Others

This instructor's guide consists of materials for use in helping vocational education students acquire basic economic literacy. Addressed in the individual units of the guide are the following topics: worker productivity, the free enterprise system, components of the economy, the consumer as a decision maker, small business functions, economic…

40 CFR 63.1003 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... a group, and the number of connectors subject is indicated. (2) Routed to a process or fuel gas... of this subpart. Individual components in an instrumentation system need not be identified. (5) Equipment in service less than 300 hours per calendar year. The identity, either by list, location (area or...

40 CFR 63.1022 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... identity, either by list, location (area or group), or other method, of equipment in regulated material... area or length of pipe subject to the provisions of this subpart are identified as a group, and the... instrumentation systems subject to the provisions of § 63.1029 of this subpart. Individual components in an...

40 CFR 63.1003 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... a group, and the number of connectors subject is indicated. (2) Routed to a process or fuel gas... of this subpart. Individual components in an instrumentation system need not be identified. (5) Equipment in service less than 300 hours per calendar year. The identity, either by list, location (area or...

40 CFR 63.1003 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... a group, and the number of connectors subject is indicated. (2) Routed to a process or fuel gas... of this subpart. Individual components in an instrumentation system need not be identified. (5) Equipment in service less than 300 hours per calendar year. The identity, either by list, location (area or...

40 CFR 63.1022 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... identity, either by list, location (area or group), or other method, of equipment in regulated material... area or length of pipe subject to the provisions of this subpart are identified as a group, and the... instrumentation systems subject to the provisions of § 63.1029 of this subpart. Individual components in an...

40 CFR 63.1022 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... identity, either by list, location (area or group), or other method, of equipment in regulated material... area or length of pipe subject to the provisions of this subpart are identified as a group, and the... instrumentation systems subject to the provisions of § 63.1029 of this subpart. Individual components in an...

40 CFR 63.1003 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... a group, and the number of connectors subject is indicated. (2) Routed to a process or fuel gas... of this subpart. Individual components in an instrumentation system need not be identified. (5) Equipment in service less than 300 hours per calendar year. The identity, either by list, location (area or...

40 CFR 63.1022 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... identity, either by list, location (area or group), or other method, of equipment in regulated material... area or length of pipe subject to the provisions of this subpart are identified as a group, and the... instrumentation systems subject to the provisions of § 63.1029 of this subpart. Individual components in an...

40 CFR 63.1022 - Equipment identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... identity, either by list, location (area or group), or other method, of equipment in regulated material... area or length of pipe subject to the provisions of this subpart are identified as a group, and the... instrumentation systems subject to the provisions of § 63.1029 of this subpart. Individual components in an...

A prototype national cattle evaluation for feed intake and efficiency of Angus cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Recent development of technologies for measuring individual feed intake has made possible the collection of data suitable for breed-wide genetic evaluation. Goals of this research were to estimate genetic parameters for components of feed efficiency and develop a prototype system for conducting a ge...

Counselors and Principals: Collaborating to Improve Instructional Equity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lashley, Carl A.; Stickl, Jaimie

2016-01-01

Data utilization is a key component of school improvement as data can be used to enhance student achievement both systematically and on an individual student level. Through systemically analyzing multiple sources of data, educators can make informed and knowledgeable school improvement decisions. In order to effectively make data-drive decisions…

Afferent and Efferent Aspects of Mandibular Sensorimotor Control in Adults Who Stutter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daliri, Ayoub; Prokopenko, Roman A.; Max, Ludo

2013-01-01

Purpose: Individuals who stutter show sensorimotor deficiencies in speech and nonspeech movements. For the mandibular system, the authors dissociated the sense of kinesthesia from the efferent control component to examine whether kinesthetic integrity itself is compromised in stuttering or whether deficiencies occur only when generating motor…

Interictal cardiorespiratory variability in temporal lobe and absence epilepsy in childhood.

PubMed

Varon, Carolina; Montalto, Alessandro; Jansen, Katrien; Lagae, Lieven; Marinazzo, Daniele; Faes, Luca; Van Huffel, Sabine

2015-04-01

It is well known that epilepsy has a profound effect on the autonomic nervous system, especially on the autonomic control of heart rate and respiration. This effect has been widely studied during seizure activity, but less attention has been given to interictal (i.e. seizure-free) activity. The studies that have been done on this topic, showed that heart rate and respiration can be affected individually, even without the occurrence of seizures. In this work, the interactions between these two individual physiological variables are analysed during interictal activity in temporal lobe and absence epilepsy in childhood. These interactions are assessed by decomposing the predictive information about heart rate variability, into different components like the transfer entropy, cross-entropy, self- entropy and the conditional self entropy. Each one of these components quantifies different types of shared information. However, when using the cross-entropy and the conditional self entropy, it is possible to split the information carried by the heart rate, into two main components, one related to respiration and one related to different mechanisms, like sympathetic activation. This can be done after assuming a directional link going from respiration to heart rate. After analysing all the entropy components, it is shown that in subjects with absence epilepsy the information shared by respiration and heart rate is significantly lower than for normal subjects. And a more remarkable finding indicates that this type of epilepsy seems to have a long term effect on the cardiac and respiratory control mechanisms of the autonomic nervous system.

Brain Representations of Basic Physics Concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Just, Marcel Adam

2017-09-01

The findings concerning physics concepts build on the remarkable new ability to determine the neural signature (or activation pattern) corresponding to an individual concept using fMRI brain imaging. Moreover, the neural signatures can be decomposed into meaningful underlying dimensions, identifying the individual, interpretable components of the neural representation of a concept. The investigation of physics concepts representations reveals how relatively recent physics concepts (formalized only in the last few centuries) are stored in the millenia-old information system of the human brain.

Emergence of universal scaling in financial markets from mean-field dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vikram, S. V.; Sinha, Sitabhra

2011-01-01

Collective phenomena with universal properties have been observed in many complex systems with a large number of components. Here we present a microscopic model of the emergence of scaling behavior in such systems, where the interaction dynamics between individual components is mediated by a global variable making the mean-field description exact. Using the example of financial markets, we show that asset price can be such a global variable with the critical role of coordinating the actions of agents who are otherwise independent. The resulting model accurately reproduces empirical properties such as the universal scaling of the price fluctuation and volume distributions, long-range correlations in volatility, and multiscaling.

String resistance detector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, A. Daniel (Inventor); Davies, Francis J. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

Method and system are disclosed for determining individual string resistance in a network of strings when the current through a parallel connected string is unknown and when the voltage across a series connected string is unknown. The method/system of the invention involves connecting one or more frequency-varying impedance components with known electrical characteristics to each string and applying a frequency-varying input signal to the network of strings. The frequency-varying impedance components may be one or more capacitors, inductors, or both, and are selected so that each string is uniquely identifiable in the output signal resulting from the frequency-varying input signal. Numerical methods, such as non-linear regression, may then be used to resolve the resistance associated with each string.

Intelligent Systems for Self-Healing Electronics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Latino, Carl D.

2001-01-01

For long duration missions it is imperative to be able to monitor and record critical information. The data acquisition systems used must therefore be fault tolerant. This usually meant having redundant copies of critical channels. Since each channel usually consists of various components, the parts count, cost, weight and complexity of the system could be very high. The Advanced Data Acquisition System (ADAS) has been developed as a proof of concept. The purpose was to demonstrate an architecture where individual spare parts can replace defective ones to repair a channel. By so doing entire channels do not need replication. This reduces the need of total redundancy and reduces the parts count. This has the added feature that in addition to spare parts, good components of a failed channel can be used as spares in another channel. In addition to reducing parts count and cost, this configuration, with an intelligent decision maker, can improve the reliability of the overall system. Another unique feature of ADAS is that it uses reconfigurable analog filters. These components can be programmed, by the smart system to meet the specific needs of the part they are to replace. This way one part can serve as spare for many different components. The hardware was built and now serves as a platform for developing intelligent algorithms. Another related project was a wireless data acquisition system. I was invited to participate in the meetings and issue suggestions. A brief description of this system will also be included.

The role of complement in the success of vaccination with conjugated vs. unconjugated polysaccharide antigen.

PubMed

Salehen, Nur'ain; Stover, Cordula

2008-01-24

The complement system, a well-characterised arm of the innate immune system, significantly influences the adaptive immune response via direct cell-cell interaction and maintenance of lymphoid organ architecture. Development of vaccines is a major advance in modern health care. In this review, we highlight the importance of the marginal zone in response to both, polysaccharide and conjugated vaccines, and discuss the relevance of complement herein, based on findings obtained from animal models with specific deletions of certain complement components and from vaccination reports of complement-deficient individuals. We conclude that both, intactness of the complement system and maturity of expression of its components, are relatively more important to aid in the immune response to polysaccharide vaccine than to conjugated vaccines.

Estimating individual influences of behavioral intentions: an application of random-effects modeling to the theory of reasoned action.

PubMed

Hedeker, D; Flay, B R; Petraitis, J

1996-02-01

Methods are proposed and described for estimating the degree to which relations among variables vary at the individual level. As an example of the methods, M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen's (1975; I. Ajzen & M. Fishbein, 1980) theory of reasoned action is examined, which posits first that an individual's behavioral intentions are a function of 2 components: the individual's attitudes toward the behavior and the subjective norms as perceived by the individual. A second component of their theory is that individuals may weight these 2 components differently in assessing their behavioral intentions. This article illustrates the use of empirical Bayes methods based on a random-effects regression model to estimate these individual influences, estimating an individual's weighting of both of these components (attitudes toward the behavior and subjective norms) in relation to their behavioral intentions. This method can be used when an individual's behavioral intentions, subjective norms, and attitudes toward the behavior are all repeatedly measured. In this case, the empirical Bayes estimates are derived as a function of the data from the individual, strengthened by the overall sample data.

[Neural and cognitive correlates of social cognition: findings on neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies].

PubMed

Kobayakawa, Mutsutaka; Kawamura, Mitsuru

2011-12-01

Social cognition includes various components of information processing related to communication with other individuals. In this review, we have discussed 3 components of social cognitive function: face recognition, empathy, and decision making. Our social behavior involves recognition based on facial features and also involves empathizing with others; while making decisions, it is important to consider the social consequences of the course of action followed. Face recognition is divided into 2 routes for information processing: a route responsible for overt recognition of the face's identity and a route for emotional and orienting responses based on the face's personal affective significance. Two systems are possibly involved in empathy: a basic emotional contagion "mirroring" system and a more advanced "theory of mind" system that considers the cognitive perspective. Decision making is mediated by a widespread system that includes several cortical and subcortical components. Numerous lesion and neuroimaging studies have contributed to clarifying the neural correlates of social cognitive function, and greater information can be obtained on social cognitive function by combining these 2 approaches.

Definition and means of maintaining the criticality detectors and alarms portion of the PFP safety envelope

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

White, W.F.

The purpose of this document is to provide the definition and means of maintaining the Safety Envelope (SE) related to the Criticality Alarm System (CAS). This document provides amplification of the Limiting Condition for Operation (LCO) described in the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) Operational Safety Requirements (OSR), WHC-SD-CP-OSR-010, Rev. 0, 1994, Section 3.1.2, Criticality Detectors and Alarms. This document, with its appendices, provides the following: (1) System functional requirements for determining system operability (Section 3); (2) A list of annotated system block diagrams which indicate the safety envelope boundaries (Appendix C); (3) A list of the Safety Class 1 andmore » 2 Safety Envelope (SC-1/2 SE) equipment for input into the Master Component Index (Appendix B); (4) Functional requirements for individual SC-1/2 SE components, including appropriate setpoints and process parameters (Section 6 and Appendix A); (5) A list of the operational, maintenance and surveillance procedures necessary to operate and maintain the SC-1/2 SE components as required by the LCO (Section 6 and Appendix A).« less

Mission Applicability Assessment of Integrated Power Components and Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raffaelle, R. P.; Hepp, A. F.; Landis, G. A.; Hoffman, D. J.

2002-01-01

The need for smaller lightweight autonomous power systems has recently increased with the increasing focus on micro- and nanosatellites. Small area high-efficiency thin film batteries and solar cells are an attractive choice for such applications. The NASA Glenn Research Center, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Lithium Power Technologies, MicroSat Systems, and others, have been working on the development of autonomous monolithic packages combining these elements or what are called integrated power supplies (IPS). These supplies can be combined with individual satellite components and are capable of providing continuous power even under intermittent illumination associated with a spinning or Earth orbiting satellite. This paper discusses the space mission applicability, benefits, and current development efforts associated with integrated power supply components and systems. The characteristics and several mission concepts for an IPS that combines thin-film photovoltaic power generation with thin-film lithium ion energy storage are described. Based on this preliminary assessment, it is concluded that the most likely and beneficial application of an IPS will be for small "nanosatellites" or in specialized applications serving as a decentralized or as a distributed power source or uninterruptible power supply.

Multimodal biometric system using rank-level fusion approach.

PubMed

Monwar, Md Maruf; Gavrilova, Marina L

2009-08-01

In many real-world applications, unimodal biometric systems often face significant limitations due to sensitivity to noise, intraclass variability, data quality, nonuniversality, and other factors. Attempting to improve the performance of individual matchers in such situations may not prove to be highly effective. Multibiometric systems seek to alleviate some of these problems by providing multiple pieces of evidence of the same identity. These systems help achieve an increase in performance that may not be possible using a single-biometric indicator. This paper presents an effective fusion scheme that combines information presented by multiple domain experts based on the rank-level fusion integration method. The developed multimodal biometric system possesses a number of unique qualities, starting from utilizing principal component analysis and Fisher's linear discriminant methods for individual matchers (face, ear, and signature) identity authentication and utilizing the novel rank-level fusion method in order to consolidate the results obtained from different biometric matchers. The ranks of individual matchers are combined using the highest rank, Borda count, and logistic regression approaches. The results indicate that fusion of individual modalities can improve the overall performance of the biometric system, even in the presence of low quality data. Insights on multibiometric design using rank-level fusion and its performance on a variety of biometric databases are discussed in the concluding section.

Mutations in CTC1, Encoding the CTS Telomere Maintenance Complex Component 1, Cause Cerebroretinal Microangiopathy with Calcifications and Cysts

PubMed Central

Polvi, Anne; Linnankivi, Tarja; Kivelä, Tero; Herva, Riitta; Keating, James P.; Mäkitie, Outi; Pareyson, Davide; Vainionpää, Leena; Lahtinen, Jenni; Hovatta, Iiris; Pihko, Helena; Lehesjoki, Anna-Elina

2012-01-01

Cerebroretinal microangiopathy with calcifications and cysts (CRMCC) is a rare multisystem disorder characterized by extensive intracranial calcifications and cysts, leukoencephalopathy, and retinal vascular abnormalities. Additional features include poor growth, skeletal and hematological abnormalities, and recurrent gastrointestinal bleedings. Autosomal-recessive inheritance has been postulated. The pathogenesis of CRMCC is unknown, but its phenotype has key similarities with Revesz syndrome, which is caused by mutations in TINF2, a gene encoding a member of the telomere protecting shelterin complex. After a whole-exome sequencing approach in four unrelated individuals with CRMCC, we observed four recessively inherited compound heterozygous mutations in CTC1, which encodes the CTS telomere maintenance complex component 1. Sanger sequencing revealed seven more compound heterozygous mutations in eight more unrelated affected individuals. Two individuals who displayed late-onset cerebral findings, a normal fundus appearance, and no systemic findings did not have CTC1 mutations, implying that systemic findings are an important indication for CTC1 sequencing. Of the 11 mutations identified, four were missense, one was nonsense, two resulted in in-frame amino acid deletions, and four were short frameshift-creating deletions. All but two affected individuals were compound heterozygous for a missense mutation and a frameshift or nonsense mutation. No individuals with two frameshift or nonsense mutations were identified, which implies that severe disturbance of CTC1 function from both alleles might not be compatible with survival. Our preliminary functional experiments did not show evidence of severely affected telomere integrity in the affected individuals. Therefore, determining the underlying pathomechanisms associated with deficient CTC1 function will require further studies. PMID:22387016

CRISP: Catheterization RISk score for Pediatrics: A Report from the Congenital Cardiac Interventional Study Consortium (CCISC).

PubMed

Nykanen, David G; Forbes, Thomas J; Du, Wei; Divekar, Abhay A; Reeves, Jaxk H; Hagler, Donald J; Fagan, Thomas E; Pedra, Carlos A C; Fleming, Gregory A; Khan, Danyal M; Javois, Alexander J; Gruenstein, Daniel H; Qureshi, Shakeel A; Moore, Phillip M; Wax, David H

2016-02-01

We sought to develop a scoring system that predicts the risk of serious adverse events (SAE's) for individual pediatric patients undergoing cardiac catheterization procedures. Systematic assessment of risk of SAE in pediatric catheterization can be challenging in view of a wide variation in procedure and patient complexity as well as rapidly evolving technology. A 10 component scoring system was originally developed based on expert consensus and review of the existing literature. Data from an international multi-institutional catheterization registry (CCISC) between 2008 and 2013 were used to validate this scoring system. In addition we used multivariate methods to further refine the original risk score to improve its predictive power of SAE's. Univariate analysis confirmed the strong correlation of each of the 10 components of the original risk score with SAE attributed to a pediatric cardiac catheterization (P < 0.001 for all variables). Multivariate analysis resulted in a modified risk score (CRISP) that corresponds to an increase in value of area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) from 0.715 to 0.741. The CRISP score predicts risk of occurrence of an SAE for individual patients undergoing pediatric cardiac catheterization procedures. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A synthesis of the theory of silencing the self and the social ecological model: understanding gender, race, and depression in African American women living with HIV infection.

PubMed

Lanier, Latrona; DeMarco, Rosanna

2015-03-01

The challenges that face African American women living with HIV are immense. African American women continue to be disproportionately infected and affected by this chronic and life-threatening infection in a complex context of individual experience, interactions with the environment, formal and informal support systems, and cultural belief systems. This article identifies the Theory of Silencing the Self (STS) and a widely known model, the Social Ecological Model (SEM), as a synthesized explanatory framework in helping nurses understand how to address research questions and clinical care that is congruent with the experience of African American women living with HIV infection. In synthesizing the components of these two frameworks, an explanation of the relationship between disempowerment and depression in this population will be uncovered as a key component to making relationships at the individual, family, and community level better. Helping African American women living with HIV infection to explore and address how choosing to be silent across their life systems will advance healthcare adherence as we currently know it to improved self-management of a chronic, gender-specific, culturally-bound experience of depression.

Optimizing text for an individual's visual system: The contribution of visual crowding to reading difficulties.

PubMed

Joo, Sung Jun; White, Alex L; Strodtman, Douglas J; Yeatman, Jason D

2018-06-01

Reading is a complex process that involves low-level visual processing, phonological processing, and higher-level semantic processing. Given that skilled reading requires integrating information among these different systems, it is likely that reading difficulty-known as dyslexia-can emerge from impairments at any stage of the reading circuitry. To understand contributing factors to reading difficulties within individuals, it is necessary to diagnose the function of each component of the reading circuitry. Here, we investigated whether adults with dyslexia who have impairments in visual processing respond to a visual manipulation specifically targeting their impairment. We collected psychophysical measures of visual crowding and tested how each individual's reading performance was affected by increased text-spacing, a manipulation designed to alleviate severe crowding. Critically, we identified a sub-group of individuals with dyslexia showing elevated crowding and found that these individuals read faster when text was rendered with increased letter-, word- and line-spacing. Our findings point to a subtype of dyslexia involving elevated crowding and demonstrate that individuals benefit from interventions personalized to their specific impairments. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

From Smart Metering to Smart Grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukuča, Peter; Chrapčiak, Igor

2016-06-01

The paper deals with evaluation of measurements in electrical distribution systems aimed at better use of data provided by Smart Metering systems. The influence of individual components of apparent power on the power loss is calculated and results of measurements under real conditions are presented. The significance of difference between the traditional and the complex evaluation of the electricity consumption efficiency by means of different definitions of the power factor is illustrated.

Nutrigenomics and Cancer

PubMed Central

Ardekani, Ali M.; Jabbari, Sepideh

2009-01-01

Cancer incidence is projected to increase in the future and an effectual preventive strategy is required to face this challenge. Alteration of dietary habits is potentially an effective approach for reducing cancer risk. Assessment of biological effects of a specific food or bioactive component that is linked to cancer and prediction of individual susceptibility as a function of nutrient-nutrient interactions and genetics is an essential element to evaluate the beneficiaries of dietary interventions. In general, the use of biomarkers to evaluate individuals susceptibilities to cancer must be easily accessible and reliable. However, the response of individuals to bioactive food components depends not only on the effective concentration of the bioactive food components, but also on the target tissues. This fact makes the response of individuals to food components vary from one individual to another. Nutrigenomics focuses on the understanding of interactions between genes and diet in an individual and how the response to bioactive food components is influenced by an individual's genes. Nutrients have shown to affect gene expression and to induce changes in DNA and protein molecules. Nutrigenomic approaches provide an opportunity to study how gene expression is regulated by nutrients and how nutrition affects gene variations and epigenetic events. Finding the components involved in interactions between genes and diet in an individual can potentially help identify target molecules important in preventing and/or reducing the symptoms of cancer. PMID:23407612

Improved low-cost, non-hazardous, all-iron cell for the developing world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tucker, Michael C.; Lambelet, David; Oueslati, Mohamed; Williams, Benjamin; Wang, Wu-Chieh Jerry; Weber, Adam Z.

2016-11-01

A low-cost, non-hazardous personal-power system based on an aqueous all-iron electrochemical cell is demonstrated. The system is intended to be assembled and operated by developing-world households that lack sufficient access to electricity, thereby enabling LED lighting or mobile phone charging on demand. Lab-scale hardware is used to assess the performance of individual cell components. It is found that coffee filter paper is an effective low-cost separator. Carbon felt is a low-cost electrode material, and its performance and wetting by the electrolyte solution is greatly improved by pre-treatment with sulfuric acid. The carbon felt does not degrade after a week of daily use. By using these components, performance of the system is significantly improved over the previous baseline, with power density more than doubling to 40 mW cm-2, and iron utilization improving from 78% to 88%. The operating cost is estimated to be less than US0.03 per mobile phone charge. Based on the lab-scale results, a stand-alone prototype consumer product is designed, fabricated, and tested. It successfully provides 2.5 h of LED illumination while consuming 200 mL of electrolyte solution via gravity feed. We anticipate these results will enable deployment of this innovative system to energy-impoverished individuals in the developing world.

Performance characteristics of solar-photovoltaic flywheel-storage systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarvinen, P. O.; Brench, B. L.; Rasmussen, N. E.

A solar photovoltaic energy flywheel storage and conversion system for residential applications was tested. Performance and efficiency measurements were conducted on the system, which utilizes low loss magnetic bearings, maximum power point tracking of the photovoltaic array, integrated permanent magnet motor generator, and output power conditioning sections of either the stand alone cycloconverter or utility interactive inverter type. The overall in/out electrical storage efficiency of the flywheel system was measured along with the power transfer efficiencies of the individual components and the system spin down tare losses. The system compares favorably with systems which use batteries and inverters.

Properties of on-line social systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grabowski, A.; Kruszewska, N.; Kosiński, R. A.

2008-11-01

We study properties of five different social systems: (i) internet society of friends consisting of over 106 people, (ii) social network consisting of 3 × 104 individuals, who interact in a large virtual world of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), (iii) over 106 users of music community website, (iv) over 5 × 106 users of gamers community server and (v) over 0.25 × 106 users of books admirer website. Individuals included in large social network form an Internet community and organize themselves in groups of different sizes. The destiny of those systems, as well as the method of creating of new connections, are different, however we found that the properties of these networks are very similar. We have found that the network components size distribution follow the power-law scaling form. In all five systems we have found interesting scaling laws concerning human dynamics. Our research has shown how long people are interested in a single task, how much time they devote to it and how fast they are making friends. It is surprising that the time evolution of an individual connectivity is very similar in each system.

Developmental Neurotoxicity of Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Focus on Autism.

PubMed

Costa, Lucio G; Chang, Yu-Chi; Cole, Toby B

2017-06-01

Epidemiological and animal studies suggest that air pollution may negatively affect the central nervous system (CNS) and contribute to CNS diseases. Traffic-related air pollution is a major contributor to global air pollution, and diesel exhaust (DE) is its most important component. Several studies suggest that young individuals may be particularly susceptible to air pollution-induced neurotoxicity and that perinatal exposure may cause or contribute to developmental disabilities and behavioral abnormalities. In particular, a number of recent studies have found associations between exposures to traffic-related air pollution and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which are characterized by impairment in socialization and in communication and by the presence of repetitive and unusual behaviors. The cause(s) of ASD are unknown, and while it may have a hereditary component, environmental factors are increasingly suspected as playing a pivotal role in its etiology, particularly in genetically susceptible individuals. Autistic children present higher levels of neuroinflammation and systemic inflammation, which are also hallmarks of exposure to traffic-related air pollution. Gene-environment interactions may play a relevant role in determining individual susceptibility to air pollution developmental neurotoxicity. Given the worldwide presence of elevated air pollution, studies on its effects and mechanisms on the developing brain, genetic susceptibility, role in neurodevelopmental disorders, and possible therapeutic interventions are certainly warranted.

The cardiovascular benefits of dark chocolate.

PubMed

Kerimi, Asimina; Williamson, Gary

2015-08-01

Dark chocolate contains many biologically active components, such as catechins, procyanidins and theobromine from cocoa, together with added sucrose and lipids. All of these can directly or indirectly affect the cardiovascular system by multiple mechanisms. Intervention studies on healthy and metabolically-dysfunctional volunteers have suggested that cocoa improves blood pressure, platelet aggregation and endothelial function. The effect of chocolate is more convoluted since the sucrose and lipid may transiently and negatively impact on endothelial function, partly through insulin signalling and nitric oxide bioavailability. However, few studies have attempted to dissect out the role of the individual components and have not explored their possible interactions. For intervention studies, the situation is complex since suitable placebos are often not available, and some benefits may only be observed in individuals showing mild metabolic dysfunction. For chocolate, the effects of some of the components, such as sugar and epicatechin on FMD, may oppose each other, or alternatively in some cases may act together, such as theobromine and epicatechin. Although clearly cocoa provides some cardiovascular benefits according to many human intervention studies, the exact components, their interactions and molecular mechanisms are still under debate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Csr/Rsm system of Yersinia and related pathogens: a post-transcriptional strategy for managing virulence.

PubMed

Heroven, Ann Kathrin; Böhme, Katja; Dersch, Petra

2012-04-01

This review emphasizes the function and regulation of the Csr regulatory system in the human enteropathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and compares its features with the homologous Csr/Rsm systems of related pathogens. The Csr/Rsm systems of eubacteria form a complex regulatory network in which redundant non-translated Csr/Rsm-RNAs bind the RNA-binding protein CsrA/RsmA, thereby preventing its interaction with mRNA targets. The Csr system is controlled by the BarA/UvrY-type of two-component sensor-regulator systems. Apart from that, common or pathogen-specific regulators control the abundance of the Csr components. The coordinate control of virulence factors and infection-linked physiological traits by the Csr/Rsm systems helps the pathogens to adapt individually to rapidly changing conditions to which they are exposed during the different stages of an infection. As Csr/Rsm function is relevant for full virulence, it represents a target suitable for antimicrobial drug development.

The Individualized Quality of Life Scale (IQOLS): Psychometric Properties and Comparative Population Norms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downs, Karen M.; Wagner, Mervyn K.

The Individualized Quality of Life Scale (IQOLS) is a two-component scale designed to measure the quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients. The two components are the patient's satisfaction with 14 different life areas and the importance of the life areas to the individual. By combining the two components, an overall QOL score can be obtained that…

The ac propulsion system for an electric vehicle, phase 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geppert, S.

1981-08-01

A functional prototype of an electric vehicle ac propulsion system was built consisting of a 18.65 kW rated ac induction traction motor, pulse width modulated (PWM) transistorized inverter, two speed mechanically shifted automatic transmission, and an overall drive/vehicle controller. Design developmental steps, and test results of individual components and the complex system on an instrumented test frame are described. Computer models were developed for the inverter, motor and a representative vehicle. A preliminary reliability model and failure modes effects analysis are given.

The ac propulsion system for an electric vehicle, phase 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Geppert, S.

1981-01-01

A functional prototype of an electric vehicle ac propulsion system was built consisting of a 18.65 kW rated ac induction traction motor, pulse width modulated (PWM) transistorized inverter, two speed mechanically shifted automatic transmission, and an overall drive/vehicle controller. Design developmental steps, and test results of individual components and the complex system on an instrumented test frame are described. Computer models were developed for the inverter, motor and a representative vehicle. A preliminary reliability model and failure modes effects analysis are given.

Mesopause Winds and OH Intensities at Mid-Latitudes-Fabry-Perot Interferometer Observations of the OH Emission at 8430 A from Bear Lake Observatory

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-01-01

73 1 5.1 The Fabry-Perot Interferometer ............................................................ 73 5.1.1. The Scanning Mirror System...instrument to view the sky aided by a mirror system, and a Plexiglas dome cover protects the instrument and electronics from the elements. I Because the...sections describe the individual components of the instrument at Bear Lake and refer to Figure 19. I 5.1.1. The Scanning Mirror System The scanning

Genomes, Proteomes and the Central Dogma

PubMed Central

Franklin, Sarah; Vondriska, Thomas M.

2011-01-01

Systems biology, with its associated technologies of proteomics, genomics and metabolomics, is driving the evolution of our understanding of cardiovascular physiology. Rather than studying individual molecules or even single reactions, a systems approach allows integration of orthogonal datasets from distinct tiers of biological data, including gene, RNA, protein, metabolite and other component networks. Together these networks give rise to emergent properties of cellular function and it is their reprogramming that causes disease. We present five observations regarding how systems biology is guiding a revisiting of the central dogma: (i) de-emphasizing the unidirectional flow of information from genes to proteins; (ii) revealing the role of modules of molecules as opposed to individual proteins acting in isolation; (iii) enabling discovery of novel emergent properties; (iv) demonstrating the importance of networks in biology; and (v) adding new dimensionality to the study of biological systems. PMID:22010165

The secretory IgA system of lung secretions in chronic obstructive bronchitis: comparison of sputum with secretions obtained during fibreoptic bronchoscopy.

PubMed Central

Wiggins, J; Hill, S L; Stockley, R A

1984-01-01

The constituents of the secretory immunoglobulin A system (dimeric IgA, total secretory component and free secretory component) were measured in sputum sol phase, tracheal aspirates, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from 15 patients undergoing fibreoptic bronchoscopy. All of the proteins showed a progressive decrease in concentration from sputum to the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (2p less than 0.001). Standardisation of samples by means of protein concentration ratios showed that all secretions were generally similar in respect of their secretory IgA profiles, although major differences remained in some individual patients. The between patient variability of the results was generally reduced by the use of protein concentration ratios, allowing closer comparison between subjects. When the secretion albumin concentration was used as a standard, however, it increased the variability of the sputum sol phase IgA components (2p less than 0.01), whereas it decreased the variability of the IgA components in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (2p less than 0.05). The role of albumin as a standard protein for assessing the secretory IgA system in lung secretions remains uncertain. PMID:6463931

ORBITS OF FOUR YOUNG TRIPLE-LINED MULTIPLE SYSTEMS

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

Tokovinin, Andrei, E-mail: atokovinin@ctio.noao.edu

2016-07-01

Each of the nearby triple systems HIP 7601, 13498, 23824, and 113597 (HD 10800, 18198, 35877, 217379) consist of solar-type dwarfs with comparable masses, where all three components are resolved spectrally, while the outer pairs are resolved both visually and spectrally. These stars are relatively young (between 100 and 600 Myr) and chromospherically active (X-ray sources), although they rotate slowly. I determine the spectroscopic orbits of the inner subsystems (periods 19.4, 14.1, 5.6, 20.3 days) and the orbits of the outer systems (periods 1.75, 51, 27, 500 years, respectively). For HIP 7601 and 13498, the combined spectro-interferometric outer orbits producemore » direct measurement of the masses of all of the components, allowing for a comparison with stellar models. The 6708 Å lithium line is present and its strength is measured in each component individually by subtracting the contributions of the other components. The inner and outer orbits of HIP 7601 are nearly circular, likely co-planar, and have a modest period ratio of 1:33. This study contributes to the characterization of hierarchical multiplicity in the solar neighborhood and provides data for testing stellar evolutionary models and chronology.« less

The effect of compression on individual pressure vessel nickel/hydrogen components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manzo, Michelle A.; Perez-Davis, Marla E.

1988-01-01

Compression tests were performed on representative Individual Pressure Vessel (IPV) Nickel/Hydrogen cell components in an effort to better understand the effects of force on component compression and the interactions of components under compression. It appears that the separator is the most easily compressed of all of the stack components. It will typically partially compress before any of the other components begin to compress. The compression characteristics of the cell components in assembly differed considerably from what would be predicted based on individual compression characteristics. Component interactions played a significant role in the stack response to compression. The results of the compression tests were factored into the design and selection of Belleville washers added to the cell stack to accommodate nickel electrode expansion while keeping the pressure on the stack within a reasonable range of the original preset.

Transmission overhaul estimates for partial and full replacement at repair

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Savage, M.; Lewicki, D. G.

1991-01-01

Timely transmission overhauls increase in-flight service reliability greater than the calculated design reliabilities of the individual aircraft transmission components. Although necessary for aircraft safety, transmission overhauls contribute significantly to aircraft expense. Predictions of a transmission's maintenance needs at the design stage should enable the development of more cost effective and reliable transmissions in the future. The frequency is estimated of overhaul along with the number of transmissions or components needed to support the overhaul schedule. Two methods based on the two parameter Weibull statistical distribution for component life are used to estimate the time between transmission overhauls. These methods predict transmission lives for maintenance schedules which repair the transmission with a complete system replacement or repair only failed components of the transmission. An example illustrates the methods.

Health care professional workstation: software system construction using DSSA scenario-based engineering process.

PubMed

Hufnagel, S; Harbison, K; Silva, J; Mettala, E

1994-01-01

This paper describes a new method for the evolutionary determination of user requirements and system specifications called scenario-based engineering process (SEP). Health care professional workstations are critical components of large scale health care system architectures. We suggest that domain-specific software architectures (DSSAs) be used to specify standard interfaces and protocols for reusable software components throughout those architectures, including workstations. We encourage the use of engineering principles and abstraction mechanisms. Engineering principles are flexible guidelines, adaptable to particular situations. Abstraction mechanisms are simplifications for management of complexity. We recommend object-oriented design principles, graphical structural specifications, and formal components' behavioral specifications. We give an ambulatory care scenario and associated models to demonstrate SEP. The scenario uses health care terminology and gives patients' and health care providers' system views. Our goal is to have a threefold benefit. (i) Scenario view abstractions provide consistent interdisciplinary communications. (ii) Hierarchical object-oriented structures provide useful abstractions for reuse, understandability, and long term evolution. (iii) SEP and health care DSSA integration into computer aided software engineering (CASE) environments. These environments should support rapid construction and certification of individualized systems, from reuse libraries.

Mayo clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES): architecture, component evaluation and applications

PubMed Central

Masanz, James J; Ogren, Philip V; Zheng, Jiaping; Sohn, Sunghwan; Kipper-Schuler, Karin C; Chute, Christopher G

2010-01-01

We aim to build and evaluate an open-source natural language processing system for information extraction from electronic medical record clinical free-text. We describe and evaluate our system, the clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES), released open-source at http://www.ohnlp.org. The cTAKES builds on existing open-source technologies—the Unstructured Information Management Architecture framework and OpenNLP natural language processing toolkit. Its components, specifically trained for the clinical domain, create rich linguistic and semantic annotations. Performance of individual components: sentence boundary detector accuracy=0.949; tokenizer accuracy=0.949; part-of-speech tagger accuracy=0.936; shallow parser F-score=0.924; named entity recognizer and system-level evaluation F-score=0.715 for exact and 0.824 for overlapping spans, and accuracy for concept mapping, negation, and status attributes for exact and overlapping spans of 0.957, 0.943, 0.859, and 0.580, 0.939, and 0.839, respectively. Overall performance is discussed against five applications. The cTAKES annotations are the foundation for methods and modules for higher-level semantic processing of clinical free-text. PMID:20819853

Shape Analysis of 3D Head Scan Data for U.S. Respirator Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuang, Ziqing; Slice, DennisE; Benson, Stacey; Lynch, Stephanie; Viscusi, DennisJ

2010-12-01

In 2003, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a head-and-face anthropometric survey of diverse, civilian respirator users. Of the 3,997 subjects measured using traditional anthropometric techniques, surface scans and 26 three-dimensional (3D) landmark locations were collected for 947 subjects. The objective of this study was to report the size and shape variation of the survey participants using the 3D data. Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA) was conducted to standardize configurations of landmarks associated with individuals into a common coordinate system. The superimposed coordinates for each individual were used as commensurate variables that describe individual shape and were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to identify population variation. The first four principal components (PC) account for 49% of the total sample variation. The first PC indicates that overall size is an important component of facial variability. The second PC accounts for long and narrow or short and wide faces. Longer narrow orbits versus shorter wider orbits can be described by PC3, and PC4 represents variation in the degree of ortho/prognathism. Geometric Morphometrics provides a detailed and interpretable assessment of morphological variation that may be useful in assessing respirators and devising new test and certification standards.

Maintaining consistency in distributed systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Birman, Kenneth P.

1991-01-01

In systems designed as assemblies of independently developed components, concurrent access to data or data structures normally arises within individual programs, and is controlled using mutual exclusion constructs, such as semaphores and monitors. Where data is persistent and/or sets of operation are related to one another, transactions or linearizability may be more appropriate. Systems that incorporate cooperative styles of distributed execution often replicate or distribute data within groups of components. In these cases, group oriented consistency properties must be maintained, and tools based on the virtual synchrony execution model greatly simplify the task confronting an application developer. All three styles of distributed computing are likely to be seen in future systems - often, within the same application. This leads us to propose an integrated approach that permits applications that use virtual synchrony with concurrent objects that respect a linearizability constraint, and vice versa. Transactional subsystems are treated as a special case of linearizability.

Sub-component modeling for face image reconstruction in video communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiell, Derek J.; Xiao, Jing; Katsaggelos, Aggelos K.

2008-08-01

Emerging communications trends point to streaming video as a new form of content delivery. These systems are implemented over wired systems, such as cable or ethernet, and wireless networks, cell phones, and portable game systems. These communications systems require sophisticated methods of compression and error-resilience encoding to enable communications across band-limited and noisy delivery channels. Additionally, the transmitted video data must be of high enough quality to ensure a satisfactory end-user experience. Traditionally, video compression makes use of temporal and spatial coherence to reduce the information required to represent an image. In many communications systems, the communications channel is characterized by a probabilistic model which describes the capacity or fidelity of the channel. The implication is that information is lost or distorted in the channel, and requires concealment on the receiving end. We demonstrate a generative model based transmission scheme to compress human face images in video, which has the advantages of a potentially higher compression ratio, while maintaining robustness to errors and data corruption. This is accomplished by training an offline face model and using the model to reconstruct face images on the receiving end. We propose a sub-component AAM modeling the appearance of sub-facial components individually, and show face reconstruction results under different types of video degradation using a weighted and non-weighted version of the sub-component AAM.

Stable individual characteristics in the perception of multiple embedded patterns in multistable auditory stimuli

PubMed Central

Denham, Susan; Bõhm, Tamás M.; Bendixen, Alexandra; Szalárdy, Orsolya; Kocsis, Zsuzsanna; Mill, Robert; Winkler, István

2014-01-01

The ability of the auditory system to parse complex scenes into component objects in order to extract information from the environment is very robust, yet the processing principles underlying this ability are still not well understood. This study was designed to investigate the proposal that the auditory system constructs multiple interpretations of the acoustic scene in parallel, based on the finding that when listening to a long repetitive sequence listeners report switching between different perceptual organizations. Using the “ABA-” auditory streaming paradigm we trained listeners until they could reliably recognize all possible embedded patterns of length four which could in principle be extracted from the sequence, and in a series of test sessions investigated their spontaneous reports of those patterns. With the training allowing them to identify and mark a wider variety of possible patterns, participants spontaneously reported many more patterns than the ones traditionally assumed (Integrated vs. Segregated). Despite receiving consistent training and despite the apparent randomness of perceptual switching, we found individual switching patterns were idiosyncratic; i.e., the perceptual switching patterns of each participant were more similar to their own switching patterns in different sessions than to those of other participants. These individual differences were found to be preserved even between test sessions held a year after the initial experiment. Our results support the idea that the auditory system attempts to extract an exhaustive set of embedded patterns which can be used to generate expectations of future events and which by competing for dominance give rise to (changing) perceptual awareness, with the characteristics of pattern discovery and perceptual competition having a strong idiosyncratic component. Perceptual multistability thus provides a means for characterizing both general mechanisms and individual differences in human perception. PMID:24616656

Stable individual characteristics in the perception of multiple embedded patterns in multistable auditory stimuli.

PubMed

Denham, Susan; Bõhm, Tamás M; Bendixen, Alexandra; Szalárdy, Orsolya; Kocsis, Zsuzsanna; Mill, Robert; Winkler, István

2014-01-01

The ability of the auditory system to parse complex scenes into component objects in order to extract information from the environment is very robust, yet the processing principles underlying this ability are still not well understood. This study was designed to investigate the proposal that the auditory system constructs multiple interpretations of the acoustic scene in parallel, based on the finding that when listening to a long repetitive sequence listeners report switching between different perceptual organizations. Using the "ABA-" auditory streaming paradigm we trained listeners until they could reliably recognize all possible embedded patterns of length four which could in principle be extracted from the sequence, and in a series of test sessions investigated their spontaneous reports of those patterns. With the training allowing them to identify and mark a wider variety of possible patterns, participants spontaneously reported many more patterns than the ones traditionally assumed (Integrated vs. Segregated). Despite receiving consistent training and despite the apparent randomness of perceptual switching, we found individual switching patterns were idiosyncratic; i.e., the perceptual switching patterns of each participant were more similar to their own switching patterns in different sessions than to those of other participants. These individual differences were found to be preserved even between test sessions held a year after the initial experiment. Our results support the idea that the auditory system attempts to extract an exhaustive set of embedded patterns which can be used to generate expectations of future events and which by competing for dominance give rise to (changing) perceptual awareness, with the characteristics of pattern discovery and perceptual competition having a strong idiosyncratic component. Perceptual multistability thus provides a means for characterizing both general mechanisms and individual differences in human perception.

Tracing CNO exposed layers in the Algol-type binary system u Her

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolbas, V.; Dervişoğlu, A.; Pavlovski, K.; Southworth, J.

2014-11-01

The chemical composition of stellar photospheres in mass-transferring binary systems is a precious diagnostic of the nucleosynthesis processes that occur deep within stars, and preserves information on the components' history. The binary system u Her belongs to a group of hot Algols with both components being B stars. We have isolated the individual spectra of the two components by the technique of spectral disentangling of a new series of 43 high-resolution échelle spectra. Augmenting these with an analysis of the Hipparcos photometry of the system yields revised stellar quantities for the components of u Her. For the primary component (the mass-gaining star), we find MA = 7.88 ± 0.26 M⊙, RA = 4.93 ± 0.15 R⊙ and Teff, A = 21 600 ± 220 K. For the secondary (the mass-losing star) we find MB = 2.79 ± 0.12 M⊙, RB = 4.26 ± 0.06 R⊙ and Teff, B = 12 600 ± 550 K. A non-local thermodynamic equilibrium analysis of the primary star's atmosphere reveals deviations in the abundances of nitrogen and carbon from the standard cosmic abundance pattern in accord with theoretical expectations for CNO nucleosynthesis processing. From a grid of calculated evolutionary models the best match to the observed properties of the stars in u Her enabled tracing the initial properties and history of this binary system. We confirm that it has evolved according to case A mass transfer. A detailed abundance analysis of the primary star gives C/N = 0.9, which supports the evolutionary calculations and indicates strong mixing in the early evolution of the secondary component, which was originally the more massive of the two. The composition of the secondary component would be a further important constraint on the initial properties of u Her system, but requires spectra of a higher signal-to-noise ratio.

Bacterial chemoreceptors: high-performance signaling in networked arrays.

PubMed

Hazelbauer, Gerald L; Falke, Joseph J; Parkinson, John S

2008-01-01

Chemoreceptors are crucial components in the bacterial sensory systems that mediate chemotaxis. Chemotactic responses exhibit exquisite sensitivity, extensive dynamic range and precise adaptation. The mechanisms that mediate these high-performance functions involve not only actions of individual proteins but also interactions among clusters of components, localized in extensive patches of thousands of molecules. Recently, these patches have been imaged in native cells, important features of chemoreceptor structure and on-off switching have been identified, and new insights have been gained into the structural basis and functional consequences of higher order interactions among sensory components. These new data suggest multiple levels of molecular interactions, each of which contribute specific functional features and together create a sophisticated signaling device.

Bacterial chemoreceptors: high-performance signaling in networked arrays

PubMed Central

Hazelbauer, Gerald L.; Falke, Joseph J.; Parkinson, John S.

2010-01-01

Chemoreceptors are crucial components in the bacterial sensory systems that mediate chemotaxis. Chemotactic responses exhibit exquisite sensitivity, extensive dynamic range and precise adaptation. The mechanisms that mediate these high-performance functions involve not only actions of individual proteins but also interactions among clusters of components, localized in extensive patches of thousands of molecules. Recently, these patches have been imaged in native cells, important features of chemoreceptor structure and on–off switching have been identified, and new insights have been gained into the structural basis and functional consequences of higher order interactions among sensory components. These new data suggest multiple levels of molecular interactions, each of which contribute specific functional features and together create a sophisticated signaling device. PMID:18165013

Illuminant color estimation based on pigmentation separation from human skin color

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanaka, Satomi; Kakinuma, Akihiro; Kamijo, Naohiro; Takahashi, Hiroshi; Tsumura, Norimichi

2015-03-01

Human has the visual system called "color constancy" that maintains the perceptive colors of same object across various light sources. The effective method of color constancy algorithm was proposed to use the human facial color in a digital color image, however, this method has wrong estimation results by the difference of individual facial colors. In this paper, we present the novel color constancy algorithm based on skin color analysis. The skin color analysis is the method to separate the skin color into the components of melanin, hemoglobin and shading. We use the stationary property of Japanese facial color, and this property is calculated from the components of melanin and hemoglobin. As a result, we achieve to propose the method to use subject's facial color in image and not depend on the individual difference among Japanese facial color.

Computation as the mechanistic bridge between precision medicine and systems therapeutics.

PubMed

Hansen, J; Iyengar, R

2013-01-01

Over the past 50 years, like molecular cell biology, medicine and pharmacology have been driven by a reductionist approach. The focus on individual genes and cellular components as disease loci and drug targets has been a necessary step in understanding the basic mechanisms underlying tissue/organ physiology and drug action. Recent progress in genomics and proteomics, as well as advances in other technologies that enable large-scale data gathering and computational approaches, is providing new knowledge of both normal and disease states. Systems-biology approaches enable integration of knowledge from different types of data for precision medicine and systems therapeutics. In this review, we describe recent studies that contribute to these emerging fields and discuss how together these fields can lead to a mechanism-based therapy for individual patients.

Computation as the Mechanistic Bridge Between Precision Medicine and Systems Therapeutics

PubMed Central

Hansen, J; Iyengar, R

2014-01-01

Over the past 50 years, like molecular cell biology, medicine and pharmacology have been driven by a reductionist approach. The focus on individual genes and cellular components as disease loci and drug targets has been a necessary step in understanding the basic mechanisms underlying tissue/organ physiology and drug action. Recent progress in genomics and proteomics, as well as advances in other technologies that enable large-scale data gathering and computational approaches, is providing new knowledge of both normal and disease states. Systems-biology approaches enable integration of knowledge from different types of data for precision medicine and systems therapeutics. In this review, we describe recent studies that contribute to these emerging fields and discuss how together these fields can lead to a mechanism-based therapy for individual patients. PMID:23212109

Using the systems framework for postural control to analyze the components of balance evaluated in standardized balance measures: a scoping review.

PubMed

Sibley, Kathryn M; Beauchamp, Marla K; Van Ooteghem, Karen; Straus, Sharon E; Jaglal, Susan B

2015-01-01

To identify components of postural control included in standardized balance measures for adult populations. Electronic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases using keyword combinations of postural balance/equilibrium, psychometrics/reproducibility of results/predictive value of tests/validation studies, instrument construction/instrument validation, geriatric assessment/disability evaluation, gray literature, and hand searches. Inclusion criteria were measures with a stated objective to assess balance, adult populations (18y and older), at least 1 psychometric evaluation, 1 standing task, a standardized protocol and evaluation criteria, and published in English. Two reviewers independently identified studies for inclusion. Sixty-six measures were included. A research assistant extracted descriptive characteristics and 2 reviewers independently coded components of balance in each measure using the Systems Framework for Postural Control, a widely recognized model of balance. Components of balance evaluated in these measures were underlying motor systems (100% of measures), anticipatory postural control (71%), dynamic stability (67%), static stability (64%), sensory integration (48%), functional stability limits (27%), reactive postural control (23%), cognitive influences (17%), and verticality (8%). Thirty-four measures evaluated 3 or fewer components of balance, and 1 measure-the Balance Evaluation Systems Test-evaluated all components of balance. Several standardized balance measures provide only partial information on postural control and omit important components of balance related to avoiding falls. As such, the choice of measure(s) may limit the overall interpretation of an individual's balance ability. Continued work is necessary to increase the implementation of comprehensive balance assessment in research and practice. Copyright © 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resting sympathetic activity is associated with the sympathetically mediated component of energy expenditure following a meal.

PubMed

Limberg, Jacqueline K; Malterer, Katherine R; Matzek, Luke J; Levine, James A; Charkoudian, Nisha; Miles, John M; Joyner, Michael J; Curry, Timothy B

2017-08-01

Individuals with high plasma norepinephrine (NE) levels at rest have a smaller reduction in resting energy expenditure (REE) following β -adrenergic blockade. If this finding extends to the response to a meal, it could have important implications for the role of the sympathetic nervous system in energy balance and weight gain. We hypothesized high muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) would be associated with a low sympathetically mediated component of energy expenditure following a meal. Fourteen young, healthy adults completed two visits randomized to continuous saline (control) or intravenous propranolol to achieve systemic β -adrenergic blockade. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity and REE were measured (indirect calorimetry) followed by a liquid mixed meal (Ensure). Measures of energy expenditure continued every 30 min for 5 h after the meal and are reported as an area under the curve (AUC). Sympathetic support of energy expenditure was calculated as the difference between the AUC during saline and β -blockade (AUC P ropranolol -AUC S aline , β -REE) and as a percent (%) of control (AUC P ropranolol ÷AUC S aline  × 100). β -REE was associated with baseline sympathetic activity, such that individuals with high resting MSNA (bursts/100 heart beats) and plasma NE had the greatest sympathetically mediated component of energy expenditure following a meal (MSNA: β -REE R  =   -0.58, P =  0.03; %REE R  = -0.56, P =  0.04; NE: β -REE R  = -0.55, P  = 0.0535; %REE R  = -0.54, P  = 0.0552). Contrary to our hypothesis, high resting sympathetic activity is associated with a greater sympathetically mediated component of energy expenditure following a liquid meal. These findings may have implications for weight maintenance in individuals with varying resting sympathetic activity. © 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

Mechanisms underlying zoonotic success of Campylobacter jejuni: the CprRS two-component regulatory system influences essential processes, biofilm formation, and pathogenesis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of food- and waterbourne bacterial gastroenteritis in the developed world. Although illness is usually self-limiting, immunocompromised individuals are at risk for infections recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment, and prior campylobacter infection correlates wi...

Changing by Design: A Comprehensive Approach to School Reform. [Booklet with Audiotapes].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Central Regional Educational Lab., Oak Brook, IL.

Comprehensive school reform (CSR) focuses on reorganizing and revitalizing entire schools, rather than on implementing individual programs. The idea behind CSR is that schools cannot educate all students to high levels unless all the education system's components work together toward a common goal. Choosing a CSR model can be difficult and…

Application of a large electronic health record database to study effects of air quality on mortality in a heart failure population

EPA Science Inventory

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) are now a ubiquitous component of the US healthcare system and are attractive for secondary data analysis as they contain detailed and longitudinal clinical records on potentially millions of individuals. However, due to their relative...

Operations and Maintenance March Newsletter | Poster

Cancer.gov

There are many safety rules and regulations designed to keep us safe as we carry out our individual tasks at NCI, but this issue of the O&M Newsletter is all about evacuation. Specifically, it highlights the importance of the systems and components that ensure the safe evacuation of all building occupants in emergency situations.

The Retirement Security of the Baby Boom Generation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shoven, John B.

1995-01-01

The baby boom generation faces added uncertainty on their investments and perhaps lower realized rates of return on all components of their retirement savings, primarily because of their large number. Effects will be felt in the Social Security system and by pension plans and private investors. Individuals, employers, pension fund managers, and…

Environmental Support Specialist, Blocks VI & VII, 17-7. Military Curriculum Materials for Vocational and Technical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Univ., Columbus. National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

This military-developed text contains the final section of a four-part course to train environmental support specialists. Covered in the individual course blocks are maintenance of water and waste processing system components (external corrosion control, cathodic protection, drive equipment, pipelines and valves, meters and recorders, chemical…

32 CFR 1701.12 - ODNI responsibility for responding to requests for accounting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... record. The POC shall work with the component's information management officer and the systems... known address and include a copy of the order and a description of the information disclosed. No notice... mailed to the individual's last known address and shall state the nature of the information disclosed...

32 CFR 1701.12 - ODNI responsibility for responding to requests for accounting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... record. The POC shall work with the component's information management officer and the systems... known address and include a copy of the order and a description of the information disclosed. No notice... mailed to the individual's last known address and shall state the nature of the information disclosed...

32 CFR 1701.12 - ODNI responsibility for responding to requests for accounting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... record. The POC shall work with the component's information management officer and the systems... known address and include a copy of the order and a description of the information disclosed. No notice... mailed to the individual's last known address and shall state the nature of the information disclosed...

32 CFR 1701.12 - ODNI responsibility for responding to requests for accounting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... record. The POC shall work with the component's information management officer and the systems... known address and include a copy of the order and a description of the information disclosed. No notice... mailed to the individual's last known address and shall state the nature of the information disclosed...

32 CFR 1701.12 - ODNI responsibility for responding to requests for accounting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... record. The POC shall work with the component's information management officer and the systems... known address and include a copy of the order and a description of the information disclosed. No notice... mailed to the individual's last known address and shall state the nature of the information disclosed...

Module Twelve: Series AC Resistive-Reactive Circuits; Basic Electricity and Electronics Individualized Learning System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington, DC.

The module covers series circuits which contain both resistive and reactive components and methods of solving these circuits for current, voltage, impedance, and phase angle. The module is divided into six lessons: voltage and impedance in AC (alternating current) series circuits, vector computations, rectangular and polar notation, variational…

Potassium bicarbonate attenuates the urinary nitrogen excretion that accompanies an increase in dietary protein and may promote calcium absorption

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Protein is an essential component of muscle and bone. However, the acidic byproducts of protein metabolism may have a negative impact on the musculoskeletal system particularly in older individuals with declining renal function. We sought to determine whether adding an alkaline salt, potassium bicar...

System control module diagnostic Expert Assistant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flores, Luis M.; Hansen, Roger F.

1990-01-01

The Orbiter EXperiments (OEX) Program was established by NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) to accomplish the precise data collection necessary to support a complete and accurate assessment of Space Transportation System (STS) Orbiter performance during all phases of a mission. During a mission, data generated by the various experiments are conveyed to the OEX System Control Module (SCM) which arranges for and monitors storage of the data on the OEX tape recorder. The SCM Diagnostic Expert Assistant (DEA) is an expert system which provides on demand advice to technicians performing repairs of a malfunctioning SCM. The DEA is a self-contained, data-driven knowledge-based system written in the 'C' Language Production System (CLIPS) for a portable micro-computer of the IBM PC/XT class. The DEA reasons about SCM hardware faults at multiple levels; the most detailed layer of encoded knowledge of the SCM is a representation of individual components and layouts of the custom-designed component boards.

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

Desai, S.; Ruff, V.; DuBrul, E.F.

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) plays a pivotal role in the anaerobic metabolism of Ascaris suum mitochondria. They have initiated a series of studies on the in vitro synthesis and mitochondrial import of PDC. PDC has been purified from adult Ascaris body wall muscle, fully phosphorylated in vitro, and separated into its component subunits on SDS/PAGE. The individual components were electroeluted from the gels and used to immunize rabbits. IgG's to the individual subunits were prepared from antisera and their specificities were verified by immuno-blotting. Each IgG identified a single specific band at the appropriate location in extracts of adultmore » Ascaris body wall muscle mitochondria. Poly A/sup +/-RNA was prepared from body wall muscle and translated in a reticylocyte lysate system using /sup 35/S-methionine. Translation products were immunoprecipitated with specific IgG's, electrophoresed, and fluorographed. Each immunoprecipitation gave rise to a single radioactive polypeptide that was slightly larger than the specific PDC subunit isolated from the adult mitochondria. This system has demonstrated its feasibility for the study of mitochondrial import of a multienzyme complex that is critical for the anaerobic mitochondrial metabolism of Ascaris suum.« less

Assessment for Systems Learning: A Holistic Assessment Framework to Support Decision Making Across the Medical Education Continuum.

PubMed

Bowe, Constance M; Armstrong, Elizabeth

2017-05-01

Viewing health care from a systems perspective-that is, "a collection of different things which, working together, produce a result not achievable by the things alone"-raises awareness of the complex interrelationships involved in meeting society's goals for accessible, cost-effective, high-quality health care. This perspective also emphasizes the far-reaching consequences of changes in one sector of a system on other components' performance. Medical education promotes this holistic view of health care in its curricula and competency requirements for graduation at the undergraduate and graduate training levels. But how completely does medical education apply a systems lens to itself?The continuum of medical training has undergone a series of changes that have moved it more closely to a systems organizational model. Competency assessment criteria have been expanded and more explicitly defined for learners at all levels of training. Outcomes data, in multiple domains, are monitored by external reviewers for program accreditation. However, translating increasing amounts of individual outcomes into actionable intelligence for decision making poses a formidable information management challenge.Assessment in systems is designed to impart a "big picture" of overall system performance through the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of outcomes data to provide actionable information for continuous systems improvement, innovation, and long-term planning. A systems-based framework is presented for use across the medical education continuum to facilitate timely improvements in individual curriculum components, continuous improvement in overall program performance, and program decision making on changes required to better address society's health care needs.

Exergo-Economic Analysis of an Experimental Aircraft Turboprop Engine Under Low Torque Condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atilgan, Ramazan; Turan, Onder; Aydin, Hakan

Exergo-economic analysis is an unique combination of exergy analysis and cost analysis conducted at the component level. In exergo-economic analysis, cost of each exergy stream is determined. Inlet and outlet exergy streams of the each component are associated to a monetary cost. This is essential to detect cost-ineffective processes and identify technical options which could improve the cost effectiveness of the overall energy system. In this study, exergo-economic analysis is applied to an aircraft turboprop engine. Analysis is based on experimental values at low torque condition (240 N m). Main components of investigated turboprop engine are the compressor, the combustor, the gas generator turbine, the free power turbine and the exhaust. Cost balance equations have been formed for all components individually and exergo-economic parameters including cost rates and unit exergy costs have been calculated for each component.

Chrome - Free Aluminum Coating System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, John H.; Gugel, Jeffrey D.

2010-01-01

This slide presentation concerns the program to qualify a chrome free coating for aluminum. The program was required due to findings by OSHA and EPA, that hexavalent chromium, used to mitigate corrosion in aerospace aluminum alloys, poses hazards for personnel. This qualification consisted of over 4,000 tests. The tests revealed that a move away from Cr+6, required a system rather than individual components and that the maximum corrosion protection required pretreatment, primer and topcoat.

The Typical General Aviation Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turnbull, Andrew

1999-01-01

The reliability of General Aviation aircraft is unknown. In order to "assist the development of future GA reliability and safety requirements", a reliability study needs to be performed. Before any studies on General Aviation aircraft reliability begins, a definition of a typical aircraft that encompasses most of the general aviation characteristics needs to be defined. In this report, not only is the typical general aviation aircraft defined for the purpose of the follow-on reliability study, but it is also separated, or "sifted" into several different categories where individual analysis can be performed on the reasonably independent systems. In this study, the typical General Aviation aircraft is a four-place, single engine piston, all aluminum fixed-wing certified aircraft with a fixed tricycle landing gear and a cable operated flight control system. The system breakdown of a GA aircraft "sifts" the aircraft systems and components into five categories: Powerplant, Airframe, Aircraft Control Systems, Cockpit Instrumentation Systems, and the Electrical Systems. This breakdown was performed along the lines of a failure of the system. Any component that caused a system to fail was considered a part of that system.

Laplace-Pressure Actuation of Liquid Metal Devices For Reconfigurable Electromagnetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cumby, Brad Lee

Present day electronics are now taking on small form factors, unexpected uses, adaptability, and other features that only a decade ago were unimaginable even for most engineers. These electronic devices, such as tablets, smart phones, wearable sensors, and others, have further had a profound impact on how society interacts, works, maintains health, etc. To optimize electronics a growing trend has been to both minimize the physical space taken up by the individual electronic components as well as to maximize the number of functionalities in a single electronic device, forming a compact and efficient package. To accomplish this challenge in one step, many groups have used a design that has reconfigurable electromagnetic properties, maximizing the functionality density of the device. This would allow the replacement of multiple individual components into an integrated system that would achieve a similar result as the separate individual devices while taking up less space. For example, could a device have a reconfigurable antenna, allowing it optimal communication in various settings and across multiple communication bands, thus increasing functionality, range, and even reducing total device size. Thus far a majority of such reconfigurable devices involve connecting/disconnecting various physically static layouts to achieve a summation of individual components that give rise to multiple effects. However, this is not an ideal situation due to the fact that the individual components whether connected or not are taking up real-estate as well as electrical interference with adjacent connected components. This dissertation focuses on the reconfigurability of the metallic component of the electronic device, specifically microwave devices. This component used throughout this dissertation is that of an eutectic liquid metal alloy. The liquid metal allows the utilization of both the inherent compact form (spherical shape) of a liquid in the lowest energy state and the fact that it is resilient and shapeable to allow for reconfigurability. In this dissertation, first background information is given on the existing technology for reconfigurable microwave devices and the basic principles that these mechanisms are based upon. Then a new reconfigurable method is introduced that utilizes Laplace pressure. Materials that are associated with using liquid metals are discussed and an overall systematic view is given to provide a set of proof of concepts that are more applied and understandable by electronic designers and engineers. Finally a novel approach to making essential measurements of liquid metal microwave devices is devised and discussed. This dissertation encompasses a complete device design from materials used for fabrication, fabrication methods and measurement processes to provide a knowledge base for designing liquid metal microwave devices.

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

PubMed

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

2017-03-04

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

Remotely piloted vehicle: Application of the GRASP analysis method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andre, W. L.; Morris, J. B.

1981-01-01

The application of General Reliability Analysis Simulation Program (GRASP) to the remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) system is discussed. The model simulates the field operation of the RPV system. By using individual component reliabilities, the overall reliability of the RPV system is determined. The results of the simulations are given in operational days. The model represented is only a basis from which more detailed work could progress. The RPV system in this model is based on preliminary specifications and estimated values. The use of GRASP from basic system definition, to model input, and to model verification is demonstrated.

Individualized Educational Programming for the Mentally Retarded.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Nirbhay N.; Ahrens, Michael G.

1980-01-01

The minimal components of a model which utilizes a computer for summarizing individual performance records for teaching educational skills to the mentally retarded are described. The most important components are assessment, individual and group programing, continuous data collection, and program evaluation. (Author)

Development and Validation of a Portable Platform for Deploying Decision-Support Algorithms in Prehospital Settings

PubMed Central

Reisner, A. T.; Khitrov, M. Y.; Chen, L.; Blood, A.; Wilkins, K.; Doyle, W.; Wilcox, S.; Denison, T.; Reifman, J.

2013-01-01

Summary Background Advanced decision-support capabilities for prehospital trauma care may prove effective at improving patient care. Such functionality would be possible if an analysis platform were connected to a transport vital-signs monitor. In practice, there are technical challenges to implementing such a system. Not only must each individual component be reliable, but, in addition, the connectivity between components must be reliable. Objective We describe the development, validation, and deployment of the Automated Processing of Physiologic Registry for Assessment of Injury Severity (APPRAISE) platform, intended to serve as a test bed to help evaluate the performance of decision-support algorithms in a prehospital environment. Methods We describe the hardware selected and the software implemented, and the procedures used for laboratory and field testing. Results The APPRAISE platform met performance goals in both laboratory testing (using a vital-sign data simulator) and initial field testing. After its field testing, the platform has been in use on Boston MedFlight air ambulances since February of 2010. Conclusion These experiences may prove informative to other technology developers and to healthcare stakeholders seeking to invest in connected electronic systems for prehospital as well as in-hospital use. Our experiences illustrate two sets of important questions: are the individual components reliable (e.g., physical integrity, power, core functionality, and end-user interaction) and is the connectivity between components reliable (e.g., communication protocols and the metadata necessary for data interpretation)? While all potential operational issues cannot be fully anticipated and eliminated during development, thoughtful design and phased testing steps can reduce, if not eliminate, technical surprises. PMID:24155791

Single and multi-component adsorption of psychiatric pharmaceuticals onto alternative and commercial carbons.

PubMed

Calisto, Vânia; Jaria, Guilaine; Silva, Carla Patrícia; Ferreira, Catarina I A; Otero, Marta; Esteves, Valdemar I

2017-05-01

This work describes the adsorptive removal of three widely consumed psychiatric pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, paroxetine and oxazepam) from ultrapure water. Two different adsorbents were used: a commercial activated carbon and a non-activated waste-based carbon (PS800-150-HCl), produced by pyrolysis of primary paper mill sludge. These adsorbents were used in single, binary and ternary batch experiments in order to determine the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium isotherms of the considered pharmaceuticals. For the three drugs and both carbons, the equilibrium was quickly attained (with maximum equilibrium times of 15 and 120 min for the waste-based and the commercial carbons, respectively) even in binary and ternary systems. Single component equilibrium data were adequately described by the Langmuir model, with the commercial carbon registering higher maximum adsorption capacities (between 272 ± 10 and 493 ± 12 μmol g -1 ) than PS800-150-HCl (between 64 ± 2 and 74 ± 1 μmol g -1 ). Multi-component equilibrium data were also best fitted by the single component Langmuir isotherm, followed by the Langmuir competitive model. Overall, competitive effects did not largely affect the performance of both adsorbents. Binary and ternary systems maintained fast kinetics, the individual maximum adsorption capacities were not lower than half of the single component systems and both carbons presented improved total adsorption capacities for multi-component solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differences in early and late stages of information processing between slow versus fast participants.

PubMed

Portella, Claudio; Machado, Sergio; Paes, Flávia; Cagy, Mauricio; Sack, Alexander T; Sandoval-Carrillo, Ada; Salas-Pacheco, Jose; Silva, Adriana Cardoso; Piedade, Roberto; Ribeiro, Pedro; Nardi, Antonio Egídio; Arias-Carrión, Oscar

2014-01-01

The human brain is a system consisting of various interconnected neural networks, with functional specialization coexisting with functional integration occurring both; temporally and spatially at many levels. The current study ranked and compared fast and slow participants in processing information by assessing latency and amplitude of early and late Event-Related Potential (ERP) components, including P200, N200, Premotor Potential (PMP) and P300. In addition, the Reaction Time (RT) of participants was compared and related to the respective ERP components. For this purpose, twenty right-handed and healthy individuals were subjected to a classical ERP "Oddball" paradigm. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discriminant Function analyses (DFA) used PRE components and the Reaction Time (RT) to classify individuals. Our results indicate that latencies of P200 (O2 electrode), N200 (O2), PMP (C3) and P300 (Pz) components are significantly reduced in the group of fast responding participants. In addition, the P200 amplitude is significantly increased in the group of fast responding participants. Based on these findings, we suggest that the ERP is able to detect even minimal impairments, in the processing of somatosensory information and cognitive and motor stages. Hence, the study of ERP might also be capable of assessing sensorimotor dysfunctions in healthy old-aged people and in neuropsychiatric patients (suffering from dementia, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological disorders).

Tumorigenicity of the miR-17-92 cluster distilled.

PubMed

van Haaften, Gijs; Agami, Reuven

2010-01-01

The miR-17-92 gene cluster, with its six different mature microRNAs (miRNAs), has an established oncogenic function. However, the oncogenic contribution of each individual miRNA in the cluster has not been assigned. Two studies published in the December 15, 2009, issue of Genes & Development by Mu and colleagues (pp. 2806-2811) and Olive and colleagues (pp. 2839-2849) dissected the miR-17-92 cluster to its individual miRNA components and identified their relative contributions to oncogenic transformation in mouse model systems.

Aerosol in the Pacific troposphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clarke, Antony D.

1989-01-01

The use of near real-time optical techniques is emphasized for the measurement of mid-tropospheric aerosol over the Central Pacific. The primary focus is on measurement of the aerosol size distribution over the range of particle diameters from 0.15 to 5.0 microns that are essential for modeling CO2 backscatter values in support of the laser atmospheric wind sounder (LAWS) program. The measurement system employs a LAS-X (Laser Aerosol Spectrometer-PMS, Boulder, CO) with a custom 256 channel pulse height analyzer and software for detailed measurement and analysis of aerosol size distributions. A thermal preheater system (Thermo Optic Aerosol Descriminator (TOAD) conditions the aerosol in a manner that allows the discrimination of the size distribution of individual aerosol components such as sulfuric acid, sulfates and refractory species. This allows assessment of the relative contribution of each component to the BCO2 signal. This is necessary since the different components have different sources, exhibit independent variability and provide different BCO2 signals for a given mass and particle size. Field activities involve experiments designed to examine both temporal and spatial variability of these aerosol components from ground based and aircraft platforms.

GSFLOW - Coupled Ground-Water and Surface-Water Flow Model Based on the Integration of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the Modular Ground-Water Flow Model (MODFLOW-2005)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Markstrom, Steven L.; Niswonger, Richard G.; Regan, R. Steven; Prudic, David E.; Barlow, Paul M.

2008-01-01

The need to assess the effects of variability in climate, biota, geology, and human activities on water availability and flow requires the development of models that couple two or more components of the hydrologic cycle. An integrated hydrologic model called GSFLOW (Ground-water and Surface-water FLOW) was developed to simulate coupled ground-water and surface-water resources. The new model is based on the integration of the U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the U.S. Geological Survey Modular Ground-Water Flow Model (MODFLOW). Additional model components were developed, and existing components were modified, to facilitate integration of the models. Methods were developed to route flow among the PRMS Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) and between the HRUs and the MODFLOW finite-difference cells. This report describes the organization, concepts, design, and mathematical formulation of all GSFLOW model components. An important aspect of the integrated model design is its ability to conserve water mass and to provide comprehensive water budgets for a location of interest. This report includes descriptions of how water budgets are calculated for the integrated model and for individual model components. GSFLOW provides a robust modeling system for simulating flow through the hydrologic cycle, while allowing for future enhancements to incorporate other simulation techniques.

Design and testing of the reactor-internal hydraulic control rod drive for the nuclear heating plant

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

Batheja, P.; Meier, W.J.; Rau, P.J.

A hydraulically driven control rod is being developed at Kraftwerk Union for integration in the primary system of a small nuclear district heating reactor. An elaborate test program, under way for --3 yr, was initiated with a plexiglass rig to understand the basic principles. A design specification list was prepared, taking reactor boundary conditions and relevant German rules and regulations into account. Subsequently, an atmospheric loop for testing of components at 20 to 90/sup 0/C was erected. The objectives involved optimization of individual components such as a piston/cylinder drive unit, electromagnetic valves, and an ultrasonic position indication system as wellmore » as verification of computer codes. Based on the results obtained, full-scale components were designed and fabricated for a prototype test rig, which is currently in operation. Thus far, all atmospheric tests in this rig have been completed. Investigations under reactor temperature and pressure, followed by endurance tests, are under way. All tests to date have shown a reliable functioning of the hydraulic drive, including a novel ultrasonic position indication system.« less

Understanding Challenges in the Front Lines of Home Health Care: A Human-Systems Approach

PubMed Central

Beer, Jenay M.; McBride, Sara E.; Mitzner, Tracy L.; Rogers, Wendy A.

2014-01-01

A human-systems perspective is a fruitful approach to understanding home health care because it emphasizes major individual components of the system – persons, equipment/technology, tasks, and environments –as well as the interaction between these components. The goal of this research was to apply a human-system perspective to consider the capabilities and limitations of the persons, in relation to the demands of the tasks and equipment/technology in home health care. Identification of challenges and mismatches between the person(s) capabilities and the demands of providing care provide guidance for human factors interventions. A qualitative study was conducted with 8 home health Certified Nursing Assistants and 8 home health Registered Nurses interviewed about challenges they encounter in their jobs. A systematic categorization of the challenges the care providers reported was conducted and human factors recommendations were proposed in response, to improve home health. The challenges inform a human-systems model of home health care. PMID:24958610

Visual identification system for homeland security and law enforcement support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuel, Todd J.; Edwards, Don; Knopf, Michael

2005-05-01

This paper describes the basic configuration for a visual identification system (VIS) for Homeland Security and law enforcement support. Security and law enforcement systems with an integrated VIS will accurately and rapidly provide identification of vehicles or containers that have entered, exited or passed through a specific monitoring location. The VIS system stores all images and makes them available for recall for approximately one week. Images of alarming vehicles will be archived indefinitely as part of the alarming vehicle"s or cargo container"s record. Depending on user needs, the digital imaging information will be provided electronically to the individual inspectors, supervisors, and/or control center at the customer"s office. The key components of the VIS are the high-resolution cameras that capture images of vehicles, lights, presence sensors, image cataloging software, and image recognition software. In addition to the cameras, the physical integration and network communications of the VIS components with the balance of the security system and client must be ensured.

Characterization of PMR-15 polyimide composition in thermo-oxidatively exposed graphite fiber composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alston, W. B.

1980-01-01

The contributions of individual resin components to total resin weight loss in 600 F air aged Celion 6000/PMR-15 polyimide composites were determined from the overall resin weight loss in the composite by chemically separating the PMR-15 matrix resin into its monomeric components. The individual resin components were also analyzed by spectroscopic techniques in order to elucidate curing and degradation mechanisms of the PMR-15 matrix resin. The isothermal weight loss of the individual resin components during prolonged 600 F thermo-oxidative aging of the composite was correlated to the changes observed in the Fourier Transform infrared spectra and Fourier Transform nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of the individual resin components. The correlation was used to identify the molecular site of the thermo-oxidative changes in PMR-15 polyimide matrix resin during 600 F curing the prolonged 600 F thermo-oxidative aging.

Monitoring the performance of the next Climate Forecast System version 3, throughout its development stage at EMC/NCEP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peña, M.; Saha, S.; Wu, X.; Wang, J.; Tripp, P.; Moorthi, S.; Bhattacharjee, P.

2016-12-01

The next version of the operational Climate Forecast System (version 3, CFSv3) will be a fully coupled six-components system with diverse applications to earth system modeling, including weather and climate predictions. This system will couple the earth's atmosphere, land, ocean, sea-ice, waves and aerosols for both data assimilation and modeling. It will also use the NOAA Environmental Modeling System (NEMS) software super structure to couple these components. The CFSv3 is part of the next Unified Global Coupled System (UGCS), which will unify the global prediction systems that are now operational at NCEP. The UGCS is being developed through the efforts of dedicated research and engineering teams and through coordination across many CPO/MAPP and NGGPS groups. During this development phase, the UGCS is being tested for seasonal purposes and undergoes frequent revisions. Each new revision is evaluated to quickly discover, isolate and solve problems that negatively impact its performance. In the UGCS-seasonal model, components (e.g., ocean, sea-ice, atmosphere, etc.) are coupled through a NEMS-based "mediator". In this numerical infrastructure, model diagnostics and forecast validation are carried out, both component by component, and as a whole. The next stage, model optimization, will require enhanced performance diagnostics tools to help prioritize areas of numerical improvements. After the technical development of the UGCS-seasonal is completed, it will become the first realization of the CFSv3. All future development of this system will be carried out by the climate team at NCEP, in scientific collaboration with the groups that developed the individual components, as well as the climate community. A unique challenge to evaluate this unified weather-climate system is the large number of variables, which evolve over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. A small set of performance measures and scorecard displays are been created, and collaboration and software contributions from research and operational centers are being incorporated. A status of the CFSv3/UGCS-seasonal development and examples of its performance and measuring tools will be presented.

System reliability approaches for advanced propulsion system structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruse, T. A.; Mahadevan, S.

1991-01-01

This paper identifies significant issues that pertain to the estimation and use of system reliability in the design of advanced propulsion system structures. Linkages between the reliabilities of individual components and their effect on system design issues such as performance, cost, availability, and certification are examined. The need for system reliability computation to address the continuum nature of propulsion system structures and synergistic progressive damage modes has been highlighted. Available system reliability models are observed to apply only to discrete systems. Therefore a sequential structural reanalysis procedure is formulated to rigorously compute the conditional dependencies between various failure modes. The method is developed in a manner that supports both top-down and bottom-up analyses in system reliability.

Systems biology approaches to understand the effects of nutrition and promote health.

PubMed

Badimon, Lina; Vilahur, Gemma; Padro, Teresa

2017-01-01

Within the last years the implementation of systems biology in nutritional research has emerged as a powerful tool to understand the mechanisms by which dietary components promote health and prevent disease as well as to identify the biologically active molecules involved in such effects. Systems biology, by combining several '-omics' disciplines (mainly genomics/transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics), creates large data sets that upon computational integration provide in silico predictive networks that allow a more extensive analysis of the individual response to a nutritional intervention and provide a more global comprehensive understanding of how diet may influence health and disease. Numerous studies have demonstrated that diet and particularly bioactive food components play a pivotal role in helping to counteract environmental-related oxidative damage. Oxidative stress is considered to be strongly implicated in ageing and the pathophysiology of numerous diseases including neurodegenerative disease, cancers, metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases. In the following review we will provide insights into the role of systems biology in nutritional research and focus on transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomics studies that have demonstrated the ability of functional foods and their bioactive components to fight against oxidative damage and contribute to health benefits. © 2016 The British Pharmacological Society.

Photovoltaic performance and reliability workshop

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

Kroposki, B

1996-10-01

This proceedings is the compilation of papers presented at the ninth PV Performance and Reliability Workshop held at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel on September 4--6, 1996. This years workshop included presentations from 25 speakers and had over 100 attendees. All of the presentations that were given are included in this proceedings. Topics of the papers included: defining service lifetime and developing models for PV module lifetime; examining and determining failure and degradation mechanisms in PV modules; combining IEEE/IEC/UL testing procedures; AC module performance and reliability testing; inverter reliability/qualification testing; standardization of utility interconnect requirements for PV systems; need activitiesmore » to separate variables by testing individual components of PV systems (e.g. cells, modules, batteries, inverters,charge controllers) for individual reliability and then test them in actual system configurations; more results reported from field experience on modules, inverters, batteries, and charge controllers from field deployed PV systems; and system certification and standardized testing for stand-alone and grid-tied systems.« less

Construction and Testing of an 80C86 Based Communications Controller for the Petite Amateur Navy Satellite (PANSAT)

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-01

S) Naval Postgraduate School 6a. NAME OF PERFORMING ORGANIZATION 6b OFFICE SYMBOL 7a NAME OF MONITORING ORGANIZATION (if applicable ) Code 33 6c...FUNDING/SPONSORING Bb. OFFICE SYMBOL 9. PROCUREMENT INSTRUMENT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER ORGANIZATION (If applicable ) 8c. ADDRESS (City, State, and ZIP Code...system’s individual components. Then one derives the overall system reliability from that information, using a simple mathematical model, to be

Improved low-cost, non-hazardous, all-iron cell for the developing world

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

Tucker, Michael C.; Lambelet, David; Oueslati, Mohamed

A low-cost, non-hazardous personal-power system based on an aqueous all-iron electrochemical cell is demonstrated in this paper. The system is intended to be assembled and operated by developing-world households that lack sufficient access to electricity, thereby enabling LED lighting or mobile phone charging on demand. Lab-scale hardware is used to assess the performance of individual cell components. It is found that coffee filter paper is an effective low-cost separator. Carbon felt is a low-cost electrode material, and its performance and wetting by the electrolyte solution is greatly improved by pre-treatment with sulfuric acid. The carbon felt does not degrade aftermore » a week of daily use. By using these components, performance of the system is significantly improved over the previous baseline, with power density more than doubling to 40 mW cm -2, and iron utilization improving from 78% to 88%. The operating cost is estimated to be less than US$0.03 per mobile phone charge. Based on the lab-scale results, a stand-alone prototype consumer product is designed, fabricated, and tested. It successfully provides 2.5 h of LED illumination while consuming 200 mL of electrolyte solution via gravity feed. Finally, we anticipate these results will enable deployment of this innovative system to energy-impoverished individuals in the developing world.« less

Improved low-cost, non-hazardous, all-iron cell for the developing world

DOE PAGES

Tucker, Michael C.; Lambelet, David; Oueslati, Mohamed; ...

2016-09-28

A low-cost, non-hazardous personal-power system based on an aqueous all-iron electrochemical cell is demonstrated in this paper. The system is intended to be assembled and operated by developing-world households that lack sufficient access to electricity, thereby enabling LED lighting or mobile phone charging on demand. Lab-scale hardware is used to assess the performance of individual cell components. It is found that coffee filter paper is an effective low-cost separator. Carbon felt is a low-cost electrode material, and its performance and wetting by the electrolyte solution is greatly improved by pre-treatment with sulfuric acid. The carbon felt does not degrade aftermore » a week of daily use. By using these components, performance of the system is significantly improved over the previous baseline, with power density more than doubling to 40 mW cm -2, and iron utilization improving from 78% to 88%. The operating cost is estimated to be less than US$0.03 per mobile phone charge. Based on the lab-scale results, a stand-alone prototype consumer product is designed, fabricated, and tested. It successfully provides 2.5 h of LED illumination while consuming 200 mL of electrolyte solution via gravity feed. Finally, we anticipate these results will enable deployment of this innovative system to energy-impoverished individuals in the developing world.« less

The principal phenolic and alcoholic components of wine protect human lymphocytes against hydrogen peroxide- and ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage in vitro.

PubMed

Greenrod, William; Fenech, Michael

2003-03-01

We have tested the hypothesis that the alcoholic and phenolic components of wine are protective against the DNA-damaging and cytotoxic effects of hydrogen peroxide and gamma-radiation in vitro. The components of wine tested were ethanol, glycerol, a mixture of the phenolic compounds catechin and caffeic acid and tartaric acid, all at concentrations that were 2.5 or 10.0% of the concentration in a typical Australian white wine (Riesling). These components were tested individually or combined as a mixture and compared to a white wine stripped of polyphenols, as well as a Hanks balanced salt solution control, which was the diluent for the wine components. The effect of the components was tested in lymphocytes, using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay, after 30 min incubation in plasma or whole blood for the hydrogen peroxide or gamma-radiation challenge, respectively. The results obtained showed that ethanol, glycerol, the catechin-caffeic acid mixture, the mixture of all components and the stripped white wine significantly reduced the DNA-damaging effects of hydrogen peroxide and gamma-radiation (P = 0.043-0.001, ANOVA). The strongest protective effect against DNA damage by gamma-irradiation was observed for the catechin-caffeic acid mixture and the mixture of all components (30 and 32% reduction, respectively). These two treatments as well as ethanol produced the strongest protective effects against DNA damage by hydrogen peroxide (24, 25 and 18%, respectively). The protection provided by the mixture did not account for the expected additive protective effects of the individual components. Ethanol was the only component that significantly increased baseline DNA damage rate, however, this effect was negated in the mixture. In conclusion, our results suggest that the main phenolic and alcoholic components of wine can reduce the DNA-damaging effects of two important oxidants, i.e. hydrogen peroxide and ionizing radiation, in this physiologically relevant in vitro system.

iSAW: Integrating Structure, Actors, and Water to study socio-hydro-ecological systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hale, Rebecca L.; Armstrong, Andrea; Baker, Michelle A.; Bedingfield, Sean; Betts, David; Buahin, Caleb; Buchert, Martin; Crowl, Todd; Dupont, R. Ryan; Ehleringer, James R.; Endter-Wada, Joanna; Flint, Courtney; Grant, Jacqualine; Hinners, Sarah; Horsburgh, Jeffery S.; Jackson-Smith, Douglas; Jones, Amber S.; Licon, Carlos; Null, Sarah E.; Odame, Augustina; Pataki, Diane E.; Rosenberg, David; Runburg, Madlyn; Stoker, Philip; Strong, Courtenay

2015-03-01

Urbanization, climate, and ecosystem change represent major challenges for managing water resources. Although water systems are complex, a need exists for a generalized representation of these systems to identify important components and linkages to guide scientific inquiry and aid water management. We developed an integrated Structure-Actor-Water framework (iSAW) to facilitate the understanding of and transitions to sustainable water systems. Our goal was to produce an interdisciplinary framework for water resources research that could address management challenges across scales (e.g., plot to region) and domains (e.g., water supply and quality, transitioning, and urban landscapes). The framework was designed to be generalizable across all human-environment systems, yet with sufficient detail and flexibility to be customized to specific cases. iSAW includes three major components: structure (natural, built, and social), actors (individual and organizational), and water (quality and quantity). Key linkages among these components include: (1) ecological/hydrologic processes, (2) ecosystem/geomorphic feedbacks, (3) planning, design, and policy, (4) perceptions, information, and experience, (5) resource access and risk, and (6) operational water use and management. We illustrate the flexibility and utility of the iSAW framework by applying it to two research and management problems: understanding urban water supply and demand in a changing climate and expanding use of green storm water infrastructure in a semi-arid environment. The applications demonstrate that a generalized conceptual model can identify important components and linkages in complex and diverse water systems and facilitate communication about those systems among researchers from diverse disciplines.

Core components of a comprehensive quality assurance program in anatomic pathology.

PubMed

Nakhleh, Raouf E

2009-11-01

In this article the core components of a comprehensive quality assurance and improvement plan are outlined. Quality anatomic pathology work comes with focus on accurate, timely, and complete reports. A commitment to continuous quality improvement and a systems approach with a persistent effort helps to achieve this end. Departments should have a quality assurance and improvement plan that includes a risk assessment of real and potential problems facing the laboratory. The plan should also list the individuals responsible for carrying out the program with adequate resources, a defined timetable, and annual assessment for progress and future directions. Quality assurance monitors should address regulatory requirements and be organized by laboratory division (surgical pathology, cytology, etc) as well as 5 segments (preanalytic, analytic, postanalytic phases of the test cycle, turn-around-time, and customer satisfaction). Quality assurance data can also be used to evaluate individual pathologists using multiple parameters with peer group comparison.

10 CFR 73.26 - Transportation physical protection systems, subsystems, components, and procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... by individuals independent of both security program management and personnel who have direct... hour to convey the status and position of the shipment. In the event no call is received in accordance... made at least every half hour to convey the status and position of the shipment. In the event no call...

Meal Planning for People with Diabetes, 2nd Edition = Planificacion de Comidas para Personas con Diabetes, 2 Edicion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Migrant Resource Program, Inc., Austin, TX.

This booklet provides information about diabetes and meal planning particularly designed for migrant individuals. The first section defines diabetes, explains different types of diabetes, lists results of uncontrolled diabetes, and describes the goals and components of a diabetic meal plan. The second section explains the exchange system of…

10 CFR 73.46 - Fixed site physical protection systems, subsystems, components, and procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... barrier in the event of its penetration. If parking facilities are provided for employees or visitors... bullet resisting walls, doors, ceiling, floor, and windows. (ii) When the licensee has cause to suspect..., and name of the individual to be visited in a log. The licensee shall retain each log as a record for...

10 CFR 73.46 - Fixed site physical protection systems, subsystems, components, and procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... barrier in the event of its penetration. If parking facilities are provided for employees or visitors... bullet resisting walls, doors, ceiling, floor, and windows. (ii) When the licensee has cause to suspect..., and name of the individual to be visited in a log. The licensee shall retain each log as a record for...

The NEO-FFI in Multiple Sclerosis: Internal Consistency, Factorial Validity, and Correspondence between Self and Informant Reports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Eben S.; Chapman, Benjamin P.; Duberstein, Paul R.; Weinstock-Guttman, Bianca; Benedict, Ralph H. B.

2011-01-01

Personality assessment is a potentially important component of clinical and empirical work with neurological patients because (a) individual differences in personality may be associated with different neurological outcomes and (b) central nervous system changes may give rise to alteration in personality. For personality assessment to be useful to…

Interplanetary dust - Trace element analysis of individual particles by neutron activation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ganapathy, R.; Brownlee, D. E.

1979-01-01

Although micrometeorites of cometary origin are thought to be the dominant component of interplanetary dust, it has never been possible to positively identify such micrometer-sized particles. Two such particles have been identified as definitely micrometeorites since their abundances of volatile and nonvolatile trace elements closely match those of primitive solar system material.

30 CFR 250.448 - What are the BOP pressure tests requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... you pressure test the BOP system, you must conduct a low-pressure and a high-pressure test for each BOP component. You must conduct the low-pressure test before the high-pressure test. Each individual... zero and reinitiate the test. (b) High-pressure test for ram-type BOPs, the choke manifold, and other...

From Genes to Environment: Using Integrative Genomics to Build a "Systems-Level" Understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Valerie W.

2013-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders that affect an estimated 1 in 110 individuals. Although there is a strong genetic component associated with these disorders, this review focuses on the multifactorial nature of ASD and how different genome-wide (genomic) approaches contribute to our understanding of autism.…

Intentional Self-Regulation, Ecological Assets, and Thriving in Adolescence: A Developmental Systems Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gestsdottir, Steinunn; Urban, Jennifer Brown; Bowers, Edmond P.; Lerner, Jacqueline V.; Lerner, Richard M.

2011-01-01

The positive youth development (PYD) perspective emphasizes that thriving occurs when individual [double arrow] context relations involve the alignment of adolescent strengths with the resources in their contexts. The authors propose that a key component of this relational process is the strength that youth possess in the form of self-regulatory…

Mental Health Services in Special Education: An Analysis of Quality of Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santiago, Catherine DeCarlo; Kataoka, Sheryl H.; Forness, Steven R.; Miranda, Jeanne

2014-01-01

This article presents a collaborative study conducted in a large urban school district, in which the authors surveyed 55 clinicians within the special education system, with a focus on the mental health services provided to students who were receiving related-services counseling as a mandated component of their individualized education plan.…

How Much Time Is Required for Using Evaluation Results?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Rebecca; Roecks, Alan

The activities and procedures for Education Service Center, Region 20, Evaluation Services' time accounting system are described. Each individual in the evaluation component at the end of the working day records his or her time spent on an activity. This is done through the use of the time accounting form which is completed and turned in weekly to…

Audio from Orbit: The Future of Libraries for Individuals Who Are Blind or Vision Impaired

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steer, Michael; Cheetham, Leonie

2005-01-01

Free library service is a component of the foundations of democracy, citizenship, economic and social development, scholarship and education, in progressive societies. The evolution of libraries for people who are blind or vision impaired is briefly discussed and an innovative project, a talking book and daily newspaper delivery system that…

Clusters, asters, and collective oscillations in chemotactic colloids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Suropriya; Golestanian, Ramin; Ramaswamy, Sriram

2014-06-01

The creation of synthetic systems that emulate the defining properties of living matter, such as motility, gradient-sensing, signaling, and replication, is a grand challenge of biomimetics. Such imitations of life crucially contain active components that transform chemical energy into directed motion. These artificial realizations of motility point in the direction of a new paradigm in engineering, through the design of emergent behavior by manipulating properties at the scale of the individual components. Catalytic colloidal swimmers are a particularly promising example of such systems. Here we present a comprehensive theoretical description of gradient-sensing of an individual swimmer, leading controllably to chemotactic or anti-chemotactic behavior, and use it to construct a framework for studying their collective behavior. We find that both the positional and the orientational degrees of freedom of the active colloids can exhibit condensation, signaling formation of clusters and asters. The kinetics of catalysis introduces a natural control parameter for the range of the interaction mediated by the diffusing chemical species. For various regimes in parameter space in the long-ranged limit our system displays precise analogs to gravitational collapse, plasma oscillations, and electrostatic screening. We present prescriptions for how to tune the surface properties of the colloids during fabrication to achieve each type of behavior.

Developing a stability assessment method for power electronics-based microgrids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Austin, Peter M.

Modern microgrids with microsources and energy storage are dependent on power electronics for control and regulation. Under certain circumstances power electronics can be destabilizing to the system due to an effect called negative incremental impedance. A careful review of the theory and literature on the subject is presented. This includes stability criteria for both AC and DC systems, as well as a discussion on the limitations posed by the analysis. A method to integrate stability assessment with higher-level microgrid architectural design is proposed. Crucial to this is impedance characterization of individual components, which was accomplished through simulation. DC and AC impedance measurement blocks were created in Matlab simulink to automate the process. A detailed switching-level model of a DC microgrid was implemented in simulink, including wind turbine microsource, battery storage, and three phase inverter. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) was included to maximize the efficiency of the turbine and was implemented through three rectifier alternatives and control schemes. The stability characteristics of each was compared in the final analysis. Impedance data was collected individually from the components and used to assess stability in the system as a whole. The results included the assessment of stability, margin, and unstable operating points to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Incorporating political socialization theory into baccalaureate nursing education.

PubMed

Brown, S G

1996-01-01

Political socialization theory explains how an individual develops a political belief system. As the health care system undergoes dramatic changes, nursing faculty should use political socialization theory to enhance the education of student nurses. A political thread can be woven through the nursing curricula, and students can be socialized to the political role. The new generation of nurses must incorporate a political component into their professional role identity. Political socialization theory can guide nursing faculty as knowledge of the political system and political skills are incorporated into nursing curricula.

Parallel Processing with Digital Signal Processing Hardware and Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swenson, Cory V.

1995-01-01

The assembling and testing of a parallel processing system is described which will allow a user to move a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) application from the design stage to the execution/analysis stage through the use of several software tools and hardware devices. The system will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of the Algorithm To Architecture Mapping Model (ATAMM) dataflow paradigm for static multiprocessor solutions of DSP applications. The individual components comprising the system are described followed by the installation procedure, research topics, and initial program development.

Enhancing student performance: Linking the geography curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the English-speaking Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collymore, Jennifer C.

In a 21st century knowledge society individuals are expected to use their knowledge and skills to think critically, problem solve, make decisions, comprehend new ideas, communicate, and collaborate effectively with others. Helping students achieve this level of performance is no easy task and it brings into focus the fact that the effectiveness of any education system rests on the systemic coordination or alignment of three crucial components: curriculum, instruction and assessment (referred to as the CIA). These components must work in concert to facilitate and enhance student performance. However, educational reform typically targets these components in isolation, often treating only one component, rather than the system as a whole. The misalignment of these components can adversely affect student performance in any discipline. When the CIA components are out of alignment, it is difficult to evaluate student and system performance and achieve improvement in an educational system. Therefore, using geography education in Trinidad & Tobago as a case study, this study examined the nature of the alignment among the CIA components in the advanced geography system in the English- Speaking Caribbean and the extent to which the alignment may be affecting student performance. The study sought to determine the possible sources and causes of misalignment, the challenges to achieving alignment, and ways of achieving greater coordination among the CIA components of the system. The methodology employed in the study involved the use of classroom observations, interviews, and the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum Alignment Model which uses content analyses and surveys. The results showed that there were varying degrees of alignment among the components. There was acceptable alignment (Alignment Index ≥ 0.25) between the curriculum and assessment. However, the alignment between curriculum and instruction or assessment and instruction was poor (Alignment Index ≤ 0.12). The baseline threshold for acceptable alignment was 0.25. The misalignment between the curriculum and assessment stemmed from the fact that there were items tested in the assessment that were not identified in the examination syllabus. In terms of the misalignment between the curriculum/assessment and instruction, teachers were misallocating their teaching time and efforts; spending too much time teaching the skills and practices of the discipline rather than the core content areas and they were spending too much time teaching the content at the lower order cognitive level of recall. In addition, while research promotes student-centered approaches, cooperative learning, dialogic discourse, open informal questioning and discursive forms of writing, teachers still primarily use teacher-centered approaches, individualize instruction, monologic discourse and closed recall questions. The teachers' instructional practices are not affording students the opportunity to acquire and display their knowledge at the higher levels of cognition. The cause of the misalignment was attributed to a vague, overloaded syllabus and limited teaching time; vague evaluative criteria and feedback from the Examination Council; inadequate and insufficient teacher training and professional development; a lack of administrative support and mentorship for inexperienced teachers; and teacher frustration. Subsequently, the study offers a number of evidence based recommendations that range from the modification and refinement of the geography CIA triad to professional development programs and the design of interventions that can advance the teaching and learning of the discipline. Though the study is undertaken in a specific context, the educational issues addressed in the study transcend time, scale, and geographic boundaries and the results can inform the decision-making and practices of educators and education policy-makers everywhere.

Individual Differences in Dual Task Performance. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lansman, Marcy; Hunt, Earl

This report summarizes the research results and provides a reference. The basic question addressed was, "Is performance on multi-component tasks predicted by performance on the individual components performed separately?" In the first series of experiments, a dual task involving memory and verbal processing components to predict a…

Multi-segmental movement patterns reflect juggling complexity and skill level.

PubMed

Zago, Matteo; Pacifici, Ilaria; Lovecchio, Nicola; Galli, Manuela; Federolf, Peter Andreas; Sforza, Chiarella

2017-08-01

The juggling action of six experts and six intermediates jugglers was recorded with a motion capture system and decomposed into its fundamental components through Principal Component Analysis. The aim was to quantify trends in movement dimensionality, multi-segmental patterns and rhythmicity as a function of proficiency level and task complexity. Dimensionality was quantified in terms of Residual Variance, while the Relative Amplitude was introduced to account for individual differences in movement components. We observed that: experience-related modifications in multi-segmental actions exist, such as the progressive reduction of error-correction movements, especially in complex task condition. The systematic identification of motor patterns sensitive to the acquisition of specific experience could accelerate the learning process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Visual display and alarm system for wind tunnel static and dynamic loads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanly, Richard D.; Fogarty, James T.

1987-01-01

A wind tunnel balance monitor and alarm system developed at NASA Ames Research Center will produce several beneficial results. The costs of wind tunnel delays because of inadvertent balance damage and the costs of balance repair or replacement can be greatly reduced or eliminated with better real-time information on the balance static and dynamic loading. The wind tunnel itself will have enhanced utility with the elimination of overly cautious limits on test conditions. The microprocessor-based system features automatic scaling and 16 multicolored LED bargraphs to indicate both static and dynamic components of the signals from eight individual channels. Five individually programmable alarm levels are available with relay closures for internal or external visual and audible warning devices and other functions such as automatic activation of external recording devices, model positioning mechanisms, or tunnel shutdown.

Visual display and alarm system for wind tunnel static and dynamic loads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanly, Richard D.; Fogarty, James T.

1987-01-01

A wind tunnel balance monitor and alarm system developed at NASA Ames Research Center will produce several beneficial results. The costs of wind tunnel delays because of inadvertent balance damage and the costs of balance repair or replacement can be greatly reduced or eliminated with better real-time information on the balance static and dynamic loading. The wind tunnel itself will have enhanced utility with the elimination of overly cautious limits on test conditions. The microprocessor-based system features automatic scaling and 16 multicolored LED bargraphs to indicate both static and dynamic components of the signals from eight individual channels. Five individually programmable alarm levels are available with relay closures for internal or external visual and audible warning devices and other functions such as automatic activation of external recording devices, model positioning mechanism, or tunnel shutdown.

An unbiased X-ray sampling of stars within 25 parsecs of the Sun

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, H. M.

1985-01-01

A search of all of the Einstein Observatory IPC and HRI fields for untargeted stars in the Woolley, et al., Catalogue of the nearby stars is reported. Optical data and IPC coordinates, flux density F sub x, and luminosity L sub x, or upper limits, are tabulated for 126 single or blended systems, and HRI results for a few of them. IPC luminosity functions are derived for the systems, for 193 individual stars in the systems (with L sub x shared equally among blended components), and for 63 individual M dwarfs. These stars have relatively large X-ray flux densities that are free of interstellar extinction, because they are nearby, but they are otherwise unbiased with respect to the X-ray properties that are found in a defined small space around the Sun.

Development of LaRC 160/NR150B2 polyimide graphite hybrid composites. [for shuttle applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maximovich, M. G.; Bergren, O.; Lockerby, S.

1980-01-01

A method for co-curing NR150B2 and LaRC 160 prepregs into hybrid composites was developed. The processing characteristics and the properties of the hybrid composites were compared with those of laminates fabricated from the individual component prepregs. Resin forms were selected and optimized and a new NR150 formulation was investigated. The new formulation greatly facilitated the processing and the performance of this system. Quality control techniques were evaluated and developed, high quality laminates were fabricated from both individual resin systems, and hybrid laminates were successfully co-cured. Optimum hybrid forms were investigated and several novel approaches were explored. An optimum hybrid system was developed that utilizes a LaRC curing schedule but shows no degradation of mechanical properties after aging 500 hr in air at 260 C.

Characterizing permanent magnet blocks with Helmholtz coils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carnegie, D. W.; Timpf, J.

1992-08-01

Most of the insertion devices to be installed at the Advanced Photon Source will utilize permanent magnets in their magnetic structures. The quality of the spectral output is sensitive to the errors in the field of the device which are related to variations in the magnetic properties of the individual blocks. The Advanced Photon Source will have a measurement facility to map the field in the completed insertion devices and equipment to test and modify the magnetic strength of the individual magnet blocks. One component of the facility, the Helmholtz coil permanent magnet block measurement system, has been assembled and tested. This system measures the total magnetic moment vector of a block with a precision better than 0.01% and a directional resolution of about 0.05°. The design and performance of the system will be presented.

Developmental neurotoxicity of traffic-related air pollution: focus on autism

PubMed Central

Costa, Lucio G.; Chang, Yu-Chi; Cole, Toby B.

2018-01-01

Purpose of Review Epidemiological and animal studies suggest that air pollution may negatively affect the central nervous system (CNS) and contribute to CNS diseases. Traffic-related air pollution is a major contributor to global air pollution, and diesel exhaust (DE) is its most important component. Recent findings Several studies suggest that young individuals may be particularly susceptible to air pollution-induced neurotoxicity, and that perinatal exposure may cause or contribute to developmental disabilities and behavioral abnormalities. In particular, a number of recent studies have found associations between exposures to traffic-related air pollution and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which are characterized by impairment in socialization and in communication, and by the presence of repetitive and unusual behaviors. The cause(s) of ASD are unknown, and while it may have a hereditary component, environmental factors are increasingly suspected as playing a pivotal role in its etiology, particularly in genetically susceptible individuals. Summary Autistic children present higher levels of neuroinflammation and systemic inflammation, which are also hallmarks of exposure to traffic-related air pollution. Gene-environment interactions may play a relevant role in determining individual susceptibility to air pollution developmental neurotoxicity. Given the worldwide presence of elevated air pollution, studies on its effects and mechanisms on the developing brain, genetic susceptibility, role in neurodevelopmental disorders, and possible therapeutic interventions, are certainly warranted. PMID:28417440

Reframing HIV care: putting people at the centre of antiretroviral delivery.

PubMed

Duncombe, Chris; Rosenblum, Scott; Hellmann, Nicholas; Holmes, Charles; Wilkinson, Lynne; Biot, Marc; Bygrave, Helen; Hoos, David; Garnett, Geoff

2015-04-01

The delivery of HIV care in the initial rapid scale-up of HIV care and treatment was based on existing clinic-based models, which are common in highly resourced settings and largely undifferentiated for individual needs. A new framework for treatment based on variable intensities of care tailored to the specific needs of different groups of individuals across the cascade of care is proposed here. Service intensity is characterised by four delivery components: (i) types of services delivered, (ii) location of service delivery, (iii) provider of health services and (iv) frequency of health services. How these components are developed into a service delivery framework will vary across countries and populations, with the intention being to improve acceptability and care outcomes. The goal of getting more people on treatment before they become ill will necessitate innovative models of delivering both testing and care. As HIV programmes expand treatment eligibility, many people entering care will not be 'patients' but healthy, active and productive members of society. To take the framework to scale, it will be important to: (i) define which individuals can be served by an alternative delivery framework; (ii) strengthen health systems that support decentralisation, integration and task shifting; (iii) make the supply chain more robust; and (iv) invest in data systems for patient tracking and for programme monitoring and evaluation. © 2015 The Authors. Tropical Medicine & International Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Multimodal Emotion Detection System during Human-Robot Interaction

PubMed Central

Alonso-Martín, Fernando; Malfaz, María; Sequeira, João; Gorostiza, Javier F.; Salichs, Miguel A.

2013-01-01

In this paper, a multimodal user-emotion detection system for social robots is presented. This system is intended to be used during human–robot interaction, and it is integrated as part of the overall interaction system of the robot: the Robotics Dialog System (RDS). Two modes are used to detect emotions: the voice and face expression analysis. In order to analyze the voice of the user, a new component has been developed: Gender and Emotion Voice Analysis (GEVA), which is written using the Chuck language. For emotion detection in facial expressions, the system, Gender and Emotion Facial Analysis (GEFA), has been also developed. This last system integrates two third-party solutions: Sophisticated High-speed Object Recognition Engine (SHORE) and Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox (CERT). Once these new components (GEVA and GEFA) give their results, a decision rule is applied in order to combine the information given by both of them. The result of this rule, the detected emotion, is integrated into the dialog system through communicative acts. Hence, each communicative act gives, among other things, the detected emotion of the user to the RDS so it can adapt its strategy in order to get a greater satisfaction degree during the human–robot dialog. Each of the new components, GEVA and GEFA, can also be used individually. Moreover, they are integrated with the robotic control platform ROS (Robot Operating System). Several experiments with real users were performed to determine the accuracy of each component and to set the final decision rule. The results obtained from applying this decision rule in these experiments show a high success rate in automatic user emotion recognition, improving the results given by the two information channels (audio and visual) separately. PMID:24240598

Preliminary design for a reverse Brayton cycle cryogenic cooler

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swift, Walter L.

1993-01-01

A long life, single stage, reverse Brayton cycle cryogenic cooler is being developed for applications in space. The system is designed to provide 5 W of cooling at a temperature of 65 Kelvin with a total cycle input power of less than 200 watts. Key features of the approach include high speed, miniature turbomachines; an all metal, high performance, compact heat exchanger; and a simple, high frequency, three phase motor drive. In Phase 1, a preliminary design of the system was performed. Analyses and trade studies were used to establish the thermodynamic performance of the system and the performance specifications for individual components. Key mechanical features for components were defined and assembly layouts for the components and the system were prepared. Critical materials and processes were identified. Component and brassboard system level tests were conducted at cryogenic temperatures. The system met the cooling requirement of 5 W at 65 K. The system was also operated over a range of cooling loads from 0.5 W at 37 K to 10 W at 65 K. Input power to the system was higher than target values. The heat exchanger and inverter met or exceeded their respective performance targets. The compresssor/motor assembly was marginally below its performance target. The turboexpander met its aerodynamic efficiency target, but overall performance was below target because of excessive heat leak. The heat leak will be reduced to an acceptable value in the engineering model. The results of Phase 1 indicate that the 200 watt input power requirement can be met with state-of-the-art technology in a system which has very flexible integration requirements and negligible vibration levels.

Preliminary design for a reverse Brayton cycle cryogenic cooler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swift, Walter L.

1993-12-01

A long life, single stage, reverse Brayton cycle cryogenic cooler is being developed for applications in space. The system is designed to provide 5 W of cooling at a temperature of 65 Kelvin with a total cycle input power of less than 200 watts. Key features of the approach include high speed, miniature turbomachines; an all metal, high performance, compact heat exchanger; and a simple, high frequency, three phase motor drive. In Phase 1, a preliminary design of the system was performed. Analyses and trade studies were used to establish the thermodynamic performance of the system and the performance specifications for individual components. Key mechanical features for components were defined and assembly layouts for the components and the system were prepared. Critical materials and processes were identified. Component and brassboard system level tests were conducted at cryogenic temperatures. The system met the cooling requirement of 5 W at 65 K. The system was also operated over a range of cooling loads from 0.5 W at 37 K to 10 W at 65 K. Input power to the system was higher than target values. The heat exchanger and inverter met or exceeded their respective performance targets. The compresssor/motor assembly was marginally below its performance target. The turboexpander met its aerodynamic efficiency target, but overall performance was below target because of excessive heat leak. The heat leak will be reduced to an acceptable value in the engineering model. The results of Phase 1 indicate that the 200 watt input power requirement can be met with state-of-the-art technology in a system which has very flexible integration requirements and negligible vibration levels.

Ergonomics and the physiotherapist: a report on a research project on working postures.

PubMed

Bullock, M I; Lanchester, J J

1969-09-01

In a series of lectures on biomechanical principles, Professor E. R. Tichauer, an authority on man-machine-task systems, stated: "Only a few years ago, the physical work load imposed on the individual employee was much heavier than is the case today, but it was, in many occupations, fairly evenly distributed over the entire musculo skeletal system. Today, the total energy demanded from man in the performance of an industrial task has often been reduced, but stress is concentrated on individual and small components of the worker's anatomy," The techniques for combating these new stresses are found in the science of ergonomics (Hopkins 1966). Copyright © 1969 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by . All rights reserved.

Building intelligence in third-generation training and battle simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobi, Dennis; Anderson, Don; von Borries, Vance; Elmaghraby, Adel; Kantardzic, Mehmed; Ragade, Rammohan

2003-09-01

Current war games and simulations are primarily attrition based, and are centered on the concept of force on force. They constitute what can be defined as "second generation" war games. So-called "first generation" war games were focused on strategy with the primary concept of mind on mind. We envision "third generation" war games and battle simulations as concentrating on effects with the primary concept being system on system. Thus the third generation systems will incorporate each successive generation and take into account strategy, attrition and effects. This paper will describe the principal advantages and features that need to be implemented to create a true "third generation" battle simulation and the architectural issues faced when designing and building such a system. Areas of primary concern are doctrine, command and control, allied and coalition warfare, and cascading effects. Effectively addressing the interactive effects of these issues is of critical importance. In order to provide an adaptable and modular system that will accept future modifications and additions with relative ease, we are researching the use of a distributed Multi-Agent System (MAS) that incorporates various artificial intelligence methods. The agent architecture can mirror the military command structure from both vertical and horizontal perspectives while providing the ability to make modifications to doctrine, command structures, inter-command communications, as well as model the results of various effects upon one another, and upon the components of the simulation. This is commonly referred to as "cascading effects," in which A affects B, B affects C and so on. Agents can be used to simulate units or parts of units that interact to form the whole. Even individuals can eventually be simulated to take into account the affect to key individuals such as commanders, heroes, and aces. Each agent will have a learning component built in to provide "individual intelligence" based on experience.

Design, analysis, operation, and advanced control of hybrid renewable energy systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whiteman, Zachary S.

Because using non-renewable energy systems (e.g., coal-powered co-generation power plants) to generate electricity is an unsustainable, environmentally hazardous practice, it is important to develop cost-effective and reliable renewable energy systems, such as photovoltaics (PVs), wind turbines (WTs), and fuel cells (FCs). Non-renewable energy systems, however, are currently less expensive than individual renewable energy systems (IRESs). Furthermore, IRESs based on intermittent natural resources (e.g., solar irradiance and wind) are incapable of meeting continuous energy demands. Such shortcomings can be mitigated by judiciously combining two or more complementary IRESs to form a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES). Although previous research efforts focused on the design, operation, and control of HRESs has proven useful, no prior HRES research endeavor has taken a systematic and comprehensive approach towards establishing guidelines by which HRESs should be designed, operated, and controlled. The overall goal of this dissertation, therefore, is to establish the principles governing the design, operation, and control of HRESs resulting in cost-effective and reliable energy solutions for stationary and mobile applications. To achieve this goal, we developed and demonstrated four separate HRES principles. Rational selection of HRES type: HRES components and their sizes should be rationally selected using knowledge of component costs, availability of renewable energy resources, and expected power demands of the application. HRES design: by default, the components of a HRES should be arranged in parallel for increased efficiency and reliability. However, a series HRES design may be preferred depending on the operational considerations of the HRES components. HRES control strategy selection: the choice of HRES control strategy depends on the dynamics of HRES components, their operational considerations, and the practical limitations of the HRES end-use. HRES data-driven control: information-rich data should be used to assist in the intelligent coordination of HRES components in meeting its operating objectives when additional computation can be afforded and significant benefits can be realized.

Human factors analysis of workstation design: Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Mission Operations Room

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, L. J.; Murphy, E. D.; Mitchell, C. M.

1982-01-01

A human factors analysis addressed three related yet distinct issues within the area of workstation design for the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) mission operation room (MOR). The first issue, physical layout of the MOR, received the most intensive effort. It involved the positioning of clusters of equipment within the physical dimensions of the ERBS MOR. The second issue for analysis was comprised of several environmental concerns, such as lighting, furniture, and heating and ventilation systems. The third issue was component arrangement, involving the physical arrangement of individual components within clusters of consoles, e.g., a communications panel.

A Cost-Utility Model of Care for Peristomal Skin Complications

PubMed Central

Inglese, Gary; Manson, Andrea; Townshend, Arden

2016-01-01

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the economic and humanistic implications of using ostomy components to prevent subsequent peristomal skin complications (PSCs) in individuals who experience an initial, leakage-related PSC event. DESIGN: Cost-utility analysis. METHODS: We developed a simple decision model to consider, from a payer's perspective, PSCs managed with and without the use of ostomy components over 1 year. The model evaluated the extent to which outcomes associated with the use of ostomy components (PSC events avoided; quality-adjusted life days gained) offset the costs associated with their use. RESULTS: Our base case analysis of 1000 hypothetical individuals over 1 year assumes that using ostomy components following a first PSC reduces recurrent events versus PSC management without components. In this analysis, component acquisition costs were largely offset by lower resource use for ostomy supplies (barriers; pouches) and lower clinical utilization to manage PSCs. The overall annual average resource use for individuals using components was about 6.3% ($139) higher versus individuals not using components. Each PSC event avoided yielded, on average, 8 additional quality-adjusted life days over 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: In our analysis, (1) acquisition costs for ostomy components were offset in whole or in part by the use of fewer ostomy supplies to manage PSCs and (2) use of ostomy components to prevent PSCs produced better outcomes (fewer repeat PSC events; more health-related quality-adjusted life days) over 1 year compared to not using components. PMID:26633166

Optofluidics incorporating actively controlled micro- and nano-particles

PubMed Central

Kayani, Aminuddin A.; Khoshmanesh, Khashayar; Ward, Stephanie A.; Mitchell, Arnan; Kalantar-zadeh, Kourosh

2012-01-01

The advent of optofluidic systems incorporating suspended particles has resulted in the emergence of novel applications. Such systems operate based on the fact that suspended particles can be manipulated using well-appointed active forces, and their motions, locations and local concentrations can be controlled. These forces can be exerted on both individual and clusters of particles. Having the capability to manipulate suspended particles gives users the ability for tuning the physical and, to some extent, the chemical properties of the suspension media, which addresses the needs of various advanced optofluidic systems. Additionally, the incorporation of particles results in the realization of novel optofluidic solutions used for creating optical components and sensing platforms. In this review, we present different types of active forces that are used for particle manipulations and the resulting optofluidic systems incorporating them. These systems include optical components, optofluidic detection and analysis platforms, plasmonics and Raman systems, thermal and energy related systems, and platforms specifically incorporating biological particles. We conclude the review with a discussion of future perspectives, which are expected to further advance this rapidly growing field. PMID:23864925

Rhythmic behavior in a two-population mean-field Ising model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collet, Francesca; Formentin, Marco; Tovazzi, Daniele

2016-10-01

Many real systems composed of a large number of interacting components, as, for instance, neural networks, may exhibit collective periodic behavior even though single components have no natural tendency to behave periodically. Macroscopic oscillations are indeed one of the most common self-organized behavior observed in living systems. In the present paper we study some dynamical features of a two-population generalization of the mean-field Ising model with the scope of investigating simple mechanisms capable to generate rhythms in large groups of interacting individuals. We show that the system may undergo a transition from a disordered phase, where the magnetization of each population fluctuates closely around zero, to a phase in which they both display a macroscopic regular rhythm. In particular, there exists a region in the parameter space where having two groups of spins with inter- and intrapopulation interactions of different strengths suffices for the emergence of a robust periodic behavior.

Physiology of ageing of the musculoskeletal system.

PubMed

Boros, Katalin; Freemont, Tony

2017-04-01

This review aims to provide a summary of current concepts of ageing in relation to the musculoskeletal system, highlighting recent advances in the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the development of age-related changes in bone, skeletal muscle, chondroid and fibrous tissues. The key components of the musculoskeletal system and their functions are introduced together with a general overview of the molecular hallmarks of ageing. A brief description of the normal architecture of each of these tissue types is followed by a summary of established and developing concepts of mechanisms contributing to the age-related alterations in each. Extensive detailed description of these changes is beyond the scope of this review; instead, we aim to highlight some of the most significant processes and, where possible, the molecular changes underlying these and refer the reader to in-depth, subspecialist reviews of the individual components for further details. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Imaging Spatial Variations in the Dissipation and Transport of Thermal Energy within Individual Silicon Nanowires Using Ultrafast Microscopy.

PubMed

Cating, Emma E M; Pinion, Christopher W; Van Goethem, Erika M; Gabriel, Michelle M; Cahoon, James F; Papanikolas, John M

2016-01-13

Thermal management is an important consideration for most nanoelectronic devices, and an understanding of the thermal conductivity of individual device components is critical for the design of thermally efficient systems. However, it can be difficult to directly probe local changes in thermal conductivity within a nanoscale system. Here, we utilize the time-resolved and diffraction-limited imaging capabilities of ultrafast pump-probe microscopy to determine, in a contact-free configuration, the local thermal conductivity in individual Si nanowires (NWs). By suspending single NWs across microfabricated trenches in a quartz substrate, the properties of the same NW both on and off the substrate are directly compared. We find the substrate has no effect on the recombination lifetime or diffusion length of photogenerated charge carriers; however, it significantly impacts the thermal relaxation properties of the NW. In substrate-supported regions, thermal energy deposited into the lattice by the ultrafast laser pulse dissipates within ∼10 ns through thermal diffusion and coupling to the substrate. In suspended regions, the thermal energy persists for over 100 ns, and we directly image the time-resolved spatial motion of the thermal signal. Quantitative analysis of the transient images permits direct determination of the NW's local thermal conductivity, which we find to be a factor of ∼4 smaller than in bulk Si. Our results point to the strong potential of pump-probe microscopy to be used as an all-optical method to quantify the effects of localized environment and morphology on the thermal transport characteristics of individual nanostructured components.

Preliminary Analysis of Acoustic Measurements from the NASA-Gulfstream Airframe Noise Flight Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khorrami, Mehdi R.; Lockhard, David D.; Humphreys, Willliam M.; Choudhari, Meelan M.; Van De Ven, Thomas

2008-01-01

The NASA-Gulfstream joint Airframe Noise Flight Test program was conducted at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility during October, 2006. The primary objective of the AFN flight test was to acquire baseline airframe noise data on a regional jet class of transport in order to determine noise source strengths and distributions for model validation. To accomplish this task, two measuring systems were used: a ground-based microphone array and individual microphones. Acoustic data for a Gulfstream G550 aircraft were acquired over the course of ten days. Over twenty-four test conditions were flown. The test matrix was designed to provide an acoustic characterization of both the full aircraft and individual airframe components and included cruise to landing configurations. Noise sources were isolated by selectively deploying individual components (flaps, main landing gear, nose gear, spoilers, etc.) and altering the airspeed, glide path, and engine settings. The AFN flight test program confirmed that the airframe is a major contributor to the noise from regional jets during landing operations. Sound pressure levels from the individual microphones on the ground revealed the flap system to be the dominant airframe noise source for the G550 aircraft. The corresponding array beamform maps showed that most of the radiated sound from the flaps originates from the side edges. Using velocity to the sixth power and Strouhal scaling of the sound pressure spectra obtained at different speeds failed to collapse the data into a single spectrum. The best data collapse was obtained when the frequencies were left unscaled.

Fuzzy cognitive mapping in support of integrated ecosystem assessments: Developing a shared conceptual model among stakeholders.

PubMed

Vasslides, James M; Jensen, Olaf P

2016-01-15

Ecosystem-based approaches, including integrated ecosystem assessments, are a popular methodology being used to holistically address management issues in social-ecological systems worldwide. In this study we utilized fuzzy logic cognitive mapping to develop conceptual models of a complex estuarine system among four stakeholder groups. The average number of categories in an individual map was not significantly different among groups, and there were no significant differences between the groups in the average complexity or density indices of the individual maps. When ordered by their complexity scores, eight categories contributed to the top four rankings of the stakeholder groups, with six of the categories shared by at least half of the groups. While non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis displayed a high degree of overlap between the individual models across groups, there was also diversity within each stakeholder group. These findings suggest that while all of the stakeholders interviewed perceive the subject ecosystem as a complex series of social and ecological interconnections, there are a core set of components that are present in most of the groups' models that are crucial in managing the system towards some desired outcome. However, the variability in the connections between these core components and the rest of the categories influences the exact nature of these outcomes. Understanding the reasons behind these differences will be critical to developing a shared conceptual model that will be acceptable to all stakeholder groups and can serve as the basis for an integrated ecosystem assessment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combined wind turbine fatigue and ultimate load reduction by individual blade control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Y.; Leithead, W. E.

2014-06-01

If each blade of the wind turbine has individual pitch actuator, there is possibility of employing the pitch system to mitigate structural loads through advanced control methods. Previously, considerable reduction of blade lifetime equivalent fatigue loads has been achieved by Individual Blade Control (IBC) and in addition, it has also been shown the potential in blade ultimate loads reduction. However, both fatigue and ultimate loads impact on the design and life of wind turbine blades. In this paper, the design and application of IBC that concurrently reduce both blade fatigue and ultimate loads is investigated. The contributions of blade load spectral components, which are 1P, 2P and edgewise mode from blade in-plane and/or out-of-plane bending moments, are firstly explored. Four different control options for reducing various combinations of these load components are compared. In response to the different spectral peaks of both fatigue and ultimate loads, the controller has been designed so that it can act on different frequency components which vary with wind speed. The performance of the IBC controller on fatigue and ultimate load reduction is assessed by simulating a 5MW exemplar wind turbine. Simulation results show that with a proper selection of controlling inputs at different wind speed, the use of a single combined IBC can achieve satisfactory reduction on both fatigue and ultimate loads.

Overview of the systems special investigation. [long duration exposure facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mason, James B.; Dursch, Harry; Edelman, Joel

1992-01-01

The Systems Special Investigation Group (SIG), formed by the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) Project Office to perform post flight analysis of systems hardware, was chartered to investigate the effects of the extended LDEF mission on both satellite and experiment systems and to coordinate and integrate all systems analysis performed in post flight investigations. Almost all of the top level functional testing of the active experiments has been completed, but many components are still under investigation by either the Systems SIG or individual experimenters. Results reported to date have been collected and integrated by the Systems SIG and an overview of the current results and the status of the Systems Investigation are presented in this paper.

Design of Critical Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hendricks, Robert C.; Zaretsky, Erwin V.

2001-01-01

Critical component design is based on minimizing product failures that results in loss of life. Potential catastrophic failures are reduced to secondary failures where components removed for cause or operating time in the system. Issues of liability and cost of component removal become of paramount importance. Deterministic design with factors of safety and probabilistic design address but lack the essential characteristics for the design of critical components. In deterministic design and fabrication there are heuristic rules and safety factors developed over time for large sets of structural/material components. These factors did not come without cost. Many designs failed and many rules (codes) have standing committees to oversee their proper usage and enforcement. In probabilistic design, not only are failures a given, the failures are calculated; an element of risk is assumed based on empirical failure data for large classes of component operations. Failure of a class of components can be predicted, yet one can not predict when a specific component will fail. The analogy is to the life insurance industry where very careful statistics are book-kept on classes of individuals. For a specific class, life span can be predicted within statistical limits, yet life-span of a specific element of that class can not be predicted.

Individual vocal signatures in barn owl nestlings: does individual recognition have an adaptive role in sibling vocal competition?

PubMed

Dreiss, A N; Ruppli, C A; Roulin, A

2014-01-01

To compete over limited parental resources, young animals communicate with their parents and siblings by producing honest vocal signals of need. Components of begging calls that are sensitive to food deprivation may honestly signal need, whereas other components may be associated with individual-specific attributes that do not change with time such as identity, sex, absolute age and hierarchy. In a sib-sib communication system where barn owl (Tyto alba) nestlings vocally negotiate priority access to food resources, we show that calls have individual signatures that are used by nestlings to recognize which siblings are motivated to compete, even if most vocalization features vary with hunger level. Nestlings were more identifiable when food-deprived than food-satiated, suggesting that vocal identity is emphasized when the benefit of winning a vocal contest is higher. In broods where siblings interact iteratively, we speculate that individual-specific signature permits siblings to verify that the most vocal individual in the absence of parents is the one that indeed perceived the food brought by parents. Individual recognition may also allow nestlings to associate identity with individual-specific characteristics such as position in the within-brood dominance hierarchy. Calls indeed revealed age hierarchy and to a lower extent sex and absolute age. Using a cross-fostering experimental design, we show that most acoustic features were related to the nest of origin (but not the nest of rearing), suggesting a genetic or an early developmental effect on the ontogeny of vocal signatures. To conclude, our study suggests that sibling competition has promoted the evolution of vocal behaviours that signal not only hunger level but also intrinsic individual characteristics such as identity, family, sex and age. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

PV inverter performance and reliability: What is the role of the bus capacitor?

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

Flicker, Jack; Kaplar, Robert; Marinella, Matthew

In order to elucidate how the degradation of individual components affects the state of the photovoltaic inverter as a whole, we have carried out SPICE simulations to investigate the voltage and current ripple on the DC bus. The bus capacitor is generally considered to be among the least reliable components of the system, so we have simulated how the degradation of bus capacitors affects the AC ripple at the terminals of the PV module. Degradation-induced ripple leads to an increased degradation rate in a positive feedback cycle. Additionally, laboratory experiments are being carried out to ascertain the reliability of metallizedmore » thin film capacitors. By understanding the degradation mechanisms and their effects on the inverter as a system, steps can be made to more effectively replace marginal components with more reliable ones, increasing the lifetime and efficiency of the inverter and decreasing its cost per watt towards the US Department of Energy goals.« less

Building Strategically Aligned Individualized Education Programs for Transition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flannery, K. Brigid; Hellemn, Lisa A.

2015-01-01

The Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students 16 years of age or above must address specific transition components. Studies to date have focused on the presence and quality of these transition components, yet the alignment of these components and their role in leading the development of the IEP is just as critical. This qualitative…

On Board Data Acquisition System with Intelligent Transducers for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rochala, Zdzisław

2012-02-01

This report presents conclusions from research project no. ON50900363 conducted at the Mechatronics Department, Military University of Technology in the years 2007-2010. As the main object of the study involved the preparation of a concept and the implementation of an avionics data acquisition system intended for research during flight of unmanned aerial vehicles of the mini class, this article presents a design of an avionics system and describes equipment solutions of a distributed measurement system intended for data acquisition consisting of intelligent transducers. The data collected during a flight controlled by an operator confirmed proper operation of the individual components of the data acquisition system.

Introduction to solar heating and cooling design and sizing

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

Not Available

This manual is designed to introduce the practical aspects of solar heating/cooling systems to HVAC contractors, architects, engineers, and other interested individuals. It is intended to enable readers to assess potential solar heating/cooling applications in specific geographical areas, and includes tools necessary to do a preliminary design of the system and to analyze its economic benefits. The following are included: the case for solar energy; solar radiation and weather; passive solar design; system characteristics and selection; component performance criteria; determining solar system thermal performance and economic feasibility; requirements, availability, and applications of solar heating systems; and sources of additional information.more » (MHR)« less

Analysis of the 60-Hz power system at KSC: The Orsino substation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kalu, Alex O.

1989-01-01

An analysis of the Orsino Substation, a component (50 percent) of the 60-Hertz electric power system at the Kennedy Space Center, is presented. Presented here are separate single-line diagrams of the sixteen feeder circuits to permit easy access to information on the individual feeders for future planning. The load condition of each feeder and load break switch are presented and a heuristic reliability analysis of the system is performed. Information is given about the system fashion useful for decision making purposes. The beauty of it is in the simplified manner by which information about the system can be obtained.

Wear detection by means of wavelet-based acoustic emission analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baccar, D.; Söffker, D.

2015-08-01

Wear detection and monitoring during operation are complex and difficult tasks especially for materials under sliding conditions. Due to the permanent contact and repetitive motion, the material surface remains during tests non-accessible for optical inspection so that attrition of the contact partners cannot be easily detected. This paper introduces the relevant scientific components of reliable and efficient condition monitoring system for online detection and automated classification of wear phenomena by means of acoustic emission (AE) and advanced signal processing approaches. The related experiments were performed using a tribological system consisting of two martensitic plates, sliding against each other. High sensitive piezoelectric transducer was used to provide the continuous measurement of AE signals. The recorded AE signals were analyzed mainly by time-frequency analysis. A feature extraction module using a novel combination of Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) and Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) were used for the first time. A detailed correlation analysis between complex signal characteristics and the surface damage resulting from contact fatigue was investigated. Three wear process stages were detected and could be distinguished. To obtain quantitative and detailed information about different wear phases, the AE energy was calculated using STFT and decomposed into a suitable number of frequency levels. The individual energy distribution and the cumulative AE energy of each frequency components were analyzed using CWT. Results show that the behavior of individual frequency component changes when the wear state changes. Here, specific frequency ranges are attributed to the different wear states. The study reveals that the application of the STFT-/CWT-based AE analysis is an appropriate approach to distinguish and to interpret the different damage states occurred during sliding contact. Based on this results a new generation of condition monitoring systems can be build, able to evaluate automatically the surface condition of machine components with sliding surfaces.

Safety evaluation -- Spent water treatment system components inventory release

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

Dodd, E.N. Jr.

1995-01-24

Over the past few years various impediments to shipment of generated spent basin water treatment system components have resulted in the accumulation of quantities of these waste items at 100K. Specifically, there are (as of 01/01/95) 13 grout/culvert packaged cartridge filters (CF), four unpackaged cartridge filters, 60 spent ion exchange columns (IXC) and seven ion exchange modules (IXM) at 100K awaiting shipment for final waste disposal. As a result of the accumulation of this waste, the question has arisen regarding the consequences of potential releases of the inventory of radionuclides in these waste items relative to the K Area safetymore » envelope. The purpose of this paper is to address this question. The initial step evaluating the consequences of potential release of material from the spent water treatment system components was to determine the individual and total radionuclide inventories of concern. Generally the radioisotopes of concern to the dose consequences were Sr/Y-90, Cs-137, and the transuranic (TRU) isotopes. The loading of these radioisotopes needed to be determined for each of the components of the total number of accumulated IXCs, IXMs and CFs. This evaluation examines four potential releases of material from the spent water treatment system components. These releases are: the release of material from all 39 IXCs stored in 183-KW; the release of material from the IXCs, IXMs and CFs at 105-KE and 105-KW; the release of material from the 13 CFs stored behind 105-KE; and the non-mechanistic release of the total stored waste inventory.« less

Development of an underwater weighing system for determining body composition.

PubMed

Patterson, P E; Distel, M

1997-01-01

A system was developed to reduce some of the difficulties associated with hydrostatic (underwater) weighing, specifically the need for complete exhalation and the subjective approximation of weighing scale measurements. The exhalation portion of the weighing protocol is particularly difficult for many disabled individuals and has contributed to the lack of available body composition information for this population. The components of our system include a computer system, load cell, spirometer, breathing tube, logic and signal conditioning circuitry specially constructed for this system, and a software package developed for this project. In a preliminary test, the body fat percentages of fourteen subjects (six males and eight females, ages 21-32 years) were determined both with the standard method and with our system. A correlation of r = 0.967 was found between the two methods, with our system's precision ranging from 1.0 to 1.3 body fat percentage points. The system could be used, for example, in developing a database for monitoring an individual's fitness or for making comparisons between groups (such as athlete to non-athlete).

MSFC Skylab structures and mechanical systems mission evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

A performance analysis for structural and mechanical major hardware systems and components is presented. Development background testing, modifications, and requirement adjustments are included. Functional narratives are provided for comparison purposes as are predicted design performance criterion. Each item is evaluated on an individual basis: that is, (1) history (requirements, design, manufacture, and test); (2) in-orbit performance (description and analysis); and (3) conclusions and recommendations regarding future space hardware application. Overall, the structural and mechanical performance of the Skylab hardware was outstanding.

Project ACHIEVE - using implementation research to guide the evaluation of transitional care effectiveness.

PubMed

Li, Jing; Brock, Jane; Jack, Brian; Mittman, Brian; Naylor, Mary; Sorra, Joanna; Mays, Glen; Williams, Mark V

2016-02-19

Poorly managed hospital discharges and care transitions between health care facilities can cause poor outcomes for both patients and their caregivers. Unfortunately, the usual approach to health care delivery does not support continuity and coordination across the settings of hospital, doctors' offices, home or nursing homes. Though complex efforts with multiple components can improve patient outcomes and reduce 30-day readmissions, research has not identified which components are necessary. Also we do not know how delivery of core components may need to be adjusted based on patient, caregiver, setting or characteristics of the community, or how system redesign can be accelerated. Project ACHIEVE focuses on diverse Medicare populations such as individuals with multiple chronic diseases, patients with low health literacy/numeracy and limited English proficiency, racial and ethnic minority groups, low-income groups, residents of rural areas, and individuals with disabilities. During the first phase, we will use focus groups to identify the transitional care outcomes and components that matter most to patients and caregivers to inform development and validation of assessment instruments. During the second phase, we will evaluate the comparative effectiveness of multi-component care transitions programs occurring across the U.S. Using a mixed-methods approach for this evaluation, we will study historical (retrospective) and current and future (prospective) groups of patients, caregivers and providers using site visits, surveys, and clinical and claims data. In this natural experiment observational study, we use a fractional factorial study design to specify comparators and estimate the individual and combined effects of key transitional care components. Our study will determine which evidence-based transitional care components and/or clusters most effectively produce patient and caregiver desired outcomes overall and among diverse patient and caregiver populations in different healthcare settings. Using the results, we will develop concrete, actionable recommendations regarding how best to implement these strategies. Finally, this work will provide tools for hospitals, community-based organizations, patients, caregivers, clinicians and other stakeholders to help them make informed decisions about which strategies are most effective and how best to implement them in their communities. Registered as NCT02354482 on clinicaltrials.gov on 1/29/2015.

Programming a topologically constrained DNA nanostructure into a sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Meng; Zhang, Qiang; Li, Zhongping; Gu, Jimmy; Brennan, John D.; Li, Yingfu

2016-06-01

Many rationally engineered DNA nanostructures use mechanically interlocked topologies to connect individual DNA components, and their physical connectivity is achieved through the formation of a strong linking duplex. The existence of such a structural element also poses a significant topological constraint on functions of component rings. Herein, we hypothesize and confirm that DNA catenanes with a strong linking duplex prevent component rings from acting as the template for rolling circle amplification (RCA). However, by using an RNA-containing DNA [2] catenane with a strong linking duplex, we show that a stimuli-responsive RNA-cleaving DNAzyme can linearize one component ring, and thus enable RCA, producing an ultra-sensitive biosensing system. As an example, a DNA catenane biosensor is engineered to detect the model bacterial pathogen Escherichia coli through binding of a secreted protein, with a detection limit of 10 cells ml-1, thus establishing a new platform for further applications of mechanically interlocked DNA nanostructures.

Forging of metallic nano-objects for the fabrication of submicron-size components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rösler, J.; Mukherji, D.; Schock, K.; Kleindiek, S.

2007-03-01

In recent years, nanoscale fabrication has developed considerably, but the fabrication of free-standing nanosize components is still a great challenge. The fabrication of metallic nanocomponents utilizing three basic steps is demonstrated here. First, metallic alloys are used as factories to produce a metallic raw stock of nano-objects/nanoparticles in large numbers. These objects are then isolated from the powder containing thousands of such objects inside a scanning electron microscope using manipulators, and placed on a micro-anvil or a die. Finally, the shape of the individual nano-object is changed by nanoforging using a microhammer. In this way free-standing, high-strength, metallic nano-objects may be shaped into components with dimensions in the 100 nm range. By assembling such nanocomponents, high-performance microsystems can be fabricated, which are truly in the micrometre scale (the size ratio of a system to its component is typically 10:1).

Programming a topologically constrained DNA nanostructure into a sensor

PubMed Central

Liu, Meng; Zhang, Qiang; Li, Zhongping; Gu, Jimmy; Brennan, John D.; Li, Yingfu

2016-01-01

Many rationally engineered DNA nanostructures use mechanically interlocked topologies to connect individual DNA components, and their physical connectivity is achieved through the formation of a strong linking duplex. The existence of such a structural element also poses a significant topological constraint on functions of component rings. Herein, we hypothesize and confirm that DNA catenanes with a strong linking duplex prevent component rings from acting as the template for rolling circle amplification (RCA). However, by using an RNA-containing DNA [2] catenane with a strong linking duplex, we show that a stimuli-responsive RNA-cleaving DNAzyme can linearize one component ring, and thus enable RCA, producing an ultra-sensitive biosensing system. As an example, a DNA catenane biosensor is engineered to detect the model bacterial pathogen Escherichia coli through binding of a secreted protein, with a detection limit of 10 cells ml−1, thus establishing a new platform for further applications of mechanically interlocked DNA nanostructures. PMID:27337657

SU-E-CAMPUS-J-05: Quantitative Investigation of Random and Systematic Uncertainties From Hardware and Software Components in the Frameless 6DBrainLAB ExacTrac System

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

Keeling, V; Jin, H; Hossain, S

2014-06-15

Purpose: To evaluate setup accuracy and quantify individual systematic and random errors for the various hardware and software components of the frameless 6D-BrainLAB ExacTrac system. Methods: 35 patients with cranial lesions, some with multiple isocenters (50 total lesions treated in 1, 3, 5 fractions), were investigated. All patients were simulated with a rigid head-and-neck mask and the BrainLAB localizer. CT images were transferred to the IPLAN treatment planning system where optimized plans were generated using stereotactic reference frame based on the localizer. The patients were setup initially with infrared (IR) positioning ExacTrac system. Stereoscopic X-ray images (XC: X-ray Correction) weremore » registered to their corresponding digitally-reconstructed-radiographs, based on bony anatomy matching, to calculate 6D-translational and rotational (Lateral, Longitudinal, Vertical, Pitch, Roll, Yaw) shifts. XC combines systematic errors of the mask, localizer, image registration, frame, and IR. If shifts were below tolerance (0.7 mm translational and 1 degree rotational), treatment was initiated; otherwise corrections were applied and additional X-rays were acquired to verify patient position (XV: X-ray Verification). Statistical analysis was used to extract systematic and random errors of the different components of the 6D-ExacTrac system and evaluate the cumulative setup accuracy. Results: Mask systematic errors (translational; rotational) were the largest and varied from one patient to another in the range (−15 to 4mm; −2.5 to 2.5degree) obtained from mean of XC for each patient. Setup uncertainty in IR positioning (0.97,2.47,1.62mm;0.65,0.84,0.96degree) was extracted from standard-deviation of XC. Combined systematic errors of the frame and localizer (0.32,−0.42,−1.21mm; −0.27,0.34,0.26degree) was extracted from mean of means of XC distributions. Final patient setup uncertainty was obtained from the standard deviations of XV (0.57,0.77,0.67mm,0.39,0.35,0.30degree). Conclusion: Statistical analysis was used to calculate cumulative and individual systematic errors from the different hardware and software components of the 6D-ExacTrac-system. Patients were treated with cumulative errors (<1mm,<1degree) with XV image guidance.« less

Development of a Control System for the Teat-End Vacuum in Individual Quarter Milking Systems

PubMed Central

Ströbel, Ulrich; Rose-Meierhöfer, Sandra; Öz, Hülya; Brunsch, Reiner

2013-01-01

Progress in sensor technique and electronics has led to a decrease in the costs of electronic and sensor components. In modern dairy farms, having udders in good condition, a lower frequency of udder disease and an extended service life of dairy cows will help ensure competitiveness. The objective of this study was to develop a teat-end vacuum control system with individual quarter actor reaction. Based on a review of the literature, this system is assumed to protect the teat tissue. It reduces the mean teat-end vacuum in the maximum vacuum phase (b) to a level of 20 kPa at a flow rate of 0.25 L/min per quarter. At flow rates higher than 1.50 L/min per quarter, the teat-end vacuum can be controlled to a level of 30 kPa, because in this case it is desirable to have a higher vacuum for the transportation of the milk to the receiver. With this system it is possible for the first time to supply the teat end with low vacuum at low flow rates and with higher vacuum at increasing flow rates in a continuous process with a three second reaction-rate on individual quarter level. This system is completely automated. PMID:23765272

Decomposing decision components in the Stop-signal task: A model-based approach to individual differences in inhibitory control

PubMed Central

White, Corey N.; Congdon, Eliza; Mumford, Jeanette A.; Karlsgodt, Katherine H.; Sabb, Fred W.; Freimer, Nelson B.; London, Edythe D.; Cannon, Tyrone D.; Bilder, Robert M.; Poldrack, Russell A.

2014-01-01

The Stop-signal task (SST), in which participants must inhibit prepotent responses, has been used to identify neural systems that vary with individual differences in inhibitory control. To explore how these differences relate to other aspects of decision-making, a drift diffusion model of simple decisions was fitted to SST data from Go trials to extract measures of caution, motor execution time, and stimulus processing speed for each of 123 participants. These values were used to probe fMRI data to explore individual differences in neural activation. Faster processing of the Go stimulus correlated with greater activation in the right frontal pole for both Go and Stop trials. On Stop trials stimulus processing speed also correlated with regions implicated in inhibitory control, including the right inferior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and basal ganglia. Individual differences in motor execution time correlated with activation of the right parietal cortex. These findings suggest a robust relationship between the speed of stimulus processing and inhibitory processing at the neural level. This model-based approach provides novel insight into the interrelationships among decision components involved in inhibitory control, and raises interesting questions about strategic adjustments in performance and inhibitory deficits associated with psychopathology. PMID:24405185

Spatially resolved mid-infrared observations of the triple system T Tauri

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratzka, Th.; Schegerer, A. A.; Leinert, Ch.; Ábrahám, P.; Henning, Th.; Herbst, T. M.; Köhler, R.; Wolf, S.; Zinnecker, H.

2009-08-01

Aims: The aim of this study is to enhance our knowledge of the characteristics and distribution of the circumstellar dust associated with the individual components of the young hierarchical triple system T Tau. Methods: To reach this goal, observations in the N-band (8-13 μm) with the two-telescope interferometric instrument MIDI at the VLTI were performed. For the northern component of the T Tau system, projected baseline lengths of 43 m, 62 m, and 85 m were used. For the southern binary projected baseline lengths of equivalent resolution could be utilised. Our study is based on both the interferometric and the spectrophotometric measurements and is supplemented by new visual and infrared photometry. Also, the phases were investigated to determine the dominating mid-infrared source in the close southern binary. The data were fit with the help of a sophisticated physical disc model. This model utilises the radiative transfer code MC3D that is based on the Monte-Carlo method. Results: Extended mid-infrared emission is found around all three components of the system. Simultaneous fits to the photometric and interferometric data confirm the picture of an almost face-on circumstellar disc around T Tau N. Towards this star, the silicate band is seen in emission. This emission feature is used to model the dust content of the circumstellar disc. Clear signs of dust processing are found. Towards T Tau S, the silicate band is seen in absorption. This absorption is strongly pronounced towards the infrared companion T Tau Sa as can be seen from the first individual N-band spectra for the two southern components. Our fits support the previous suggestion that an almost edge-on disc is present around T Tau Sa. This disc is thus misaligned with respect to the circumstellar disc around T Tau N. The interferometric data indicate that the disc around T Tau Sa is oriented in the north-south direction, which favours this source as launching site for the east-western jet. We further determine from the interferometric data the relative positions of the components of the southern binary in the N-band. We find good agreement with recent position measurements in the near-infrared. Based on observations with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI, proposal 074. C-0209(A) and 077.C-0176(C)).

Loop system for creating jet fuel vapor standards used in the calibration of infrared spectrophotometers and gas chromatographs.

PubMed

Reboulet, James; Cunningham, Robert; Gunasekar, Palur G; Chapman, Gail D; Stevens, Sean C

2009-02-01

A whole body inhalation study of mixed jet fuel vapor and its aerosol necessitated the development of a method for preparing vapor only standards from the neat fuel. Jet fuel is a complex mixture of components which partitions between aerosol and vapor when aspirated based on relative volatility of the individual compounds. A method was desired which could separate the vapor portion from the aerosol component to prepare standards for the calibration of infrared spectrophotometers and a head space gas chromatography system. A re-circulating loop system was developed which provided vapor only standards whose composition matched those seen in an exposure system. Comparisons of nominal concentrations in the exposure system to those determined by infrared spectrophotometry were in 92-95% agreement. Comparison of jet fuel vapor concentrations determined by infrared spectrophotometry compared to head space gas chromatography yielded a 93% overall agreement in trial runs. These levels of agreement show the loop system to be a viable method for creating jet fuel vapor standards for calibrating instruments.

Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex (BIO-Plex): NASA's Next Human-Rated Testing Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tri, Terry O.

1999-01-01

As a key component in its ground test bed capability, NASA's Advanced Life Support Program has been developing a large-scale advanced life support test facility capable of supporting long-duration evaluations of integrated bioregenerative life support systems with human test crews. This facility-targeted for evaluation of hypogravity compatible life support systems to be developed for use on planetary surfaces such as Mars or the Moon-is called the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex (BIO-Plex) and is currently under development at the Johnson Space Center. This test bed is comprised of a set of interconnected chambers with a sealed internal environment which are outfitted with systems capable of supporting test crews of four individuals for periods exceeding one year. The advanced technology systems to be tested will consist of both biological and physicochemical components and will perform all required crew life support functions. This presentation provides a description of the proposed test "missions" to be supported by the BIO-Plex and the planned development strategy for the facility.

Analyzing The Uncertainty Of Diameter Growth Model Predictions

Treesearch

Ronald E. McRoberts; Veronica C. Lessard; Margaret R. Holdaway

1999-01-01

The North Central Research Station of the USDA Forest Service is developing a new set of individual tree, diameter growth models to be used as a component of an annual forest inventory system. The criterion for selection of predictor variables for these models is the uncertainty in 5-, 10-, and 20-year diameter growth predictions estimated using Monte Carlo simulations...