Un-Rational Behaviour? What Causes Discrepancies between Teachers' Attitudes towards Evidence Use and Actual Instances of Evidence Use in Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Chris; Zhang, Dell

2016-01-01

Purpose: Whilst beneficial, the use of evidence to improve teaching and learning in schools is proving difficult to achieve in practice. The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on this issue by examining the applicability of a model of rational behaviour as relates to the notion of evidence-informed practice (EIP). Specifically, exploring…

Assessing Pseudomonas virulence with a nonmammalian host: Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Haller, Samantha; Limmer, Stefanie; Ferrandon, Dominique

2014-01-01

Drosophila melanogaster flies represent an interesting model to study host-pathogen interactions as: (1) they are cheap and easy to raise rapidly and do not bring up ethical issues, (2) available genetic tools are highly sophisticated, for instance allowing tissue-specific alteration of gene expression, e.g., of immune genes, (3) they have a relatively complex organization, with distinct digestive tract and body cavity in which local or systemic infections, respectively, take place, (4) a medium throughput can be achieved in genetic screens, for instance looking for Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutants with altered virulence. We present here the techniques used to investigate host-pathogen relationships, namely the two major models of infections as well as the relevant parameters used to monitor the infection (survival, bacterial titer, induction of host immune response).

Statistical inference of static analysis rules

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Engler, Dawson Richards (Inventor)

2009-01-01

Various apparatus and methods are disclosed for identifying errors in program code. Respective numbers of observances of at least one correctness rule by different code instances that relate to the at least one correctness rule are counted in the program code. Each code instance has an associated counted number of observances of the correctness rule by the code instance. Also counted are respective numbers of violations of the correctness rule by different code instances that relate to the correctness rule. Each code instance has an associated counted number of violations of the correctness rule by the code instance. A respective likelihood of the validity is determined for each code instance as a function of the counted number of observances and counted number of violations. The likelihood of validity indicates a relative likelihood that a related code instance is required to observe the correctness rule. The violations may be output in order of the likelihood of validity of a violated correctness rule.

Beyond Physics: A Case for Far Transfer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forsyth, Benjamin Robert

2012-01-01

This is a case study of a physics undergraduate who claimed that he "uses physics to understand other subjects." This statement suggested that this student could describe issues concerning the transfer of learning and especially instances of far transfer. Detailed instances of far transfer have been difficult to replicate in lab settings.…

Reaction to Psychological Maltreatment in Schools: Emerging Issues for Counselors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Remley, Theodore P., Jr.

1989-01-01

Responds to Lynda Neese's "Psychological Maltreatment in Schools: Emerging Issues for Counselors." Discusses the legal system's lack of involvement in instances of psychological maltreatment and the implications for school counselors. (BH)

Violence against women migrant workers: issues, data and partial solutions.

PubMed

Shah, N M; Menon, I

1997-01-01

"Despite the creation of specific norms, procedures, and institutions to protect women migrant workers, serious gaps remain. Statistics for measuring violence are not compiled comprehensively or regularly. Two occupations that increase the risk of violence are domestic service and entertainment-related services. Migration through illegal channels and trafficking also increase the risk. This article suggests a list of indicators to measure violence of three major types: (1) economic, (2) social/psychological, and (3) physical/sexual. Evidence from several countries to document instances of violence is reviewed. Major policy issues for the sending and receiving countries are outlined, and some recommendations for addressing such violations are made." excerpt

Is Engaging in Evidence-Informed Practice in Education Rational? What Accounts for Discrepancies in Teachers' Attitudes towards Evidence Use and Actual Instances of Evidence Use in Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Chris; Zhang, Dell

2016-01-01

Whilst beneficial, the consistent and regular use of evidence to improve teaching and learning in schools is proving difficult to achieve in practice. This paper attempts to shed new light on this issue by examining the applicability of a model of rational behaviour as it relates to the notion of evidence-informed practice (EIP). Specifically,…

Staff and Student Attitudes to Plagiarism at University College Northampton

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pickard, Jill

2006-01-01

University College Northampton (UCN) provides undergraduate and postgraduate courses in a wide range of subjects. In the past, instances of plagiarism were considered rare and were dealt with by academic staff on a case-by-case basis. However, the increase in instances detected by staff has led to a need to address the issue more consistently. The…

Teaching Gender Issues through Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClish, Glen

The issues of empiricism and theory-building can be used in practical terms to discuss how literary texts can be used to elucidate gender issues in the classroom. For instance, two literary texts written early in this century--Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and Ernest Hemingway's short story "Up in Michigan"--can illustrate…

Searching the Future for the Legal Regime of Space Activities: the Need for Unification of National Space Legislation' Provisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Negoda, S. A.

2002-01-01

space activities. For the future legal regime of space activities it is vital to preserve the existed principles and main provisions of the international space law. related legislations are developing rapidly. They become serious instrument for legal regulation of space activities. those projects with a foreign party involvement. Quite often partners in international space projects agree to choice a domestic law of one of them. They do this for defining a certain organizational and/or contractual issue (disputes settlement, for example) of the project. that such practice will spread widely. could help to preserve the existed important provisions of international space law (responsibility of states for their national activities, for instance). development of international space private law. We believe that solely special laws and regulations of national legislations could not regulate modern space activities. Being more and more commercial, space activities are becoming a real part of "downed to Earth" commercial activities. Therefore, in many countries provisions of civil, commercial, investment and other branches of national law are applied to such activities. which could low possible risks of such activities and to control them. Such unification seems to be suitable in the following fields: 1)implementation of provisions of international space law in national space laws; 2)definition of unified terminology, accepted by national laws of all parties; 3)unification in national legislations of a certain standards (insurance rates and rules, for instance); 4)unification in national laws of issues related to liability (for instance, a mutual wave of liability in certain types of 5)implementation in national laws of unified rules and procedures of space-related commercial disputes settlement; 6)unification of mechanisms for protection of space-related intellectual property. unification of their provisions. Special attention is paid to provisions of private law (including collision norms). conflicts between parties and national laws in light of expanding of application of national laws' provisions to space activities, 2) unification and further development of international space private law will help to maintain the authority of international public space law and to keep a proper hierarchy between these branches.

Handwriting generates variable visual output to facilitate symbol learning.

PubMed

Li, Julia X; James, Karin H

2016-03-01

Recent research has demonstrated that handwriting practice facilitates letter categorization in young children. The present experiments investigated why handwriting practice facilitates visual categorization by comparing 2 hypotheses: that handwriting exerts its facilitative effect because of the visual-motor production of forms, resulting in a direct link between motor and perceptual systems, or because handwriting produces variable visual instances of a named category in the environment that then changes neural systems. We addressed these issues by measuring performance of 5-year-old children on a categorization task involving novel, Greek symbols across 6 different types of learning conditions: 3 involving visual-motor practice (copying typed symbols independently, tracing typed symbols, tracing handwritten symbols) and 3 involving visual-auditory practice (seeing and saying typed symbols of a single typed font, of variable typed fonts, and of handwritten examples). We could therefore compare visual-motor production with visual perception both of variable and similar forms. Comparisons across the 6 conditions (N = 72) demonstrated that all conditions that involved studying highly variable instances of a symbol facilitated symbol categorization relative to conditions where similar instances of a symbol were learned, regardless of visual-motor production. Therefore, learning perceptually variable instances of a category enhanced performance, suggesting that handwriting facilitates symbol understanding by virtue of its environmental output: supporting the notion of developmental change though brain-body-environment interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Handwriting generates variable visual input to facilitate symbol learning

PubMed Central

Li, Julia X.; James, Karin H.

2015-01-01

Recent research has demonstrated that handwriting practice facilitates letter categorization in young children. The present experiments investigated why handwriting practice facilitates visual categorization by comparing two hypotheses: That handwriting exerts its facilitative effect because of the visual-motor production of forms, resulting in a direct link between motor and perceptual systems, or because handwriting produces variable visual instances of a named category in the environment that then changes neural systems. We addressed these issues by measuring performance of 5 year-old children on a categorization task involving novel, Greek symbols across 6 different types of learning conditions: three involving visual-motor practice (copying typed symbols independently, tracing typed symbols, tracing handwritten symbols) and three involving visual-auditory practice (seeing and saying typed symbols of a single typed font, of variable typed fonts, and of handwritten examples). We could therefore compare visual-motor production with visual perception both of variable and similar forms. Comparisons across the six conditions (N=72) demonstrated that all conditions that involved studying highly variable instances of a symbol facilitated symbol categorization relative to conditions where similar instances of a symbol were learned, regardless of visual-motor production. Therefore, learning perceptually variable instances of a category enhanced performance, suggesting that handwriting facilitates symbol understanding by virtue of its environmental output: supporting the notion of developmental change though brain-body-environment interactions. PMID:26726913

Insulin Infusion Set: The Achilles Heel of Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion

PubMed Central

Heinemann, Lutz; Krinelke, Lars

2012-01-01

Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion from an insulin pump depends on reliable transfer of the pumped insulin to the subcutaneous insulin depot by means of an insulin infusion set (IIS). Despite their widespread use, the published knowledge about IISs and related issues regarding the impact of placement and wear time on insulin absorption/insulin action is relatively small. We also have to acknowledge that our knowledge is limited with regard to how often patients encounter issues with IISs. Reading pump wearer blogs, for instance, suggests that these are a frequent source of trouble. There are no prospective clinical studies available on current IIS and insulin formulations that provide representative data on the type and frequency of issues with infusion sets. The introduction of new IISs and patch pumps may foster a reassessment of available products and of patient problems related to their use. The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge and recommendations about IISs and to highlight potential directions of IIS development in order to make insulin absorption safer and more efficient. PMID:22920824

Local Plagiarisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borg, Erik

2009-01-01

Plagiarism and collusion are significant issues for most lecturers whatever their discipline, and to universities and the higher education sector. Universities respond to these issues by developing institutional definitions of plagiarism, which are intended to apply to all instances of plagiarism and collusion. This article first suggests that…

Learner Personas in CALL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heift, Trude

2007-01-01

In examining the titles of this year's conference presentations, the author noticed quite a few papers that focus on learner-specific issues, for instance, papers that address learning styles, learner needs, personality and learning, learner modeling and, more generally, pedagogical issues that deal with individual learner differences in…

Experimental Matching of Instances to Heuristics for Constraint Satisfaction Problems.

PubMed

Moreno-Scott, Jorge Humberto; Ortiz-Bayliss, José Carlos; Terashima-Marín, Hugo; Conant-Pablos, Santiago Enrique

2016-01-01

Constraint satisfaction problems are of special interest for the artificial intelligence and operations research community due to their many applications. Although heuristics involved in solving these problems have largely been studied in the past, little is known about the relation between instances and the respective performance of the heuristics used to solve them. This paper focuses on both the exploration of the instance space to identify relations between instances and good performing heuristics and how to use such relations to improve the search. Firstly, the document describes a methodology to explore the instance space of constraint satisfaction problems and evaluate the corresponding performance of six variable ordering heuristics for such instances in order to find regions on the instance space where some heuristics outperform the others. Analyzing such regions favors the understanding of how these heuristics work and contribute to their improvement. Secondly, we use the information gathered from the first stage to predict the most suitable heuristic to use according to the features of the instance currently being solved. This approach proved to be competitive when compared against the heuristics applied in isolation on both randomly generated and structured instances of constraint satisfaction problems.

Experimental Matching of Instances to Heuristics for Constraint Satisfaction Problems

PubMed Central

Moreno-Scott, Jorge Humberto; Ortiz-Bayliss, José Carlos; Terashima-Marín, Hugo; Conant-Pablos, Santiago Enrique

2016-01-01

Constraint satisfaction problems are of special interest for the artificial intelligence and operations research community due to their many applications. Although heuristics involved in solving these problems have largely been studied in the past, little is known about the relation between instances and the respective performance of the heuristics used to solve them. This paper focuses on both the exploration of the instance space to identify relations between instances and good performing heuristics and how to use such relations to improve the search. Firstly, the document describes a methodology to explore the instance space of constraint satisfaction problems and evaluate the corresponding performance of six variable ordering heuristics for such instances in order to find regions on the instance space where some heuristics outperform the others. Analyzing such regions favors the understanding of how these heuristics work and contribute to their improvement. Secondly, we use the information gathered from the first stage to predict the most suitable heuristic to use according to the features of the instance currently being solved. This approach proved to be competitive when compared against the heuristics applied in isolation on both randomly generated and structured instances of constraint satisfaction problems. PMID:26949383

One-Minute Readings: Issues in Science, Technology, and Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinckerhoff, Richard F.

Many people feel that the purpose of an education is to prepare students for life outside of school. To help reach this desire it has been suggested that students be allowed to experience and confront issues that they will experience later in their lives. This book confronts students with major issues in science that in many instances have created…

Machiavelli and the liberalism of fear

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

This article revisits the long-standing question of the relations between ethics and politics in Machiavelli’s work, assessing its relevance to the ‘liberalism of fear’ in particular in the work of Judith Shklar, Bernard Williams and also John Dunn. The article considers ways in which Machiavelli has been a ‘negative’ resource for liberalism – for instance, as a presumed proponent of tyranny; but also ways in which even for the liberalism of fear he might be considered a ‘positive’ resource, above all around the issues of political necessity and prudential judgement. PMID:29276342

Machiavelli and the liberalism of fear.

PubMed

Osborne, Thomas

2017-12-01

This article revisits the long-standing question of the relations between ethics and politics in Machiavelli's work, assessing its relevance to the 'liberalism of fear' in particular in the work of Judith Shklar, Bernard Williams and also John Dunn. The article considers ways in which Machiavelli has been a 'negative' resource for liberalism - for instance, as a presumed proponent of tyranny; but also ways in which even for the liberalism of fear he might be considered a 'positive' resource, above all around the issues of political necessity and prudential judgement.

Another decade of social scientific work on sex work: a review of research 1990-2000.

PubMed

Vanwesenbeeck, I

2001-01-01

The international, psychological and sociological research literature on prostitution from 1990 through 2000 is reviewed. The stage is set by scanning topics and perspectives in earlier writings. Then the research is discussed under the following headings: (a) HIV related research (HIV prevalence studies, factors in condom use, and prevention program evaluation); (b) workers' background and motivational issues (early victimization and connected factors, economic motives and connected factors); (c) work related issues (working routines, risks and stresses, and managing risk, work and identity); (d) research on clients, and (e) issues related to social and legal status. The literature is still much more about sex than it is about work. In addition, although an increasing number of authors have criticized the dominance of a deviance perspective over work perspectives on prostitution, the literature still reveals many features of stigmatization. For instance, the wrongs associated with sex work are all too often attributed to the nature of sex work itself instead of to the stigma attached to it or to specific negative circumstances. Likewise, the association between prostitution and negative features (in particular HIV and early victimization) is overwhelming, despite evidence that, for large groups of sex workers, these issues are of limited relevance. Generally, writers fail to adequately differentiate among types of sex workers. In particular, in relation to issues of health and well-being, differentiation among sex workers on the basis of specific features of their working situation (e.g., contexts, routines, relations, conditions) has hardly been studied and is recommended for the future.

Online Cultural Heritage Exhibitions: A Survey of Strategic Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liew, Chern Li

2006-01-01

Purpose: This paper seeks to report findings from a study that looked at a range of strategic issues faced in the development, management and maintenance of online cultural heritage exhibitions. The study examined exhibitions from different types of cultural agencies and asked questions about whether, for instance, the exhibitions are part of the…

Intellectual Property Issues for Higher Education Unions: A Primer. Item Number 36-0699

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strom, David

2002-01-01

This document is a synopsis of intellectual property issues for higher education unions. American academics, including faculty, professional staff, researchers and graduate student research assistants, have always been leaders in the creation of intellectual property. In many instances, that work product is protected by U.S. copyright and patent…

Legal Concepts in Sport: A Primer. 3rd Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Linda Jean

2008-01-01

When most people think of legal issues in sport, they think about negligence. However, most professionals will face a much broader range of issues. For instance, topics such as sexual harassment, corporal punishment, drug testing, transportation, and hazing are all of special importance today. Also anti-discrimination laws and the concepts…

Guideline for the utilization of commercial grade items in nuclear safety related applications: Final report. [Contains Glossary

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

Tulay, M.P.; Yurich, F.J.; Schremser, F.M. Jr.

1988-06-01

This guideline provides direction for the procurement and use of Commercial Grade Items (CGI)in safety-related applications. It is divided into five major sections. A glossary of terms and definitions, an acronym listing, and seven appendices have been included. The glossary defines terms used in this guideline. In certain instances, the definitions may be unique to this guideline. Identification of acronyms utilized in this guideline is also provided. Section 1 provides a background of the commercial grade item issues facing the nuclear industry. It provides a historical perspective of commercial grade item issues. Section 2 discusses the generic process for themore » acceptance of a commercial grade item for safety-related use. Section 3 defines the four distinct methods used to accept commercial grade items for safety-related applications. Section 4 lists specific references that are identified in this guideline. Section 5 is a bibliography of documents that were considered in developed this guideline, but were not directly referenced in the document.« less

Distant supervision for neural relation extraction integrated with word attention and property features.

PubMed

Qu, Jianfeng; Ouyang, Dantong; Hua, Wen; Ye, Yuxin; Li, Ximing

2018-04-01

Distant supervision for neural relation extraction is an efficient approach to extracting massive relations with reference to plain texts. However, the existing neural methods fail to capture the critical words in sentence encoding and meanwhile lack useful sentence information for some positive training instances. To address the above issues, we propose a novel neural relation extraction model. First, we develop a word-level attention mechanism to distinguish the importance of each individual word in a sentence, increasing the attention weights for those critical words. Second, we investigate the semantic information from word embeddings of target entities, which can be developed as a supplementary feature for the extractor. Experimental results show that our model outperforms previous state-of-the-art baselines. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Corner

Treesearch

David Giblin; Daniel C Dey; Dick Burhans; John Kabrick; Brian Root; Jennifer Grabner; Mike Gold

2001-01-01

This past March the membership was asked for the first time ever to vote on an advocacy issue instance the issue was a petition initiated by the California Native Plant Society supporting the equal protection of plants under the Federal Endangered Species Act. A total of 34 votes were cast, with an overwhelming majority of the votes in favor of MOSCB becoming a...

A strategy to assist management in workforce engagement and employee retention in the high tech engineering environment.

PubMed

Kennedy, Elizabeth; Daim, Tugrul U

2010-11-01

Many companies use survey methods in an attempt to gauge employees' attitudes and opinions toward the company. These attitudes and opinions are directly related to an employee's engagement within the company. In many instances, employees wait in vain for the survey response and the subsequent employer actions, but the truth is sometimes management does not know what to do with the results. For this reason, we theorize that this type of survey, typically utilizing the Likert-scale, is not adequately assisting management in addressing employee engagement and retention issues. For instance, in many occasions, once the survey results are tabulated, companies are doing little or nothing to address the issues. In fact, far too many companies make the mistake of conducting employee engagement surveys, and then ignore the answers. Thus, we propose that a company should take advantage of the survey results, and utilize them to provide data to bridge employees' needs and goals with stakeholders' responsibilities and goals by refining and incorporating them into a hierarchical decision model (HDM). Thus, this would essentially be utilizing the quantitative data to determine what to measure qualitatively. We use a case from the high tech industry, specifically focusing on the engineering environment. Engineering environments are known to be more creative and such approaches would be more beneficial. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Four-Component Model of Sexual Orientation & Its Application to Psychotherapy.

PubMed

Bowins, Brad

Distress related to sexual orientation is a common focus in psychotherapy. In some instances the distress is external in nature as with persecution, and in others it is internal as with self-acceptance issues. Complicating matters, sexual orientation is a very complex topic producing a great deal of confusion for both clients and therapists. The current paper provides a four component model-sexual orientation dimensions, activation of these dimensions, the role of erotic fantasy, and social construction of sexual orientation-that in combination provide a comprehensive perspective. Activation of dimensions is a novel contribution not proposed in any other model. With improved understanding of sexual orientation issues, and utilization of this knowledge to guide interventions, psychotherapists can improve outcomes with their clients. Also described is how dimensions of sexual orientation relate to transgender. In addition to improving psychotherapy outcomes, the fourcomponent model presented can help reduce discrimination and persecution, by demonstrating that the capacity for both homoerotic and heteroerotic behavior is universal.

The relation between space and math: developmental and educational implications.

PubMed

Mix, Kelly S; Cheng, Yi-Ling

2012-01-01

There is a well-known relation between spatial ability and mathematics dating back to the work of early twentieth century factor analysts. This connection is a ripe opportunity for educators, who might use spatial training to improve math learning. However, a closer look at the literature reveals gaps that impede direct application. The primary problem is that although this relation is well established in older children and adults, its emergence in early development and subsequent developmental interactions are not well documented. Moreover, there is a need for more mechanistic explanations that might be leveraged to improve math education. In this chapter, we attempt to address these issues by reviewing the existing literature to identify instances where answers are available and others where further research is needed.

Life in Black and White: Coverage of Black America by "Life" Magazine, 1937-1972.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sentman, Mary Alice

A content analysis of selected issues of "Life" magazine was conducted to explore the way in which that magazine portrayed the black community in the United States. All 52 issues within each of eight years (1937, 1942, 1947, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, and 1972) were analyzed. Beyond tabulation of frequency and amount of coverage, each instance of…

Contracting Maintenance Services: An Easy Question, but a Difficult Answer.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geiger, Philip E.

2003-01-01

Discusses issues involved in outsourcing school maintenance and custodial services. There are many advantages to this approach, but it has definite drawbacks. In many instances, a combination of contract and employee services works well. (SLD)

A content analysis of the prevalence and portrayal of sexual activity in adolescent literature.

PubMed

Callister, Mark; Coyne, Sarah M; Stern, Lesa A; Stockdale, Laura; Miller, Malinda J; Wells, Brian M

2012-01-01

Most research on sexual content in the media has focused on visual images such as those in TV, film, advertisements, and magazines. However, researchers have largely overlooked sexual content in novels. The popularity of novels and the potential for such literature to educate teens on sexual behaviors merits a closer examination into the sexual messages contained in popular adolescent literature. This study content analyzes the top 40 novels targeting adolescents. Results show that adolescent novels are replete with sex-related information, especially in novels targeted to girls. These sexual behaviors range from passionate kissing and romantic ideation to sexual intercourse. Over one third of the instances focus on references to sex, suggestive innuendos, or sexual descriptions; and an additional one third of sexual behavior involved sexual affection in the form of passionate kissing, intimate touching, and playful sexual behavior. Across the 40 books, there were 56 instances of sexual intercourse, most of which involved unmarried couples (94%); and many were in non-committal relationships. Moreover, sexual material rarely dealt with issues of abstinence, safe sex practices, and the health risks associated with sex.

Addressing the ethical, legal, and social issues raised by voting by persons with dementia.

PubMed

Karlawish, Jason H; Bonnie, Richard J; Appelbaum, Paul S; Lyketsos, Constantine; James, Bryan; Knopman, David; Patusky, Christopher; Kane, Rosalie A; Karlan, Pamela S

2004-09-15

This article addresses an emerging policy problem in the United States participation in the electoral process by citizens with dementia. At present, health care professionals, family caregivers, and long-term care staff lack adequate guidance to decide whether individuals with dementia should be precluded from or assisted in casting a ballot. Voting by persons with dementia raises a series of important questions about the autonomy of individuals with dementia, the integrity of the electoral process, and the prevention of fraud. Three subsidiary issues warrant special attention: development of a method to assess capacity to vote; identification of appropriate kinds of assistance to enable persons with cognitive impairment to vote; and formulation of uniform and workable policies for voting in long-term care settings. In some instances, extrapolation from existing policies and research permits reasonable recommendations to guide policy and practice. However, in other instances, additional research is necessary.

How Young Children Learn from Examples: Descriptive and Inferential Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalish, Charles W.; Kim, Sunae; Young, Andrew G.

2012-01-01

Three experiments with preschool- and young school-aged children (N = 75 and 53) explored the kinds of relations children detect in samples of instances (descriptive problem) and how they generalize those relations to new instances (inferential problem). Each experiment initially presented a perfect biconditional relation between two features…

Using landscape topology to compare continuous metaheuristics: a framework and case study on EDAs and ridge structure.

PubMed

Morgan, R; Gallagher, M

2012-01-01

In this paper we extend a previously proposed randomized landscape generator in combination with a comparative experimental methodology to study the behavior of continuous metaheuristic optimization algorithms. In particular, we generate two-dimensional landscapes with parameterized, linear ridge structure, and perform pairwise comparisons of algorithms to gain insight into what kind of problems are easy and difficult for one algorithm instance relative to another. We apply this methodology to investigate the specific issue of explicit dependency modeling in simple continuous estimation of distribution algorithms. Experimental results reveal specific examples of landscapes (with certain identifiable features) where dependency modeling is useful, harmful, or has little impact on mean algorithm performance. Heat maps are used to compare algorithm performance over a large number of landscape instances and algorithm trials. Finally, we perform a meta-search in the landscape parameter space to find landscapes which maximize the performance between algorithms. The results are related to some previous intuition about the behavior of these algorithms, but at the same time lead to new insights into the relationship between dependency modeling in EDAs and the structure of the problem landscape. The landscape generator and overall methodology are quite general and extendable and can be used to examine specific features of other algorithms.

Human Issues in Human Rights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kates, Robert W.

1978-01-01

Presents the report of the National Academy of Sciences' Committee in Human Rights which seeks to ease the plight of individual scientists, engineers, and medical personnel suffering severe repression. Case studies of instances of negligence of human rights are provided. (CP)

New dates for the north China Mesolithic

USGS Publications Warehouse

Elston, R.G.; Xu, C.; Madsen, D.B.; Zhong, K.; Bettinger, R.L.; Li, Ji; Brantingham, P.J.; Wang, Hongfang; Yu, J.

1997-01-01

The Mesolithic - as the 'time in between' - raises issues of definition, the more so as chronology is refined and the abruptness of environmental change at the end of the glaciation becomes clearer. This clarification of an unusual regional sequence is an instance.

Countermeasures for Time-Cheat Detection in Multiplayer Online Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferretti, Stefano

Cheating is an important issue in games. Depending on the system over which the game is deployed, several types of malicious actions may be accomplished so as to take an unfair and unexpected advantage over the game and over the (digital, human) adversaries. When the game is a standalone application, cheats typically just relate to the specific software code being developed to build the application. It is not a surprise to find (in the Web and in specialized magazines) people that explain cheats on specific games stating, for instance, which configuration files can be altered (and how to do it) to automatically gain some bonus during the game. To avoid this, game developers are hence motivated to build stable code, with related data that should be securely managed and made difficult to alter.

Workshop on Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM). Volume 2. Plenary Session with Presentations and Proposed Action Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-08-01

programs have several common functional components dealing with: attention , crew, stress, mental attitude, and risk issues. The role which the five...five interrelated concept areas furnish "rules and tools" to help prevent common errors. For instance: 1. Attention management issues include...pilots must manage his/her attention in a timely manor and sequentially employ the other cockpit management tools (for controlling stress etc.). The text

Treatment of Biofouling in Internal Seawater Systems - Phase 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-11-01

Denture Cleansing Tablets. Issue Date: Feb 2006. Reckitt Benckiser 12 In the first instance, in July 2006, mussels were transferred directly to an...Denture Cleansing Tablets (Reckit Benckiser , West Ryde) Chemical composition11: Potassium peroxymonosulfate 10-30% Sodium carbonate ᝺% Citric

Maximum margin multiple instance clustering with applications to image and text clustering.

PubMed

Zhang, Dan; Wang, Fei; Si, Luo; Li, Tao

2011-05-01

In multiple instance learning problems, patterns are often given as bags and each bag consists of some instances. Most of existing research in the area focuses on multiple instance classification and multiple instance regression, while very limited work has been conducted for multiple instance clustering (MIC). This paper formulates a novel framework, maximum margin multiple instance clustering (M(3)IC), for MIC. However, it is impractical to directly solve the optimization problem of M(3)IC. Therefore, M(3)IC is relaxed in this paper to enable an efficient optimization solution with a combination of the constrained concave-convex procedure and the cutting plane method. Furthermore, this paper presents some important properties of the proposed method and discusses the relationship between the proposed method and some other related ones. An extensive set of empirical results are shown to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method against existing research for both effectiveness and efficiency.

Labels Facilitate Infants' Comparison of Action Goals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerson, Sarah A.; Woodward, Amanda L.

2014-01-01

Understanding the actions of others depends on the insight that these actions are structured by intentional relations. In a number of conceptual domains, comparison with familiar instances has been shown to support children's and adults' ability to discern the relational structure of novel instances. Recent evidence suggests that this process…

Multi-user investigation organizer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panontin, Tina L. (Inventor); Williams, James F. (Inventor); Carvalho, Robert E. (Inventor); Sturken, Ian (Inventor); Wolfe, Shawn R. (Inventor); Gawdiak, Yuri O. (Inventor); Keller, Richard M. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A system that allows a team of geographically dispersed users to collaboratively analyze a mishap event. The system includes a reconfigurable ontology, including instances that are related to and characterize the mishap, a semantic network that receives, indexes and stores, for retrieval, viewing and editing, the instances and links between the instances, a network browser interface for retrieving and viewing screens that present the instances and links to other instances and that allow editing thereof, and a rule-based inference engine, including a collection of rules associated with establishment of links between the instances. A possible conclusion arising from analysis of the mishap event may be characterized as one or more of: not a credible conclusion; an unlikely conclusion; a credible conclusion; conclusion needs analysis; conclusion needs supporting data; conclusion proposed to be closed; and an un-reviewed conclusion.

The Virtual Museum for Meteorites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madiedo, J. M.

2012-09-01

Meteorites play a fundamental role in education and outreach, as these samples of extraterrestrial materials are very valuable tools to promote the public's interest in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. Thus, for instance, meteorite exhibitions reveal the interest and fascination of students, educators and even researchers for these peculiar rocks and how these can provide information to explain many fundamental questions related to the origin and evolution of our Solar System. However, despite the efforts of private collectors, museums and other institutions to organize meteorite exhibitions, the reach of these is usually limited. But this issue can be addressed thanks to new technologies related to the Internet. In fact we can take advantage of HTML and related technologies to overcome local boundaries and open the possibility of offering these exhibitions for a global audience. With this aim a Virtual Museum for Meteorites has been created and a description of this web-based tool is given here.

On the vicissitudes of combining individual and group psychotherapy.

PubMed

Schermer, Victor L

2009-01-01

Abstract Reviewing a series of articles in this special issue on combined treatment incorporating individual and group therapy, and in one instance couples therapy and a relationship group, the author provides a synoptic history of combined treatment, noting that the relational perspectives of psychoanalysis and systems theories of groups now provide conceptual frameworks for combined therapies. Taking up each article in turn, he considers that combined treatment poses particular problems while having certain advantages. He discusses the theoretical emphases and biases of each article, whether relational psychology, classical psychoanalysis, object relations theory, or self-psychology. He considers the roles of transference and countertransference, patient-therapist enactments, empathic attunement, "surrogate therapy" by the group members, and ethics in determining outcomes. In addition, the author notes how so-called difficult or regressed patients impact upon and are affected by the use of combined therapy modalities.

42 CFR 93.402 - ORI allegation assessments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... RESEARCH MISCONDUCT Responsibilities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Research Misconduct Issues § 93.402 ORI allegation assessments. (a) When ORI receives an allegation of research misconduct directly or becomes aware of an allegation or apparent instance of research misconduct, it may...

Issues in the classification of disease instances with ontologies.

PubMed

Burgun, Anita; Bodenreider, Olivier; Jacquelinet, Christian

2005-01-01

Ontologies define classes of entities and their interrelations. They are used to organize data according to a theory of the domain. Towards that end, ontologies provide class definitions (i.e., the necessary and sufficient conditions for defining class membership). In medical ontologies, it is often difficult to establish such definitions for diseases. We use three examples (anemia, leukemia and schizophrenia) to illustrate the limitations of ontologies as classification resources. We show that eligibility criteria are often more useful than the Aristotelian definitions traditionally used in ontologies. Examples of eligibility criteria for diseases include complex predicates such as ' x is an instance of the class C when at least n criteria among m are verified' and 'symptoms must last at least one month if not treated, but less than one month, if effectively treated'. References to normality and abnormality are often found in disease definitions, but the operational definition of these references (i.e., the statistical and contextual information necessary to define them) is rarely provided. We conclude that knowledge bases that include probabilistic and statistical knowledge as well as rule-based criteria are more useful than Aristotelian definitions for representing the predicates defined by necessary and sufficient conditions. Rich knowledge bases are needed to clarify the relations between individuals and classes in various studies and applications. However, as ontologies represent relations among classes, they can play a supporting role in disease classification services built primarily on knowledge bases.

New Frameworks for Detecting and Minimizing Information Leakage in Anonymized Network Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

researcher the exact extent to which a particular utility is affected by the anonymization. For instance, Karr et al.’s use of the Kullback - Leibler ...technical, legal, policy, and privacy issues limit the ability of operators to produce data sets for information security testing . In an effort to...technical, legal, policy, and privacy issues limit the ability of operators to produce datasets for information security testing . In an effort to help

The multisensory body revealed through its cast shadows.

PubMed

Pavani, Francesco; Galfano, Giovanni

2015-01-01

One key issue when conceiving the body as a multisensory object is how the cognitive system integrates visible instances of the self and other bodies with one's own somatosensory processing, to achieve self-recognition and body ownership. Recent research has strongly suggested that shadows cast by our own body have a special status for cognitive processing, directing attention to the body in a fast and highly specific manner. The aim of the present article is to review the most recent scientific contributions addressing how body shadows affect both sensory/perceptual and attentional processes. The review examines three main points: (1) body shadows as a special window to investigate the construction of multisensory body perception; (2) experimental paradigms and related findings; (3) open questions and future trajectories. The reviewed literature suggests that shadows cast by one's own body promote binding between personal and extrapersonal space and elicit automatic orienting of attention toward the body-part casting the shadow. Future research should address whether the effects exerted by body shadows are similar to those observed when observers are exposed to other visual instances of their body. The results will further clarify the processes underlying the merging of vision and somatosensation when creating body representations.

Methodological Encounters with the Phenomenal Kind.

PubMed

Shea, Nicholas

2012-03-01

Block's well-known distinction between phenomenal consciousness and access consciousness has generated a large philosophical literature about putative conceptual connections between the two. The scientific literature about whether they come apart in any actual cases is rather smaller. Empirical evidence gathered to date has not settled the issue. Some put this down to a fundamental methodological obstacle to the empirical study of the relation between phenomenal consciousness and access consciousness. Block (2007) has drawn attention to the methodological puzzle and attempted to answer it. While the evidence Block points to is relevant and important, this paper puts forward a more systematic framework for addressing the puzzle. To give it a label, the approach is to study phenomenal consciousness as a natural kind. The approach allows consciousness studies to move beyond initial means of identifying instances of the kind like verbal report, and to find its underlying nature. It is well-recognised that facts about an underlying kind may allow identification of instances of the kind that do not match the initial means of identification (cp. non-liquid samples of water). This paper shows that the same method can be deployed to investigate phenomenal consciousness independently of access consciousness.

The multisensory body revealed through its cast shadows

PubMed Central

Pavani, Francesco; Galfano, Giovanni

2015-01-01

One key issue when conceiving the body as a multisensory object is how the cognitive system integrates visible instances of the self and other bodies with one’s own somatosensory processing, to achieve self-recognition and body ownership. Recent research has strongly suggested that shadows cast by our own body have a special status for cognitive processing, directing attention to the body in a fast and highly specific manner. The aim of the present article is to review the most recent scientific contributions addressing how body shadows affect both sensory/perceptual and attentional processes. The review examines three main points: (1) body shadows as a special window to investigate the construction of multisensory body perception; (2) experimental paradigms and related findings; (3) open questions and future trajectories. The reviewed literature suggests that shadows cast by one’s own body promote binding between personal and extrapersonal space and elicit automatic orienting of attention toward the body-part casting the shadow. Future research should address whether the effects exerted by body shadows are similar to those observed when observers are exposed to other visual instances of their body. The results will further clarify the processes underlying the merging of vision and somatosensation when creating body representations. PMID:26042079

Multi-View Multi-Instance Learning Based on Joint Sparse Representation and Multi-View Dictionary Learning.

PubMed

Li, Bing; Yuan, Chunfeng; Xiong, Weihua; Hu, Weiming; Peng, Houwen; Ding, Xinmiao; Maybank, Steve

2017-12-01

In multi-instance learning (MIL), the relations among instances in a bag convey important contextual information in many applications. Previous studies on MIL either ignore such relations or simply model them with a fixed graph structure so that the overall performance inevitably degrades in complex environments. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel multi-view multi-instance learning algorithm (MIL) that combines multiple context structures in a bag into a unified framework. The novel aspects are: (i) we propose a sparse -graph model that can generate different graphs with different parameters to represent various context relations in a bag, (ii) we propose a multi-view joint sparse representation that integrates these graphs into a unified framework for bag classification, and (iii) we propose a multi-view dictionary learning algorithm to obtain a multi-view graph dictionary that considers cues from all views simultaneously to improve the discrimination of the MIL. Experiments and analyses in many practical applications prove the effectiveness of the M IL.

Drug-related webpages classification based on multi-modal local decision fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Ruiguang; Su, Xiaojing; Liu, Yanxin

2018-03-01

In this paper, multi-modal local decision fusion is used for drug-related webpages classification. First, meaningful text are extracted through HTML parsing, and effective images are chosen by the FOCARSS algorithm. Second, six SVM classifiers are trained for six kinds of drug-taking instruments, which are represented by PHOG. One SVM classifier is trained for the cannabis, which is represented by the mid-feature of BOW model. For each instance in a webpage, seven SVMs give seven labels for its image, and other seven labels are given by searching the names of drug-taking instruments and cannabis in its related text. Concatenating seven labels of image and seven labels of text, the representation of those instances in webpages are generated. Last, Multi-Instance Learning is used to classify those drugrelated webpages. Experimental results demonstrate that the classification accuracy of multi-instance learning with multi-modal local decision fusion is much higher than those of single-modal classification.

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN EXPOSURE STUDIES OF LOW LEVEL SOLVENT MIXTURES

EPA Science Inventory

The design of appropriate studies to assess the sensory irritant and neurobehavioral-effects of exposure to complex VOC mixtures poses a variety of methodological challenges, particularly at the low levels found in new buildings. or instance, Otto et al (1989) exposed subjects to...

Multimedia Copyright Laws and Guidelines: Take the Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arn, Joseph V.; Gatlin, Rebecca; Kordsmeier, William

1998-01-01

Reports results of a survey of Association for Business Communication members regarding specific instances of classroom multimedia use with copyright issues. Finds that respondents received an average grade of "C," with most answering conservatively, assuming that copyright restrictions were more restrictive than they in fact are.…

Knowing and Doing: Literacy for Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chlebowska, Krystyna

In many instances, literacy trainers do not consider the specific needs and interests of women learners even when developing programs for audiences in which women outnumber men. Various United Nations agencies have proposed principles to integrate the gender issue into development programs and projects. By implementing these principles, literacy…

Evidence targeted grazing benefits to invaded rangelands can increase over extended time frames

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Prescribed grazing uses livestock to address rangeland management issues such as woody plant encroachment, accumulations of flammable biomass and exotic weed invasions. Invasive weed responses to prescribed grazing have proven variable. For instance, a given livestock species can sharply reduce ab...

The Semantic Processing of Motion Verbs: Coercion or Underspecification?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lukassek, Julia; Pryslopska, Anna; Hörnig, Robin; Maienborn, Claudia

2017-01-01

Underspecification and coercion are two prominent interpretive mechanisms to account for meaning variability beyond compositionality. While there is plentiful evidence that natural language meaning constitution exploits both mechanisms, it is an open issue whether a concrete phenomenon of meaning variability is an instance of underspecification or…

Experiences with the FIDAP code in analysis of a natural convection problem of an LMR primary heat transport system.

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

Dean, E. M.; Shin, Y. W.

1999-02-24

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) West in Idaho is currently undergoing a plant closing operation, and a number of technical issues need to be addressed. This paper is related to the heat transfer analysis support effort performed for the upcoming draining operation of the primary sodium from the primary system tank. The issue addressed was how much of heat input would be required to the sodium if it were to be maintained in the liquid state during the prolonged period of the draining operation. The fluid dynamics analysis package FIDAP Code of Fluent Incorporatedmore » was used to model the primary tank system. It was possible to obtain solutions to the model in most of the cases considered, which provided the needed information for the project. However, certain appropriate choices of the solution algorithms were necessary in certain cases and in addition certain special measures had to be followed in order to successfully utilize the solution. In certain other instances, only some entirely different algorithm was the only successful choice, while in some other limited instances none of the algorithms or the special measures that were satisfactory for the earlier cases proved successful. Several configurations of the model with varying sodium levels to represent the quasi-steady state draining operation are considered. The reference configuration of the model was first calculated and the results are compared with measurement data. The model thus benchmarked to the reference case then was calculated for other model configurations. This paper discusses details of the experiences we gained, including successes, the difficulties we had to overcome, and in some instances the eventual failures. The results of the successful calculations are first presented. For each of the model configurations calculated, various computational aspects are then discussed in view of the numerical stability, convergence, and robustness of the solution algorithms in use. Finally, effects of certain model simplifications on the solutions and performance of the solution algorithms are discussed.« less

Do users ruin design intentions?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kantrowitz, M.

1983-11-01

The approach to examining the relationship between occupants and energy use currently being implemented through the U.S. Department of Energy Passive Solar Commercial Buildings Program is described. Preliminary findings related to how occupant behavior influences energy use and how users respond to these passive solar commercial buildings are presented. Most building users seem to be satisfied with conditions in the buildings-the patterns of the relatively few complaints about comfort reveal cool, sometimes drafty mornings and warm afternoons. Some concern about acoustics was also expressed. The issue of user operations in the buildings is a more pervasive one-there are many instances of improper operations of the buildings, due to a variety of factors. There is a need for clear, well managed user orientation programs, and an explicit transfer of responsibility for certain building operations to the users.

Suicide-related behaviors and anxiety in children and adolescents: a review.

PubMed

Hill, Ryan M; Castellanos, Daniel; Pettit, Jeremy W

2011-11-01

This paper reviews empirical evidence of the association between suicide-related behaviors and anxiety among children and adolescents. It begins with a review of suicide-related behaviors and anxiety, discusses methodological issues related to measurement, and reviews empirical findings published since the last review of this topic in 1988. Evidence is summarized on four criteria necessary to establish anxiety as a causal risk factor for suicide-related behaviors among children and adolescents. There is consistent evidence for a significant association between anxiety and suicide-related behaviors (Criterion 1). Evidence that the influence of anxiety on suicide-related behaviors is not due to a third variable (Criterion 2) is mixed and hindered by methodological limitations. The literature is also unclear as to whether anxiety temporally precedes suicide-related behaviors (Criterion 3). Finally, this review found no evidence to support or refute anxiety's stability independent of and across instances of suicide-related behaviors (Criterion 4). Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reducing Annotation Effort Using Generalized Expectation Criteria

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-11-30

constraints additionally consider input variables. Active learning is a related problem in which the learner can choose the particular instances to be...labeled. In pool-based active learning [Cohn et al., 1994], the learner has access to a set of unlabeled instances, and can choose the instance that...has the highest expected utility according to some metric. A standard pool- based active learning method is uncertainty sampling [Lewis and Catlett

Property.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piele, Philip K.; Forsberg, James R.

While the types of cases reported in this year's chapter are essentially the same as those reported in last year's, the number of certain types of cases have changed--in some instances significantly. For example, the number of cases raising constitutional issues in the areas of school construction, location, and property use have declined. On the…

Can the University Forget the Past and Find Happiness in the Present?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Abraham M.

1972-01-01

Outlines a proposal for structuring higher education so that both teaching and research are closely interrelated to particular social issues; for instance, world peace, urban improvement, health, or poverty. Traditional organization based on academic disciplines is considered not relevant to present research or instruction demands. (AL)

Guidelines for the Analysis of Responsibility in Governmental Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gouran, Dennis S.

This paper discusses specific issues involving governmental conduct in communication with the public, outlines a set of conditions that frequently stimulate social interest in governmental responsibility, and develops a corresponding set of guidelines for use in the evaluation of instances of questionable governmental conduct in communication.…

Environmental Education outside the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Galen

2010-01-01

What is "environmental education"? Perhaps the most simplistic view is that it is only curriculum that pertains directly to the environment. But, another way to define environmental education is to focus on the frameworks within which these issues are examined. For instance, almost all environmental problems are examined through a scientific lens,…

Teaching with a Closed Mind: The Threat of Censorship in the Social Studies Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Kenneth W.

1990-01-01

Traces the history of censorship. Examines the current censorship controversy, focusing on the conflict over censorship in the schools. Discusses organizations concerned with censorship issues and identifies specific instances of censorship in the social studies. Outlines censorship tactics, and presents positive reactions to take toward…

Meeting Peace Operations’ Requirements While Maintaining MTW Readiness

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-01

in Somalia were issued cayenne pepper spray as an effective means of proportionate force against low-level threats... In one instance, a Somali...called for, but the Marines saw cayenne pepper spray as a substitute for deadly force, instead of as a complement.26 To better train his junior

The release of genetically modified crops into the environment. Part II. Overview of ecological risk assessment.

PubMed

Conner, Anthony J; Glare, Travis R; Nap, Jan-Peter

2003-01-01

Despite numerous future promises, there is a multitude of concerns about the impact of GM crops on the environment. Key issues in the environmental assessment of GM crops are putative invasiveness, vertical or horizontal gene flow, other ecological impacts, effects on biodiversity and the impact of presence of GM material in other products. These are all highly interdisciplinary and complex issues. A crucial component for a proper assessment is defining the appropriate baseline for comparison and decision. For GM crops, the best and most appropriately defined reference point is the impact of plants developed by traditional breeding. The latter is an integral and accepted part of agriculture. In many instances, the putative impacts identified for GM crops are very similar to the impacts of new cultivars derived from traditional breeding. When assessing GM crops relative to existing cultivars, the increased knowledge base underpinning the development of GM crops will provide greater confidence in the assurances plant science can give on the risks of releasing such crops.

Current issues of personnel and laboratory practices in genetic testing

PubMed Central

Mark, Hon Fong Louie; Kelly, Thaddeus; Watson, Michael S; Hoeltge, Gerald; Miller, Wayne A; Beauregard, Laurent

1995-01-01

As genetic testing is an area with implications extending far beyond that of the primary patient, it is appropriately an area that is under increased scrutiny. To ensure that high quality is maintained in the delivery of genetic services, several agencies have developed standards and guidelines. The present article summarises important recommendations made by the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the US Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as they relate to genetic testing. Some of the standards are based on voluntary compliance, whereas others have the force of regulation. They all address issues of personnel credentials, laboratory operations, and the most critical quality assurance and control measures for diagnostic laboratories from the perspective of various agencies. In most instances, the standards promulgated by these agencies are offered as minimum criteria. The exact impact of these regulations on the practice of medical genetics has yet to be established. Images PMID:8558555

Integrating instance selection, instance weighting, and feature weighting for nearest neighbor classifiers by coevolutionary algorithms.

PubMed

Derrac, Joaquín; Triguero, Isaac; Garcia, Salvador; Herrera, Francisco

2012-10-01

Cooperative coevolution is a successful trend of evolutionary computation which allows us to define partitions of the domain of a given problem, or to integrate several related techniques into one, by the use of evolutionary algorithms. It is possible to apply it to the development of advanced classification methods, which integrate several machine learning techniques into a single proposal. A novel approach integrating instance selection, instance weighting, and feature weighting into the framework of a coevolutionary model is presented in this paper. We compare it with a wide range of evolutionary and nonevolutionary related methods, in order to show the benefits of the employment of coevolution to apply the techniques considered simultaneously. The results obtained, contrasted through nonparametric statistical tests, show that our proposal outperforms other methods in the comparison, thus becoming a suitable tool in the task of enhancing the nearest neighbor classifier.

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contributions to wildlife habitat, management issues, challenges and policy choices--an annotated bibliography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Arthur W.; Vandever, Mark W.

2012-01-01

The following bibliography presents brief summaries of documents relevant to Conservation Reserve Program relations to wildlife habitat, habitat management in agriculturally dominated landscapes, and conservation policies potentially affecting wildlife habitats in agricultural ecosystems. Because the literature summaries furnished provide only sweeping overviews, users are urged to obtain and evaluate those papers appearing useful to obtain a more complete understanding of study findings and their implications to conservation in agricultural ecosystems. The bibliography contains references to reports that reach beyond topics that directly relate to the Conservation Reserve Program. Sections addressing grassland management and landowner surveys/opinions, for example, furnish information useful for enhancing development and administration of conservation policies affecting lands beyond those enrolled in conservation programs. Some sections of the bibliography (for example, agricultural conservation policy, economics, soils) are far from inclusive of all relevant material written on the subject. Hopefully, these sections will serve as fundamental introductions to related issues. In a few instances, references may be presented in more than one section of the bibliography. For example, individual papers specifically addressing both non-game and game birds are included in respective sections of the bibliography. Duplication of citations and associated notes has, however, been kept to a minimum.

Materials-related issues in the safety and licensing of nuclear fusion facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, N.; Merrill, B.; Cadwallader, L.; Di Pace, L.; El-Guebaly, L.; Humrickhouse, P.; Panayotov, D.; Pinna, T.; Porfiri, M.-T.; Reyes, S.; Shimada, M.; Willms, S.

2017-09-01

Fusion power holds the promise of electricity production with a high degree of safety and low environmental impact. Favourable characteristics of fusion as an energy source provide the potential for this very good safety and environmental performance. But to fully realize the potential, attention must be paid in the design of a demonstration fusion power plant (DEMO) or a commercial power plant to minimize the radiological hazards. These hazards arise principally from the inventory of tritium and from materials that become activated by neutrons from the plasma. The confinement of these radioactive substances, and prevention of radiation exposure, are the primary goals of the safety approach for fusion, in order to minimize the potential for harm to personnel, the public, and the environment. The safety functions that are implemented in the design to achieve these goals are dependent on the performance of a range of materials. Degradation of the properties of materials can lead to challenges to key safety functions such as confinement. In this paper the principal types of material that have some role in safety are recalled. These either represent a potential source of hazard or contribute to the amelioration of hazards; in each case the related issues are reviewed. The resolution of these issues lead, in some instances, to requirements on materials specifications or to limits on their performance.

2012 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Reserve Component Members. Tabulation of Responses

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-08

Sexual Coercion can be defined as classic quid pro quo , instances of special treatment or... quid pro quo instances of job benefits or losses conditioned on sexual cooperation. Respondents were asked to indicate how often they had been in...Constructed from Q56k-l and o-p. Sexual Coercion can be defined as classic quid pro quo , instances of special treatment or favoritism conditional on sexual

Online ranking by projecting.

PubMed

Crammer, Koby; Singer, Yoram

2005-01-01

We discuss the problem of ranking instances. In our framework, each instance is associated with a rank or a rating, which is an integer in 1 to k. Our goal is to find a rank-prediction rule that assigns each instance a rank that is as close as possible to the instance's true rank. We discuss a group of closely related online algorithms, analyze their performance in the mistake-bound model, and prove their correctness. We describe two sets of experiments, with synthetic data and with the EachMovie data set for collaborative filtering. In the experiments we performed, our algorithms outperform online algorithms for regression and classification applied to ranking.

Practice behaviors of RNs related to hazardous risks within the clinical setting.

PubMed

Gordon, G P

1999-06-01

A practice behavior survey was distributed to 250 RNs in the Metropolitan Detroit area. Seventy percent of the RNs responded to questions focused on needle-stick and splash injuries, handwashing, gloving, and other available measures that prevent injuries and infection. Respondents reported a larger than expected number of sticks (34.5%) and splashes (40.8%), but most of these instances were handled to the nurses' satisfaction. The nurses reported that while occupationally acquired hepatitis B/C, along with AIDS, are serious concerns, a large majority (75%) had not heard of the Campaign For Health Care Safety. The results of this survey have implications for research, practice, management, and public policy. This exploratory pilot survey raises numerous professional issues.

The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy Scripts

PubMed Central

Ciarleglio, Anita E; Ma, Carolyn

2017-01-01

The precision medicine initiative brought forth by President Barack Obama in 2015 is an important step on the journey to truly personalized medicine. A broad knowledge and understanding of the implications of the pharmacogenomic literature will be critical to the achievement of this goal. While a great amount of data has been published in the areas of pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics, there are still relatively few instances in which the need for clinical intervention can be stated without doubt, and which are widely accepted and practiced by the medical community. As our knowledge base rapidly expands, issues such as insurance reimbursement for genetic testing and education of the health care workforce will be paramount to achieving the goal of precision medicine for all patients. PMID:28900583

Linear Augmentation for Stabilizing Stationary Solutions: Potential Pitfalls and Their Application

PubMed Central

Karnatak, Rajat

2015-01-01

Linear augmentation has recently been shown to be effective in targeting desired stationary solutions, suppressing bistablity, in regulating the dynamics of drive response systems and in controlling the dynamics of hidden attractors. The simplicity of the procedure is the main highlight of this scheme but questions related to its general applicability still need to be addressed. Focusing on the issue of targeting stationary solutions, this work demonstrates instances where the scheme fails to stabilize the required solutions and leads to other complicated dynamical scenarios. Examples from conservative as well as dissipative systems are presented in this regard and important applications in dissipative predator—prey systems are discussed, which include preventative measures to avoid potentially catastrophic dynamical transitions in these systems. PMID:26544879

When language comprehension goes wrong for the right reasons: Good-enough, underspecified, or shallow language processing.

PubMed

Christianson, Kiel

2016-01-01

This paper contains an overview of language processing that can be described as "good enough", "underspecified", or "shallow". The central idea is that a nontrivial proportion of misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and miscommunication can be attributed not to random error, but instead to processing preferences of the human language processing system. In other words, the very architecture of the language processor favours certain types of processing errors because in a majority of instances, this "fast and frugal", less effortful processing is good enough to support communication. By way of historical background, connections are made between this relatively recent facet of psycholinguistic study, other recent language processing models, and related concepts in other areas of cognitive science. Finally, the nine papers included in this special issue are introduced as representative of novel explorations of good-enough, or underspecified, language processing.

Purple Unicorns, True Models, and Other Things I've Never Seen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Michael C.

2013-01-01

This author has had the privilege of knowing Professor Maydeu-Olivares for almost a decade and although their paths cross only occasionally, such instances were always enjoyable and enlightening. Edwards states that Maydeu-Olivares' target article for this issue, ("Goodness-of-Fit Assessment of Item Response Theory Models") provides…

Microwave moisture sensing of wet bales

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sensing of moisture in very wet lint bales is unique due to the fact that moisture distribution is typically non-uniform and can in some instances be highly localized. This issue is even further complicated by the use of a sensor that reads only a portion of the bale and/or with a sensor that provid...

Openings for Researching Environment and Place in Children's Literature: Ecologies, Potentials, Realities and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Alan; Payne, Phillip G.; Cutter-Mackenzie, Amy

2010-01-01

This not quite "final" ending of this special issue of "Environmental Education Research" traces a series of hopeful, if somewhat difficult and at times challenging, openings for researching experiences of environment and place through children's literature. In the first instance, we draw inspiration from the contributors who…

Writing Culture; Inscribing Lives: A Reflective Treatise on the Burden of Representation in Native Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghaffar-Kucher, Ameena

2015-01-01

This paper complicates the contested assumptions surrounding native research by exploring the burden of representation placed on native researchers because they are seen as insiders. This particular issue of representation is important for native researchers to consider, especially in instances where the research is on an understudied or…

75 FR 67669 - Disclosure of Cochineal Extract and Carmine in the Labeling of Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-03

... well as reports of severe allergic reaction, including anaphylaxis, to cochineal extract and carmine... proposal was issued in response to reports of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, to... describes, in detail, several instances and studies in which allergic reactions occurred. One of the...

Understanding Community College Student Persistence through Photovoice: An Emergent Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Latz, Amanda O.

2015-01-01

Because it has been noted that a more educated workforce is necessary to meet the demands of the future workplace, community colleges have experienced significant pressures to generate more graduates. High instances of attrition and low rates of credential obtainment among students, however, have historically been tenuous issues for community…

Developing Pedagogical Competence: Issues and Implications for Marketing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madhavaram, Sreedhar; Laverie, Debra A.

2010-01-01

Competence in pedagogy and research is the sine qua non of marketing educators' careers. However, there is evidence in the literature that marketing academics focus "more on" and "are more competent" in research than teaching. This imbalance, in a majority of instances, can be traced back to doctoral education. Doctoral programs in marketing are…

The Spectrum of Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henig, Jeffrey R.

2009-01-01

When education issues come to be understood in terms that neatly overlay the standard ideological alignments, they often become proxies for the war between Right and Left. This has been the case in the instance of charter schools, with proponents and critics mustering up researchers and findings to buttress their respective claims and, in general,…

Issues in Education: Language Building Blocks for Climbing the Learning Tree

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pandey, Anita

2012-01-01

Language is the essence of humanity and the backbone of early childhood education. Academic content clusters on it. Math, science, and social studies, for instance, are best taught through "content area language." Critical thinking and other key math, listening, and reading comprehension skills are mirrored in language. Not surprisingly, spoken…

From Reciprocity to Interdependence: Mass Incarceration and Service-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryder, Phyllis Mentzell

2016-01-01

This essay considers the difficulty of seeing systems of oppression--a challenging first step of writing for social change. I argue that service-learning faculty and public writing scholars have relied on outdated ways of thinking about racism and oppression, treating social issues as isolated instances of discrimination. Instead, by drawing from…

Poverty and Brain Development in Children: Implications for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dike, Victor E.

2017-01-01

Debates on the effect of poverty on brain development in children and its implications for learning have been raging for decades. Research suggests that poverty affects brain development in children and that the implications for learning are more compelling today given the attention the issue has attracted. For instance, studies in the fields of…

Battle of the Books: Literary Censorship in the Public Schools, 1950-1985.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burress, Lee

Focusing on the issue of censorship, this book explores the causes, instances, and implications of censorship in the United States from 1950 to 1985. The book is divided into the following eight chapters: (1) "Montello, Wisconsin: A Case Study in Censorship"; (2) "A Survey of the Censorship Situation: Sources, Objections, Increases…

Issues in the Classification of Disease Instances with Ontologies

PubMed Central

Burgun, Anita; Bodenreider, Olivier; Jacquelinet, Christian

2006-01-01

Ontologies define classes of entities and their interrelations. They are used to organize data according to a theory of the domain. Towards that end, ontologies provide class definitions (i.e., the necessary and sufficient conditions for defining class membership). In medical ontologies, it is often difficult to establish such definitions for diseases. We use three examples (anemia, leukemia and schizophrenia) to illustrate the limitations of ontologies as classification resources. We show that eligibility criteria are often more useful than the Aristotelian definitions traditionally used in ontologies. Examples of eligibility criteria for diseases include complex predicates such as ‘ x is an instance of the class C when at least n criteria among m are verified’ and ‘symptoms must last at least one month if not treated, but less than one month, if effectively treated’. References to normality and abnormality are often found in disease definitions, but the operational definition of these references (i.e., the statistical and contextual information necessary to define them) is rarely provided. We conclude that knowledge bases that include probabilistic and statistical knowledge as well as rule-based criteria are more useful than Aristotelian definitions for representing the predicates defined by necessary and sufficient conditions. Rich knowledge bases are needed to clarify the relations between individuals and classes in various studies and applications. However, as ontologies represent relations among classes, they can play a supporting role in disease classification services built primarily on knowledge bases. PMID:16160339

Reproduction and the new man.

PubMed

James, D; Russell, G

1987-08-01

Changing attitudes, especially by men, towards interpersonal relationships, including commitment in sexuality, has shifted the concern about reproductive issues towards men. Traditionally reproductive issues have been predominantly the concern of women, for instance male participation in contraception is traditionally about 15%, but a new man has begun to emerge that is interested in the male role in contraception, abortion and pregnancy. This work is an attempt to analyze some issues surrounding reproductive issues from the male perspective of increased mutual responsibility in sexuality. Suggestions are made that link attitudes to sexual relationships and reproduction as well as child care and support. It is assumed for the purposes of this paper that all sexual relationships that produce a child involved conception which automatically tie in contraception and abortion. This work confines itself to discussions of heterosexual relationships but recognizes that the issues of homosexual and bi-sexual relationships does have merit and weight in these issues.

Integrated Maintenance Information System (IMIS) Diagnostic Module Redesign

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-01

Government- related procurement, the United States Government incurs no responsibility or any obligation whatsoever. The fact that the Government may have...invention that may in any way be related thereto. The Public Affairs Office has reviewed this report, and it is releasable to the National Technical...instance of the controller class is needed to perform diagnostics. This instance creates, monitors, and controls one or more diagnostic groups . This process

Relationships between school start time, sleep duration, and adolescent behaviors.

PubMed

Wahlstrom, Kyla L; Berger, Aaron T; Widome, Rachel

2017-06-01

The objectives were 2-fold: (1) to examine how high school start times relate to adolescent sleep duration, and (2) to test associations between sleep duration and mental health- and substance use-related issues and behaviors in teens. This study examines selected questions from survey data collected between 2010 and 2013 high school students. Respondents included more than 9000 students in grades 9 to 12 in 8 high schools in 5 school districts across the United States. The survey instrument is the 97-item Teen Sleep Habits Survey. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Because of clustering within schools and the use of repeated measures, generalized estimating equations were used to account for variance inflation. Greater sleep duration was associated with fewer reports of various mental health- and substance use-related issues and behaviors (all P values <.01). For instance, for each additional hour of sleep reported, there was a 28% reduction in the adjusted odds of a participant reporting that he or she felt "unhappy, sad, or depressed." Later wake-up times were associated with a reduction in risk for some, but not all factors. Later start times were significantly associated with greater sleep duration. Given that later start times allow for greater sleep duration and that adequate sleep duration is associated with more favorable mental health- and substance use-related issues and behaviors, it is important that school districts prioritize exploring and implementing policies, such as delayed start times, that may increase the amount of sleep of adolescent students, which is needed for their optimal development. Copyright © 2017 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Instance-based categorization: automatic versus intentional forms of retrieval.

PubMed

Neal, A; Hesketh, B; Andrews, S

1995-03-01

Two experiments are reported which attempt to disentangle the relative contribution of intentional and automatic forms of retrieval to instance-based categorization. A financial decision-making task was used in which subjects had to decide whether a bank would approve loans for a series of applicants. Experiment 1 found that categorization was sensitive to instance-specific knowledge, even when subjects had practiced using a simple rule. L. L. Jacoby's (1991) process-dissociation procedure was adapted for use in Experiment 2 to infer the relative contribution of intentional and automatic retrieval processes to categorization decisions. The results provided (1) strong evidence that intentional retrieval processes influence categorization, and (2) some preliminary evidence suggesting that automatic retrieval processes may also contribute to categorization decisions.

Grad Students Talk: Development and Process of a Student-Led Social Justice Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lantz, Melanie M.; Fix, Rebecca L.; Davis, Brittan L.; Harrison, Leighna N.; Oliver, Ashley; Crowell, Candice; Mitchell, Amanda M.; García, James J.

2016-01-01

College student activism has long been a staple of campus life, often driven by the sociopolitical issues of the time. In response to recent and continuous violent deaths of members of the Black community, rising instances of overt racism, and perceived silence among our institutes and professional groups, a multiinstitutional and diverse…

76 FR 59769 - Clarification on the Division 1.1 Fireworks Approvals Policy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-27

... test laboratory if the firework device is manufactured in accordance with APA Standard 87-1 (IBR, see... certify that the firework device conforms to the APA Standard 87-1 and that the descriptions and technical... issuing the EX approval. While APA Standard 87-1 references two instances where Division 1.1 fireworks may...

Acute lead toxicosis via ingestion of spent ammunition in a free-ranging cougar (Puma concolor)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burco, Julia; Myers, Anne Mary; Schuler, Krysten; Gillin, Colin

2012-01-01

Lead toxicity has long been documented and acknowledged as a significant health issue of water birds and avian scavengers. However, few instances of toxic effects to higher mammalian carnivores have been documented. Here we present an acute case of lead toxicity in a free-ranging cougar (Puma concolor) in Oregon.

Acute lead toxicosis via ingestion of spent ammunition in a free-ranging cougar (Puma concolor).

PubMed

Burco, Julia; Myers, Anne Mary; Schuler, Krysten; Gillin, Colin

2012-01-01

Lead toxicity has long been documented and acknowledged as a significant health issue of water birds and avian scavengers. However, few instances of toxic effects to higher mammalian carnivores have been documented. Here we present an acute case of lead toxicity in a free-ranging cougar (Puma concolor) in Oregon.

The Globally Great Moral Challenge: Ecocentric Democracy, Values, Morals and Meaning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Payne, Phillip G.

2010-01-01

This response article written from "outside" the Swedish-Danish contexts of this special issue considers how we might highlight and make additional ecocentric meaning of some of the terms most frequently used in this collection. In the first instance my focus is on "meaning" but this is expanded to include other terms such as…

Big Role for a Tiny Genome.

PubMed

Douglas, Angela E

2017-12-14

In this issue of Cell, Salem et al. demonstrate a remarkable instance of herbivory dependent on a co-evolved mutualism with specialized bacteria. Despite having a tiny genome and limited metabolic repertoire, the bacteria in Cassida beetles produce pectinases predicted to mediate degradation of plant cell walls in the insect diet. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Alternative Models for Small Samples in Psychological Research: Applying Linear Mixed Effects Models and Generalized Estimating Equations to Repeated Measures Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muth, Chelsea; Bales, Karen L.; Hinde, Katie; Maninger, Nicole; Mendoza, Sally P.; Ferrer, Emilio

2016-01-01

Unavoidable sample size issues beset psychological research that involves scarce populations or costly laboratory procedures. When incorporating longitudinal designs these samples are further reduced by traditional modeling techniques, which perform listwise deletion for any instance of missing data. Moreover, these techniques are limited in their…

The Influence of Perceived Disgust on Students' Motivation and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randler, Christoph; Hummel, Eberhard; Wüst-Ackermann, Peter

2013-01-01

There are a wide range of student emotions in academic settings, but apart from emotions such as interest and well-being, disgust is a negative emotion which might be relevant in biology education, for instance, during dissection or when encountering living animals. This paper addresses the issue of situational disgust during a course at the…

Theory Ain't Practice: Four Novice Researchers Navigate Dilemmas of Representation within Immigrant Populations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aleixo, Marina; Hansen, Sarah; Horii, Sachiko; Un, Silvy

2014-01-01

This article illuminates instances in which four graduate students have struggled with issues of representation--of themselves and of immigrant participants--at their research sites and in their writing. These dilemmas are situated within the literature on the politics of representation in qualitative research. Although these dilemmas are not…

Does Imagined Practice Help in Learning a Motor Skill?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winters, Lynn; Reisberg, Daniel

Several studies have shown an improvement in the performance of motor skills following imagined performance of the skill, or "mental practice." One unresolved issue has centered on whether the effect being observed is in fact a practice effect. As one alternative, the effect may be a simple instance of planning when to use a skill, or…

Legal Issues and Statistical Approaches to Reverse Pay Discrimination in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eckes, Suzanne E.; Toutkoushian, Robert K.

2006-01-01

There have been numerous lawsuits within higher education brought by females over pay inequity and many articles have been written on the topic. Although not as prevalent, there have been some recent instances where male faculty have claimed--with some degree of success--that the process used by their institutions to make salary adjustments for…

The Impact of User Privacy Concerns and Ethnic Cultural Values on Attitudes toward the Use of Biometric Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Darrell R.

2011-01-01

Biometric technology is rapidly gaining popularity as an access control mechanism in the workplace. In some instances, systems relying on biometric technology have not been well received by employees. One reason for resistance may be perceived privacy issues associated with biometrics. This research draws on previous organizational information…

Children's use of comparison and function in novel object categorization.

PubMed

Kimura, Katherine; Hunley, Samuel B; Namy, Laura L

2018-06-01

Although young children often rely on salient perceptual cues, such as shape, when categorizing novel objects, children eventually shift towards deeper relational reasoning about category membership. This study investigates what information young children use to classify novel instances of familiar categories. Specifically, we investigated two sources of information that have the potential to facilitate the classification of novel exemplars: (1) comparison of familiar category instances, and (2) attention to function information that might direct children's attention to functionally relevant perceptual features. Across two experiments, we found that comparing two perceptually similar category members-particularly when function information was also highlighted-led children to discover non-obvious relational features that supported their categorization of novel category instances. Together, these findings demonstrate that comparison may aid in novel object categorization by heightening the salience of less obvious, yet functionally relevant, relational structures that support conceptual reasoning. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Expanding the live kidney donor pool: ethical considerations regarding altruistic donors, paired and pooled programs.

PubMed

Patel, Shaneel Rajendra; Chadha, Priyanka; Papalois, Vassilios

2011-06-01

In renal transplant, there is a well-known deficiency in organ supply relative to demand. Live donation provides superior results when compared with deceased donation including a better rate of graft success and fewer immunologic complications. This deficiency in organs leads to significant morbidity and mortality rates. Alternative avenues have been extensively explored that may expand the live donor pool. They include altruistic donation as well as paired and pooled exchange programs. Altruistic donation is a truly selfless act from a donor unknown to the recipient. Kidney paired donation involves 2 incompatible donor-recipient pairs swapping donors to produce compatibility. Pooled donation involves at least 2 pairs, and can take the form of domino chains in which altruistic input sets up a chain of transplants, in which each recipient's incompatible donor makes a donation for the next recipient. Despite application of these various methods, there lie extensive ethical issues surrounding them. Misconceptions frequently occur; for instance, the perceived benefit that donating an organ to a loved one is greater for a related donor than for an altruistic one. Additionally, it is frequently believed that immunologic incompatibility offers coerced donors liberation from surgery, and that overcoming these barriers by introducing exchange programs provides vulnerable donors less protection. This article explores these and other complex ethical issues surrounding the various methods of expanding the donor pool. The authors offer opinions that challenge the ethical issues and attempt to overcome those views that hinder progress in the field.

15 CFR 700.54 - Instances where assistance will not be provided.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Instances where assistance will not be provided. 700.54 Section 700.54 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL...

15 CFR 700.54 - Instances where assistance will not be provided.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Instances where assistance will not be provided. 700.54 Section 700.54 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL...

OntoPop: An Ontology Population System for the Semantic Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thongkrau, Theerayut; Lalitrojwong, Pattarachai

The development of ontology at the instance level requires the extraction of the terms defining the instances from various data sources. These instances then are linked to the concepts of the ontology, and relationships are created between these instances for the next step. However, before establishing links among data, ontology engineers must classify terms or instances from a web document into an ontology concept. The tool for help ontology engineer in this task is called ontology population. The present research is not suitable for ontology development applications, such as long time processing or analyzing large or noisy data sets. OntoPop system introduces a methodology to solve these problems, which comprises two parts. First, we select meaningful features from syntactic relations, which can produce more significant features than any other method. Second, we differentiate feature meaning and reduce noise based on latent semantic analysis. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the OntoPop works well, significantly out-performing the accuracy of 49.64%, a learning accuracy of 76.93%, and executes time of 5.46 second/instance.

Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms

PubMed Central

MacLeish, Kenneth T.

2015-01-01

Four assumptions frequently arise in the aftermath of mass shootings in the United States: (1) that mental illness causes gun violence, (2) that psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime, (3) that shootings represent the deranged acts of mentally ill loners, and (4) that gun control “won’t prevent” another Newtown (Connecticut school mass shooting). Each of these statements is certainly true in particular instances. Yet, as we show, notions of mental illness that emerge in relation to mass shootings frequently reflect larger cultural stereotypes and anxieties about matters such as race/ethnicity, social class, and politics. These issues become obscured when mass shootings come to stand in for all gun crime, and when “mentally ill” ceases to be a medical designation and becomes a sign of violent threat. PMID:25496006

Engineering aspect of the Microwave Ionosphere Nonlinear Interaction Experiment (MINIX) with a sounding rocket

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagatomo, M.; Kaya, N.; Matsumoto, H.

1984-10-01

One type of problem arising in connection with an evaluation of the feasibility of the Solar Power Satellite (SPS) and the definition of suitable SPS designs is related to environmental issues. Questions exist, for instance, regarding the interaction between microwave power and the upper atmosphere. The present investigation is concerned with the Microwave Ionosphere Nonlinear Interaction Experiment (MINIX), which is a space plasma experiment originally devoted to the research of space plasma physics. MINIX is eventually to observe possible effects of a strong microwave field in the ionospheric environment. The scientific requirements of the MINIX are discussed, taking into account functional and experimental conditions. Attention is also given to rocket characteristics, experimental design, the payload, the inflight experiment configuration, and details concerning the conduction of the experiment.

Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of American firearms.

PubMed

Metzl, Jonathan M; MacLeish, Kenneth T

2015-02-01

Four assumptions frequently arise in the aftermath of mass shootings in the United States: (1) that mental illness causes gun violence, (2) that psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime, (3) that shootings represent the deranged acts of mentally ill loners, and (4) that gun control "won't prevent" another Newtown (Connecticut school mass shooting). Each of these statements is certainly true in particular instances. Yet, as we show, notions of mental illness that emerge in relation to mass shootings frequently reflect larger cultural stereotypes and anxieties about matters such as race/ethnicity, social class, and politics. These issues become obscured when mass shootings come to stand in for all gun crime, and when "mentally ill" ceases to be a medical designation and becomes a sign of violent threat.

Health financing options for Fiji's health system.

PubMed

Pande, Madhukar

2003-09-01

Fiji is currently implementing health care reforms with the first phase of reforms focusing on decentralization of the health system. Part of this effort focuses on looking at financing options. Some options for financing health care include private health insurance, social insurance, community financing, user-pays system (out-of-pocket), health savings accounts, government taxation and subsidies, and overseas loans and aid funding. This paper addresses all these options in detail and provides an analysis into each of these options relevance to Fiji and in some instances to other nations in the South Pacific region. Given the relative small populations of Fiji and its neighbouring nations, a regional approach to financing could prove more viable in the longer-term, however political, social, economic, legal and cultural issues will need to seriously explored.

Deployment-related Respiratory Issues.

PubMed

Morris, Michael J; Rawlins, Frederic A; Forbes, Damon A; Skabelund, Andrew J; Lucero, Pedro F

2016-01-01

Military deployment to Southwest Asia since 2003 in support of Operations Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn has presented unique challenges from a pulmonary perspective. Various airborne hazards in the deployed environment include suspended geologic dusts, burn pit smoke, vehicle exhaust emissions, industrial air pollution, and isolated exposure incidents. These exposures may give rise to both acute respiratory symptoms and in some instances development of chronic lung disease. While increased respiratory symptoms during deployment are well documented, there is limited data on whether inhalation of airborne particulate matter is causally related to an increase in either common or unique pulmonary diseases. While disease processes such as acute eosinophilic pneumonia and exacerbation of preexisting asthma have been adequately documented, there is significant controversy surrounding the potential effects of deployment exposures and development of rare pulmonary disorders such as constrictive bronchiolitis. The role of smoking and related disorders has yet to be defined. This article presents the current evidence for deployment-related respiratory symptoms and ongoing Department of Defense studies. Further, it also provides general recommendations for evaluating pulmonary health in the deployed military population.

Fleeing the Ivory Tower: Gender Differences in the Turnover Experiences of Women Faculty.

PubMed

Martinez, Larry R; O'Brien, Katharine R; Hebl, Michelle R

2017-05-01

Prior research has established that women and men faculty have different experiences in their professional and personal lives and that academic turnover can be costly and disruptive to home institutions. However, relatively little research has examined gender differences in the antecedent events that contributed to faculty members' voluntary turnover decisions. This study aims to fill this gap. Qualitative and quantitative data were obtained in two ways: by directly contacting faculty members who had voluntarily left their positions through the human resource departments at six institutions and through more wide-scale snowball sampling. The surveys, administered via paper or web based, measured the extent to which participants' experiences with harassment/discrimination, family-related issues, and recruitment/retention offers impacted their decisions to leave. Qualitative data were coded by raters into numerical values, and mean differences based on gender were assessed for these and the quantitative data. Both the qualitative and quantitative data suggest that female academicians reported experiencing significantly more gender-based harassment/discrimination, were much more likely to cite family-related reasons for leaving, and reported receiving significantly fewer external job offers and internal retention offers than their male counterparts. Academic science departments should be keenly aware of and strive to reduce instances of harassment/discrimination against female academicians, offer more support for family-related issues and encourage faculty to take advantage of these programs, and conduct search and retention efforts fairly regardless of faculty gender.

Navy Warfare Development Command’s NEXT Magazine, Spring 2014 Edition. Volume 2, Number 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-01

m~plqy pr«i:ion """apron:. (tlld ~rm barrk> damag" a:sfl:-sm.gnt. (U..S. ,. IQ \\.)’ photo by Kun L0tg{lllkf~IU1«SSN) 14 nEXT SPRING2014 lead <o an...intel6gence windfaJ but may also overwhelm intelligence analysts. The OAW raises some interesting legal issues. For instance, the possibility of...against terrorists has Glready raised concerns at the United Nations about robotic warfare. AI of these issues will need to be addressed as the DAW

"What Have the Humanities to Offer 21st-Century Europe?": Reflections of a Note Taker

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Jan

2008-01-01

The Humanities have much to offer 21st-century Europe, in terms of both method and issues which may complement and correct those of Science and Social Science. These include, for instance, humanities' generation of plural narratives and plural explanations, of attention to singularity and complexity, and to others' sensibilities and ways of…

Sensitive Research and the Collision of Advocacy and Research: Consequences for the Researcher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Mary White

2016-01-01

Doing sensitive research presents particular problems over and above other social science research because of the nature of the issues being asked about and their potential impact on both the participant and the researcher. In some instances, the factors that engage the researcher in the project may also be of interest to advocates who are working…

I Guess the Joke Was on Me: A Reality Rub Reclaiming Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoyt, Lisa; Fecser, Frank A.

2011-01-01

Ian is a 17-year-old student attending a therapeutic school in an urban district. He was referred less than a year ago due to behavioral and academic issues at the comprehensive high school. One instance in his art class, Ian overreacted when his teacher misinterpreted his humor, leading to a major school crisis. Learning to recognize the early…

Moral Spaces in MySpace: Preservice Teachers' Perspectives about Ethical Issues in Social Networking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foulger, Teresa S.; Ewbank, Ann Dutton; Kay, Adam; Popp, Sharon Osborn; Carter, Heather Lynn

2009-01-01

MySpace and Facebook are innovative digital communication tools that surpass traditional means of social interaction. However, in some instances in which educators have used these tools, public reactions to them have resulted in sanctions. With the notion that traditional ideas of privacy and teacher conduct are not yet defined in online worlds,…

Revisiting School District Consolidation Issues. Education Policy Brief. Volume 8, Number 3, Summer 2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spradlin, Terry E.; Carson, Fatima R.; Hess, Sara E.; Plucker, Jonathan A.

2010-01-01

In light of a slow economic recovery from the Great Recession, state and local governments are faced with the challenge of providing services to citizens amidst ongoing budgetary woes. For instance, although the most recent Indiana revenue collections for the month of August were above revised projections to help start fiscal year 2011 (which…

The Problem of Dirty Hands: The Moral Dilemma of Public Life.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-04-21

ridden? Once this question is asked, a " slippery slope " seems to take effect in which the absoluteness of a *1 R.M. Hare, "Rules of " and Moral...but what of less clear dis- tinctions? Euthanasia , for instance, most often becomes an issue in cases where the choices seem to be between allowing a

78 FR 55312 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-10

... proposing Rule change. \\5\\ Study period was January through October, 2012. The time frame was chosen to... extended period of time because of LEAP series. For instance, an issue that went bankrupt in the Fall of... times since.\\3\\ \\3\\ Exchange Act Release No. 55156 (January 23, 2007) 72 FR 4759 (February 1, 2007...

Socializing Young Readers: A Content Analysis of Body Size Images in Caldecott Medal Winners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wedwick, Linda; Latham, Nancy

2013-01-01

Many studies have examined gender issues in children's literature, but a review of the literature reveals that few studies have examined the instances of fatness in the images. Studying the fat representation in the images of children's literature is important because exposure to a variety of body types may slow the rate of children's body…

The Nature and Role of Religious Studies at the University of Zambia: 1985-2005

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carmody, Brendan

2008-01-01

The place of religion in higher education has been and remains a complex issue internationally. This article aims to outline the nature and development of Religious Studies at the University of Zambia in Lusaka (UNZA) as an instance of how religion entered higher education in an African setting. In doing so, it will also provide perspectives on…

Morality as the Substructure of Social Justice: Religion in Education as a Case in Point

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Potgieter, Ferdinand J.

2011-01-01

Moral issues and principles do not only emerge in cases of conflict among, for instance, religious communities or political parties; indeed they form the moral substructure of notions of social justice. During periods of conflict each opponent claims justice for his/her side and bases the claim on certain principles. In this article, reference is…

National evaluation of policies on individual financial conflicts of interest in Canadian academic health science centers.

PubMed

Lexchin, Joel; Sekeres, Melanie; Gold, Jennifer; Ferris, Lorraine E; Kalkar, Sunila R; Wu, Wei; Van Laethem, Marleen; Chan, An-Wen; Moher, David; Maskalyk, M James; Taback, Nathan; Rochon, Paula A

2008-11-01

Conflicts of interest (COI) in research are an important emerging topic of investigation and are frequently cited as a serious threat to the integrity of human participant research. To study financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) policies for individual investigators working in Canadian academic health centers. Survey instrument containing 61 items related to FCOI. All Canadian academic health science centers (universities with faculties of medicine, faculties of medicine and teaching hospitals) were requested to provide their three primary FCOI policies. Number of all centers and teaching hospitals with policies addressing each of the 61 items related to FCOI. Only one item was addressed by all 74 centers. Thirteen items were present in fewer than 25% of centers. Fewer than one-quarter of hospitals required researchers to disclose FCOI to research participants. The role of research ethics boards (REBs) in hospitals was marginal. Asking centers to identify only three policies may not have inclusively identified all FCOI policies in use. Additionally, policies at other levels might apply. For instance, all institutions receiving federal grant money must comply with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Canadian centers within the same level (for instance, teaching hospitals) differ significantly in the areas that their policies address and these policies differ widely in their coverage. Presently, no single policy in any Canadian center informs researchers about the broad range of individual FCOI issues. Canadian investigators need to understand the environment surrounding FCOI, be able to access and follow the relevant policies and be confident that they can avoid entering into a FCOI.

Sentence Comprehension in Children with Specific Language Impairment: Effects of Input Rate and Phonological Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, James W.

2004-01-01

Many children with specific language impairment (SLI) exhibit sentence comprehension difficulties. In some instances, these difficulties appear to be related to poor linguistic knowledge and, in other instances, to inferior general processing abilities. Two processing deficiencies evidenced by these children include reduced linguistic processing…

2008 Service Academy Gender Relations Survey

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

quid pro quo harassment . Three component measures of sexual harassment are derived from Q17. The...classic quid pro quo instances of specific treatment or favoritism conditioned on sexual cooperation. The measurement of these behaviors is derived from...relationship; • Sexual coercionclassic quid pro quo instances of specific treatment or favoritism conditioned on sexual cooperation. 73

Systems and methods to control multiple peripherals with a single-peripheral application code

DOEpatents

Ransom, Ray M.

2013-06-11

Methods and apparatus are provided for enhancing the BIOS of a hardware peripheral device to manage multiple peripheral devices simultaneously without modifying the application software of the peripheral device. The apparatus comprises a logic control unit and a memory in communication with the logic control unit. The memory is partitioned into a plurality of ranges, each range comprising one or more blocks of memory, one range being associated with each instance of the peripheral application and one range being reserved for storage of a data pointer related to each peripheral application of the plurality. The logic control unit is configured to operate multiple instances of the control application by duplicating one instance of the peripheral application for each peripheral device of the plurality and partitioning a memory device into partitions comprising one or more blocks of memory, one partition being associated with each instance of the peripheral application. The method then reserves a range of memory addresses for storage of a data pointer related to each peripheral device of the plurality, and initializes each of the plurality of peripheral devices.

Acoustic correlate of vocal effort in spasmodic dysphonia.

PubMed

Eadie, Tanya L; Stepp, Cara E

2013-03-01

This study characterized the relationship between relative fundamental frequency (RFF) and listeners' perceptions of vocal effort and overall spasmodic dysphonia severity in the voices of 19 individuals with adductor spasmodic dysphonia. Twenty inexperienced listeners evaluated the vocal effort and overall severity of voices using visual analog scales. The squared correlation coefficients (R2) between average vocal effort and overall severity and RFF measures were calculated as a function of the number of acoustic instances used for the RFF estimate (from 1 to 9, of a total of 9 voiced-voiceless-voiced instances). Increases in the number of acoustic instances used for the RFF average led to increases in the variance predicted by the RFF at the first cycle of voicing onset (onset RFF) in the perceptual measures; the use of 6 or more instances resulted in a stable estimate. The variance predicted by the onset RFF for vocal effort (R2 range, 0.06 to 0.43) was higher than that for overall severity (R2 range, 0.06 to 0.35). The offset RFF was not related to the perceptual measures, irrespective of the sample size. This study indicates that onset RFF measures are related to perceived vocal effort in patients with adductor spasmodic dysphonia. These results have implications for measuring outcomes in this population.

Instrumentation issues in implementation science.

PubMed

Martinez, Ruben G; Lewis, Cara C; Weiner, Bryan J

2014-09-04

Like many new fields, implementation science has become vulnerable to instrumentation issues that potentially threaten the strength of the developing knowledge base. For instance, many implementation studies report findings based on instruments that do not have established psychometric properties. This article aims to review six pressing instrumentation issues, discuss the impact of these issues on the field, and provide practical recommendations. This debate centers on the impact of the following instrumentation issues: use of frameworks, theories, and models; role of psychometric properties; use of 'home-grown' and adapted instruments; choosing the most appropriate evaluation method and approach; practicality; and need for decision-making tools. Practical recommendations include: use of consensus definitions for key implementation constructs; reporting standards (e.g., regarding psychometrics, instrument adaptation); when to use multiple forms of observation and mixed methods; and accessing instrument repositories and decision aid tools. This debate provides an overview of six key instrumentation issues and offers several courses of action to limit the impact of these issues on the field. With careful attention to these issues, the field of implementation science can potentially move forward at the rapid pace that is respectfully demanded by community stakeholders.

Exact and conceptual repetition dissociate conceptual memory tests: problems for transfer appropriate processing theory.

PubMed

McDermott, K B; Roediger, H L

1996-03-01

Three experiments examined whether a conceptual implicit memory test (specifically, category instance generation) would exhibit repetition effects similar to those found in free recall. The transfer appropriate processing account of dissociations among memory tests led us to predict that the tests would show parallel effects; this prediction was based upon the theory's assumption that conceptual tests will behave similarly as a function of various independent variables. In Experiment 1, conceptual repetition (i.e., following a target word [e.g., puzzles] with an associate [e.g., jigsaw]) did not enhance priming on the instance generation test relative to the condition of simply presenting the target word once, although this manipulation did affect free recall. In Experiment 2, conceptual repetition was achieved by following a picture with its corresponding word (or vice versa). In this case, there was an effect of conceptual repetition on free recall but no reliable effect on category instance generation or category cued recall. In addition, we obtained a picture superiority effect in free recall but not in category instance generation. In the third experiment, when the same study sequence was used as in Experiment 1, but with instructions that encouraged relational processing, priming on the category instance generation task was enhanced by conceptual repetition. Results demonstrate that conceptual memory tests can be dissociated and present problems for Roediger's (1990) transfer appropriate processing account of dissociations between explicit and implicit tests.

2010 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members. Tabulations of Responses

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

Sexual Coercion can be defined as classic quid pro quo , instances of special treatment or favoritism conditional...defined as classic quid pro quo , instances of special treatment or favoritism conditional on sexual cooperation. Percentages Percent Responding...marked as happening to you, do you consider to have been sexual harassment ? ........................................... 342 31. Sexual Harassment

2006 Gender Relations of Active-Duty Members

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

sexual harassment (e.g., behaviors that might lead to a hostile work environment, or represent quid pro quo harassment ). Hostile work environments...attempts to establish a sexual relationship), and sexual coercion (classic quid pro quo instances of specific treatment or favoritism conditioned on... sexual relationship. Sexual coercion includes classic quid pro quo , instances of specific treatment or

The origin and early evolution of vascular plant shoots and leaves.

PubMed

Harrison, C Jill; Morris, Jennifer L

2018-02-05

The morphology of plant fossils from the Rhynie chert has generated longstanding questions about vascular plant shoot and leaf evolution, for instance, which morphologies were ancestral within land plants, when did vascular plants first arise and did leaves have multiple evolutionary origins? Recent advances combining insights from molecular phylogeny, palaeobotany and evo-devo research address these questions and suggest the sequence of morphological innovation during vascular plant shoot and leaf evolution. The evidence pinpoints testable developmental and genetic hypotheses relating to the origin of branching and indeterminate shoot architectures prior to the evolution of leaves, and demonstrates underestimation of polyphyly in the evolution of leaves from branching forms in 'telome theory' hypotheses of leaf evolution. This review discusses fossil, developmental and genetic evidence relating to the evolution of vascular plant shoots and leaves in a phylogenetic framework.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The Rhynie cherts: our earliest terrestrial ecosystem revisited'. © 2017 The Authors.

Competencies "plus": the nature of written comments on internal medicine residents' evaluation forms.

PubMed

Ginsburg, Shiphra; Gold, Wayne; Cavalcanti, Rodrigo B; Kurabi, Bochra; McDonald-Blumer, Heather

2011-10-01

Comments on residents' in-training evaluation reports (ITERs) may be more useful than scores in identifying trainees in difficulty. However, little is known about the nature of comments written by internal medicine faculty on residents' ITERs. Comments on 1,770 ITERs (from 180 residents in postgraduate years 1-3) were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory beginning with an existing framework. Ninety-three percent of ITERs contained comments, which were frequently easy to map onto traditional competencies, such as knowledge base (n = 1,075 comments) to the CanMEDs Medical Expert role. Many comments, however, could be linked to several overlapping competencies. Also common were comments completely unrelated to competencies, for instance, the resident's impact on staff (813), or personality issues (450). Residents' "trajectory" was a major theme (performance in relation to expected norms [494], improvement seen [286], or future predictions [286]). Faculty's assessments of residents are underpinned by factors related and unrelated to traditional competencies. Future evaluations should attempt to capture these holistic, integrated impressions.

An analysis of messages about tobacco in military installation newspapers.

PubMed

Haddock, C Keith; Parker, L Carrie; Taylor, Jennifer E; Poston, Walker S C; Lando, Harry; Talcott, G Wayne

2005-08-01

We sought to gauge the relative attention that tobacco control receives in military newspapers by comparing coverage of tobacco use with that of other health topics of importance to the military. We examined tobacco-related articles and industry advertisements in 793 newspapers published during 1 year at 16 representative military installations (4 Air Force, 6 Army, 2 Marine, 4 Navy). Newspaper content was coded with a standardized coding manual developed through previous research. Tobacco use received the fewest instances of coverage and the least print space in military installation newspapers of all the health topics examined. The primary "message frame" used in tobacco control articles was that smokers are putting themselves at health risk, a theme that has not been found to have a strong effect on smokers. Nearly 10% of the newspapers contained tobacco advertisements. Tobacco control messages are underrepresented in military installation newspapers compared with other health issues. Furthermore, military newspapers send mixed messages to military personnel by providing advertisements for tobacco while also claiming that tobacco use is harmful.

Scientific author names: errors, corrections, and identity profiles

PubMed Central

Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Yessirkepov, Marlen; Gerasimov, Alexey N.; Kostyukova, Elena I.; Kitas, George D.

2016-01-01

Authorship problems are deep-rooted in the field of science communication. Some of these relate to lack of specific journal instructions. For decades, experts in journal editing and publishing have been exploring the authorship criteria and contributions deserving either co-authorship or acknowledgment. The issue of inconsistencies of listing and abbreviating author names has come to the fore lately. There are reports on the difficulties of figuring out Chinese surnames and given names of South Indians in scholarly articles. However, it seems that problems with correct listing and abbreviating author names are global. This article presents an example of swapping second (father’s) name with surname in a ‘predatory’ journal, where numerous instances of incorrectly identifying and crediting authors passed unnoticed for the journal editors, and no correction has been published. Possible solutions are discussed in relation to identifying author profiles and adjusting editorial policies to the emerging problems. Correcting mistakes with author names post-publication and integrating with the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) platform are among them. PMID:27346960

Scientific author names: errors, corrections, and identity profiles.

PubMed

Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Yessirkepov, Marlen; Gerasimov, Alexey N; Kostyukova, Elena I; Kitas, George D

2016-01-01

Authorship problems are deep-rooted in the field of science communication. Some of these relate to lack of specific journal instructions. For decades, experts in journal editing and publishing have been exploring the authorship criteria and contributions deserving either co-authorship or acknowledgment. The issue of inconsistencies of listing and abbreviating author names has come to the fore lately. There are reports on the difficulties of figuring out Chinese surnames and given names of South Indians in scholarly articles. However, it seems that problems with correct listing and abbreviating author names are global. This article presents an example of swapping second (father's) name with surname in a 'predatory' journal, where numerous instances of incorrectly identifying and crediting authors passed unnoticed for the journal editors, and no correction has been published. Possible solutions are discussed in relation to identifying author profiles and adjusting editorial policies to the emerging problems. Correcting mistakes with author names post-publication and integrating with the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) platform are among them.

The origin and early evolution of vascular plant shoots and leaves

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

The morphology of plant fossils from the Rhynie chert has generated longstanding questions about vascular plant shoot and leaf evolution, for instance, which morphologies were ancestral within land plants, when did vascular plants first arise and did leaves have multiple evolutionary origins? Recent advances combining insights from molecular phylogeny, palaeobotany and evo–devo research address these questions and suggest the sequence of morphological innovation during vascular plant shoot and leaf evolution. The evidence pinpoints testable developmental and genetic hypotheses relating to the origin of branching and indeterminate shoot architectures prior to the evolution of leaves, and demonstrates underestimation of polyphyly in the evolution of leaves from branching forms in ‘telome theory’ hypotheses of leaf evolution. This review discusses fossil, developmental and genetic evidence relating to the evolution of vascular plant shoots and leaves in a phylogenetic framework. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The Rhynie cherts: our earliest terrestrial ecosystem revisited’. PMID:29254961

Tangled up in views: Beliefs in the nature of science and responses to socioscientific dilemmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeidler, Dana L.; Walker, Kimberly A.; Ackett, Wayne A.; Simmons, Michael L.

2002-05-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between students' conceptions of the nature of science and their reactions to evidence that challenged their beliefs about socioscientific issues. This study involved 41 pairs of students representing critical cases of contrasting ethical viewpoints. These 82 students were identified from a larger sample of 248 students from 9th and 10th grade general science classes, 11th and 12th grade honors biology, honors science, and physics classes, and upper-level college preservice science education classes. Students responded to questions aimed at revealing their epistemological views of the nature of science and their belief convictions on a selected socioscientific issue. The smaller subset of students was selected based on varying degrees of belief convictions about the socioscientific issues and the selected students were then paired to discuss their reasoning related to the issue while being exposed to anomalous data and information from each other and in response to epistemological probes of an interviewer. Taxonomic categories of students' conceptions of the nature of science were derived from the researchers' analysis of student responses to interviews and questionnaires. In some instances, students' conceptions of the nature of science were reflected in their reasoning on a moral and ethical issue. This study stimulated students to reflect on their own beliefs and defend their opinions. The findings suggest that the reactions of students to anomalous socioscientific data are varied and complex, with notable differences in the reasoning processes of high school students compared to college students. A deeper understanding of how students reason about the moral and ethical context of controversial socioscientific issues will allow science educators to incorporate teaching strategies aimed at developing students' reasoning skills in these crucial areas.

Piracy off the Horn of Africa

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-27

issued a warning strongly advising all U.S. registered yachts and sailing vessels against passage in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Somali Basin ...between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia , which are credited with having drastically reduced the instance of piracy in Southeast Asia since 2005...in November 2008. Media reports suggested Somali pirates received a $4 million ransom in December 2009 to release the Chinese bulk coal carrier MV

Accounting for Discrepancies in Teachers' Attitudes towards Evidence Use and Actual Instances of Evidence Use in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Chris; Zhang, Dell

2017-01-01

While beneficial, the consistent and regular use of evidence to improve teaching and learning is proving difficult to achieve in practice. This paper attempts to shed new light on this issue by examining the question: "If using evidence to inform teaching practice is rational behaviour, why aren't all teachers engaged in it?" It first…

From Theory to Research: Contextual Predictors of "Estar + Adjective" and the Study of the SLA of Spanish Copula Choice--A Response to Woolsey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lafford, Barbara A.

2008-01-01

The use of social vs. cognitive approaches to the study of second language acquisition (SLA) has engendered considerable debate in the field. For instance, the recent "Modern Language Journal" Focus Issue (Lafford, 2007a) reviewed the ongoing debate between scholars espousing socially- and cognitively-grounded approaches to SLA research and…

M&S Journal. Volume 8, Issue 2, Summer 2013

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

Modeling Notation ( BPMN ) [White and Miers, 2008], and the integration of the modeling notation with executable simulation engines [Anupindi 2005...activities and the supporting IT in BPMN and use that to compute MOE for a mission instance. Requirements for Modeling Missions To understand the...representation versus impact computation tradeoffs we selected BPMN , along with some proposed extensions to represent information dependencies, as the

Endocrine and Metabolic Aspects of Tuberculosis

PubMed Central

Vinnard, Christopher; Blumberg, Emily A.

2017-01-01

Endocrine and metabolic derangements are infrequent in patients with tuberculosis, but they are important when they occur. The basis for these abnormalities is complex. While Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been described to infect virtually every endocrine gland, the incidence of gland involvement is low, especially in the era of effective antituberculosis therapy. Furthermore, endocrine and metabolic abnormalities do not always reflect direct infection of the gland but may result from physiological response or as a consequence of therapy. Metabolic disease may also predispose patients to the development of active tuberculosis, particularly in the case of diabetes mellitus. While hormonal therapy may be necessary in some instances, frequently these endocrine complications do not require specific interventions other than antituberculous therapy itself. With the exception of diabetes mellitus, which will be covered elsewhere, this chapter reviews the endocrinologic and metabolic issues related to tuberculosis. PMID:28233510

The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy Scripts: Precision Medicine Through the Use of Pharmacogenomics: Current Status and Barriers to Implementation.

PubMed

Ciarleglio, Anita E; Ma, Carolyn

2017-09-01

The precision medicine initiative brought forth by President Barack Obama in 2015 is an important step on the journey to truly personalized medicine. A broad knowledge and understanding of the implications of the pharmacogenomic literature will be critical to the achievement of this goal. While a great amount of data has been published in the areas of pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics, there are still relatively few instances in which the need for clinical intervention can be stated without doubt, and which are widely accepted and practiced by the medical community. As our knowledge base rapidly expands, issues such as insurance reimbursement for genetic testing and education of the health care workforce will be paramount to achieving the goal of precision medicine for all patients.

[A relational database to store Poison Centers calls].

PubMed

Barelli, Alessandro; Biondi, Immacolata; Tafani, Chiara; Pellegrini, Aristide; Soave, Maurizio; Gaspari, Rita; Annetta, Maria Giuseppina

2006-01-01

Italian Poison Centers answer to approximately 100,000 calls per year. Potentially, this activity is a huge source of data for toxicovigilance and for syndromic surveillance. During the last decade, surveillance systems for early detection of outbreaks have drawn the attention of public health institutions due to the threat of terrorism and high-profile disease outbreaks. Poisoning surveillance needs the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of harmonised data about poisonings from all Poison Centers for use in public health action to reduce morbidity and mortality and to improve health. The entity-relationship model for a Poison Center relational database is extremely complex and not studied in detail. For this reason, not harmonised data collection happens among Italian Poison Centers. Entities are recognizable concepts, either concrete or abstract, such as patients and poisons, or events which have relevance to the database, such as calls. Connectivity and cardinality of relationships are complex as well. A one-to-many relationship exist between calls and patients: for one instance of entity calls, there are zero, one, or many instances of entity patients. At the same time, a one-to-many relationship exist between patients and poisons: for one instance of entity patients, there are zero, one, or many instances of entity poisons. This paper shows a relational model for a poison center database which allows the harmonised data collection of poison centers calls.

2010 Service Academy Gender Relations Survey

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-15

sexual relationship. Sexual coercion includes classic quid pro quo instances of specific treatment or favoritism conditioned on sexual cooperation...and DoD as behaviors that might lead to a hostile or offensive work environment, or represent quid pro quo harassment . Three component measures of... quid pro quo instances of specific treatment or favoritism rnnHitinnpH nn CPYIIJII rnnnpratinn co ditioned o sexual cooper tio .

2008 Gender Relations Survey of Reserve Component Members

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

Sexual coercion is defined as classic quid pro quo instances of specific treatment or favoritism conditioned on...defined by both the U.S. legal system and DoD as behaviors that might lead to a hostile work environment, or represent quid pro quo harassment ...relationship; • Sexual coercion—classic quid pro quo instances of specific treatment or favoritism conditioned on sexual cooperation. For

Using expert systems to implement a semantic data model of a large mass storage system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roelofs, Larry H.; Campbell, William J.

1990-01-01

The successful development of large volume data storage systems will depend not only on the ability of the designers to store data, but on the ability to manage such data once it is in the system. The hypothesis is that mass storage data management can only be implemented successfully based on highly intelligent meta data management services. There now exists a proposed mass store system standard proposed by the IEEE that addresses many of the issues related to the storage of large volumes of data, however, the model does not consider a major technical issue, namely the high level management of stored data. However, if the model were expanded to include the semantics and pragmatics of the data domain using a Semantic Data Model (SDM) concept, the result would be data that is expressive of the Intelligent Information Fusion (IIF) concept and also organized and classified in context to its use and purpose. The results are presented of a demonstration prototype SDM implemented using the expert system development tool NEXPERT OBJECT. In the prototype, a simple instance of a SDM was created to support a hypothetical application for the Earth Observing System, Data Information System (EOSDIS). The massive amounts of data that EOSDIS will manage requires the definition and design of a powerful information management system in order to support even the most basic needs of the project. The application domain is characterized by a semantic like network that represents the data content and the relationships between the data based on user views and the more generalized domain architectural view of the information world. The data in the domain are represented by objects that define classes, types and instances of the data. In addition, data properties are selectively inherited between parent and daughter relationships in the domain. Based on the SDM a simple information system design is developed from the low level data storage media, through record management and meta data management to the user interface.

Language Issues in Mobile Program Security

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-01

primitives for instance synchronous operations Nondeterminism and Privacy Now suppose we introduce nondeterminism via a simple concurrent language...code setting is that the only observable events are those that can be observed from within a mobile program using language primitives and any host...Possibilistic NI is given in It uses a main thread and two triggered threads each with a busy wait loop implementing a semaphore to copy every bit of

MaxEnt, second variation, and generalized statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plastino, A.; Rocca, M. C.

2015-10-01

There are two kinds of Tsallis-probability distributions: heavy tail ones and compact support distributions. We show here, by appeal to functional analysis' tools, that for lower bound Hamiltonians, the second variation's analysis of the entropic functional guarantees that the heavy tail q-distribution constitutes a maximum of Tsallis' entropy. On the other hand, in the compact support instance, a case by case analysis is necessary in order to tackle the issue.

Towards Long-Time Simulation of Soft Tissue Simulant Penetration

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

materials involved in testing. Experiments, for instance firing high speed bullets at steel plates of different thicknesses (see [2]), reveal large...L’ shaped beam against a rigid wall using AVI and the almost exact en- ergy conservation of the system . With traditional time integrators, the time...and avoiding ill-conditioning issues is often non trivial. Likewise, Lagrange multipliers have also been used to impose the contact con- straint at

Did the Preservice Teacher-Generated Studies Constitute Actual Instances of Teacher-Researcher Studies, and Were They Consistent with Notions of Dewey?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kretschmer, Robert E.; Wang, Ye; Hartman, Maria C.

2010-01-01

It is suggested that articles in an "American Annals of the Deaf" special issue on teacher action research constitute a 2-tiered metastudy: The first article serves as a literature review of the teacher-as-researcher notion; 5 subsequent articles form the data set for a higher-order teacher-as-researcher inquiry. It is maintained that the…

National Evaluation of Policies on Individual Financial Conflicts of Interest in Canadian Academic Health Science Centers

PubMed Central

Sekeres, Melanie; Gold, Jennifer; Ferris, Lorraine E.; Kalkar, Sunila R.; Wu, Wei; Van Laethem, Marleen; Chan, An-Wen; Moher, David; Maskalyk, M. James; Taback, Nathan; Rochon, Paula A.

2008-01-01

Background Conflicts of interest (COI) in research are an important emerging topic of investigation and are frequently cited as a serious threat to the integrity of human participant research. Objective To study financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) policies for individual investigators working in Canadian academic health centers. Design Survey instrument containing 61 items related to FCOI. Setting All Canadian academic health science centers (universities with faculties of medicine, faculties of medicine and teaching hospitals) were requested to provide their three primary FCOI policies. Measurements Number of all centers and teaching hospitals with policies addressing each of the 61 items related to FCOI. Main Results Only one item was addressed by all 74 centers. Thirteen items were present in fewer than 25% of centers. Fewer than one-quarter of hospitals required researchers to disclose FCOI to research participants. The role of research ethics boards (REBs) in hospitals was marginal. Limitations Asking centers to identify only three policies may not have inclusively identified all FCOI policies in use. Additionally, policies at other levels might apply. For instance, all institutions receiving federal grant money must comply with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Conclusions Canadian centers within the same level (for instance, teaching hospitals) differ significantly in the areas that their policies address and these policies differ widely in their coverage. Presently, no single policy in any Canadian center informs researchers about the broad range of individual FCOI issues. Canadian investigators need to understand the environment surrounding FCOI, be able to access and follow the relevant policies and be confident that they can avoid entering into a FCOI. PMID:18716848

A new approach to process control using Instability Index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weintraub, Jeffrey; Warrick, Scott

2016-03-01

The merits of a robust Statistical Process Control (SPC) methodology have long been established. In response to the numerous SPC rule combinations, processes, and the high cost of containment, the Instability Index (ISTAB) is presented as a tool for managing these complexities. ISTAB focuses limited resources on key issues and provides a window into the stability of manufacturing operations. ISTAB takes advantage of the statistical nature of processes by comparing the observed average run length (OARL) to the expected run length (ARL), resulting in a gap value called the ISTAB index. The ISTAB index has three characteristic behaviors that are indicative of defects in an SPC instance. Case 1: The observed average run length is excessively long relative to expectation. ISTAB > 0 is indicating the possibility that the limits are too wide. Case 2: The observed average run length is consistent with expectation. ISTAB near zero is indicating that the process is stable. Case 3: The observed average run length is inordinately short relative to expectation. ISTAB < 0 is indicating that the limits are too tight, the process is unstable or both. The probability distribution of run length is the basis for establishing an ARL. We demonstrate that the geometric distribution is a good approximation to run length across a wide variety of rule sets. Excessively long run lengths are associated with one kind of defect in an SPC instance; inordinately short run lengths are associated with another. A sampling distribution is introduced as a way to quantify excessively long and inordinately short observed run lengths. This paper provides detailed guidance for action limits on these run lengths. ISTAB as a statistical method of review facilitates automated instability detection. This paper proposes a management system based on ISTAB as an enhancement to more traditional SPC approaches.

Quantification of diabetes comorbidity risks across life using nation-wide big claims data.

PubMed

Klimek, Peter; Kautzky-Willer, Alexandra; Chmiel, Anna; Schiller-Frühwirth, Irmgard; Thurner, Stefan

2015-04-01

Despite substantial progress in the study of diabetes, important questions remain about its comorbidities and clinical heterogeneity. To explore these issues, we develop a framework allowing for the first time to quantify nation-wide risks and their age- and sex-dependence for each diabetic comorbidity, and whether the association may be consequential or causal, in a sample of almost two million patients. This study is equivalent to nearly 40,000 single clinical measurements. We confirm the highly controversial relation of increased risk for Parkinson's disease in diabetics, using a 10 times larger cohort than previous studies on this relation. Detection of type 1 diabetes leads detection of depressions, whereas there is a strong comorbidity relation between type 2 diabetes and schizophrenia, suggesting similar pathogenic or medication-related mechanisms. We find significant sex differences in the progression of, for instance, sleep disorders and congestive heart failure in diabetic patients. Hypertension is a highly sex-sensitive comorbidity with females being at lower risk during fertile age, but at higher risk otherwise. These results may be useful to improve screening practices in the general population. Clinical management of diabetes must address age- and sex-dependence of multiple comorbid conditions.

Persistent misunderstandings about evidence-based (sorry: informed!) policy-making.

PubMed

Bédard, Pierre-Olivier; Ouimet, Mathieu

2016-01-01

The field of research on knowledge mobilization and evidence-informed policy-making has seen enduring debates related to various fundamental assumptions such as the definition of 'evidence', the relative validity of various research methods, the actual role of evidence to inform policy-making, etc. In many cases, these discussions serve a useful purpose, but they also stem from serious disagreement on methodological and epistemological issues. This essay reviews the rationale for evidence-informed policy-making by examining some of the common claims made about the aims and practices of this perspective on public policy. Supplementing the existing justifications for evidence-based policy making, we argue in favor of a greater inclusion of research evidence in the policy process but in a structured fashion, based on methodological considerations. In this respect, we present an overview of the intricate relation between policy questions and appropriate research designs. By closely examining the relation between research questions and research designs, we claim that the usual points of disagreement are mitigated. For instance, when focusing on the variety of research designs that can answer a range of policy questions, the common critical claim about 'RCT-based policy-making' seems to lose some, if not all of its grip.

EMD-regression for modelling multi-scale relationships, and application to weather-related cardiovascular mortality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masselot, Pierre; Chebana, Fateh; Bélanger, Diane; St-Hilaire, André; Abdous, Belkacem; Gosselin, Pierre; Ouarda, Taha B. M. J.

2018-01-01

In a number of environmental studies, relationships between natural processes are often assessed through regression analyses, using time series data. Such data are often multi-scale and non-stationary, leading to a poor accuracy of the resulting regression models and therefore to results with moderate reliability. To deal with this issue, the present paper introduces the EMD-regression methodology consisting in applying the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm on data series and then using the resulting components in regression models. The proposed methodology presents a number of advantages. First, it accounts of the issues of non-stationarity associated to the data series. Second, this approach acts as a scan for the relationship between a response variable and the predictors at different time scales, providing new insights about this relationship. To illustrate the proposed methodology it is applied to study the relationship between weather and cardiovascular mortality in Montreal, Canada. The results shed new knowledge concerning the studied relationship. For instance, they show that the humidity can cause excess mortality at the monthly time scale, which is a scale not visible in classical models. A comparison is also conducted with state of the art methods which are the generalized additive models and distributed lag models, both widely used in weather-related health studies. The comparison shows that EMD-regression achieves better prediction performances and provides more details than classical models concerning the relationship.

A Two-Stage Probabilistic Approach to Manage Personal Worklist in Workflow Management Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Rui; Liu, Yingbo; Wen, Lijie; Wang, Jianmin

The application of workflow scheduling in managing individual actor's personal worklist is one area that can bring great improvement to business process. However, current deterministic work cannot adapt to the dynamics and uncertainties in the management of personal worklist. For such an issue, this paper proposes a two-stage probabilistic approach which aims at assisting actors to flexibly manage their personal worklists. To be specific, the approach analyzes every activity instance's continuous probability of satisfying deadline at the first stage. Based on this stochastic analysis result, at the second stage, an innovative scheduling strategy is proposed to minimize the overall deadline violation cost for an actor's personal worklist. Simultaneously, the strategy recommends the actor a feasible worklist of activity instances which meet the required bottom line of successful execution. The effectiveness of our approach is evaluated in a real-world workflow management system and with large scale simulation experiments.

Reflections on the history and ethics of the proper attribution and misappropriation of merit.

PubMed

Gans, Henry

2011-01-01

One would expect that the first to arrive at a new observation, discovery, or concept would be properly acknowledged as such. Unfortunately, it is not unusual that someone else receives the credit. This is not just unfair and unethical, but it also distorts the history of science. In addition, the victims of misattribution are deeply affected by losing not only the recognition of being first, but also the credit, kudos, and other benefits that derive from their contribution. This issue deserves far more attention than it currently receives. It continues to cause much mischief in the most unexpected places and under circumstances that should not be tolerated. This article looks at the consequences of some instances of misattribution in the history of science and argues that researchers should make a stronger effort to expose and rectify such cases. In most instances, all that is required is to double-check the data.

But is this really the ‘parent’ or ‘guardian’? Practical strategies for consent to child research in South Africa

PubMed Central

Slack, C M; Strode, A E

2018-01-01

Research ethics committees (RECs) in South Africa may require consent from a parent or legal guardian for child research. In instances where an REC determines that parental or guardianship consent is required, how far should researchers go to establish if the accompanying adult is in fact the parent or guardian? Should researchers accept disclosures at face value, probe assertions that are made, or even call for supporting documentation? In this article we set out the facts research staff should possess, propose key questions they could ask, and recommend practical steps for uncertain cases. We recognise that a parental/guardianship consent strategy may not be appropriate in all instances, but do not debate that issue in this article. This article is confined to practical advice for researchers wishing to implement a parental or guardianship consent approach. PMID:29887973

Women's Experience in the Workers' Compensation System.

PubMed

Guthrie, Robert; Jansz, Janis

2006-09-01

Gender differences is a question of major importance within workers' compensation given the increased role of women in the workforce over the past several decades. This article reviews literature relating to women's experiences following work injury. An Australian study is used as background to exploring the broad issue of the question of gender equity in workers' compensation. In doing so it takes account of historical, legal and medical issues. Women's experience in the workers' compensation system is different to that of men due to a range of factors. It is heavily influenced by the industrial environment in which they work. Women are paid less than men in many instances and work in gender-segregated circumstances, which often reduces their industrial bargaining power. Women also suffer different forms of injury and disease to men because of the different nature of their work. The Australian experience suggests that as a consequence of the combination of lesser industrial bargaining power, lower wages and differing forms of injury and disease women often receive less than men in compensation payments, struggle to obtain equity in the dispute resolution process and experience greater difficulties in returning to work following injury or disease.

Halal and kosher slaughter methods and meat quality: a review.

PubMed

Farouk, M M; Al-Mazeedi, H M; Sabow, A B; Bekhit, A E D; Adeyemi, K D; Sazili, A Q; Ghani, A

2014-11-01

There are many slaughter procedures that religions and cultures use around the world. The two that are commercially relevant are the halal and kosher methods practiced by Muslims and Jews respectively. The global trade in red meat and poultry produced using these two methods is substantial, thus the importance of the quality of the meat produced using the methods. Halal and kosher slaughter per se should not affect meat quality more than their industrial equivalents, however, some of their associated pre- and post-slaughter processes do. For instance, the slow decline in blood pressure following a halal pre-slaughter head-only stun and neck cut causes blood splash (ecchymosis) in a range of muscles and organs of slaughtered livestock. Other quality concerns include bruising, hemorrhages, skin discoloration and broken bones particularly in poultry. In addition to these conventional quality issues, the "spiritual quality" of the meat can also be affected when the halal and kosher religious requirements are not fully met during the slaughter process. The nature, causes, importance and mitigations of these and other quality issues related to halal and kosher slaughtering and meat production using these methods are the subjects of this review. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Consent, ethics and genetic biobanks: the case of the Athlome project.

PubMed

Thompson, Rachel; McNamee, Michael J

2017-11-14

This article provides a critical overview of the ethics and governance of genetic biobank research, using the Athlome Consortium as a large scale instance of collaborative sports genetic biobanking. We present a traditional model of written informed consent for the acquisition, storage, sharing and analysis of genetic data and articulate the challenges to it from new research practices such as genetic biobanking. We then articulate six possible alternative consent models: verbal consent, blanket consent, broad consent, meta consent, dynamic consent and waived consent. We argue that these models or conceptions of consent must be articulated in the context of the complexities of international legislation and non legislative national and international biobank governance frameworks and policies, those which govern research in the field of sports genetics. We discuss the tensions between individual rights and public benefits of genomic research as a critical ethical issue, particularly where benefits are less obvious, as in sports genomics. The inherent complexities of international regulation and biobanking governance are challenging in a relatively young field. We argue that there is much nuanced ethical work still to be done with regard to governance of sports genetic biobanking and the issues contained therein.

Neural mirroring and social interaction: Motor system involvement during action observation relates to early peer cooperation.

PubMed

Endedijk, H M; Meyer, M; Bekkering, H; Cillessen, A H N; Hunnius, S

2017-04-01

Whether we hand over objects to someone, play a team sport, or make music together, social interaction often involves interpersonal action coordination, both during instances of cooperation and entrainment. Neural mirroring is thought to play a crucial role in processing other's actions and is therefore considered important for social interaction. Still, to date, it is unknown whether interindividual differences in neural mirroring play a role in interpersonal coordination during different instances of social interaction. A relation between neural mirroring and interpersonal coordination has particularly relevant implications for early childhood, since successful early interaction with peers is predictive of a more favorable social development. We examined the relation between neural mirroring and children's interpersonal coordination during peer interaction using EEG and longitudinal behavioral data. Results showed that 4-year-old children with higher levels of motor system involvement during action observation (as indicated by lower beta-power) were more successful in early peer cooperation. This is the first evidence for a relation between motor system involvement during action observation and interpersonal coordination during other instances of social interaction. The findings suggest that interindividual differences in neural mirroring are related to interpersonal coordination and thus successful social interaction. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Is Advanced Real-Time Energy Metering Sufficient to Persuade People to Save Energy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ting, L.; Leite, H.; Ponce de Leão, T.

2012-10-01

In order to promote a low-carbon economy, EU citizens may soon be able to check their electricity consumption from smart meter. It is hoped that smart meter can, by providing real-time consumption and pricing information to residential users, help reducing demand for electricity. It is argued in this paper that, according the Elaborative Likelihood Model (ELM), these methods are most likely to be effective when consumers perceive the issue of energy conservation relevant to their lives. Nevertheless, some fundamental characteristics of these methods result in limited amount of perceived personal relevance; for instance, energy expenditure expense may be relatively small comparing to other household expenditure like mortgage and consumption information does not enhance interpersonal trust. In this paper, it is suggested that smart meter can apply the "nudge" approaches which respond to ELM as the use of simple rules to make decision, which include the change of feedback delivery and device design.

Third Space Weather Summit Held for Industry and Government Agencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Intriligator, Devrie S.

2009-12-01

The potential for space weather effects has been increasing significantly in recent years. For instance, in 2008 airlines flew about 8000 transpolar flights, which experience greater exposure to space weather than nontranspolar flights. This is up from 368 transpolar flights in 2000, and the number of such flights is expected to continue to grow. Transpolar flights are just one example of the diverse technologies susceptible to space weather effects identified by the National Research Council's Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report (2008). To discuss issues related to the increasing need for reliable space weather information, experts from industry and government agencies met at the third summit of the Commercial Space Weather Interest Group (CSWIG) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), held 30 April 2009 during Space Weather Week (SWW), in Boulder, Colo.

[A new putative principle for diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease].

PubMed

Sjögren, Magnus; Blennow, Kaj

2002-05-23

Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease and bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE) are both prion diseases, i.e., diseases caused by an abnormally folded isoform of cellular prion protein. A variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease can probably be transmitted from cattle with BSE to humans. To prevent spread of BSE, whole stocks of cattle are destroyed when symptoms of the disease appear. However, this is too late to prevent transmission during the about 5 years long incubation time. A method for presymptomatic diagnosis of BSE is clearly desirable. Miele and colleagues at Roslin Institute in Edinburgh present a potential molecular marker for prion diseases in the March issue of Nature Medicine. It is a dramatically decreased expression of a transcript called erythroid differentiation-related factor (EDRF). This change is detectable early in the course of the disease also in tissues outside the central nervous system, for instance blood.

Object-oriented model-driven control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drysdale, A.; Mcroberts, M.; Sager, J.; Wheeler, R.

1994-01-01

A monitoring and control subsystem architecture has been developed that capitalizes on the use of modeldriven monitoring and predictive control, knowledge-based data representation, and artificial reasoning in an operator support mode. We have developed an object-oriented model of a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). The model based on the NASA Kennedy Space Center CELSS breadboard data, tracks carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, carbodioxide, and water. It estimates and tracks resorce-related parameters such as mass, energy, and manpower measurements such as growing area required for balance. We are developing an interface with the breadboard systems that is compatible with artificial reasoning. Initial work is being done on use of expert systems and user interface development. This paper presents an approach to defining universally applicable CELSS monitor and control issues, and implementing appropriate monitor and control capability for a particular instance: the KSC CELSS Breadboard Facility.

Moral Enhancement Using Non-invasive Brain Stimulation

PubMed Central

Darby, R. Ryan; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro

2017-01-01

Biomedical enhancement refers to the use of biomedical interventions to improve capacities beyond normal, rather than to treat deficiencies due to diseases. Enhancement can target physical or cognitive capacities, but also complex human behaviors such as morality. However, the complexity of normal moral behavior makes it unlikely that morality is a single capacity that can be deficient or enhanced. Instead, our central hypothesis will be that moral behavior results from multiple, interacting cognitive-affective networks in the brain. First, we will test this hypothesis by reviewing evidence for modulation of moral behavior using non-invasive brain stimulation. Next, we will discuss how this evidence affects ethical issues related to the use of moral enhancement. We end with the conclusion that while brain stimulation has the potential to alter moral behavior, such alteration is unlikely to improve moral behavior in all situations, and may even lead to less morally desirable behavior in some instances. PMID:28275345

Automatic detection and recognition of multiple macular lesions in retinal optical coherence tomography images with multi-instance multilabel learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Leyuan; Yang, Liumao; Li, Shutao; Rabbani, Hossein; Liu, Zhimin; Peng, Qinghua; Chen, Xiangdong

2017-06-01

Detection and recognition of macular lesions in optical coherence tomography (OCT) are very important for retinal diseases diagnosis and treatment. As one kind of retinal disease (e.g., diabetic retinopathy) may contain multiple lesions (e.g., edema, exudates, and microaneurysms) and eye patients may suffer from multiple retinal diseases, multiple lesions often coexist within one retinal image. Therefore, one single-lesion-based detector may not support the diagnosis of clinical eye diseases. To address this issue, we propose a multi-instance multilabel-based lesions recognition (MIML-LR) method for the simultaneous detection and recognition of multiple lesions. The proposed MIML-LR method consists of the following steps: (1) segment the regions of interest (ROIs) for different lesions, (2) compute descriptive instances (features) for each lesion region, (3) construct multilabel detectors, and (4) recognize each ROI with the detectors. The proposed MIML-LR method was tested on 823 clinically labeled OCT images with normal macular and macular with three common lesions: epiretinal membrane, edema, and drusen. For each input OCT image, our MIML-LR method can automatically identify the number of lesions and assign the class labels, achieving the average accuracy of 88.72% for the cases with multiple lesions, which better assists macular disease diagnosis and treatment.

A Dynamic Ensemble Framework for Mining Textual Streams with Class Imbalance

PubMed Central

Song, Ge

2014-01-01

Textual stream classification has become a realistic and challenging issue since large-scale, high-dimensional, and non-stationary streams with class imbalance have been widely used in various real-life applications. According to the characters of textual streams, it is technically difficult to deal with the classification of textual stream, especially in imbalanced environment. In this paper, we propose a new ensemble framework, clustering forest, for learning from the textual imbalanced stream with concept drift (CFIM). The CFIM is based on ensemble learning by integrating a set of clustering trees (CTs). An adaptive selection method, which flexibly chooses the useful CTs by the property of the stream, is presented in CFIM. In particular, to deal with the problem of class imbalance, we collect and reuse both rare-class instances and misclassified instances from the historical chunks. Compared to most existing approaches, it is worth pointing out that our approach assumes that both majority class and rareclass may suffer from concept drift. Thus the distribution of resampled instances is similar to the current concept. The effectiveness of CFIM is examined in five real-world textual streams under an imbalanced nonstationary environment. Experimental results demonstrate that CFIM achieves better performance than four state-of-the-art ensemble models. PMID:24982961

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

Adams, David P.; Fishgrab, Kira L.; Greth, Karl Douglas

The present invention relates to a lateral via to provide an electrical connection to a buried conductor. In one instance, the buried conductor is a through via that extends along a first dimension, and the lateral via extends along a second dimension that is generally orthogonal to the first dimension. In another instance, the second dimension is oblique to the first dimension. Components having such lateral vias, as well as methods for creating such lateral vias are described herein.

Water supply as a constraint on transmission expansion planning in the Western interconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tidwell, Vincent C.; Bailey, Michael; Zemlick, Katie M.; Moreland, Barbara D.

2016-12-01

Consideration of water supply in transmission expansion planning (TEP) provides a valuable means of managing impacts of thermoelectric generation on limited water resources. Toward this opportunity, thermoelectric water intensity factors and water supply availability (fresh and non-fresh sources) were incorporated into a recent TEP exercise conducted for the electric interconnection in the Western United States. The goal was to inform the placement of new thermoelectric generation so as to minimize issues related to water availability. Although freshwater availability is limited in the West, few instances across five TEP planning scenarios were encountered where water availability impacted the development of new generation. This unexpected result was related to planning decisions that favored the development of low water use generation that was geographically dispersed across the West. These planning decisions were not made because of their favorable influence on thermoelectric water demand; rather, on the basis of assumed future fuel and technology costs, policy drivers and the topology of electricity demand. Results also projected that interconnection-wide thermoelectric water consumption would increase by 31% under the business-as-usual case, while consumption would decrease by 42% under a scenario assuming a low-carbon future. Except in a few instances, new thermoelectric water consumption could be accommodated with less than 10% of the local available water supply; however, limited freshwater supplies and state-level policies could increase use of non-fresh water sources for new thermoelectric generation. Results could have been considerably different if scenarios favoring higher-intensity water use generation technology or potential impacts of climate change had been explored. Conduct of this exercise highlighted the importance of integrating water into all phases of TEP, particularly joint management of decisions that are both directly (e.g., water availability constraint) and indirectly (technology or policy constraints) related to future thermoelectric water demand, as well as, the careful selection of scenarios that adequately bound the potential dimensions of water impact.

Water supply as a constraint on transmission expansion planning in the Western interconnection

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

Tidwell, Vincent C.; Bailey, Michael; Zemlick, Katie M.

Here, consideration of water supply in transmission expansion planning (TEP) provides a valuable means of managing impacts of thermoelectric generation on limited water resources. Toward this opportunity, thermoelectric water intensity factors and water supply availability (fresh and non-fresh sources) were incorporated into a recent TEP exercise conducted for the electric interconnection in the Western United States. The goal was to inform the placement of new thermoelectric generation so as to minimize issues related to water availability. Although freshwater availability is limited in the West, few instances across five TEP planning scenarios were encountered where water availability impacted the development ofmore » new generation. This unexpected result was related to planning decisions that favored the development of low water use generation that was geographically dispersed across the West. These planning decisions were not made because of their favorable influence on thermoelectric water demand; rather, on the basis of assumed future fuel and technology costs, policy drivers and the topology of electricity demand. Results also projected that interconnection-wide thermoelectric water consumption would increase by 31% under the business-as-usual case, while consumption would decrease by 42% under a scenario assuming a low-carbon future. Except in a few instances, new thermoelectric water consumption could be accommodated with less than 10% of the local available water supply; however, limited freshwater supplies and state-level policies could increase use of non-fresh water sources for new thermoelectric generation. Results could have been considerably different if scenarios favoring higher-intensity water use generation technology or potential impacts of climate change had been explored. Conduct of this exercise highlighted the importance of integrating water into all phases of TEP, particularly joint management of decisions that are both directly (e.g., water availability constraint) and indirectly (technology or policy constraints) related to future thermoelectric water demand, as well as, the careful selection of scenarios that adequately bound the potential dimensions of water impact.« less

Water supply as a constraint on transmission expansion planning in the Western interconnection

DOE PAGES

Tidwell, Vincent C.; Bailey, Michael; Zemlick, Katie M.; ...

2016-11-21

Here, consideration of water supply in transmission expansion planning (TEP) provides a valuable means of managing impacts of thermoelectric generation on limited water resources. Toward this opportunity, thermoelectric water intensity factors and water supply availability (fresh and non-fresh sources) were incorporated into a recent TEP exercise conducted for the electric interconnection in the Western United States. The goal was to inform the placement of new thermoelectric generation so as to minimize issues related to water availability. Although freshwater availability is limited in the West, few instances across five TEP planning scenarios were encountered where water availability impacted the development ofmore » new generation. This unexpected result was related to planning decisions that favored the development of low water use generation that was geographically dispersed across the West. These planning decisions were not made because of their favorable influence on thermoelectric water demand; rather, on the basis of assumed future fuel and technology costs, policy drivers and the topology of electricity demand. Results also projected that interconnection-wide thermoelectric water consumption would increase by 31% under the business-as-usual case, while consumption would decrease by 42% under a scenario assuming a low-carbon future. Except in a few instances, new thermoelectric water consumption could be accommodated with less than 10% of the local available water supply; however, limited freshwater supplies and state-level policies could increase use of non-fresh water sources for new thermoelectric generation. Results could have been considerably different if scenarios favoring higher-intensity water use generation technology or potential impacts of climate change had been explored. Conduct of this exercise highlighted the importance of integrating water into all phases of TEP, particularly joint management of decisions that are both directly (e.g., water availability constraint) and indirectly (technology or policy constraints) related to future thermoelectric water demand, as well as, the careful selection of scenarios that adequately bound the potential dimensions of water impact.« less

The Technological Imperative: Information Systems and Racial Profiling from Nazi Germany to the War on Terror

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doughty, Howard A.

2005-01-01

Both parts of the author's past--a concern with terrorism and with the education of future agents of the state who will be expected to curb, if not to eliminate, it--contribute to what he wants to say in this essay. He seeks to make six points: (1) Racial profiling is not a discrete issue but an instance of a more pervasive racism that is evident…

Medicare Home Health Agencies: Weaknesses in Federal and State Oversight Mask Potential Quality Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-07-01

solely venipuncture for the purpose of obtaining a blood sample), physical therapy , speech- language pathology services, or have a continuing need for...to require surgery for the wound. The complaint also alleged that the HHA was not providing this patient with physical therapy services as required...to determine the correct investigation time frame. For instance, one complaint in Georgia alleged that a patient was not given physical therapy as

United States Zone Constabulary: An Analysis of Manning Issues and Their Impact on Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-16

fill labor roles in German industry and agriculture. The civil administration, long filled and controlled by the Nazi party, would soon be...restructured. Those who had filled key positions under the Nazi government were no longer eligible for service,8 and in some instances were arrested as...criminals. Before filling unoccupied positions, the occupation forces would have to evaluate potential candidates to ensure they were free of Nazi

CTC Sentinel. Volume 7, Issue 10, October 2014

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

currencies l ike e-gold, Bitcoin , Peercoin, and Dodgecoin provide complex yet eff icient mechanisms for the transfer of funds, as well as the...that terrorists are considering and, in l imited instances, using digital currencies such as Bitcoin to f inance activit ies. 1 While...to its novelty and partly due to its complexity, the evolving world of digital or crypto currencies like BitCoin and their impact on AML/CFT has

A pilot application of regional scale risk assessment to the forestry management of the upper Grand Ronde watershed, Oregon

Treesearch

Suzanne M. Anderson; Wayne G. Landis

2012-01-01

An issue in forestry management has been the integration of a variety of different information into a threat analysis or risk assessment. In this instance, regional scale risk assessment was applied to the Upper Grande Ronde watershed in eastern Oregon to examine the potential of risk assessment for use in the management of broad landscapes. The site was a focus of...

Assessing the applicability of e-therapies for depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders among lesbians and gay men: analysis of 24 web- and mobile phone-based self-help interventions.

PubMed

Rozbroj, Tomas; Lyons, Anthony; Pitts, Marian; Mitchell, Anne; Christensen, Helen

2014-07-03

Lesbians and gay men have disproportionately high rates of depression and anxiety, and report lower satisfaction with treatments. In part, this may be because many health care options marginalize them by assuming heterosexuality, or misunderstand and fail to respond to the challenges specifically faced by these groups. E-therapies have particular potential to respond to the mental health needs of lesbians and gay men, but there is little research to determine whether they do so, or how they might be improved. We sought to examine the applicability of existing mental health e-therapies for lesbians and gay men. We reviewed 24 Web- and mobile phone-based e-therapies and assessed their performance in eight key areas, including the use of inclusive language and content and whether they addressed mental health stressors for lesbians and gay men, such as experiences of stigma related to their sexual orientation, coming out, and relationship issues that are specific to lesbians and gay men. We found that e-therapies seldom addressed these stressors. Furthermore, 58% (14/24) of therapies contained instances that assumed or suggested the user was heterosexual, with instances especially prevalent among better-evidenced programs. Our findings, and a detailed review protocol presented in this article, may be used as guides for the future development of mental health e-therapies to better accommodate the needs of lesbians and gay men.

Predictive Genomic Analyses Inform the Basis for Vitamin Metabolism and Provisioning in Bacteria-Arthropod Endosymbioses

PubMed Central

Serbus, Laura R.; Rodriguez, Brian Garcia; Sharmin, Zinat; Momtaz, A. J. M. Zehadee; Christensen, Steen

2017-01-01

The requirement of vitamins for core metabolic processes creates a unique set of pressures for arthropods subsisting on nutrient-limited diets. While endosymbiotic bacteria carried by arthropods have been widely implicated in vitamin provisioning, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. To address this issue, standardized predictive assessment of vitamin metabolism was performed in 50 endosymbionts of insects and arachnids. The results predicted that arthropod endosymbionts overall have little capacity for complete de novo biosynthesis of conventional or active vitamin forms. Partial biosynthesis pathways were commonly predicted, suggesting a substantial role in vitamin provisioning. Neither taxonomic relationships between host and symbiont, nor the mode of host-symbiont interaction were clear predictors of endosymbiont vitamin pathway capacity. Endosymbiont genome size and the synthetic capacity of nonsymbiont taxonomic relatives were more reliable predictors. We developed a new software application that also predicted that last-step conversion of intermediates into active vitamin forms may contribute further to vitamin biosynthesis by endosymbionts. Most instances of predicted vitamin conversion were paralleled by predictions of vitamin use. This is consistent with achievement of provisioning in some cases through upregulation of pathways that were retained for endosymbiont benefit. The predicted absence of other enzyme classes further suggests a baseline of vitamin requirement by the majority of endosymbionts, as well as some instances of putative mutualism. Adaptation of this workflow to analysis of other organisms and metabolic pathways will provide new routes for considering the molecular basis for symbiosis on a comprehensive scale. PMID:28455417

Characterizing transient noise in the LIGO detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nuttall, L. K.

2018-05-01

Data from the LIGO detectors typically contain many non-Gaussian noise transients which arise due to instrumental and environmental conditions. These non-Gaussian transients can be an issue for the modelled and unmodelled transient gravitational-wave searches, as they can mask or mimic a true signal. Data quality can change quite rapidly, making it imperative to track and find new sources of transient noise so that data are minimally contaminated. Several examples of transient noise and the tools used to track them are presented. These instances serve to highlight the diverse range of noise sources present at the LIGO detectors during their second observing run. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'.

Responses to GM food content in context with food integrity issues: results from Australian population surveys.

PubMed

Mohr, Philip; Golley, Sinéad

2016-01-25

This study examined community responses to use of genetically modified (GM) content in food in the context of responses to familiar food additives by testing an empirically and theoretically derived model of the predictors of responses to both GM content and food integrity issues generally. A nationwide sample of 849 adults, selected at random from the Australian Electoral Roll, responded to a postal Food and Health Survey. Structural equation modelling analyses confirmed that ratings of general concern about food integrity (related to the presence of preservatives and other additives) strongly predicted negativity towards GM content. Concern about food integrity was, in turn, predicted by environmental concern and health engagement. In addition, both concern about food integrity generally and responses to GM content specifically were weakly predicted by attitudes to benefits of science and an intuitive (i.e., emotionally-based) reasoning style. Data from a follow-up survey conducted under the same conditions (N=1184) revealed that ratings of concern were significantly lower for use of genetic engineering in food than for four other common food integrity issues examined. Whereas the question of community responses to GM is often treated as a special issue, these findings support the conclusion that responses to the concept of GM content in food in Australia are substantially a specific instance of a general sensitivity towards the integrity of the food supply. They indicate that the origins of responses to GM content may be largely indistinguishable from those of general responses to preservatives and other common food additives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The forensic validity of visual analytics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erbacher, Robert F.

2008-01-01

The wider use of visualization and visual analytics in wide ranging fields has led to the need for visual analytics capabilities to be legally admissible, especially when applied to digital forensics. This brings the need to consider legal implications when performing visual analytics, an issue not traditionally examined in visualization and visual analytics techniques and research. While digital data is generally admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence [10][21], a comprehensive validation of the digital evidence is considered prudent. A comprehensive validation requires validation of the digital data under rules for authentication, hearsay, best evidence rule, and privilege. Additional issues with digital data arise when exploring digital data related to admissibility and the validity of what information was examined, to what extent, and whether the analysis process was sufficiently covered by a search warrant. For instance, a search warrant generally covers very narrow requirements as to what law enforcement is allowed to examine and acquire during an investigation. When searching a hard drive for child pornography, how admissible is evidence of an unrelated crime, i.e. drug dealing. This is further complicated by the concept of "in plain view". When performing an analysis of a hard drive what would be considered "in plain view" when analyzing a hard drive. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issues of digital forensics and the related issues as they apply to visual analytics and identify how visual analytics techniques fit into the digital forensics analysis process, how visual analytics techniques can improve the legal admissibility of digital data, and identify what research is needed to further improve this process. The goal of this paper is to open up consideration of legal ramifications among the visualization community; the author is not a lawyer and the discussions are not meant to be inclusive of all differences in laws between states and countries.

Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military. Fiscal Year 2012. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

sexual relationship – Sexual Coercion – four items regarding classic quid pro quo instances of special treatment or favoritism conditioned on sexual ...relationship – Sexual Coercion – four items regarding classic quid pro quo instances of special treatment or favoritism conditioned on sexual ...and sexual harassment response and prevention in the military. This survey note discusses findings from the 2012 Workplace and Gender Relations

2006 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members: Tabulations of Responses. Volume 2: Coast Guard Members

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

Sexual Coercion can be defined as classic quid pro quo , instances of special treatment or favoritism conditional on sexual cooperation...from Q35k-l and Q35o-p. Sexual Coercion can be defined as classic quid pro quo , instances of special treatment or favoritism conditional on sexual ...53 15. To what extent do/would you feel safe during deployments from being sexually harassed

KOJAK: Scalable Semantic Link Discovery Via Integrated Knowledge-Based and Statistical Reasoning

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

program can find interesting connections in a network without having to learn the patterns of interestingness beforehand. The key advantage of our...Interesting Instances in Semantic Graphs Below we describe how the UNICORN framework can discover interesting instances in a multi-relational dataset...We can now describe how UNICORN solves the first problem of finding the top interesting nodes in a semantic net by ranking them according to

Lessons Learned: Tribal Community Engagement, Remediation and Restoration of a Uranium Mine Tailings Site, Navajo Nation - 12484

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

Wadsworth, Donald K.; Hicks, Allison H.

2012-07-01

In May, 2011 New World Environmental Inc. was awarded a contract by the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency to remediate an illegal radioactive waste disposal site located in the Navajo Nation. The initial scope included the excavation and shipment of an estimated 3,000 cubic yards of Uranium mine tailings and associated industrial waste. In this instance Stakeholders were supportive of the project, remediation and restoration, yet the movement of residual radioactive materials through tribal communities was a controversial issue. Other Stakeholder issues included site security, water sources for remediation activities, local residents' temporary re-location and care of livestock, right ofmore » way permissions and local workforce development. This presentation recaps the technical and non-technical issues encountered in the remediation and restoration the seven acre site and the outreach to surrounding communities. Cultural and equity issues resulting from historical problems associated with this and other sites in the immediate area and education and training. (authors)« less

Introducing heterogeneous users and vehicles into models and algorithms for the dial-a-ride problem.

PubMed

Parragh, Sophie N

2011-08-01

Dial-a-ride problems deal with the transportation of people between pickup and delivery locations. Given the fact that people are subject to transportation, constraints related to quality of service are usually present, such as time windows and maximum user ride time limits. In many real world applications, different types of users exist. In the field of patient and disabled people transportation, up to four different transportation modes can be distinguished. In this article we consider staff seats, patient seats, stretchers and wheelchair places. Furthermore, most companies involved in the transportation of the disabled or ill dispose of different types of vehicles. We introduce both aspects into state-of-the-art formulations and branch-and-cut algorithms for the standard dial-a-ride problem. Also a recent metaheuristic method is adapted to this new problem. In addition, a further service quality related issue is analyzed: vehicle waiting time with passengers aboard. Instances with up to 40 requests are solved to optimality. High quality solutions are obtained with the heuristic method.

[Comorbidities of COPD].

PubMed

Brinchault, G; Diot, P; Dixmier, A; Goupil, F; Guillais, P; Gut-Gobert, C; Leroyer, C; Marchand-Adam, S; Meurice, J-C; Morel, H; Person, C; Cavaillès, A

2015-12-01

COPD is a slowly progressive chronic respiratory disease causing an irreversible decrease in air flow. The main cause is smoking, which provokes inflammatory phenomena in the respiratory tract. COPD is a serious public health issue, causing high morbidity, mortality and disability. Related comorbidities are linked to ageing, common risk factors and genetic predispositions. A combination of comorbidities increases healthcare costs. For instance, patients with more than two comorbidities represent a quarter of all COPD sufferers but account for half the related health costs. Our review describes different comorbidities and their impact on the COPD prognosis. The comorbidities include: cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, denutrition, obesity, ageing, anemia, sleeping disorders, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, anxiety-depression and lung cancer. The prognosis worsens with one or more comorbidities. Clinicians are faced with the challenge of finding practical and appropriate ways of treating these comorbidities, and there is increasing interest in developing a global, multidisciplinary approach to management. Managing this chronic disease should be based on a holistic, patient-centred approach and smoking cessation remains the key factor in the care of COPD patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

An Analysis of Messages About Tobacco in Military Installation Newspapers

PubMed Central

Haddock, C. Keith; Parker, L. Carrie; Taylor, Jennifer E.; Poston, Walker S.C.; Lando, Harry; Talcott, G. Wayne

2005-01-01

Objectives. We sought to gauge the relative attention that tobacco control receives in military newspapers by comparing coverage of tobacco use with that of other health topics of importance to the military. Methods. We examined tobacco-related articles and industry advertisements in 793 newspapers published during 1 year at 16 representative military installations (4 Air Force, 6 Army, 2 Marine, 4 Navy). Newspaper content was coded with a standardized coding manual developed through previous research. Results. Tobacco use received the fewest instances of coverage and the least print space in military installation newspapers of all the health topics examined. The primary “message frame” used in tobacco control articles was that smokers are putting themselves at health risk, a theme that has not been found to have a strong effect on smokers. Nearly 10% of the newspapers contained tobacco advertisements. Conclusions. Tobacco control messages are underrepresented in military installation newspapers compared with other health issues. Furthermore, military newspapers send mixed messages to military personnel by providing advertisements for tobacco while also claiming that tobacco use is harmful. PMID:16043672

Construction of a century solar chromosphere data set for solar activity related research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Ganghua; Wang, Xiao Fan; Yang, Xiao; Liu, Suo; Zhang, Mei; Wang, Haimin; Liu, Chang; Xu, Yan; Tlatov, Andrey; Demidov, Mihail; Borovik, Aleksandr; Golovko, Aleksey

2017-06-01

This article introduces our ongoing project "Construction of a Century Solar Chromosphere Data Set for Solar Activity Related Research". Solar activities are the major sources of space weather that affects human lives. Some of the serious space weather consequences, for instance, include interruption of space communication and navigation, compromising the safety of astronauts and satellites, and damaging power grids. Therefore, the solar activity research has both scientific and social impacts. The major database is built up from digitized and standardized film data obtained by several observatories around the world and covers a time span of more than 100 years. After careful calibration, we will develop feature extraction and data mining tools and provide them together with the comprehensive database for the astronomical community. Our final goal is to address several physical issues: filament behavior in solar cycles, abnormal behavior of solar cycle 24, large-scale solar eruptions, and sympathetic remote brightenings. Significant signs of progress are expected in data mining algorithms and software development, which will benefit the scientific analysis and eventually advance our understanding of solar cycles.

Serious games for elderly continuous monitoring.

PubMed

Lemus-Zúñiga, Lenin-G; Navarro-Pardo, Esperanza; Moret-Tatay, Carmen; Pocinho, Ricardo

2015-01-01

Information technology (IT) and serious games allow older population to remain independent for longer. Hence, when designing technology for this population, developmental changes, such as attention and/or perception, should be considered. For instance, a crucial developmental change has been related to cognitive speed in terms of reaction time (RT). However, this variable presents a skewed distribution that difficult data analysis. An alternative strategy is to characterize the data to an ex-Gaussian function. Furthermore, this procedure provides different parameters that have been related to underlying cognitive processes in the literature. Another issue to be considered is the optimal data recording, storing and processing. For that purpose mobile devices (smart phones and tablets) are a good option for targeting serious games where valuable information can be stored (time spent in the application, reaction time, frequency of use, and a long etcetera). The data stored inside the smartphones and tablets can be sent to a central computer (cloud storage) in order to store the data collected to not only fill the distribution of reaction times to mathematical functions, but also to estimate parameters which may reflect cognitive processes underlying language, aging, and decisional process.

Health promotion messages in entertainment media: crime drama viewership and intentions to intervene in a sexual assault situation.

PubMed

Hust, Stacey J T; Marett, Emily Garrigues; Lei, Ming; Chang, Hua; Ren, Chunbo; McNab, Anna Lazárová; Adams, Paula M

2013-01-01

Popular crime dramas have tackled sensitive issues such as sexual assault with increasing frequency over the past 20 years. These popular programs increasingly demonstrate the emotional and physical effect of sexual assault on its victims, and in some instances they depict individuals being rewarded for intervening to prevent or stop an assault in progress. It is possible that this content could affect attitudes related to sexual assault prevention. However, no previous research has examined this possibility. In the fall 2008 semester, 508 undergraduates at a large northwestern university completed a questionnaire about media use and bystander intervention in a sexual assault situation. Results from hierarchical regressions lend support for the integrative model of behavioral prediction in that instrumentality, rape myth acceptance, perceived social norms, perceived efficacy related to intervening, and exposure to primetime crime dramas were associated with participants' intentions to intervene in a sexual assault. The results suggest that crime dramas may be a useful venue for prevention messages as exposure to crime dramas uniquely contributed to intentions to intervene in a sexual assault.

Privacy and Property in the Biobank Context

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

A research biobank is a collection of personal health and lifestyle information, including genetic samples of yet unknown but possibly large information potential about the participant. For the participants, the risk of taking part is not bodily harm but infringements of their privacy and the harmful consequences such infringements might have. But what do we mean by privacy? Which harms are we talking about? To address such questions we need to get a grip on what privacy is all about and aim for a fruitful perspective on the issues of property and privacy rights in the context of biobanking. This paper argues that the limits and handling of private matters is determined in specific social relations. The crucial point is thus to determine which information and activities are or are not the legitimate concern of others. Privacy and property rights should be seen as balanced by duties, that is as inherently relational interests extending into the public sphere, rather than to see these rights as the control of an object—for instance the participant’s biobank material. PMID:20799053

"Honk against homophobia": rethinking relations between media and sexual minorities.

PubMed

Venzo, Paul; Hess, Kristy

2013-01-01

The theory of "symbolic annihilation" or "symbolic violence" has been used in academic literature to describe the way in which sexual minorities have been ignored, trivialized, or condemned by the media. This article aims to de-center research from issues of media representation to consider the capacity for minority groups to proactively use new media and its various avenues for interactivity, social networking, and feedback to fight social exclusion. This work suggests that new media has become a space in which the nominally marginal in society may acquire "social artillery"-a term used to describe how sexual minorities utilize their expanding and more readily accessible social connections in digital space to combat instances of homophobia. The research draws on the results of an inquiry into the relation between media and a regional youth social justice group in Australia tackling homophobia. The research demonstrates that the group is becoming increasingly adept and comfortable with using a cross-section of media platforms to fulfill their own objectives, rather than seeing themselves as passive subjects of media representation. This article argues that this sets an example for other socially excluded groups looking to renegotiate their relation with the media in regional areas.

What Is Building Partner Capacity Issues for Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-18

the United States mitigate risks associated with diverging interests? If so, how? Does the partner have legitimate institutions of governance and...operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, though, perhaps the key phrase is using BPC to “reduce risk to U.S. forces and extend security to areas we cannot...endeavor. This is due to a variety of reasons. In the first instance, as a 2013 RAND study argued, data limitations, lack of assessments , and the long

Air Land Sea Bulletin. Issue No. 2011-3, September 2011

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

is facilitated by five radios (two FM/SINGARS, one UHF, one VHF, and one SATCOM), and the blue force tracker (BFT) system. BFT is the ground...into the virtual domain as avatars and provided a correlation between the live and virtual worlds. In one instance, a live blue pickup truck moving...which provided blue and red force GPS tracking data. Through this system, live people and vehicles were ac- curately displayed onto the virtual

The Computational Science Environment (CSE)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

supported CSE platforms. Developers can also build against different versions of a particular package (e.g., Python-2.4 vs . Python-2.5) via a...8.2.1 TK Testing Error and Workaround It has been found that TK tends to produces more testing errors when using KDE , and in some instances, the test...suite freezes when reaching the TK select test. These issues have not been seen when using Gnome . 8.2.2 VTK Testing Error and Workaround VTK test

Campus High-Risk Drinking Culture as a Social Justice Issue: A Commentary on the Potential Impact on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Marginalized College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Satinsky, Sonya; Washington, Reonda L.; Pastor, Jonathan; Wagner, A. Katherine

2017-01-01

High-risk drinking (HRD) is a public health priority on college campuses in order to decrease harm to individuals who engage in HRD, as well as others in their presence. We posit an underexplored impact of campus HRD culture: the exposure of marginalized students to instances of bias perpetrated by those under the influence. Therefore, our focus…

An overview of sexual harassment.

PubMed

Charney, D A; Russell, R C

1994-01-01

A few widely publicized cases have made sexual harassment a salient subject in the 1990s. This article reviews the topic in a comprehensive manner, with particular attention to demographic information, psychosocial consequences, appropriate therapeutic interventions, and related psychological issues. Computerized literature searches were used to identify research and review papers from psychiatry and psychology journals. Nonscientific works that provide additional information are also cited. The literature suggests that sexual harassment is a widespread phenomenon, affecting 42% of women and 15% of men in occupational settings, 73% of women and 22% of men during medical training, and lower percentages in other educational settings. Despite the pervasive nature of this problem, only 1%-7% of victims file formal complaints. Sexual harassment produces an array of psychological and physical symptoms in over 90% of victims, and 12% seek help from mental health care professionals. Self-doubt is a central issue regardless of gender, but in instances where the perpetrator is male and the victim is female, there are ramifications unique to the trauma of gender-based abuse. It is critical that therapists avoid contributing to the process of "second injury" and not imply that patients have brought their troubles on themselves. Key therapeutic tasks include empathy, validation, and empowerment. Few experimental studies have focused on the victims of sexual harassment, and none have focused on the perpetrators. Psychiatry can play an invaluable role in the assessment and treatment of victims, the fostering of education and research in this area, and the understanding of underlying psychological and gender issues.

New insights into diversification of hyper-heuristics.

PubMed

Ren, Zhilei; Jiang, He; Xuan, Jifeng; Hu, Yan; Luo, Zhongxuan

2014-10-01

There has been a growing research trend of applying hyper-heuristics for problem solving, due to their ability of balancing the intensification and the diversification with low level heuristics. Traditionally, the diversification mechanism is mostly realized by perturbing the incumbent solutions to escape from local optima. In this paper, we report our attempt toward providing a new diversification mechanism, which is based on the concept of instance perturbation. In contrast to existing approaches, the proposed mechanism achieves the diversification by perturbing the instance under solving, rather than the solutions. To tackle the challenge of incorporating instance perturbation into hyper-heuristics, we also design a new hyper-heuristic framework HIP-HOP (recursive acronym of HIP-HOP is an instance perturbation-based hyper-heuristic optimization procedure), which employs a grammar guided high level strategy to manipulate the low level heuristics. With the expressive power of the grammar, the constraints, such as the feasibility of the output solution could be easily satisfied. Numerical results and statistical tests over both the Ising spin glass problem and the p -median problem instances show that HIP-HOP is able to achieve promising performances. Furthermore, runtime distribution analysis reveals that, although being relatively slow at the beginning, HIP-HOP is able to achieve competitive solutions once given sufficient time.

PREFACE: 6th International Workshop on Pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians in Quantum Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fring, Andreas; Jones, Hugh; Znojil, Miloslav

2008-06-01

Attempts to understand the quantum mechanics of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems can be traced back to the early days, one example being Heisenberg's endeavour to formulate a consistent model involving an indefinite metric. Over the years non-Hermitian Hamiltonians whose spectra were believed to be real have appeared from time to time in the literature, for instance in the study of strong interactions at high energies via Regge models, in condensed matter physics in the context of the XXZ-spin chain, in interacting boson models in nuclear physics, in integrable quantum field theories as Toda field theories with complex coupling constants, and also very recently in a field theoretical scenario in the quantization procedure of strings on an AdS5 x S5 background. Concrete experimental realizations of these types of systems in the form of optical lattices have been proposed in 2007. In the area of mathematical physics similar non-systematic results appeared sporadically over the years. However, intensive and more systematic investigation of these types of non- Hermitian Hamiltonians with real eigenvalue spectra only began about ten years ago, when the surprising discovery was made that a large class of one-particle systems perturbed by a simple non-Hermitian potential term possesses a real energy spectrum. Since then regular international workshops devoted to this theme have taken place. This special issue is centred around the 6th International Workshop on Pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians in Quantum Physics held in July 2007 at City University London. All the contributions contain significant new results or alternatively provide a survey of the state of the art of the subject or a critical assessment of the present understanding of the topic and a discussion of open problems. Original contributions from non-participants were also invited. Meanwhile many interesting results have been obtained and consensus has been reached on various central conceptual issues in the growing community of this subject. It is, for instance, well understood that the reality of the spectrum can be attributed either to the unbroken PT-symmetry of the entire system, that is, invariance of the Hamiltonian and the corresponding wavefunctions under a simultaneous parity transformation and time reversal, or more generally to its pseudo-Hermiticity . When the spectrum is real and discrete the Hamiltonian is actually quasi-Hermitian, with a positive-definite metric operator, and can in principle be related by a similarity transformation to an isospectral Hermitian counterpart. For all approaches well-defined procedures have been developed, which allow one to construct metric operators and therefore a consistent description of the underlying quantum mechanical observables. Even though the general principles have been laid out, it remains a challenge in most concrete cases to implement the entire procedure. Solvable models in this sense, some of which may be found in this issue, remain a rare exception. Nonetheless, despite this progress some important questions are still unanswered. For instance, according to the current understanding the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian does not uniquely define the physics of the system since a meaningful metric can no longer be associated with the system in a non-trivial and unambiguous manner. A fully consistent scattering theory has also not yet been formulated. Other issues remain controversial, such as the quantum brachistochrone problem, the problem of forming a mixture between a Hermitian and non-Hermitian system, the new phenomenological possibilities of forming a kind of worm-hole effect, etc. We would like to acknowledge the financial support of the London Mathematical Society, the Institute of Physics, the Doppler Institute in Prague and the School of Engineering and Mathematical Science of City University London. We hope this special issue will be useful to the newcomer as well as to the expert in the subject. Workshop photograph Participants of the 6th International Workshop on Pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians in Quantum Physics.

Characterizing transient noise in the LIGO detectors.

PubMed

Nuttall, L K

2018-05-28

Data from the LIGO detectors typically contain many non-Gaussian noise transients which arise due to instrumental and environmental conditions. These non-Gaussian transients can be an issue for the modelled and unmodelled transient gravitational-wave searches, as they can mask or mimic a true signal. Data quality can change quite rapidly, making it imperative to track and find new sources of transient noise so that data are minimally contaminated. Several examples of transient noise and the tools used to track them are presented. These instances serve to highlight the diverse range of noise sources present at the LIGO detectors during their second observing run.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'. © 2018 The Author(s).

Multi-issue Agent Negotiation Based on Fairness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuo, Baohe; Zheng, Sue; Wu, Hong

Agent-based e-commerce service has become a hotspot now. How to make the agent negotiation process quickly and high-efficiently is the main research direction of this area. In the multi-issue model, MAUT(Multi-attribute Utility Theory) or its derived theory usually consider little about the fairness of both negotiators. This work presents a general model of agent negotiation which considered the satisfaction of both negotiators via autonomous learning. The model can evaluate offers from the opponent agent based on the satisfaction degree, learn online to get the opponent's knowledge from interactive instances of history and negotiation of this time, make concessions dynamically based on fair object. Through building the optimal negotiation model, the bilateral negotiation achieved a higher efficiency and fairer deal.

Evaluating the Efficacy of the Cloud for Cluster Computation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knight, David; Shams, Khawaja; Chang, George; Soderstrom, Tom

2012-01-01

Computing requirements vary by industry, and it follows that NASA and other research organizations have computing demands that fall outside the mainstream. While cloud computing made rapid inroads for tasks such as powering web applications, performance issues on highly distributed tasks hindered early adoption for scientific computation. One venture to address this problem is Nebula, NASA's homegrown cloud project tasked with delivering science-quality cloud computing resources. However, another industry development is Amazon's high-performance computing (HPC) instances on Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) that promises improved performance for cluster computation. This paper presents results from a series of benchmarks run on Amazon EC2 and discusses the efficacy of current commercial cloud technology for running scientific applications across a cluster. In particular, a 240-core cluster of cloud instances achieved 2 TFLOPS on High-Performance Linpack (HPL) at 70% of theoretical computational performance. The cluster's local network also demonstrated sub-100 ?s inter-process latency with sustained inter-node throughput in excess of 8 Gbps. Beyond HPL, a real-world Hadoop image processing task from NASA's Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project (LMMP) was run on a 29 instance cluster to process lunar and Martian surface images with sizes on the order of tens of gigapixels. These results demonstrate that while not a rival of dedicated supercomputing clusters, commercial cloud technology is now a feasible option for moderately demanding scientific workloads.

[Academic cell therapy facilities are challenged by European regulation on advanced therapy medicinal products].

PubMed

Chabannon, Christian; Sabatier, Florence; Rial-Sebbag, Emmanuelle; Calmels, Boris; Veran, Julie; Magalon, Guy; Lemarie, Claude; Mahalatchimy, Aurélie

2014-05-01

Regulation (EC) n° 1394/2007 from the European Parliament and the Council describes a new category of health products termed « Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products » (ATMPs). ATMPs derive from cell engineering, tissue engineering or genetic manipulations, and can in some instances be combined with medical devices. ATMPs are distributed and administered to patients, after biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies have obtained a marketing authorization that is granted by the European Commission on the basis of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) assessment. Seven years after the publication of the regulation, few of these therapies have received a marketing authorization, and even fewer have met commercial success, suggesting that a number of medical and economic issues still need to be sorted out in order to achieve sustainability in this field. The coexistence of three sets of rules for three categories of health products that are biologically and medically related - ATMPs, ATMPs produced under the hospital exemption rule, and cell therapy products (CTPs) (a specific legal category in France) that have long been used in hematopoietic cell transplantation - constitutes a complex regulatory framework. This situation raises significant issues for historical as well as emerging operators in this moving field that are discussed thereafter. © 2014 médecine/sciences – Inserm.

"More Closeted Than Gayness Itself": The Depiction of Same-Sex Couple Violence in Newspaper Media.

PubMed

Estes, Michelle L; Webber, Gretchen R

2017-10-01

Same-sex intimate partner violence (IPV) lacks mainstream news media coverage. News media report on those stories that are most prominent, and these stories are often shaped and presented within a White, heterosexual, upper-class, male framework. This framework largely ignores or misrepresents those that do not fit these characteristics, resulting in a gap in research and coverage of same-sex IPV. This article explores whether U.S. newspapers cover same-sex IPV, how often, and how same-sex couple violence is portrayed in newspapers when covered. Twenty-five newspaper articles published from 2005 to 2015, 10 years prior to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, were located and analyzed. Findings indicate sparse newspaper coverage of IPV in same-sex couples. Ten articles highlight the lack of coverage and knowledge related to same-sex couple IPV. Eighteen articles address same-sex IPV as a social issue and highlight resource concerns, police involvement, and heteronormativity and heterosexism. Sixteen articles depict specific instances of IPV in same-sex couples. The overall lack of coverage and how same-sex IPV is covered remains problematic and limited. More mainstream and accurate coverage is needed to effectively address this social issue. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

Incidental genetic findings in randomized clinical trials: recommendations from the Genomics and Randomized Trials Network (GARNET)

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Recommendations and guidance on how to handle the return of genetic results to patients have offered limited insight into how to approach incidental genetic findings in the context of clinical trials. This paper provides the Genomics and Randomized Trials Network (GARNET) recommendations on incidental genetic findings in the context of clinical trials, and discusses the ethical and practical issues considered in formulating our recommendations. There are arguments in support of as well as against returning incidental genetic findings in clinical trials. For instance, reporting incidental findings in clinical trials may improve the investigator-participant relationship and the satisfaction of participation, but it may also blur the line between clinical care and research. The issues of whether and how to return incidental genetic findings, including the costs of doing so, should be considered when developing clinical trial protocols. Once decided, plans related to sharing individual results from the aim(s) of the trial, as well as incidental findings, should be discussed explicitly in the consent form. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and other study-specific governing bodies should be part of the decision as to if, when, and how to return incidental findings, including when plans in this regard are being reconsidered. PMID:23363732

Condom promotion and use: family planning versus HIV protection.

PubMed

Mundigo, A I

1989-12-01

Condoms have been used since the 16th century as a prophylactic agent against sexually transmitted diseases. With regards to family planning, condoms are used for spacing and prevention of pregnancy. However, after the invention of more reliable contraceptives, condoms lost their popularity as a contraceptive agent, only to regain it in the wake of the AIDS epidemic. The main concern in using condoms has always been the high failure rate, which tends to be a complicated issue given that it's efficacy is affected by the motivation and characteristic of the user. Irrespective of the numerous advantages of the condom, at present there is little incentive to use them on a routine basis. Reasons for this objection include the fact that condoms not only interfere with sex, but are unnatural and leave the man very unsatisfied. Promoting condoms in developing countries is both a cultural and political issue, stemming from the misleading preconception of the man's role in family planning. For instance, condoms are infamous for their use in illicit sex, and as such cannot be used on a relatively respectable individual. The challenge in condom promotion is the creation of a new image based on family planning, reliability aspects of condoms, noninterference with pleasure concept and the added value of protection against STD's.

Extraction and Classification of Emotions for Business Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Rajib

The commercial study of emotions has not embraced Internet / social mining yet, even though it has important applications in management. This is surprising since the emotional content is freeform, wide spread, can give a better indication of feelings (for instance with taboo subjects), and is inexpensive compared to other business research methods. A brief framework for applying text mining to this new research domain is shown and classification issues are discussed in an effort to quickly get businessman and researchers to adopt the mining methodology.

An Application of Survival Analysis Methods to the Study of Marine Enlisted Attrition

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-01

the author and do nut reflect the official policy or po- sition of the Dep.artment of Defense or the U.S. Go -ernment. 17 Cosati Codes 13 Subject Te...The majority of the findings concern -ing the effects of the covariates On attrition are consistent with published results from previous mnibta~ry...however. For instance, it is not exactly clear why high school graduates are better suited for military service. Issues concerning the non-high school

Development vs. Deployment: How Mature Should a Technology be Before it is Considered for Inclusion in an Acquisition Program?

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-30

surface combatant. Take, for instance, the tumblehome hull design of the new Zumwalt-class destroyer. If some critical issues were to arise with the ...more aggressive target is selected, there will be a greater increase in capability for each new system deployed. However, the expected duration of...push for the most advanced technology they can get into each new system. • This behavior exacerbates the problem and leads to even longer acquisition

Revitalizing Personalized Medicine: Respecting Biomolecular Complexities Beyond Gene Expression

PubMed Central

Jayachandran, D; Ramkrishna, U; Skiles, J; Renbarger, J; Ramkrishna, D

2014-01-01

Despite recent advancements in “omic” technologies, personalized medicine has not realized its fullest potential due to isolated and incomplete application of gene expression tools. In many instances, pharmacogenomics is being interchangeably used for personalized medicine, when actually it is one of the many facets of personalized medicine. Herein, we highlight key issues that are hampering the advancement of personalized medicine and highlight emerging predictive tools that can serve as a decision support mechanism for physicians to personalize treatments. PMID:24739991

African Security Challenges: Now and Over the Horizon Improving African Security Through the Use of Non/Less-Than -Lethal Force: Challenges , Issues and Approaches

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-01

donor funding is no longer available. For instance, Brazil and Colombia were unable to sustain their CP programs when funding from donors to establish...forces. Other more advanced forms of non/less-than-lethal weapons which are common in the West, such as Tasers , are far less common on the continent...31 As part of this discussion, several experts discussed Tasers , in particular, though one expert also mentioned

The development of truncated inviscid turbulence and the FPU-problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ooms, G.; Boersma, B. J.

As is well known Fermi, Pasta and Ulam [1] studied the energy redistribution between the linear modes of a one-dimensional chain of particles connected via weakly nonlinear springs. To their surprise no apparent tendency to equipartition of energy was observed in their numerical experiments. Much more knowledge is now available about this problem (see, for instance, the recent book by Gallavotti [2] or the review by Cambell et al. [3] in the focus issue on the FPU-problem in the journal Chaos).

Can Applying Organic and Industry Best Practices Improve Foreign Military Sales Supportability

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

time away Specific dollar amount of non-specified items Lead time away Allows DoD to stock forecasted items for future country needs Allows issuing of...items from stock Result is requisitions filled less than lead time away FIGuRE 3. THREE TYPES OF FMS SPARES SuPPORT MODELS (AIR FORCE SECuRITY...DoD stock (DISAM, 2007). The logistical element of supply support, which in this instance includes the art of forecasting and spares support approach

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues. Third Edition, Volume 1. Theory of War and Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

Japanese wars. That inability was tied in with a trend in Europe at the time to combine elan with a military focus on moral force, bloodshed, and...most famous and influential theory of insurgency warfare. His concepts, designed initially for the Chinese fight against the Japanese in World War II... Japanese ; victory would come in time through attrition. He believed the Chinese should avoid large battles except in the rare instances when they had the

Medical "publishing societies" in eighteenth-century Britain.

PubMed Central

Kronick, D A

1994-01-01

This article reviews the relationship between medical journals and publishing societies in eighteenth-century Great Britain. The importance of the perception that these journals were being issued under the auspices of societies is revealed by the number of times this kind of sponsorship was invoked by new medical journals. This kind of endorsement was projected even when a society so designated exercised only a nominal responsibility for the journal and, even when, in some instances, no organization can be said to have existed. PMID:7920337

Afghan Air Force University: Contract Requirements Were Generally Met, but Instances of Non Compliance, Poor Workmanship, and Inadequate Maintenance Need to Be Addressed

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

work included installing new doors and windows, new plumbing fixtures, and overhead lighting, fresh paint, and tile work in 15 buildings and new...ceramic tile work in some buildings. These issues can largely be attributed to USACE’s failure to (1) fully monitor the implementation of its three-phase...and 3 support structures. The building renovations largely consisted of replacing doors, windows, carpeting, tiles , bathroom fixtures, and fans, as

Efficient dynamic optimization of logic programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laird, Phil

1992-01-01

A summary is given of the dynamic optimization approach to speed up learning for logic programs. The problem is to restructure a recursive program into an equivalent program whose expected performance is optimal for an unknown but fixed population of problem instances. We define the term 'optimal' relative to the source of input instances and sketch an algorithm that can come within a logarithmic factor of optimal with high probability. Finally, we show that finding high-utility unfolding operations (such as EBG) can be reduced to clause reordering.

The influence of generic substitution on the content of patient-pharmacist communication in Swedish community pharmacies.

PubMed

Olsson, Erika; Wallach-Kildemoes, Helle; Ahmed, Ban; Ingman, Pontus; Kaae, Susanne; Kälvemark Sporrong, Sofia

2017-08-01

The objective was to study the relationship between the length and content of patient-pharmacist communication in community pharmacies, and generic substitution. The study was conducted in six community pharmacies in Sweden. Non-participant observations with audio recordings and short structured interviews were conducted. Out of 32 pharmacists 29 agreed to participate (90.6%), as did 282 out of 407 patients (69.3%). Logistic regression analysis was applied to calculate odds ratio for occurrence of generic substitution. Linear regression (β-coefficients) was applied to test for differences in time spent on different categories. In encounters where generic substitution occurred more time (19.2 s) was spent on non-medical (for instance administrative or economical) issues (P = 0.01, 95% confidence interval 4.8-33.6). However, the total time of the encounter was not significantly longer. The amount of time spent on non-medical issues increased with age of patient (age 60+: β, 33 s, P < 0.001). The results indicate that more time was spent on medical issues with patients who have a higher education (high school: β, 10.8 s, P = 0.07, university: β, 10.2 s, P = 0.11) relative to those with only elementary school education. Occurrence of generic substitution was correlated with more time spent on communicating on non-medical, but not on medical, issues. No extra time was spent on medical information for the groups normally overrepresented among those with low health literacy. This study suggests that pharmacists need to further embrace their role in promoting rational use of medicines, not least when generic substitution occurs. © 2016 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Learning to Rapidly Re-Contact the Lost Plume in Chemical Plume Tracing

PubMed Central

Cao, Meng-Li; Meng, Qing-Hao; Wang, Jia-Ying; Luo, Bing; Jing, Ya-Qi; Ma, Shu-Gen

2015-01-01

Maintaining contact between the robot and plume is significant in chemical plume tracing (CPT). In the time immediately following the loss of chemical detection during the process of CPT, Track-Out activities bias the robot heading relative to the upwind direction, expecting to rapidly re-contact the plume. To determine the bias angle used in the Track-Out activity, we propose an online instance-based reinforcement learning method, namely virtual trail following (VTF). In VTF, action-value is generalized from recently stored instances of successful Track-Out activities. We also propose a collaborative VTF (cVTF) method, in which multiple robots store their own instances, and learn from the stored instances, in the same database. The proposed VTF and cVTF methods are compared with biased upwind surge (BUS) method, in which all Track-Out activities utilize an offline optimized universal bias angle, in an indoor environment with three different airflow fields. With respect to our experimental conditions, VTF and cVTF show stronger adaptability to different airflow environments than BUS, and furthermore, cVTF yields higher success rates and time-efficiencies than VTF. PMID:25825974

Predictive Genomic Analyses Inform the Basis for Vitamin Metabolism and Provisioning in Bacteria-Arthropod Endosymbioses.

PubMed

Serbus, Laura R; Rodriguez, Brian Garcia; Sharmin, Zinat; Momtaz, A J M Zehadee; Christensen, Steen

2017-06-07

The requirement of vitamins for core metabolic processes creates a unique set of pressures for arthropods subsisting on nutrient-limited diets. While endosymbiotic bacteria carried by arthropods have been widely implicated in vitamin provisioning, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. To address this issue, standardized predictive assessment of vitamin metabolism was performed in 50 endosymbionts of insects and arachnids. The results predicted that arthropod endosymbionts overall have little capacity for complete de novo biosynthesis of conventional or active vitamin forms. Partial biosynthesis pathways were commonly predicted, suggesting a substantial role in vitamin provisioning. Neither taxonomic relationships between host and symbiont, nor the mode of host-symbiont interaction were clear predictors of endosymbiont vitamin pathway capacity. Endosymbiont genome size and the synthetic capacity of nonsymbiont taxonomic relatives were more reliable predictors. We developed a new software application that also predicted that last-step conversion of intermediates into active vitamin forms may contribute further to vitamin biosynthesis by endosymbionts. Most instances of predicted vitamin conversion were paralleled by predictions of vitamin use. This is consistent with achievement of provisioning in some cases through upregulation of pathways that were retained for endosymbiont benefit. The predicted absence of other enzyme classes further suggests a baseline of vitamin requirement by the majority of endosymbionts, as well as some instances of putative mutualism. Adaptation of this workflow to analysis of other organisms and metabolic pathways will provide new routes for considering the molecular basis for symbiosis on a comprehensive scale. Copyright © 2017 Serbus et al.

A Firefly-Inspired Method for Protein Structure Prediction in Lattice Models

PubMed Central

Maher, Brian; Albrecht, Andreas A.; Loomes, Martin; Yang, Xin-She; Steinhöfel, Kathleen

2014-01-01

We introduce a Firefly-inspired algorithmic approach for protein structure prediction over two different lattice models in three-dimensional space. In particular, we consider three-dimensional cubic and three-dimensional face-centred-cubic (FCC) lattices. The underlying energy models are the Hydrophobic-Polar (H-P) model, the Miyazawa–Jernigan (M-J) model and a related matrix model. The implementation of our approach is tested on ten H-P benchmark problems of a length of 48 and ten M-J benchmark problems of a length ranging from 48 until 61. The key complexity parameter we investigate is the total number of objective function evaluations required to achieve the optimum energy values for the H-P model or competitive results in comparison to published values for the M-J model. For H-P instances and cubic lattices, where data for comparison are available, we obtain an average speed-up over eight instances of 2.1, leaving out two extreme values (otherwise, 8.8). For six M-J instances, data for comparison are available for cubic lattices and runs with a population size of 100, where, a priori, the minimum free energy is a termination criterion. The average speed-up over four instances is 1.2 (leaving out two extreme values, otherwise 1.1), which is achieved for a population size of only eight instances. The present study is a test case with initial results for ad hoc parameter settings, with the aim of justifying future research on larger instances within lattice model settings, eventually leading to the ultimate goal of implementations for off-lattice models. PMID:24970205

A firefly-inspired method for protein structure prediction in lattice models.

PubMed

Maher, Brian; Albrecht, Andreas A; Loomes, Martin; Yang, Xin-She; Steinhöfel, Kathleen

2014-01-07

We introduce a Firefly-inspired algorithmic approach for protein structure prediction over two different lattice models in three-dimensional space. In particular, we consider three-dimensional cubic and three-dimensional face-centred-cubic (FCC) lattices. The underlying energy models are the Hydrophobic-Polar (H-P) model, the Miyazawa-Jernigan (M-J) model and a related matrix model. The implementation of our approach is tested on ten H-P benchmark problems of a length of 48 and ten M-J benchmark problems of a length ranging from 48 until 61. The key complexity parameter we investigate is the total number of objective function evaluations required to achieve the optimum energy values for the H-P model or competitive results in comparison to published values for the M-J model. For H-P instances and cubic lattices, where data for comparison are available, we obtain an average speed-up over eight instances of 2.1, leaving out two extreme values (otherwise, 8.8). For six M-J instances, data for comparison are available for cubic lattices and runs with a population size of 100, where, a priori, the minimum free energy is a termination criterion. The average speed-up over four instances is 1.2 (leaving out two extreme values, otherwise 1.1), which is achieved for a population size of only eight instances. The present study is a test case with initial results for ad hoc parameter settings, with the aim of justifying future research on larger instances within lattice model settings, eventually leading to the ultimate goal of implementations for off-lattice models.

Intimate partner violence and substance use risk among young men who have sex with men: The P18 Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Stults, Christopher B.; Javdani, Shabnam; Greenbaum, Chloe A.; Kapadia, Farzana; Halkitis, Perry N.

2015-01-01

Objectives Substance use is prevalent among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and may be associated with intimate partner violence (IPV). Experiences of IPV are associated with several adverse health conditions among adult MSM, but there is a gap in knowledge about this relationship among YMSM which warrants further investigation. Methods This study employs baseline data from a prospective cohort study to examine lifetime experiences of IPV in relation to substance use in the previous 30 days among n=528 YMSM in New York City from 2009-11. To examine the extent to which IPV (any experiences, victimization, and perpetration) are related to substance use (alcohol, marijuana, stimulant, and other drugs) in the last 30 days, distinct 2-step multinomial logistic regression models, controlling for sociodemographic differences, were constructed. Results 44.3% reported lifetime IPV experience, with 39.2% of reporting victimization and 30.5% reporting perpetration. IPV is associated with a 1.6 increased odds of 2 or more instances of alcohol use, a 1.6–1.8 increased odds of 2 or more instances of marijuana use, a 1.8–2.5 increased odds of 2 or more instances of stimulant use, and a 4.1–6.1 increased odds of 2 or more instances of other substance use. Conclusion Findings highlight the strong association between IPV and increased frequency of substance use among YMSM and provide support that violence may exist as part of a syndemic facing YMSM. Prevention and intervention strategies may be improved by addressing substance use in the context of IPV and other related health challenges. PMID:26130334

Intimate partner violence and substance use risk among young men who have sex with men: The P18 cohort study.

PubMed

Stults, Christopher B; Javdani, Shabnam; Greenbaum, Chloe A; Kapadia, Farzana; Halkitis, Perry N

2015-09-01

Substance use is prevalent among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and may be associated with intimate partner violence (IPV). Experiences of IPV are associated with several adverse health conditions among adult MSM, but there is a gap in knowledge about this relationship among YMSM, which warrants further investigation. This study employs baseline data from a prospective cohort study to examine lifetime experiences of IPV in relation to substance use in the previous 30 days among n=528 YMSM in New York City from 2009 to 2011. To examine the extent to which IPV (any experiences, victimization, and perpetration) are related to substance use (alcohol, marijuana, stimulant, and other drugs) in the last 30 days, distinct 2-step multinomial logistic regression models, controlling for sociodemographic differences, were constructed. 44.3% reported lifetime IPV experience, with 39.2% of reporting victimization and 30.5% reporting perpetration. IPV is associated with a 1.6 increased odds of 2 or more instances of alcohol use, a 1.6-1.8 increased odds of 2 or more instances of marijuana use, a 1.8-2.5 increased odds of 2 or more instances of stimulant use, and a 4.1-6.1 increased odds of 2 or more instances of other substance use. Findings highlight the strong association between IPV and increased frequency of substance use among YMSM and provide support that violence may exist as part of a syndemic facing YMSM. Prevention and intervention strategies may be improved by addressing substance use in the context of IPV and other related health challenges. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Markov Chain Ontology Analysis (MCOA)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Biomedical ontologies have become an increasingly critical lens through which researchers analyze the genomic, clinical and bibliographic data that fuels scientific research. Of particular relevance are methods, such as enrichment analysis, that quantify the importance of ontology classes relative to a collection of domain data. Current analytical techniques, however, remain limited in their ability to handle many important types of structural complexity encountered in real biological systems including class overlaps, continuously valued data, inter-instance relationships, non-hierarchical relationships between classes, semantic distance and sparse data. Results In this paper, we describe a methodology called Markov Chain Ontology Analysis (MCOA) and illustrate its use through a MCOA-based enrichment analysis application based on a generative model of gene activation. MCOA models the classes in an ontology, the instances from an associated dataset and all directional inter-class, class-to-instance and inter-instance relationships as a single finite ergodic Markov chain. The adjusted transition probability matrix for this Markov chain enables the calculation of eigenvector values that quantify the importance of each ontology class relative to other classes and the associated data set members. On both controlled Gene Ontology (GO) data sets created with Escherichia coli, Drosophila melanogaster and Homo sapiens annotations and real gene expression data extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), the MCOA enrichment analysis approach provides the best performance of comparable state-of-the-art methods. Conclusion A methodology based on Markov chain models and network analytic metrics can help detect the relevant signal within large, highly interdependent and noisy data sets and, for applications such as enrichment analysis, has been shown to generate superior performance on both real and simulated data relative to existing state-of-the-art approaches. PMID:22300537

Markov Chain Ontology Analysis (MCOA).

PubMed

Frost, H Robert; McCray, Alexa T

2012-02-03

Biomedical ontologies have become an increasingly critical lens through which researchers analyze the genomic, clinical and bibliographic data that fuels scientific research. Of particular relevance are methods, such as enrichment analysis, that quantify the importance of ontology classes relative to a collection of domain data. Current analytical techniques, however, remain limited in their ability to handle many important types of structural complexity encountered in real biological systems including class overlaps, continuously valued data, inter-instance relationships, non-hierarchical relationships between classes, semantic distance and sparse data. In this paper, we describe a methodology called Markov Chain Ontology Analysis (MCOA) and illustrate its use through a MCOA-based enrichment analysis application based on a generative model of gene activation. MCOA models the classes in an ontology, the instances from an associated dataset and all directional inter-class, class-to-instance and inter-instance relationships as a single finite ergodic Markov chain. The adjusted transition probability matrix for this Markov chain enables the calculation of eigenvector values that quantify the importance of each ontology class relative to other classes and the associated data set members. On both controlled Gene Ontology (GO) data sets created with Escherichia coli, Drosophila melanogaster and Homo sapiens annotations and real gene expression data extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), the MCOA enrichment analysis approach provides the best performance of comparable state-of-the-art methods. A methodology based on Markov chain models and network analytic metrics can help detect the relevant signal within large, highly interdependent and noisy data sets and, for applications such as enrichment analysis, has been shown to generate superior performance on both real and simulated data relative to existing state-of-the-art approaches.

The importance of standardized observations to evaluate nutritional care quality in the survey process.

PubMed

Schnelle, John F; Bertrand, Rosanna; Hurd, Donna; White, Alan; Squires, David; Feuerberg, Marvin; Hickey, Kelly; Simmons, Sandra F

2009-10-01

Guidelines written for government surveyors who assess nursing home (NH) compliance with federal standards contain instructions to observe the quality of mealtime assistance. However, these instructions are vague and no protocol is provided for surveyors to record observational data. This study compared government survey staff observations of mealtime assistance quality to observations by research staff using a standardized protocol that met basic standards for accurate behavioral measurement. Survey staff used either the observation instructions in the standard survey process or those written for the revised Quality Improvement Survey (QIS). Trained research staff observed mealtime care in 20 NHs in 5 states during the same time period that survey staff evaluated care in the same facilities, although it could not be determined if survey and research staff observed the same residents during the same meals. Ten NHs were evaluated by government surveyors using the QIS survey instructions and 10 NHs were evaluated by surveyors using the standard survey instructions. Research staff observations using a standardized observation protocol identified a higher proportion of residents receiving inadequate feeding assistance during meals relative to survey staff using either the standard or QIS survey instructions. For example, more than 50% of the residents who ate less than half of their meals based on research staff observation were not offered an alternative to the served meal, and the lack of alternatives, or meal substitutions, was common in all 20 NHs. In comparison, the QIS survey teams documented only 2 instances when meal substitutes were not offered in 10 NHs and the standard survey teams documented no instances in 10 NHs. Standardized mealtime observations by research staff revealed feeding assistance care quality issues in all 20 study NHs. Surveyors following the instructions in either the standard or revised QIS surveys did not detect most of these care quality issues. Survey staff instructions for observation of nutritional care are not clearly written; thus, these instructions do not permit accurate behavioral measurement. These instructions should be revised in consideration of basic principles that guide accurate behavioral measurement and shared with NH providers to enable them to effectively implement quality improvement programs.

Thematic Relations Affect Similarity via Commonalities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golonka, Sabrina; Estes, Zachary

2009-01-01

Thematic relations are an important source of perceived similarity. For instance, the "rowing" theme of boats and oars increases their perceived similarity. The mechanism of this effect, however, has not been specified previously. The authors investigated whether thematic relations affect similarity by increasing commonalities or by…

A joint econometric analysis of seat belt use and crash-related injury severity.

PubMed

Eluru, Naveen; Bhat, Chandra R

2007-09-01

This paper formulates a comprehensive econometric structure that recognizes two important issues in crash-related injury severity analysis. First, the impact of a factor on injury severity may be moderated by various observed and unobserved variables specific to an individual or to a crash. Second, seat belt use is likely to be endogenous to injury severity. That is, it is possible that intrinsically unsafe drivers do not wear seat belts and are the ones likely to be involved in high injury severity crashes because of their unsafe driving habits. The preceding issues are considered in the current research effort through the development of a comprehensive model of seat belt use and injury severity that takes the form of a joint correlated random coefficients binary-ordered response system. To our knowledge, this is the first instance of such a model formulation and application not only in the safety analysis literature, but in the econometrics literature in general. The empirical analysis is based on the 2003 General Estimates System (GES) data base. Several types of variables are considered to explain seat belt use and injury severity levels, including driver characteristics, vehicle characteristics, roadway design attributes, environmental factors, and crash characteristics. The results, in addition to confirming the effects of various explanatory variables, also highlight the importance of (a) considering the moderating effects of unobserved individual/crash-related factors on the determinants of injury severity and (b) seat belt use endogeneity. From a policy standpoint, the results suggest that seat belt non-users, when apprehended in the act, should perhaps be subjected to both a fine (to increase the chances that they wear seat belts) as well as mandatory enrollment in a defensive driving course (to attempt to change their aggressive driving behaviors).

Thinking again about science in technology.

PubMed

Alexander, Jennifer Karns

2012-09-01

How to characterize the relationship between science and technology has been a sensitive issue for historians of technology. This essay uses a recent and controversial piece by Paul Forman as a springboard for reexamining the concept of applied science and asks whether "applied science" remains a useful term. Scholars have often taken "applied science" to mean the subordination of technological knowledge to scientific knowledge-and thus the subordination of history of technology to history of science. This essay argues that the historical moment for sensitivity on the subject of applied science has passed, that even in instances where technology can accurately be described as subordinate to science it need not follow that its history is subordinate, and that the concept can be useful in addressing issues in the history and contemporary practice of engineering education.

Evidence for the Concerted Evolution between Short Linear Protein Motifs and Their Flanking Regions

PubMed Central

Chica, Claudia; Diella, Francesca; Gibson, Toby J.

2009-01-01

Background Linear motifs are short modules of protein sequences that play a crucial role in mediating and regulating many protein–protein interactions. The function of linear motifs strongly depends on the context, e.g. functional instances mainly occur inside flexible regions that are accessible for interaction. Sometimes linear motifs appear as isolated islands of conservation in multiple sequence alignments. However, they also occur in larger blocks of sequence conservation, suggesting an active role for the neighbouring amino acids. Results The evolution of regions flanking 116 functional linear motif instances was studied. The conservation of the amino acid sequence and order/disorder tendency of those regions was related to presence/absence of the instance. For the majority of the analysed instances, the pairs of sequences conserving the linear motif were also observed to maintain a similar local structural tendency and/or to have higher local sequence conservation when compared to pairs of sequences where one is missing the linear motif. Furthermore, those instances have a higher chance to co–evolve with the neighbouring residues in comparison to the distant ones. Those findings are supported by examples where the regulation of the linear motif–mediated interaction has been shown to depend on the modifications (e.g. phosphorylation) at neighbouring positions or is thought to benefit from the binding versatility of disordered regions. Conclusion The results suggest that flanking regions are relevant for linear motif–mediated interactions, both at the structural and sequence level. More interestingly, they indicate that the prediction of linear motif instances can be enriched with contextual information by performing a sequence analysis similar to the one presented here. This can facilitate the understanding of the role of these predicted instances in determining the protein function inside the broader context of the cellular network where they arise. PMID:19584925

Practical Framework for an Electron Beam Induced Current Technique Based on a Numerical Optimization Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaguchi, Hideshi; Soeda, Takeshi

2015-03-01

A practical framework for an electron beam induced current (EBIC) technique has been established for conductive materials based on a numerical optimization approach. Although the conventional EBIC technique is useful for evaluating the distributions of dopants or crystal defects in semiconductor transistors, issues related to the reproducibility and quantitative capability of measurements using this technique persist. For instance, it is difficult to acquire high-quality EBIC images throughout continuous tests due to variation in operator skill or test environment. Recently, due to the evaluation of EBIC equipment performance and the numerical optimization of equipment items, the constant acquisition of high contrast images has become possible, improving the reproducibility as well as yield regardless of operator skill or test environment. The technique proposed herein is even more sensitive and quantitative than scanning probe microscopy, an imaging technique that can possibly damage the sample. The new technique is expected to benefit the electrical evaluation of fragile or soft materials along with LSI materials.

Information about morality and behaviour of victims.

PubMed

Pannain, B; Pannain, M; Mininni, T; Albino, M

1990-01-01

According to the Italian Law of Procedure (1988) documents which inform about the morality of the guilty, the witness and the victim are not admitted; those about the victim are admitted only when the criminal event needs to be evaluated in relation to his/her behaviour and moral qualities. In our opinion, in this case, generic moral qualities do not have any real significance; only information about the victim's objective behaviour should be admitted: for instance, in the case of the crime of "corruption of a minor", a type of objective behaviour can be habitual prostitution. Moreover, the norm at issue contrasts with the general principle in the Italian law that the rights concerning the personality of an individual, particularly of a minor, are to be protected, and with the fundamental norm in the law of Procedure according to which criminological examinations are not allowed during the trial. It is useful, however, to acquire elements in order to evaluate the credibility of the witness.

Deception in advertising and marketing: ethical applications in rehabilitation.

PubMed

Banja, J D

1994-09-01

A much discussed issue in contemporary discussions of health care reform is the considerable competition that is anticipated to occur among providers. An inevitable aspect of this competition will be the ways health care services are presented in the marketplace through advertising and other forms of promotional literature. Considerable concern has already emerged among certain rehabilitation professionals, however, that advertising and marketing practices in rehabilitation must cohere with ethical standards. This article will discuss certain aspects of those standards, particularly as they have evolved from the Federal Trade Commission's definition of and rulings on deceptive practices in advertising. Salient aspects of the Commission's 1983 definition of deception will be related to rehabilitation by way of examining instances of rehabilitation advertising and marketing that might satisfy the Commission's definition of deception. The article will conclude with certain recommendations, principally drawn from various Federal Trade Commission rulings, that might be useful to individuals or corporate entities who advertise or market rehabilitation services.

Continuum Thermodynamics - Part II: Applications and Examples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albers, Bettina; Wilmanski, Krzysztof

The intention by writing Part II of the book on continuum thermodynamics was the deepening of some issues covered in Part I as well as a development of certain skills in dealing with practical problems of oscopic processes. However, the main motivation for this part is the presentation of main facets of thermodynamics which appear when interdisciplinary problems are considered. There are many monographs on the subjects of solid mechanics and thermomechanics, on fluid mechanics and on coupled fields but most of them cover only special problems in great details which are characteristic for the chosen field. It is rather seldom that relations between these fields are discussed. This concerns, for instance, large deformations of the skeleton of porous materials with diffusion (e.g. lungs), couplings of deformable particles with the fluid motion in suspensions, couplings of adsorption processes and chemical reactions in immiscible mixtures with diffusion, various multi-component aspects of the motion, e.g. of avalanches, such as segregation processes, etc...

The multiscale coarse-graining method. XI. Accurate interactions based on the centers of charge of coarse-grained sites

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

Cao, Zhen; Voth, Gregory A., E-mail: gavoth@uchicago.edu

It is essential to be able to systematically construct coarse-grained (CG) models that can efficiently and accurately reproduce key properties of higher-resolution models such as all-atom. To fulfill this goal, a mapping operator is needed to transform the higher-resolution configuration to a CG configuration. Certain mapping operators, however, may lose information related to the underlying electrostatic properties. In this paper, a new mapping operator based on the centers of charge of CG sites is proposed to address this issue. Four example systems are chosen to demonstrate this concept. Within the multiscale coarse-graining framework, CG models that use this mapping operatormore » are found to better reproduce the structural correlations of atomistic models. The present work also demonstrates the flexibility of the mapping operator and the robustness of the force matching method. For instance, important functional groups can be isolated and emphasized in the CG model.« less

Gas-lift pumps for flowing and purifying molten silicon

DOEpatents

Kellerman, Peter L.; Carlson, Frederick

2016-02-23

The embodiments herein relate to a sheet production apparatus. A vessel is configured to hold a melt of a material and a cooling plate is disposed proximate the melt. This cooling plate configured to form a sheet of the material on the melt. A pump is used. In one instance, this pump includes a gas source and a conduit in fluid communication with the gas source. In another instance, this pump injects a gas into a melt. The gas can raise the melt or provide momentum to the melt.

Statistically significant relational data mining :

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

Berry, Jonathan W.; Leung, Vitus Joseph; Phillips, Cynthia Ann

This report summarizes the work performed under the project (3z(BStatitically significant relational data mining.(3y (BThe goal of the project was to add more statistical rigor to the fairly ad hoc area of data mining on graphs. Our goal was to develop better algorithms and better ways to evaluate algorithm quality. We concetrated on algorithms for community detection, approximate pattern matching, and graph similarity measures. Approximate pattern matching involves finding an instance of a relatively small pattern, expressed with tolerance, in a large graph of data observed with uncertainty. This report gathers the abstracts and references for the eight refereed publicationsmore » that have appeared as part of this work. We then archive three pieces of research that have not yet been published. The first is theoretical and experimental evidence that a popular statistical measure for comparison of community assignments favors over-resolved communities over approximations to a ground truth. The second are statistically motivated methods for measuring the quality of an approximate match of a small pattern in a large graph. The third is a new probabilistic random graph model. Statisticians favor these models for graph analysis. The new local structure graph model overcomes some of the issues with popular models such as exponential random graph models and latent variable models.« less

Supporting Information Linking and Discovery Across Organizations Using the VIVO Semantic Web Software Suite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayernik, M. S.; Daniels, M. D.; Maull, K. E.; Khan, H.; Krafft, D. B.; Gross, M. B.; Rowan, L. R.

2016-12-01

Geosciences research is often conducted using distributed networks of researchers and resources. To better enable the discovery of the research output from the scientists and resources used within these organizations, UCAR, Cornell University, and UNAVCO are collaborating on the EarthCollab (http://earthcube.org/group/earthcollab) project which seeks to leverage semantic technologies to manage and link scientific data. As part of this effort, we have been exploring how to leverage information distributed across multiple research organizations. EarthCollab is using the VIVO semantic software suite to lookup and display Semantic Web information across our project partners.Our presentation will include a demonstration of linking between VIVO instances, discussing how to create linkages between entities in different VIVO instances where both entities describe the same person or resource. This discussion will explore how we designate the equivalence of these entities using "same as" assertions between identifiers representing these entities including URIs and ORCID IDs and how we have extended the base VIVO architecture to support the lookup of which entities in separate VIVO instances may be equivalent and to then display information from external linked entities. We will also discuss how these extensions can support other linked data lookups and sources of information.This VIVO cross-linking mechanism helps bring information from multiple VIVO instances together and helps users in navigating information spread-out between multiple VIVO instances. Challenges and open questions for this approach relate to how to display the information obtained from an external VIVO instance, both in order to preserve the brands of the internal and external systems and to handle discrepancies between ontologies, content, and/or VIVO versions.

Active parental consent in school-based research. An examination of ethical and methodological issues.

PubMed

Esbensen, F A; Deschenes, E P; Vogel, R E; West, J; Arboit, K; Harris, L

1996-12-01

To date, most school-based research has used passive parental consent. However, the Family Privacy Protection Act of 1995 aims to change these requirements. The proposed legislation requires written parental consent if minors are to be asked "sensitive" questions as part of any program or activity funded in whole or in part by the federal government. This act is representative of a growing trend toward restricting research involving minors. Whether or not this act is passed by Congress, two lines of concern are highlighted by this legislation. The first deals with ethical issues surrounding consent procedures. For instance, are parental rights compromised when active consent is not mandated? A second line of inquiry pertains to the effect of active consent procedures on response rates and sample bias. In this article, the authors discuss ethical issues surrounding passive and active consent procedures and then report response rates from two projects in which active consent procedures were implemented.

An Efficient Statistical Computation Technique for Health Care Big Data using R

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sushma Rani, N.; Srinivasa Rao, P., Dr; Parimala, P.

2017-08-01

Due to the changes in living conditions and other factors many critical health related problems are arising. The diagnosis of the problem at earlier stages will increase the chances of survival and fast recovery. This reduces the time of recovery and the cost associated for the treatment. One such medical related issue is cancer and breast cancer has been identified as the second leading cause of cancer death. If detected in the early stage it can be cured. Once a patient is detected with breast cancer tumor, it should be classified whether it is cancerous or non-cancerous. So the paper uses k-nearest neighbors(KNN) algorithm which is one of the simplest machine learning algorithms and is an instance-based learning algorithm to classify the data. Day-to -day new records are added which leds to increase in the data to be classified and this tends to be big data problem. The algorithm is implemented in R whichis the most popular platform applied to machine learning algorithms for statistical computing. Experimentation is conducted by using various classification evaluation metric onvarious values of k. The results show that the KNN algorithm out performes better than existing models.

A Qualitative Analysis of the Use of Financial Services and Saving Behavior Among Older African Americans and Latinos in the Los Angeles Area

PubMed Central

Blanco, Luisa R.; Ponce, Maria; Gongora, Arturo; Duru, O. Kenrik

2015-01-01

For this study, we conducted seven focus groups in the Los Angeles area with a total of 70 participants (42 Latinos and 28 African Americans) recruited from three senior centers and a church. There was a wide variety of responses in relation to the usage of financial services among participants. We found that although some participants seem to participate more in the formal financial sector and show a higher level of sophistication when managing their finances, other participants’ use of formal financial institutions is minimal. Among African American participants, we found several instances in which individuals feel very comfortable using banks. Lower levels of participation in the formal financial sector were found among the lower income Latino participants. In relation to barriers to participate in the financial sector, supply was not an issue, but demand and behavioral factors seem more important. Overall, no participants saved very much on a regular basis. We also find that participants in general do not want to ask their children for money, and also do not want to save and accumulate wealth to leave to their children. PMID:26064788

The tyranny of the gift: sacrificial violence in living donor transplants.

PubMed

Scheper-Hughes, N

2007-03-01

Medical anthropology can bring to living donor transplant useful insights on the nature of gifting, family obligations, reciprocity and invisible sacrifice. Whereas, ethical reflections and debates on the marketing of tissues and organs, especially sales by living strangers, have proliferated to the point of saturation, the larger issue of the ethics of "altruistic" donation by and among family members is more rarely the focus of bio-ethical scrutiny and discussion today, though of course it was much debated in the early decades of kidney transplant. As the proportion of living over deceased donors (especially of kidneys) has increased markedly in the past decade, the time is ripe to revisit the topic, which I shall do via three vignettes, all of them informed by my 10 years as founding Director of Organs Watch, an independent, university-based, anthropological and ethnographic field-research and medical human rights project. Whereas living-related (altruistic) and living-unrelated (commercial) donation are often treated as very different phenomena, I will illustrate what social elements are shared. In both instances, paid kidney sellers and related donors, are often responding to family pressures and to a call to "sacrifice".

The future of drugs: recreational drug use and sexual health among gay and other men who have sex with men.

PubMed

Race, Kane; Lea, Toby; Murphy, Dean; Pienaar, Kiran

2017-02-01

There are complex historical connections between sexual minoritisation and desires to chemically alter bodily experience. For gay men, drug and alcohol use can be a creative or experimental response to social marginalisation - and not necessarily a problematic one in every instance. Numerous studies have found that infection with HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (STIs) is more likely among gay and men who have sex with men (MSM) who use recreational drugs than those who do not, but the causal nature of these relations is uncertain. Sexualised drug use is associated with a range of other problems, including dependence, mental health issues, accident and overdose. A growing body of work in the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) field demonstrates the action of drugs and their purported effects to be a product of their relations with various other actors, contexts and practices. Given these contingencies, it is impossible to predict the future of drugs or their effect on the sexual health of gay and MSM with any degree of certainty. This article outlines some of the conditions most likely to mediate such futures in the medium term. Public funding for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer drug issues should not remain restricted to questions of HIV prevention and sexual health. It should be expanded to equip sexual health and AOD service providers with the cultural and sexual literacy to mitigate stigma and allow them to respond constructively to drug problems among sexual and gender minorities as a matter of priority.

Hardware based redundant multi-threading inside a GPU for improved reliability

DOEpatents

Sridharan, Vilas; Gurumurthi, Sudhanva

2015-05-05

A system and method for verifying computation output using computer hardware are provided. Instances of computation are generated and processed on hardware-based processors. As instances of computation are processed, each instance of computation receives a load accessible to other instances of computation. Instances of output are generated by processing the instances of computation. The instances of output are verified against each other in a hardware based processor to ensure accuracy of the output.

Practical Field Survey Approach with Handle Device for Lead Contamination Assessment in Kabwe, Zambia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, S.; Hirose, K.; Takeda, T.; Uchida, Y.; Nakata, H.; Nakayama, S.; Ishizuka, M.; Yabe, J.; Ito, M.; Igarashi, T.

2017-12-01

International joint research project for assessing lead soil contamination in Kabwe, Zambia was started by Zambian and Japanese scientists in 2008. Various scientific data and results have been obtained up to now. Data sharing among researchers and government officials is necessary for understanding current situation of lead contamination in Kabwe comprehensively. As lead contamination affects on local communities seriously, local community participation is important to solve the environmental issue in near future. This study, therefore, aims to develop GIS Data Integration System (GDIS as followed) consisted of GIS Data Sharing System (GDSS as followed) as web-GIS, FIELDNAUT as Android App for field survey and opensource SNS instance named Mastodon. GDIS will provide local communities to participate easily and support researchers to collect and understand about everyday situation and visualize lead contamination status in Kabwe, Zambia. GDIS is developed with opensource programs. GDSS was simply designed and developed on one desktop PC (Hirose et al., 2015) although common web-GIS requires many servers (Suresh et al., 2015). FIELDNAUT was developed in 2016. FIELDNAUT provides researchers plotting their locations on satellite images and thematic maps, filming and texting with their locations, and compiling and sharing data through GDSS. Mastodon will be used as a new FIELDNAUT communication function between local communities and researchers. It is an independent SNS instance, and the closed and secure communication system will be able to be developed. With this function, local communities will share photos and texts about their daily lives and situation around Kabwe by FIELDNAUT, and those data will be collected into GDSS. Researchers provide their results as hazard maps to local communities through FIELDNAUT. GDIS consisted of GDSS, FIELDNAUT and Mastodon encourages local community participation and let local communities be interested in their environmental issues and provide a chance to act on the issues spontaneously. GDIS on the project, moreover, can be a model case for local community participation in the scientific sustainable programs of environmental issues. GDIS is also necessary to be install any areas where have same heavy metal contamination problems in Africa and other regions.

49 CFR 1542.3 - Airport security coordinator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... the airport operator's primary and immediate contact for security-related activities and... frequency all security-related functions to ensure that all are effective and in compliance with this part... for any instance of non-compliance with this part, its security program, and applicable Security...

49 CFR 1542.3 - Airport security coordinator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... the airport operator's primary and immediate contact for security-related activities and... frequency all security-related functions to ensure that all are effective and in compliance with this part... for any instance of non-compliance with this part, its security program, and applicable Security...

49 CFR 1542.3 - Airport security coordinator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... the airport operator's primary and immediate contact for security-related activities and... frequency all security-related functions to ensure that all are effective and in compliance with this part... for any instance of non-compliance with this part, its security program, and applicable Security...

49 CFR 1542.3 - Airport security coordinator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... the airport operator's primary and immediate contact for security-related activities and... frequency all security-related functions to ensure that all are effective and in compliance with this part... for any instance of non-compliance with this part, its security program, and applicable Security...

49 CFR 1542.3 - Airport security coordinator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... the airport operator's primary and immediate contact for security-related activities and... frequency all security-related functions to ensure that all are effective and in compliance with this part... for any instance of non-compliance with this part, its security program, and applicable Security...

Effect of Loading Rate Upon Conventional Ceramic Microindentation Hardness

PubMed Central

Quinn, George D.; Patel, Parimal J.; Lloyd, Isabel

2002-01-01

The world standards for conventional ceramic hardness have varying requirements for control of loading rate during the indentation cycle. A literature review suggests that loading rate may affect measured hardness in some instances. In view of the uncertainty over this issue, new experiments over a range of indentation loading rates were performed on a steel, sintered silicon carbide, and an aluminum oxynitride. There was negligible effect upon Vickers hardness when loading rate was varied by almost four orders of magnitude from approximately 0.03 N/s to 10 N/s. PMID:27446732

Identification of significant intrinsic mode functions for the diagnosis of induction motor fault.

PubMed

Cho, Sangjin; Shahriar, Md Rifat; Chong, Uipil

2014-08-01

For the analysis of non-stationary signals generated by a non-linear process like fault of an induction motor, empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is the best choice as it decomposes the signal into its natural oscillatory modes known as intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). However, some of these oscillatory modes obtained from a fault signal are not significant as they do not bear any fault signature and can cause misclassification of the fault instance. To solve this issue, a novel IMF selection algorithm is proposed in this work.

A Dictionary of Acquisition and Contracting Terms.

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-06-01

No Comment 0 (0 %) C_ Responses: The following comments were used to revise the definition: - Not necessarily binding; may be non-binding. (3) - I agree with your definition; however, if I’m not mistaken, there may be some instances wherein the arbitration decision is not binding. (4) 10 - I would consider deleting the word "most." While the ADR process is the current buzzword, the word "arbitration" has been around a lot longer and to a lot of folks extends to processes for handling issues of personnel matter, international contracting,

Synchronous critical speed tracking in hydrostatic bearing supported rotors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henderson, Thomas W.; Scharrer, Joseph K.

1989-01-01

Hydrostatic bearings used in advanced turbopump designs use the pumped propellant as the working fluid and supply the propellant to the bearing from pump discharge. The resulting rotordynamic coefficients are highly speed-dependent and in some instances can cause system natural frequencies to coincide with spin speed over a wide speed range. This paper discusses this 'synchronous tracking' phenomenon. The factors affecting it are defined, and specific examples are presented. Methods which identify synchronous tracking issues early in the design process are reported, and techniques for eliminating this undesirable characteristic are addressed.

Some insights on hard quadratic assignment problem instances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussin, Mohamed Saifullah

2017-11-01

Since the formal introduction of metaheuristics, a huge number Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) instances have been introduced. Those instances however are loosely-structured, and therefore made it difficult to perform any systematic analysis. The QAPLIB for example, is a library that contains a huge number of QAP benchmark instances that consists of instances with different size and structure, but with a very limited availability for every instance type. This prevents researchers from performing organized study on those instances, such as parameter tuning and testing. In this paper, we will discuss several hard instances that have been introduced over the years, and algorithms that have been used for solving them.

Computational Drafting of Plot Structures for Russian Folk Tales.

PubMed

Gervás, Pablo

The plots of stories are known to follow general patterns in terms of their overall structure. This was the basic tenet of structuralist approaches to narratology. Vladimir Propp proposed a procedure for the generation of new tales based on his semi-formal description of the structure of Russian folk tales. This is one of the first existing instances of a creative process described procedurally. The present paper revisits Propp's morphology to build a system that generates instances of Russian folk tales. Propp's view of the folk tale as a rigid sequence of character functions is employed as a plot driver, and some issues that Propp declared relevant but did not explore in detail-such as long-range dependencies between functions or the importance of endings-are given computational shape in the context of a broader architecture that captures all the aspects discussed by Propp. A set of simple evaluation metrics for the resulting outputs is defined inspired on Propp's formalism. The potential of the resulting system for providing a creative story generation system is discussed, and possible lines of future work are discussed.

Classification Based on Pruning and Double Covered Rule Sets for the Internet of Things Applications

PubMed Central

Zhou, Zhongmei; Wang, Weiping

2014-01-01

The Internet of things (IOT) is a hot issue in recent years. It accumulates large amounts of data by IOT users, which is a great challenge to mining useful knowledge from IOT. Classification is an effective strategy which can predict the need of users in IOT. However, many traditional rule-based classifiers cannot guarantee that all instances can be covered by at least two classification rules. Thus, these algorithms cannot achieve high accuracy in some datasets. In this paper, we propose a new rule-based classification, CDCR-P (Classification based on the Pruning and Double Covered Rule sets). CDCR-P can induce two different rule sets A and B. Every instance in training set can be covered by at least one rule not only in rule set A, but also in rule set B. In order to improve the quality of rule set B, we take measure to prune the length of rules in rule set B. Our experimental results indicate that, CDCR-P not only is feasible, but also it can achieve high accuracy. PMID:24511304

Classification based on pruning and double covered rule sets for the internet of things applications.

PubMed

Li, Shasha; Zhou, Zhongmei; Wang, Weiping

2014-01-01

The Internet of things (IOT) is a hot issue in recent years. It accumulates large amounts of data by IOT users, which is a great challenge to mining useful knowledge from IOT. Classification is an effective strategy which can predict the need of users in IOT. However, many traditional rule-based classifiers cannot guarantee that all instances can be covered by at least two classification rules. Thus, these algorithms cannot achieve high accuracy in some datasets. In this paper, we propose a new rule-based classification, CDCR-P (Classification based on the Pruning and Double Covered Rule sets). CDCR-P can induce two different rule sets A and B. Every instance in training set can be covered by at least one rule not only in rule set A, but also in rule set B. In order to improve the quality of rule set B, we take measure to prune the length of rules in rule set B. Our experimental results indicate that, CDCR-P not only is feasible, but also it can achieve high accuracy.

Large-scale Cross-modality Search via Collective Matrix Factorization Hashing.

PubMed

Ding, Guiguang; Guo, Yuchen; Zhou, Jile; Gao, Yue

2016-09-08

By transforming data into binary representation, i.e., Hashing, we can perform high-speed search with low storage cost, and thus Hashing has collected increasing research interest in the recent years. Recently, how to generate Hashcode for multimodal data (e.g., images with textual tags, documents with photos, etc) for large-scale cross-modality search (e.g., searching semantically related images in database for a document query) is an important research issue because of the fast growth of multimodal data in the Web. To address this issue, a novel framework for multimodal Hashing is proposed, termed as Collective Matrix Factorization Hashing (CMFH). The key idea of CMFH is to learn unified Hashcodes for different modalities of one multimodal instance in the shared latent semantic space in which different modalities can be effectively connected. Therefore, accurate cross-modality search is supported. Based on the general framework, we extend it in the unsupervised scenario where it tries to preserve the Euclidean structure, and in the supervised scenario where it fully exploits the label information of data. The corresponding theoretical analysis and the optimization algorithms are given. We conducted comprehensive experiments on three benchmark datasets for cross-modality search. The experimental results demonstrate that CMFH can significantly outperform several state-of-the-art cross-modality Hashing methods, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed CMFH.

Variability sensitivity of dynamic texture based recognition in clinical CT data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwitt, Roland; Razzaque, Sharif; Lowell, Jeffrey; Aylward, Stephen

2014-03-01

Dynamic texture recognition using a database of template models has recently shown promising results for the task of localizing anatomical structures in Ultrasound video. In order to understand its clinical value, it is imperative to study the sensitivity with respect to inter-patient variability as well as sensitivity to acquisition parameters such as Ultrasound probe angle. Fully addressing patient and acquisition variability issues, however, would require a large database of clinical Ultrasound from many patients, acquired in a multitude of controlled conditions, e.g., using a tracked transducer. Since such data is not readily attainable, we advocate an alternative evaluation strategy using abdominal CT data as a surrogate. In this paper, we describe how to replicate Ultrasound variabilities by extracting subvolumes from CT and interpreting the image material as an ordered sequence of video frames. Utilizing this technique, and based on a database of abdominal CT from 45 patients, we report recognition results on an organ (kidney) recognition task, where we try to discriminate kidney subvolumes/videos from a collection of randomly sampled negative instances. We demonstrate that (1) dynamic texture recognition is relatively insensitive to inter-patient variation while (2) viewing angle variability needs to be accounted for in the template database. Since naively extending the template database to counteract variability issues can lead to impractical database sizes, we propose an alternative strategy based on automated identification of a small set of representative models.

Subsidies to Increase Remote Pollution?

PubMed

Kliestikova, Jana; Krizanova, Anna; Corejova, Tatiana; Kral, Pavol; Spuchlakova, Erika

2018-04-01

During the last decade, Central Europe became a cynosure for the world for its unparalleled public support for renewable energy. For instance, the production of electricity from purpose-grown biomass received approximately twice the amount in subsidies as that produced from biowaste. Moreover, the guaranteed purchase price of electricity from solar panels was set approximately five times higher than that from conventional sources. This controversial environmental donation policy led to the devastation of large areas of arable land, a worsening of food availability, unprecedented market distortions, and serious threats to national budgets, among other things. Now, the first proposals to donate the purchase price of electric vehicles (and related infrastructure) from national budgets have appeared for public debate. Advocates of these ideas argue that they can solve the issue of electricity overproduction, and that electric vehicles will reduce emissions in cities. However, our analysis reveals that, as a result of previous scandals, environmental issues have become less significant to local citizens. Given that electric cars are not yet affordable for most people, in terms of local purchasing power, this action would further undermine national budgets. Furthermore, while today's electromobiles produce zero pollution when operated, their sum of emissions (i.e. global warming potential) remains much higher than that of conventional combustion engines. Therefore, we conclude that the mass usage of electromobiles could result in the unethical improvement of a city environment at the expense of marginal regions.

Open issues in hadronic interactions for air showers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierog, Tanguy

2017-06-01

In detailed air shower simulations, the uncertainty in the prediction of shower observables for different primary particles and energies is currently dominated by differences between hadronic interaction models. With the results of the first run of the LHC, the difference between post-LHC model predictions has been reduced to the same level as experimental uncertainties of cosmic ray experiments. At the same time new types of air shower observables, like the muon production depth, have been measured, adding new constraints on hadronic models. Currently no model is able to consistently reproduce all mass composition measurements possible within the Pierre Auger Observatory for instance. Comparing the different models, and with LHC and cosmic ray data, we will show that the remaining open issues in hadronic interactions in air shower development are now in the pion-air interactions and in nuclear effects.

Abortion law reforms in Colombia and Nicaragua: issue networks and opportunity contexts.

PubMed

Reuterswärd, Camilla; Zetterberg, Pär; Thapar-Björkert, Suruchi; Molyneux, Maxine

2011-01-01

This article analyses two instances of abortion law reform in Latin America. In 2006, after a decades-long impasse, the highly controversial issue of abortion came to dominate the political agenda when Colombia liberalized its abortion law and Nicaragua adopted a total ban on abortion. The article analyses the central actors in the reform processes, their strategies and the opportunity contexts. Drawing on Htun's (2003) framework, it examines why these processes concluded with opposing legislative outcomes. The authors argue for the need to understand the state as a non-unitary site of politics and policy, and for judicial processes to be seen as a key variable in facilitating gender policy reforms in Latin America. In addition, they argue that ‘windows of opportunity’ such as the timing of elections can be critically important in legislative change processes.

Communication: Smoothing out excited-state dynamics: Analytical gradients for dynamically weighted complete active space self-consistent field

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

Glover, W. J., E-mail: williamjglover@gmail.com

2014-11-07

State averaged complete active space self-consistent field (SA-CASSCF) is a workhorse for determining the excited-state electronic structure of molecules, particularly for states with multireference character; however, the method suffers from known issues that have prevented its wider adoption. One issue is the presence of discontinuities in potential energy surfaces when a state that is not included in the state averaging crosses with one that is. In this communication I introduce a new dynamical weight with spline (DWS) scheme that mimics SA-CASSCF while removing energy discontinuities due to unweighted state crossings. In addition, analytical gradients for DWS-CASSCF (and other dynamically weightedmore » schemes) are derived for the first time, enabling energy-conserving excited-state ab initio molecular dynamics in instances where SA-CASSCF fails.« less

Contemporary issues concerning informed consent in Japan based on a review of court decisions and characteristics of Japanese culture

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Since Japan adopted the concept of informed consent from the West, its inappropriate acquisition from patients in the Japanese clinical setting has continued, due in part to cultural aspects. Here, we discuss the current status of and contemporary issues surrounding informed consent in Japan, and how these are influenced by Japanese culture. Discussion Current legal norms towards informed consent and information disclosure are obscure in Japan. For instance, physicians in Japan do not have a legal duty to inform patients of a cancer diagnosis. To gain a better understanding of these issues, we present five court decisions related to informed consent and information disclosure. We then discuss Japanese culture through reviews of published opinions and commentaries regarding how culture affects decision making and obtaining informed consent. We focus on two contemporary problems involving informed consent and relevant issues in clinical settings: the misuse of informed consent and persistence in obtaining consent. For the former issue, the phrase "informed consent" is often used to express an opportunity to disclose medical conditions and recommended treatment choices. The casual use of the expression "informed consent" likely reflects deep-rooted cultural influences. For the latter issue, physicians may try to obtain a signature by doing whatever it takes, lacking a deep understanding of important ethical principles, such as protecting human dignity, serving the patient’s best interest, and doing no harm in decision-making for patients. There is clearly a misunderstanding of the concept of informed consent and a lack of complete understanding of ethical principles among Japanese healthcare professionals. Although similar in some respects to informed consent as it originated in the United States, our review makes it clear that informed consent in Japan has clear distinguishing features. Summary Japanese healthcare professionals should aim to understand the basic nature of informed consent, irrespective of their attitudes about individualism, liberalism, and patient self-determination. If they believe that the concept of informed consent is important and essential in Japanese clinical settings, efforts should be made to obtain informed consent in an appropriate manner. PMID:24495473

Contemporary issues concerning informed consent in Japan based on a review of court decisions and characteristics of Japanese culture.

PubMed

Masaki, Sakiko; Ishimoto, Hiroko; Asai, Atsushi

2014-02-04

Since Japan adopted the concept of informed consent from the West, its inappropriate acquisition from patients in the Japanese clinical setting has continued, due in part to cultural aspects. Here, we discuss the current status of and contemporary issues surrounding informed consent in Japan, and how these are influenced by Japanese culture. Current legal norms towards informed consent and information disclosure are obscure in Japan. For instance, physicians in Japan do not have a legal duty to inform patients of a cancer diagnosis. To gain a better understanding of these issues, we present five court decisions related to informed consent and information disclosure. We then discuss Japanese culture through reviews of published opinions and commentaries regarding how culture affects decision making and obtaining informed consent. We focus on two contemporary problems involving informed consent and relevant issues in clinical settings: the misuse of informed consent and persistence in obtaining consent. For the former issue, the phrase "informed consent" is often used to express an opportunity to disclose medical conditions and recommended treatment choices. The casual use of the expression "informed consent" likely reflects deep-rooted cultural influences. For the latter issue, physicians may try to obtain a signature by doing whatever it takes, lacking a deep understanding of important ethical principles, such as protecting human dignity, serving the patient's best interest, and doing no harm in decision-making for patients.There is clearly a misunderstanding of the concept of informed consent and a lack of complete understanding of ethical principles among Japanese healthcare professionals. Although similar in some respects to informed consent as it originated in the United States, our review makes it clear that informed consent in Japan has clear distinguishing features. Japanese healthcare professionals should aim to understand the basic nature of informed consent, irrespective of their attitudes about individualism, liberalism, and patient self-determination. If they believe that the concept of informed consent is important and essential in Japanese clinical settings, efforts should be made to obtain informed consent in an appropriate manner.

The 1-way on-line coupled model system MECO(n) - Part 4: Chemical evaluation (based on MESSy v2.52)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mertens, Mariano; Kerkweg, Astrid; Jöckel, Patrick; Tost, Holger; Hofmann, Christiane

2016-10-01

For the first time, a simulation incorporating tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry using the newly developed MECO(n) model system is performed. MECO(n) is short for MESSy-fied ECHAM and COSMO models nested n times. It features an online coupling of the COSMO-CLM model, equipped with the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) interface (called COSMO/MESSy), with the global atmospheric chemistry model ECHAM5/MESSy for Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC). This online coupling allows a consistent model chain with respect to chemical and meteorological boundary conditions from the global scale down to the regional kilometre scale. A MECO(2) simulation incorporating one regional instance over Europe with 50 km resolution and one instance over Germany with 12 km resolution is conducted for the evaluation of MECO(n) with respect to tropospheric gas-phase chemistry. The main goal of this evaluation is to ensure that the chemistry-related MESSy submodels and the online coupling with respect to the chemistry are correctly implemented. This evaluation is a prerequisite for the further usage of MECO(n) in atmospheric chemistry-related studies. Results of EMAC and the two COSMO/MESSy instances are compared with satellite, ground-based and aircraft in situ observations, focusing on ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Further, the methane lifetimes in EMAC and the two COSMO/MESSy instances are analysed in view of the tropospheric oxidation capacity. From this evaluation, we conclude that the chemistry-related submodels and the online coupling with respect to the chemistry are correctly implemented. In comparison with observations, both EMAC and COSMO/MESSy show strengths and weaknesses. Especially in comparison to aircraft in situ observations, COSMO/MESSy shows very promising results. However, the amplitude of the diurnal cycle of ground-level ozone measurements is underestimated. Most of the differences between COSMO/MESSy and EMAC can be attributed to differences in the dynamics of both models, which are subject to further model developments.

The Development of Causal Categorization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Brett K.; Rehder, Bob

2012-01-01

Two experiments examined the impact of causal relations between features on categorization in 5- to 6-year-old children and adults. Participants learned artificial categories containing instances with causally related features and noncausal features. They then selected the most likely category member from a series of novel test pairs.…

Assisted suicide: implications for nurses and nursing.

PubMed

Daly, B J; Berry, D; Fitzpatrick, J J; Drew, B; Montgomery, K

1997-01-01

Assisted suicide is an issue of great importance to nurses. This issue reflects our values and beliefs as a society, calls for a clear and precise response as a profession, and challenges individual nurses to think about their own moral views. The history of the debate and the compelling moral arguments on both sides attest to the complexity of the issue and also suggest that it will not soon be resolved. The current position of the profession, as expressed in the ANA Code for Nurses and a specific position statement, were reviewed. The dilemma faced by the individual nurse who perceives an obligation to adhere to the guidelines specified by his or her profession's code and yet whose conscience dictates an act in violation of this code has been discussed as an instance of conscientious objection. While this analysis has been necessarily brief, it was intended to illustrate the importance of being clear about one's personal moral views and equally clear about one's duty to fulfil the obligations stemming from the profession's public statements. It is essential that the profession continue to explore the moral issues involved in requests for assistance in dying and provide additional guidelines for practicing nurses, with sound rationale for the profession's position.

Biomedical question answering using semantic relations.

PubMed

Hristovski, Dimitar; Dinevski, Dejan; Kastrin, Andrej; Rindflesch, Thomas C

2015-01-16

The proliferation of the scientific literature in the field of biomedicine makes it difficult to keep abreast of current knowledge, even for domain experts. While general Web search engines and specialized information retrieval (IR) systems have made important strides in recent decades, the problem of accurate knowledge extraction from the biomedical literature is far from solved. Classical IR systems usually return a list of documents that have to be read by the user to extract relevant information. This tedious and time-consuming work can be lessened with automatic Question Answering (QA) systems, which aim to provide users with direct and precise answers to their questions. In this work we propose a novel methodology for QA based on semantic relations extracted from the biomedical literature. We extracted semantic relations with the SemRep natural language processing system from 122,421,765 sentences, which came from 21,014,382 MEDLINE citations (i.e., the complete MEDLINE distribution up to the end of 2012). A total of 58,879,300 semantic relation instances were extracted and organized in a relational database. The QA process is implemented as a search in this database, which is accessed through a Web-based application, called SemBT (available at http://sembt.mf.uni-lj.si ). We conducted an extensive evaluation of the proposed methodology in order to estimate the accuracy of extracting a particular semantic relation from a particular sentence. Evaluation was performed by 80 domain experts. In total 7,510 semantic relation instances belonging to 2,675 distinct relations were evaluated 12,083 times. The instances were evaluated as correct 8,228 times (68%). In this work we propose an innovative methodology for biomedical QA. The system is implemented as a Web-based application that is able to provide precise answers to a wide range of questions. A typical question is answered within a few seconds. The tool has some extensions that make it especially useful for interpretation of DNA microarray results.

Estimates of the absolute error and a scheme for an approximate solution to scheduling problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazarev, A. A.

2009-02-01

An approach is proposed for estimating absolute errors and finding approximate solutions to classical NP-hard scheduling problems of minimizing the maximum lateness for one or many machines and makespan is minimized. The concept of a metric (distance) between instances of the problem is introduced. The idea behind the approach is, given the problem instance, to construct another instance for which an optimal or approximate solution can be found at the minimum distance from the initial instance in the metric introduced. Instead of solving the original problem (instance), a set of approximating polynomially/pseudopolynomially solvable problems (instances) are considered, an instance at the minimum distance from the given one is chosen, and the resulting schedule is then applied to the original instance.

Camera-related behaviours of female dental nurses and nursery school children during fluoride varnish application interactions in nursery school settings.

PubMed

Zhou, Yuefang; Forbes, Gillian M; Humphris, Gerry

2010-09-01

To investigate camera awareness of female dental nurses and nursery school children as the frequency of camera-related behaviours observed during fluoride varnish applications in a community based health programme. Fifty-one nurse-child interactions (three nurse pairs and 51 children) were video recorded when Childsmile nurses were applying fluoride varnish onto the teeth of children in nursery school settings. Using a pre-developed coding scheme, nurse and child verbal and nonverbal behaviours were coded for camera-related behaviours. On 15 of 51 interactions (29.4%), a total of 31 camera-related behaviours were observed for dental nurses (14 instances over nine interactions) and children (17 instances over six interactions). Camera-related behaviours occurred infrequently, occupied 0.3% of the total interaction time and displayed at all stages of the dental procedure, though tended to peak at initial stages. Certain camera-related behaviours of female dental nurses and nursery school children were observed in their interactions when introducing a dental health preventive intervention. Since the frequency of camera-related behaviours are so few they are of little consequence when video-recording adults and children undertaking dental procedures.

22 CFR 216.8 - Public hearings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Public hearings. 216.8 Section 216.8 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTAL PROCEDURES § 216.8 Public hearings. (a) In most instances AID will be able to gain the benefit of public participation in the impact statement process...

Learning through Work: Exploring Instances of Relational Interdependencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Billett, Stephen

2008-01-01

This paper provides an account of the inter-psychological processes that constitute learning through work. It does this by drawing on deliberations about the relative contributions of the immediate social world (i.e., workplace setting) that individuals encounter and the personal premises for individuals' learning. This account is realised through…

A new constituent of electrostatic energy in semiconductors. An attempt to reformulate electrostatic energy in matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sallese, Jean-Michel

2016-06-01

The concept of electric energy is revisited in detail for semiconductors. We come to the conclusion that the main relationship used to calculate the energy related to the penetration of the electric field in semiconductors is missing a fundamental term. For instance, spatial derivate of the electrostatic energy using the traditional formula fails at giving the correct electrostatic force between semiconductor based capacitor plates, and reveals unambiguously the existence of an extra contribution to the standard electrostatic free energy. The additional term is found to be related to the generation of space charge regions which are predicted when combining electrostatics with semiconductor physics laws, such as for accumulation and inversion layers. On the contrary, no such energy is needed when relying on electrostatics only, as for instance when adopting the so-called full depletion approximation. The same holds for neutral and charged insulators that are still consistent with the customary definition, but these two examples are in fact singular cases. In semiconductors for instance, this additional energy can largely exceed the energy gained by the dipoles, thus becoming the dominant term. This unexpected result clearly asks for a generalization of electrostatic energy in matter in order to reconcile basic concepts of electrostatic energy in the framework of classical physics.

Chemical-induced disease relation extraction with various linguistic features.

PubMed

Gu, Jinghang; Qian, Longhua; Zhou, Guodong

2016-01-01

Understanding the relations between chemicals and diseases is crucial in various biomedical tasks such as new drug discoveries and new therapy developments. While manually mining these relations from the biomedical literature is costly and time-consuming, such a procedure is often difficult to keep up-to-date. To address these issues, the BioCreative-V community proposed a challenging task of automatic extraction of chemical-induced disease (CID) relations in order to benefit biocuration. This article describes our work on the CID relation extraction task on the BioCreative-V tasks. We built a machine learning based system that utilized simple yet effective linguistic features to extract relations with maximum entropy models. In addition to leveraging various features, the hypernym relations between entity concepts derived from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)-controlled vocabulary were also employed during both training and testing stages to obtain more accurate classification models and better extraction performance, respectively. We demoted relation extraction between entities in documents to relation extraction between entity mentions. In our system, pairs of chemical and disease mentions at both intra- and inter-sentence levels were first constructed as relation instances for training and testing, then two classification models at both levels were trained from the training examples and applied to the testing examples. Finally, we merged the classification results from mention level to document level to acquire final relations between chemicals and diseases. Our system achieved promisingF-scores of 60.4% on the development dataset and 58.3% on the test dataset using gold-standard entity annotations, respectively. Database URL:https://github.com/JHnlp/BC5CIDTask. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Correcting evaluation bias of relational classifiers with network cross validation

DOE PAGES

Neville, Jennifer; Gallagher, Brian; Eliassi-Rad, Tina; ...

2011-01-04

Recently, a number of modeling techniques have been developed for data mining and machine learning in relational and network domains where the instances are not independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.). These methods specifically exploit the statistical dependencies among instances in order to improve classification accuracy. However, there has been little focus on how these same dependencies affect our ability to draw accurate conclusions about the performance of the models. More specifically, the complex link structure and attribute dependencies in relational data violate the assumptions of many conventional statistical tests and make it difficult to use these tests to assess themore » models in an unbiased manner. In this work, we examine the task of within-network classification and the question of whether two algorithms will learn models that will result in significantly different levels of performance. We show that the commonly used form of evaluation (paired t-test on overlapping network samples) can result in an unacceptable level of Type I error. Furthermore, we show that Type I error increases as (1) the correlation among instances increases and (2) the size of the evaluation set increases (i.e., the proportion of labeled nodes in the network decreases). Lastly, we propose a method for network cross-validation that combined with paired t-tests produces more acceptable levels of Type I error while still providing reasonable levels of statistical power (i.e., 1–Type II error).« less

Publishing Data on Physical Samples Using the GeoLink Ontology and Linked Data Platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, P.; Arko, R. A.; Lehnert, K. A.; Song, L.; Carter, M. R.; Hsu, L.

2015-12-01

Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance (IEDA), one of partners in EarthCube GeoLink project, seeks to explore the extent to which the use of GeoLink reusable Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) and linked data platforms in IEDA data infrastructure can make research data more easily accessible and valuable. Linked data for the System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR) is the first effort of IEDA to show how linked data enhance the presentation of IEDA data system architecture. SESAR Linked Data maps each table and column in SESAR database to RDF class and property based on GeoLink view, which build on the top of GeoLink ODPs. Then, uses D2RQ dumping the contents of SESAR database into RDF triples on the basis of mapping results. And, the dumped RDF triples is loaded into GRAPHDB, an RDF graph database, as permanent data in the form of atomic facts expressed as subjects, predicates and objects which provide support for semantic interoperability between IEDA and other GeoLink partners. Finally, an integrated browsing and searching interface build on Callimachus, a highly scalable platform for publishing linked data, is introduced to make sense of data stored in triplestore. Drill down and through features are built in the interface to help users locating content efficiently. The drill down feature enables users to explore beyond the summary information in the instance list of a specific class and into the detail from the specific instance page. The drill through feature enables users to jump from one instance to another one by simply clicking the link of the latter nested in the former region. Additionally, OpenLayers map is embedded into the interface to enhance the attractiveness of the presentation of instance which has geospatial information. Furthermore, by linking instances in the SESAR datasets to matching or corresponding instances in external sets, the presentation has been enriched with additional information about related classes like person, cruise, etc.

A model assessment of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran sources and fate in the Baltic Sea.

PubMed

Armitage, James M; McLachlan, Michael S; Wiberg, Karin; Jonsson, Per

2009-06-01

The contamination of the Baltic Sea with polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) has resulted in restrictions on the marketing and consumption of Baltic Sea fish, making this a priority environmental issue in the European Union. To date there is no consensus on the relative importance of different sources of PCDD/Fs to the Baltic Sea, and hence no consensus on how to address this issue. In this work we synthesized the available information to create a PCDD/F budget for the Baltic Sea, focusing on the two largest basins, the Bothnian Sea and the Baltic Proper. The non-steady state multimedia fate and transport model POPCYCLING-Baltic was employed, using recent data for PCDD/F concentrations in air and sediment as boundary conditions. The PCDD/F concentrations in water predicted by the model were in good agreement with recent measurements. The budget demonstrated that atmospheric deposition was the dominant source of PCDD/Fs to the basins as a whole. This conclusion was supported by a statistical comparison of the PCDD/F congener patterns in surface sediments from accumulation bottoms with the patterns in ambient air, bulk atmospheric deposition, and a range of potential industrial sources. Prospective model simulations indicated that the PCDD/F concentrations in the water column will continue to decrease in the coming years due to the slow response of the Baltic Sea system to falling PCDD/F inputs in the last decades, but that the decrease would be more pronounced if ambient air concentrations were to drop further in the future, for instance as a result of reduced emissions. The study illustrates the usefulness of using monitoring data and multimedia models in an integrated fashion to address complex organic contaminant issues.

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

Sinclair, Karin; DeGeorge, Elise

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) prohibits the 'take' of these birds. The act defines take as to 'pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, destroy, molest or disturb.' The 2009 Eagle Permit Rule (74 FR 46836) authorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to issue nonpurposeful (i.e., incidental) take permits, and the USFWS 2013 Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance provides a voluntary framework for issuing programmatic take permits to wind facilities that incorporate scientifically supportable advanced conservation practices (ACPs). Under these rules, the Service can issue permits that authorize individual instances of take ofmore » bald and golden eagles when the take is associated with, but not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful activity, and cannot practicably be avoided. To date, the USFWS has not approved any ACPs, citing the lack of evidence for 'scientifically supportable measures.' The Eagle Detection and Deterrents Research Gaps and Solutions Workshop was convened at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in December 2015 with a goal to comprehensively assess the current state of technologies to detect and deter eagles from wind energy sites and the key gaps concerning reducing eagle fatalities and facilitating permitting under the BGEPA. During the workshop, presentations and discussions focused primarily on existing knowledge (and limitations) about the biology of eagles as well as technologies and emerging or novel ideas, including innovative applications of tools developed for use in other sectors, such as the U.S. Department of Defense and aviation. The main activity of the workshop was the breakout sessions, which focused on the current state of detection and deterrent technologies and novel concepts/applications for detecting and minimizing eagle collisions with wind turbines. Following the breakout sessions, participants were asked about their individual impressions of the relative priority of each of the existing and novel ideas.« less

Encoding of Fundamental Chemical Entities of Organic Reactivity Interest using chemical ontology and XML.

PubMed

Durairaj, Vijayasarathi; Punnaivanam, Sankar

2015-09-01

Fundamental chemical entities are identified in the context of organic reactivity and classified as appropriate concept classes namely ElectronEntity, AtomEntity, AtomGroupEntity, FunctionalGroupEntity and MolecularEntity. The entity classes and their subclasses are organized into a chemical ontology named "ChemEnt" for the purpose of assertion, restriction and modification of properties through entity relations. Individual instances of entity classes are defined and encoded as a library of chemical entities in XML. The instances of entity classes are distinguished with a unique notation and identification values in order to map them with the ontology definitions. A model GUI named Entity Table is created to view graphical representations of all the entity instances. The detection of chemical entities in chemical structures is achieved through suitable algorithms. The possibility of asserting properties to the entities at different levels and the mechanism of property flow within the hierarchical entity levels is outlined. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In-context query reformulation for failing SPARQL queries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viswanathan, Amar; Michaelis, James R.; Cassidy, Taylor; de Mel, Geeth; Hendler, James

2017-05-01

Knowledge bases for decision support systems are growing increasingly complex, through continued advances in data ingest and management approaches. However, humans do not possess the cognitive capabilities to retain a bird's-eyeview of such knowledge bases, and may end up issuing unsatisfiable queries to such systems. This work focuses on the implementation of a query reformulation approach for graph-based knowledge bases, specifically designed to support the Resource Description Framework (RDF). The reformulation approach presented is instance-and schema-aware. Thus, in contrast to relaxation techniques found in the state-of-the-art, the presented approach produces in-context query reformulation.

Supporting information technology across health boards in New Zealand: themes emerging from the development of a shared services organization.

PubMed

Day, K J; Norris, A C

2006-03-01

Shared services organizations are ascribed with adding value to business in several ways but especially by sharing resources and leading to economies of scale. However, these gains are not automatic and in some instances, particularly healthcare, they are difficult to achieve. This article describes a project to develop a shared services information technology infrastructure across two district health boards in New Zealand. The study reveals valuable insight into the crisis issues that accompany change management and identifies emergent themes that can be used to reduce negative impact.

Is cognitive science usefully cast as complexity science?

PubMed

Van Orden, Guy; Stephen, Damian G

2012-01-01

Readers of TopiCS are invited to join a debate about the utility of ideas and methods of complexity science. The topics of debate include empirical instances of qualitative change in cognitive activity and whether this empirical work demonstrates sufficiently the empirical flags of complexity. In addition, new phenomena discovered by complexity scientists, and motivated by complexity theory, call into question some basic assumptions of conventional cognitive science such as stable equilibria and homogeneous variance. The articles and commentaries that appear in this issue also illustrate a new debate style format for topiCS. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Effective hydrogen generator testing for on-site small engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaiwongsa, Praitoon; Pornsuwancharoen, Nithiroth; Yupapin, Preecha P.

2009-07-01

We propose a new concept of hydrogen generator testing for on-site small engine. In general, there is a trade-off between simpler vehicle design and infrastructure issues, for instance, liquid fuels such as gasoline and methanol for small engine use. In this article we compare the hydrogen gases combination the gasoline between normal systems (gasoline only) for small engine. The advantage of the hydrogen combines gasoline for small engine saving the gasoline 25%. Furthermore, the new concept of hydrogen combination for diesel engine, bio-diesel engine, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas vehicle (NGV), which is discussed in details.

Gyrokinetic simulations and experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, David W.; Bravenec, R. V.; Dorland, W.

2002-11-01

Nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations with the code GS2 have been carried out in an effort to predict transport fluxes and fluctuation levels in the tokamaks DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod.(W. Dorland et al. in Fusion Energy 2000 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 2000).)^,( W. Ross and W. Dorland, submitted to Phys. Plasmas (2002).) These simulations account for full electron dynamics and, in some instances, electromagnetic waves.( D. W. Ross, W. Dorland, and B. N. Rogers, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 46, 115 (2001).) Here, some issues of the necessary resolution, precision and wave number range are examined in connection with the experimental comparisons and parameter scans.

Imaging of isotropic and anisotropic conductivities from power densities in three dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monard, François; Rim, Donsub

2018-07-01

We present numerical reconstructions of anisotropic conductivity tensors in three dimensions, from knowledge of a finite family of power density functionals. Such a problem arises in the coupled-physics imaging modality ultrasound modulated electrical impedance tomography for instance. We improve on the algorithms previously derived in Bal et al (2013 Inverse Problems Imaging 7 353–75) Monard and Bal (2013 Commun. PDE 38 1183–207) for both isotropic and anisotropic cases, and we address the well-known issue of vanishing determinants in particular. The algorithm is implemented and we provide numerical results that illustrate the improvements.

Legally Sustainable Solutions for Privacy Issues in Collaborative Fraud Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flegel, Ulrich; Kerschbaum, Florian; Miseldine, Philip; Monakova, Ganna; Wacker, Richard; Leymann, Frank

One company by itself cannot detect all instances of fraud or insider attacks. An example is the simple case of buyer fraud: a fraudulent buyer colludes with a supplier creating fake orders for supplies that are never delivered. They circumvent internal controls in place to prevent this kind of fraud, such as a goods receipt, e.g., by ordering services instead of goods. Based on the evidence collected at one company, it is often extremely difficult to detect such fraud, but if companies collaborate and correlate their evidence, they could detect that the ordered services have never actually been provided.

Disappearing Polymorphs Revisited

PubMed Central

Bučar, Dejan-Krešimir; Lancaster, Robert W; Bernstein, Joel

2015-01-01

Nearly twenty years ago, Dunitz and Bernstein described a selection of intriguing cases of polymorphs that disappear. The inability to obtain a crystal form that has previously been prepared is indeed a frustrating and potentially serious problem for solid-state scientists. This Review discusses recent occurrences and examples of disappearing polymorphs (as well as the emergence of elusive crystal forms) to demonstrate the enduring relevance of this troublesome, but always captivating, phenomenon in solid-state research. A number of these instances have been central issues in patent litigations. This Review, therefore, also highlights the complex relationship between crystal chemistry and the law. PMID:26031248

Executive summary and recommendations from the WHO/UNAIDS/IAVI expert group consultation on 'Phase IIB-TOC trials as a novel strategy for evaluation of preventive HIV vaccines', 31 January-2 February 2006, IAVI, New York, USA.

PubMed

2007-02-19

This report summarizes the discussions and recommendations from a consultation held in New York City, USA (31 January-2 February 2006) organized by the joint World Health Organization-United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS HIV Vaccine Initiative and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. The consultation discussed issues related to the design and implementation of phase IIB 'test of concept' trials (phase IIB-TOC), also referred to as 'proof of concept' trials, in evaluating candidate HIV vaccines and their implications for future approval and licensure. The results of a single phase IIB-TOC trial would not be expected to provide sufficient evidence of safety or efficacy required for licensure. In many instances, phase IIB-TOC trials may be undertaken relatively early in development, before manufacturing processes and capacity are developed sufficiently to distribute the vaccine on a large scale. However, experts at this meeting considered the pressure that could arise, particularly in regions hardest hit by AIDS, if a phase IIB-TOC trial showed high levels of efficacy. The group largely agreed that full-scale phase III trials would still be necessary to demonstrate that the vaccine candidate was safe and effective, but emphasized that governments and organizations conducting trials should consider these issues in advance. The recommendations from this meeting should be helpful for all organizations involved in HIV vaccine trials, in particular for the national regulatory authorities in assessing the utility of phase IIB-TOC trials in the overall HIV vaccine research and development process.

Societal and ethical issues in human biomonitoring--a view from science studies.

PubMed

Bauer, Susanne

2008-06-05

Human biomonitoring (HBM) has rapidly gained importance. In some epidemiological studies, the measurement and use of biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility and disease have replaced traditional environmental indicators. While in HBM, ethical issues have mostly been addressed in terms of informed consent and confidentiality, this paper maps out a larger array of societal issues from an epistemological perspective, i.e. bringing into focus the conditions of how and what is known in environmental health science. In order to analyse the effects of HBM and the shift towards biomarker research in the assessment of environmental pollution in a broader societal context, selected analytical frameworks of science studies are introduced. To develop the epistemological perspective, concepts from "biomedical platform sociology" and the notion of "epistemic cultures" and "thought styles" are applied to the research infrastructures of HBM. Further, concepts of "biocitizenship" and "civic epistemologies" are drawn upon as analytical tools to discuss the visions and promises of HBM as well as related ethical problematisations. In human biomonitoring, two different epistemological cultures meet; these are environmental science with for instance pollution surveys and toxicological assessments on the one hand, and analytical epidemiology investigating the association between exposure and disease in probabilistic risk estimation on the other hand. The surveillance of exposure and dose via biomarkers as envisioned in HBM is shifting the site of exposure monitoring to the human body. Establishing an HBM platform faces not only the need to consider individual decision autonomy as an ethics issue, but also larger epistemological and societal questions, such as the mode of evidence demanded in science, policy and regulation. The shift of exposure monitoring towards the biosurveillance of human populations involves fundamental changes in the ways environment, health and disease are conceptualised; this may lead to an individualisation of responsibilities for health risks and preventive action. Attention to the conditions of scientific knowledge generation and to their broader societal context is critical in order to make HBM contribute to environmental justice.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) legislation and its implication on speech privacy design in health care facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tocci, Gregory C.; Storch, Christopher A.

2005-09-01

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 (104th Congress, H.R. 3103, January 3, 1986), among many things, individual patient records and information be protected from unnecessary issue. This responsibility is assigned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which has issued a Privacy Rule most recently dated August 2002 with a revision being proposed in 2005 to strengthen penalties for inappropriate breaches of patient privacy. Despite this, speech privacy, in many instances in health care facilities need not be guaranteed by the facility. Nevertheless, the regulation implies that due regard be given to speech privacy in both facility design and operation. This presentation will explore the practical aspects of implementing speech privacy in health care facilities and make recommendations for certain specific speech privacy situations.

[Types of medical registries - definitions, methodological aspects and quality of the scientific work with registries].

PubMed

Mathis-Edenhofer, Stefan; Piso, Brigitte

2011-12-01

This work presents a comprehensive list of registry definitions including broader and narrower definitions. Compared to each other different methodological issues can be identified. Some of these issues are common for all registry types; some can be assigned more easily to a specific registry type. Instruments for evaluating the quality of registers reflect many of the mentioned aspects. Generally, and especially at registers with a descriptive or exploratory research dimension it is important to consider their intended purpose and in about it was achieved. This includes, for instance, whether the purpose and the methodology are coordinated. From the start of registration an initiator should be - based on the purpose - aware of the methodological dimension of the registry. This helps to apply the correct type of the registry, the appropriate guidance and, ultimately, the arguments for the effort (cost-benefit ratio).

[Preface for special issue on bio-based materials (2016)].

PubMed

Weng, Yunxuan

2016-06-25

Bio-based materials are new materials or chemicals with renewable biomass as raw materials such as grain, legume, straw, bamboo and wood powder. This class of materials includes bio-based polymer, biobased fiber, glycotechnology products, biobased rubber and plastics produced by biomass thermoplastic processing and basic biobased chemicals, for instance, bio-alcohols, organic acids, alkanes, and alkenes, obtained by bio-synthesis, bio-processing and bio-refinery. Owing to its environmental friendly and resource conservation, bio-based materials are becoming a new dominant industry taking the lead in the world scientific and technological innovation and economic development. An overview of bio-based materials development is reported in this special issue, and the industrial status and research progress of the following aspects, including biobased fiber, polyhydroxyalkanoates, biodegradable mulching film, bio-based polyamide, protein based biomedical materials, bio-based polyurethane, and modification and processing of poly(lactic acid), are introduced.

Extended space expectation values in quantum dynamical system evolutions

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

Demiralp, Metin

2014-10-06

The time variant power series expansion for the expectation value of a given quantum dynamical operator is well-known and well-investigated issue in quantum dynamics. However, depending on the operator and Hamiltonian singularities this expansion either may not exist or may not converge for all time instances except the beginning of the evolution. This work focuses on this issue and seeks certain cures for the negativities. We work in the extended space obtained by adding all images of the initial wave function under the system Hamiltonian’s positive integer powers. This requires the introduction of certain appropriately defined weight operators. The resultingmore » better convergence in the temporal power series urges us to call the new defined entities “extended space expectation values” even though they are constructed over certain weight operators and are somehow pseudo expectation values.« less

Surgical ethics: surgical virtue and more.

PubMed

Vercler, Christian J

2015-01-01

The encounter between a patient and her surgeon is unique for several reasons. The surgeon inflicts pain upon a patient for the patient's own good. An operative intervention is irreducibly personal, such that the decisions about and performance of operations are inseparable from the idiosyncrasies of the individual surgeon. Furthermore, there is a chasm of knowledge between the patient and surgeon that is difficult to cross. Hence, training in the discipline of surgery includes the inculcation of certain virtues and practices to safeguard against abuses of this relationship and to make sure that the best interests of the patient are prioritized. The stories in this issue are evidence that in contemporary practice this is not quite enough, as surgeons reflect on instances they felt were ethically challenging. Common themes include the difficulty in communicating surgical uncertainty, patient-surgeon relationships, ethical issues in surgical training, and the impact of the technological imperative on caring for dying patients.

Successful integration efforts in water quality from the integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations and the National Water Quality Monitoring Network

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ragsdale, R.; Vowinkel, E.; Porter, D.; Hamilton, P.; Morrison, R.; Kohut, J.; Connell, B.; Kelsey, H.; Trowbridge, P.

2011-01-01

The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS??) Regional Associations and Interagency Partners hosted a water quality workshop in January 2010 to discuss issues of nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion (hypoxia), harmful algal blooms (HABs), and beach water quality. In 2007, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council piloted demonstration projects as part of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (Network) for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries in three IOOS Regional Associations, and these projects are ongoing. Examples of integrated science-based solutions to water quality issues of major concern from the IOOS regions and Network demonstration projects are explored in this article. These examples illustrate instances where management decisions have benefited from decision-support tools that make use of interoperable data. Gaps, challenges, and outcomes are identified, and a proposal is made for future work toward a multiregional water quality project for beach water quality.

Water quality success stories: Integrated assessments from the IOOS regional associations and national water quality monitoring network

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ragsdale, Rob; Vowinkel, Eric; Porter, Dwayne; Hamilton, Pixie; Morrison, Ru; Kohut, Josh; Connell, Bob; Kelsey, Heath; Trowbridge, Phil

2011-01-01

The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) Regional Associations and Interagency Partners hosted a water quality workshop in January 2010 to discuss issues of nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion (hypoxia), harmful algal blooms (HABs), and beach water quality. In 2007, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council piloted demonstration projects as part of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (Network) for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries in three IOOS Regional Associations, and these projects are ongoing. Examples of integrated science-based solutions to water quality issues of major concern from the IOOS regions and Network demonstration projects are explored in this article. These examples illustrate instances where management decisions have benefited from decision-support tools that make use of interoperable data. Gaps, challenges, and outcomes are identified, and a proposal is made for future work toward a multiregional water quality project for beach water quality.

Incremental Transductive Learning Approaches to Schistosomiasis Vector Classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fusco, Terence; Bi, Yaxin; Wang, Haiying; Browne, Fiona

2016-08-01

The key issues pertaining to collection of epidemic disease data for our analysis purposes are that it is a labour intensive, time consuming and expensive process resulting in availability of sparse sample data which we use to develop prediction models. To address this sparse data issue, we present the novel Incremental Transductive methods to circumvent the data collection process by applying previously acquired data to provide consistent, confidence-based labelling alternatives to field survey research. We investigated various reasoning approaches for semi-supervised machine learning including Bayesian models for labelling data. The results show that using the proposed methods, we can label instances of data with a class of vector density at a high level of confidence. By applying the Liberal and Strict Training Approaches, we provide a labelling and classification alternative to standalone algorithms. The methods in this paper are components in the process of reducing the proliferation of the Schistosomiasis disease and its effects.

Distant Supervision with Transductive Learning for Adverse Drug Reaction Identification from Electronic Medical Records

PubMed Central

Ikeda, Mitsuru

2017-01-01

Information extraction and knowledge discovery regarding adverse drug reaction (ADR) from large-scale clinical texts are very useful and needy processes. Two major difficulties of this task are the lack of domain experts for labeling examples and intractable processing of unstructured clinical texts. Even though most previous works have been conducted on these issues by applying semisupervised learning for the former and a word-based approach for the latter, they face with complexity in an acquisition of initial labeled data and ignorance of structured sequence of natural language. In this study, we propose automatic data labeling by distant supervision where knowledge bases are exploited to assign an entity-level relation label for each drug-event pair in texts, and then, we use patterns for characterizing ADR relation. The multiple-instance learning with expectation-maximization method is employed to estimate model parameters. The method applies transductive learning to iteratively reassign a probability of unknown drug-event pair at the training time. By investigating experiments with 50,998 discharge summaries, we evaluate our method by varying large number of parameters, that is, pattern types, pattern-weighting models, and initial and iterative weightings of relations for unlabeled data. Based on evaluations, our proposed method outperforms the word-based feature for NB-EM (iEM), MILR, and TSVM with F1 score of 11.3%, 9.3%, and 6.5% improvement, respectively. PMID:29090077

Stigma, deviance and morality in young adults' accounts of inflammatory bowel disease.

PubMed

Saunders, Benjamin

2014-09-01

For young adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), perceived stigma has been found to be a salient concern. Drawing on interviews with individuals with IBD aged 18-29 (n = 16), this article uses rhetorical discourse analysis to explore how stigma is discursively constructed by young adults, with a focus on the moral underpinnings of the participants' talk. Their representations showed both felt stigma and enacted stigma; principally related to the perceived taboo surrounding the symptoms of their condition, which often led to the non-disclosure or concealment of the condition. The different ways in which stigma is manifested in the accounts present a challenge to recent arguments questioning the relevance of this concept in chronic illness research, though it was found that it is not adequate to look at stigma alone and, given the unstable nature of IBD, negotiating stigma in relation to possible charges of deviance is a pertinent issue for these young adults. For instance, non-disclosure because of shame could result in individuals experiencing blame. Accounts were constructed through a range of discursive strategies, allowing the participants to present themselves in morally appropriate ways throughout. Suggestions are made about future directions in addressing stigma and deviance in relation to this cohort. © 2014 The Author. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2014 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Studying the effect on system preference by varying coproduct allocation in creating life-cycle inventory.

PubMed

Curran, Mary Ann

2007-10-15

How one models the input and output data for a life-cycle assessment (LCA) can greatly affect the results. Although much attention has been paid to allocation methodology by researchers in the field, specific guidance is still lacking: Earlier research focused on the effects of applying various allocation schemes to industrial processes when creating life-cycle inventories. To determine the impact of different allocation approaches upon product choice, this study evaluated the gas- and water-phase emissions during the production, distribution, and use of three hypothetical fuel systems (data that represent conventional gasoline and gasoline with 8.7 and 85% ethanol were used as the basis for modeling). This paper presents an explanation of the allocation issue and the results from testing various allocation schemes (weight, volume, market value, energy, and demand-based) when viewed across the entire system. Impact indicators for global warming, ozone depletion, and human health noncancer (water impact) were lower for the ethanol-containing fuels, while impact indicators for acidification, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, human health criteria, and photochemical smog were lower for conventional gasoline (impacts for the water-related human health cancer category showed mixed results). The relative ranking of conventional gasoline in relation to the ethanol-containing fuels was consistent in all instances, suggesting that, in this case study, the choice of allocation methodology had no impact on indicating which fuel has lower environmental impacts.

Extending BPM Environments of Your Choice with Performance Related Decision Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fritzsche, Mathias; Picht, Michael; Gilani, Wasif; Spence, Ivor; Brown, John; Kilpatrick, Peter

What-if Simulations have been identified as one solution for business performance related decision support. Such support is especially useful in cases where it can be automatically generated out of Business Process Management (BPM) Environments from the existing business process models and performance parameters monitored from the executed business process instances. Currently, some of the available BPM Environments offer basic-level performance prediction capabilities. However, these functionalities are normally too limited to be generally useful for performance related decision support at business process level. In this paper, an approach is presented which allows the non-intrusive integration of sophisticated tooling for what-if simulations, analytic performance prediction tools, process optimizations or a combination of such solutions into already existing BPM environments. The approach abstracts from process modelling techniques which enable automatic decision support spanning processes across numerous BPM Environments. For instance, this enables end-to-end decision support for composite processes modelled with the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) on top of existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) processes modelled with proprietary languages.

The E-health Literacy Demands of Australia's My Health Record: A Heuristic Evaluation of Usability.

PubMed

Walsh, Louisa; Hemsley, Bronwyn; Allan, Meredith; Adams, Natalie; Balandin, Susan; Georgiou, Andrew; Higgins, Isabel; McCarthy, Shaun; Hill, Sophie

2017-01-01

My Health Record is Australia's electronic personal health record system, which was introduced in July 2012. As of August 2017, approximately 21 percent of Australia's total population was registered to use My Health Record. Internationally, usability issues have been shown to negatively influence the uptake and use of electronic health record systems, and this scenario may particularly affect people who have low e-health literacy. It is likely that usability issues are negatively affecting the uptake and use of My Health Record in Australia. To identify potential e-health literacy-related usability issues within My Health Record through a heuristic evaluation method. Between September 14 and October 12, 2016, three of the authors conducted a heuristic evaluation of the two consumer-facing components of My Health Record-the information website and the electronic health record itself. These two components were evaluated against two sets of heuristics-the Health Literacy Online checklist and the Monkman Heuristics. The Health Literacy Online checklist and Monkman Heuristics are evidence-based checklists of web design elements with a focus on design for audiences with low health literacy. During this heuristic evaluation, the investigators individually navigated through the consumer-facing components of My Health Record, recording instances where the My Health Record did not conform to the checklist criteria. After the individual evaluations were completed, the investigators conferred and aggregated their results. From this process, a list of usability violations was constructed. When evaluated against the Health Literacy Online Checklist, the information website demonstrated violations in 12 of 35 criteria, and the electronic health record demonstrated violations in 16 of 35 criteria. When evaluated against the Monkman Heuristics, the information website demonstrated violations in 7 of 11 criteria, and the electronic health record demonstrated violations in 9 of 11 criteria. The identified violations included usability issues with the reading levels used within My Health Record, the graphic design elements, the layout of web pages, and a lack of images and audiovisual tools to support learning. Other important usability issues included a lack of translated resources, difficulty using accessibility tools, and complexity of the registration processes. My Health Record is an important piece of technology that has the potential to facilitate better communication between consumers and their health providers. However, this heuristic evaluation demonstrated that many usability-related elements of My Health Record cater poorly to users at risk of having low e-health literacy. Usability issues have been identified as an important barrier to use of personal health records internationally, and the findings of this heuristic evaluation demonstrate that usability issues may be substantial barriers to the uptake and use of My Health Record.

The E-health Literacy Demands of Australia's My Health Record: A Heuristic Evaluation of Usability

PubMed Central

Walsh, Louisa; Hemsley, Bronwyn; Allan, Meredith; Adams, Natalie; Balandin, Susan; Georgiou, Andrew; Higgins, Isabel; McCarthy, Shaun; Hill, Sophie

2017-01-01

Background My Health Record is Australia's electronic personal health record system, which was introduced in July 2012. As of August 2017, approximately 21 percent of Australia's total population was registered to use My Health Record. Internationally, usability issues have been shown to negatively influence the uptake and use of electronic health record systems, and this scenario may particularly affect people who have low e-health literacy. It is likely that usability issues are negatively affecting the uptake and use of My Health Record in Australia. Objective To identify potential e-health literacy–related usability issues within My Health Record through a heuristic evaluation method. Methods Between September 14 and October 12, 2016, three of the authors conducted a heuristic evaluation of the two consumer-facing components of My Health Record—the information website and the electronic health record itself. These two components were evaluated against two sets of heuristics—the Health Literacy Online checklist and the Monkman Heuristics. The Health Literacy Online checklist and Monkman Heuristics are evidence-based checklists of web design elements with a focus on design for audiences with low health literacy. During this heuristic evaluation, the investigators individually navigated through the consumer-facing components of My Health Record, recording instances where the My Health Record did not conform to the checklist criteria. After the individual evaluations were completed, the investigators conferred and aggregated their results. From this process, a list of usability violations was constructed. Results When evaluated against the Health Literacy Online Checklist, the information website demonstrated violations in 12 of 35 criteria, and the electronic health record demonstrated violations in 16 of 35 criteria. When evaluated against the Monkman Heuristics, the information website demonstrated violations in 7 of 11 criteria, and the electronic health record demonstrated violations in 9 of 11 criteria. The identified violations included usability issues with the reading levels used within My Health Record, the graphic design elements, the layout of web pages, and a lack of images and audiovisual tools to support learning. Other important usability issues included a lack of translated resources, difficulty using accessibility tools, and complexity of the registration processes. Conclusion My Health Record is an important piece of technology that has the potential to facilitate better communication between consumers and their health providers. However, this heuristic evaluation demonstrated that many usability-related elements of My Health Record cater poorly to users at risk of having low e-health literacy. Usability issues have been identified as an important barrier to use of personal health records internationally, and the findings of this heuristic evaluation demonstrate that usability issues may be substantial barriers to the uptake and use of My Health Record. PMID:29118683

Analogical and category-based inference: a theoretical integration with Bayesian causal models.

PubMed

Holyoak, Keith J; Lee, Hee Seung; Lu, Hongjing

2010-11-01

A fundamental issue for theories of human induction is to specify constraints on potential inferences. For inferences based on shared category membership, an analogy, and/or a relational schema, it appears that the basic goal of induction is to make accurate and goal-relevant inferences that are sensitive to uncertainty. People can use source information at various levels of abstraction (including both specific instances and more general categories), coupled with prior causal knowledge, to build a causal model for a target situation, which in turn constrains inferences about the target. We propose a computational theory in the framework of Bayesian inference and test its predictions (parameter-free for the cases we consider) in a series of experiments in which people were asked to assess the probabilities of various causal predictions and attributions about a target on the basis of source knowledge about generative and preventive causes. The theory proved successful in accounting for systematic patterns of judgments about interrelated types of causal inferences, including evidence that analogical inferences are partially dissociable from overall mapping quality.

A web platform for landuse, climate, demography, hydrology and beach erosion in the Black Sea catchment

PubMed Central

Lehmann, Anthony; Guigoz, Yaniss; Ray, Nicolas; Mancosu, Emanuele; Abbaspour, Karim C.; Rouholahnejad Freund, Elham; Allenbach, Karin; De Bono, Andrea; Fasel, Marc; Gago-Silva, Ana; Bär, Roger; Lacroix, Pierre; Giuliani, Gregory

2017-01-01

The Black Sea catchment (BSC) is facing important demographic, climatic and landuse changes that may increase pollution, vulnerability and scarcity of water resources, as well as beach erosion through sea level rise. Limited access to reliable time-series monitoring data from environmental, statistical, and socio-economical sources is a major barrier to policy development and decision-making. To address these issues, a web-based platform was developed to enable discovery and access to key environmental information for the region. This platform covers: landuse, climate, and demographic scenarios; hydrology and related water vulnerability and scarcity; as well as beach erosion. Each data set has been obtained with state-of-the-art modelling tools from available monitoring data using appropriate validation methods. These analyses were conducted using global and regional data sets. The data sets are intended for national to regional assessments, for instance for prioritizing environmental protection projects and investments. Together they form a unique set of information, which lay out future plausible change scenarios for the BSC, both for scientific and policy purposes. PMID:28675383

A web platform for landuse, climate, demography, hydrology and beach erosion in the Black Sea catchment.

PubMed

Lehmann, Anthony; Guigoz, Yaniss; Ray, Nicolas; Mancosu, Emanuele; Abbaspour, Karim C; Rouholahnejad Freund, Elham; Allenbach, Karin; De Bono, Andrea; Fasel, Marc; Gago-Silva, Ana; Bär, Roger; Lacroix, Pierre; Giuliani, Gregory

2017-07-04

The Black Sea catchment (BSC) is facing important demographic, climatic and landuse changes that may increase pollution, vulnerability and scarcity of water resources, as well as beach erosion through sea level rise. Limited access to reliable time-series monitoring data from environmental, statistical, and socio-economical sources is a major barrier to policy development and decision-making. To address these issues, a web-based platform was developed to enable discovery and access to key environmental information for the region. This platform covers: landuse, climate, and demographic scenarios; hydrology and related water vulnerability and scarcity; as well as beach erosion. Each data set has been obtained with state-of-the-art modelling tools from available monitoring data using appropriate validation methods. These analyses were conducted using global and regional data sets. The data sets are intended for national to regional assessments, for instance for prioritizing environmental protection projects and investments. Together they form a unique set of information, which lay out future plausible change scenarios for the BSC, both for scientific and policy purposes.

Delivering Bad News: An Approach According to Jewish Scriptures

PubMed Central

Naimer, Sody A.; Prero, Moshe

2014-01-01

Despite a preoccupation in the medical literature with developing an effective approach for breaking bad news, the sources are based on personal opinion alone and only in some instances on qualitative research. Recognizing the gravity of this topic coupled with respect for the wisdom of the written and oral Jewish scriptures, this work is an attempt to delve into the diverse ancient writings to draw conclusions regarding a recommended methodology to guide and inform this task. It is interesting to learn that most elements related to this topic have previously been raised in various forms in the scriptures. The issues range from where, when, and how the bearer of bad news should undertake this duty, to details such as the environment, the format, the speed, and depth of the details to be disclosed. The essence of this paper is to enrich the reader using both positive and negative examples found in the Jewish heritage. Adopting these principles will hopefully provide an effective method for performing this unpleasant obligation, with the goal of limiting harmful consequences as much as possible. PMID:25120920

Fundamentals of Passive Oxidation In SiC and Si3N4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas-Ogbuji, Linus U.

1998-01-01

The very slow oxidation kinetics of silicon carbide and silicon nitride, which derive from their adherent and passivating oxide films, has been explored at length in a broad series of studies utilizing thermogravimetric analysis, electron and optical micrography, energy dispersive spectrometry, x-ray diffractometry, micro-analytical depth profiling, etc. Some interesting microstructural phenomena accompanying the process of oxidation in the two materials will be presented. In Si3N4 the oxide is stratified, with an SiO2 topscale (which is relatively impervious to O2)underlain by a coherent subscale of silicon oxynitride which is even less permeable to O2- Such "defence in depth" endows Si3N4 with what is perhaps the highest oxidation resistance of any material, and results in a unique set of oxidation processes. In SiC the oxidation reactions are much simpler, yet new issues still emerge; for instance, studies involving controlled devitrification of the amorphous silica scale confirmed that the oxidation rate of SiC drops by more than an order of magnitude when the oxide scale fully crystallizes.

Piloting the older adult financial exploitation measure in adult safeguarding services.

PubMed

Phelan, A; Fealy, G; Downes, C

Financial abuse is arguably the most complex form of elder abuse as it may occur remote to the older person and it is impacted by issues such as cultural values, perpetrator intent and family expectations. Financial abuse may not be recognised by either the older person or the perpetrator, thus, its prevention, early identification and amelioration are important. The (Irish) National Centre for the Protection of Older People undertook a study to determine the appropriateness of the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure for use by the national safeguarding older person services. Findings from a small pilot study involving 16 safeguarding staff's use of the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure with 52 community dwelling older people referred to their service demonstrate a higher suspicion of financial abuse as well as identifying multiple instances of possible financial exploitation in a single individual. Thus, the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure is considered appropriate to assist safeguarding personnel's assessment of older people related to a suspicion of financial abuse. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Piloting a psycho-social intervention for incarcerated women with trauma histories: lessons learned and future recommendations.

PubMed

Liebman, Rachel E; Burnette, Mandi L; Raimondi, Christina; Nichols-Hadeed, Corey; Merle, Patricia; Cerulli, Catherine

2014-08-01

Trauma and related mental health disorders are common among incarcerated women, but empirically sound mental health interventions are lacking in prisons. Implementing such interventions is fraught with legal and logistical barriers. These barriers can be particularly detrimental for trauma-specific interventions given the unique needs of trauma survivors, yet there is little documentation of these issues or how to address them. This study describes a pilot study of an 8-week, strengths-based, trauma-focused intervention for 26 incarcerated women. Women reported considerable mental health problems and trauma. The study highlights the importance of adapting stringent research methodologies for prison-based trauma interventions. For instance, women with trauma were reluctant to participate in an intervention advertised as trauma-based. Moreover, a randomized wait list control design was unfeasible because women wanted the support of their friends when discussing trauma and could not control their schedules 9 weeks in advance. Ultimately, this work may inform future efforts to implement effective trauma-based interventions behind prison walls. © The Author(s) 2013.

An international comparative overview on the rehabilitation of offenders and effective measures for the prevention of recidivism.

PubMed

Someda, Kei

2009-04-01

The prevention of recidivism has long been a central issue in criminal justice policy. This is justified because an offender who repeatedly commits crime inflicts far greater damage on society than an offender who commits a crime just once in his/her lifetime. For instance, research by the Ministry of Justice of Japan (2007) reveals that only approximately 30% of repeat offenders were responsible for around 60% of the crime committed in Japan from 1948 to 2006. It has been proven that the realization of the rehabilitation of offenders contributes to the reduction of recidivism. The successful rehabilitation of offenders depends in large part upon the effectiveness of the community-based treatment given to offenders based upon an appropriate assessment of multidimensional risk factors and a multidisciplinary approach. In exploring effective community-based treatment of offenders using a multidisciplinary approach, the author touches upon several effective programs from an international comparative view, including: intensive supervision probation/parole (ISP), Drug Court, cognitive behavioral treatment programs and some recent developments related to this field in Japan.

Nonperturbative Quantum Nature of the Dislocation–Phonon Interaction

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

Li, Mingda; Ding, Zhiwei; Meng, Qingping

Despite the long history of dislocation–phonon interaction studies, there are many problems that have not been fully resolved during this development. These include an incompatibility between a perturbative approach and the long-range nature of a dislocation, the relation between static and dynamic scattering, and their capability of dealing with thermal transport phenomena for bulk material only. Here in this paper, by utilizing a fully quantized dislocation field, which we called a “dislon”, a phonon interacting with a dislocation is renormalized as a quasi-phonon, with shifted quasi-phonon energy, and accompanied by a finite quasi-phonon lifetime, which are reducible to classical results.more » A series of outstanding legacy issues including those above can be directly explained within this unified phonon renormalization approach. For instance, a renormalized phonon naturally resolves the decade-long debate between dynamic and static dislocation–phonon scattering approaches, as two limiting cases. In particular, at nanoscale, both the dynamic and static approaches break down, while the present renormalization approach remains valid by capturing the size effect, showing good agreement with lattice dynamics simulations.« less

Security challenges in integration of a PHR-S into a standards based national EHR.

PubMed

Mense, Alexander; Hoheiser Pförtner, Franz; Sauermann, Stefan

2014-01-01

Health related data provided by patients themselves is expected to play a major role in future healthcare. Data from personal health devices, vaccination records, health diaries or observations of daily living, for instance, is stored in personal health records (PHR) which are maintained by personal health record systems (PHR-S). Combining this information with medical records provided by healthcare providers in electronic health records (EHR) is one of the next steps towards "personal care". Austria currently sets up a nationwide EHR system that incorporates all healthcare providers and is technically based on international standards (IHE, HL7, OASIS, ...). Looking at the expected potential of merging PHR and EHR data it is worth to analyse integration approaches. Although knowing that an integration requires the coordination of processes, information models and technical architectures, this paper specifically focuses on security issues by evaluating general security requirements for a PHR-S (based on HL7 PHR-S FM), comparing them with the information security specifications for the Austrian's national EHR (based on ISO/IES 27000 series) and identifying the main challenges as well as possible approaches.

Chimera grids in the simulation of three-dimensional flowfields in turbine-blade-coolant passages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stephens, M. A.; Rimlinger, M. J.; Shih, T. I.-P.; Civinskas, K. C.

1993-01-01

When computing flows inside geometrically complex turbine-blade coolant passages, the structure of the grid system used can affect significantly the overall time and cost required to obtain solutions. This paper addresses this issue while evaluating and developing computational tools for the design and analysis of coolant-passages, and is divided into two parts. In the first part, the various types of structured and unstructured grids are compared in relation to their ability to provide solutions in a timely and cost-effective manner. This comparison shows that the overlapping structured grids, known as Chimera grids, can rival and in some instances exceed the cost-effectiveness of unstructured grids in terms of both the man hours needed to generate grids and the amount of computer memory and CPU time needed to obtain solutions. In the second part, a computational tool utilizing Chimera grids was used to compute the flow and heat transfer in two different turbine-blade coolant passages that contain baffles and numerous pin fins. These computations showed the versatility and flexibility offered by Chimera grids.

Determination of geographical origin of alcoholic beverages using ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectroscopy: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uríčková, Veronika; Sádecká, Jana

2015-09-01

The identification of the geographical origin of beverages is one of the most important issues in food chemistry. Spectroscopic methods provide a relative rapid and low cost alternative to traditional chemical composition or sensory analyses. This paper reviews the current state of development of ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis), near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (MIR) spectroscopic techniques combined with pattern recognition methods for determining geographical origin of both wines and distilled drinks. UV, Vis, and NIR spectra contain broad band(s) with weak spectral features limiting their discrimination ability. Despite this expected shortcoming, each of the three spectroscopic ranges (NIR, Vis/NIR and UV/Vis/NIR) provides average correct classification higher than 82%. Although average correct classification is similar for NIR and MIR regions, in some instances MIR data processing improves prediction. Advantage of using MIR is that MIR peaks are better defined and more easily assigned than NIR bands. In general, success in a classification depends on both spectral range and pattern recognition methods. The main problem still remains the construction of databanks needed for all of these methods.

Delivering bad news: an approach according to jewish scriptures.

PubMed

Naimer, Sody A; Prero, Moshe

2014-07-01

Despite a preoccupation in the medical literature with developing an effective approach for breaking bad news, the sources are based on personal opinion alone and only in some instances on qualitative research. Recognizing the gravity of this topic coupled with respect for the wisdom of the written and oral Jewish scriptures, this work is an attempt to delve into the diverse ancient writings to draw conclusions regarding a recommended methodology to guide and inform this task. It is interesting to learn that most elements related to this topic have previously been raised in various forms in the scriptures. The issues range from where, when, and how the bearer of bad news should undertake this duty, to details such as the environment, the format, the speed, and depth of the details to be disclosed. The essence of this paper is to enrich the reader using both positive and negative examples found in the Jewish heritage. Adopting these principles will hopefully provide an effective method for performing this unpleasant obligation, with the goal of limiting harmful consequences as much as possible.

Social capital and self-reported general and mental health in nine Former Soviet Union countries.

PubMed

Goryakin, Yevgeniy; Suhrcke, Marc; Rocco, Lorenzo; Roberts, Bayard; McKee, Martin

2014-01-01

Social capital has been proposed as a potentially important contributor to health, yet most of the existing research tends to ignore the challenge of assessing causality in this relationship. We deal with this issue by employing various instrumental variable estimation techniques. We apply the analysis to a set of nine former Soviet countries, using a unique multi-country household survey specifically designed for this region. Our results confirm that there appears to be a causal association running from several dimensions of individual social capital to general and mental health. Individual trust appears to be more strongly related to general health, while social isolation- to mental health. In addition, social support and trust seem to be more important determinants of health than the social capital dimensions that facilitate solidarity and collective action. Our findings are remarkably robust to a range of different specifications, including the use of instrumental variables. Certain interaction effects are also found: for instance, untrusting people who live in communities with higher aggregate level of trust are even less likely to experience good health than untrusting people living in the reference communities.

The Analyst's "Use" of Theory or Theories: The Play of Theory.

PubMed

Cooper, Steven H

2017-10-01

Two clinical vignettes demonstrate a methodological approach that guides the analyst's attention to metaphors and surfaces that are the focus of different theories. Clinically, the use of different theories expands the metaphorical language with which the analyst tries to make contact with the patient's unconscious life. Metaphorical expressions may be said to relate to each other as the syntax of unconscious fantasy (Arlow 1979). The unconscious fantasy itself represents a metaphorical construction of childhood experience that has persisted, dynamically expressive and emergent into adult life. This persistence is evident in how, in some instances, long periods of an analysis focus on translating one or a few metaphors, chiefly because the manifest metaphorical expressions of a central theme regularly lead to better understanding of an unconscious fantasy. At times employing another model or theory assists in a level of self-reflection about clinical understanding and clinical decisions. The analyst's choice of theory or theories is unique to the analyst and is not prescriptive, except as illustrating a way to think about these issues. The use of multiple models in no way suggests or implies that theories may be integrated.

Nonperturbative Quantum Nature of the Dislocation–Phonon Interaction

DOE PAGES

Li, Mingda; Ding, Zhiwei; Meng, Qingping; ...

2017-01-31

Despite the long history of dislocation–phonon interaction studies, there are many problems that have not been fully resolved during this development. These include an incompatibility between a perturbative approach and the long-range nature of a dislocation, the relation between static and dynamic scattering, and their capability of dealing with thermal transport phenomena for bulk material only. Here in this paper, by utilizing a fully quantized dislocation field, which we called a “dislon”, a phonon interacting with a dislocation is renormalized as a quasi-phonon, with shifted quasi-phonon energy, and accompanied by a finite quasi-phonon lifetime, which are reducible to classical results.more » A series of outstanding legacy issues including those above can be directly explained within this unified phonon renormalization approach. For instance, a renormalized phonon naturally resolves the decade-long debate between dynamic and static dislocation–phonon scattering approaches, as two limiting cases. In particular, at nanoscale, both the dynamic and static approaches break down, while the present renormalization approach remains valid by capturing the size effect, showing good agreement with lattice dynamics simulations.« less

A threshold theory of the humor response.

PubMed

Epstein, Robert; Joker, Veronica R

2007-01-01

The humor response has long been considered mysterious, and it is given relatively little attention in modern experimental psychology, in spite of the fact that numerous studies suggest that it has substantial benefits for mood and health. Existing theories of humor fail to account for some of the most basic humor phenomena. On most occasions when a humor response occurs, certain verbal or visual stimuli (the "setup" stimuli, which function as an establishing operation) must precede a critical stimulus (such as a "punch line" or the final panel or critical feature of a cartoon), which then occasions a sudden "revelation" or "understanding"; this revelation is often accompanied by the humor response. We suggest that the setup stimuli increase the strength of the revelatory response to a point just below the threshold of awareness and that the critical stimulus, properly designed and timed, edges the revelatory response to a point just above threshold. We also suggest that it is this threshold phenomenon that produces most instances of the humor response. We discuss these issues in the context of some notable humor of Carl Rogers and B. F. Skinner.

Acknowledging Global Climate Change in Humanities Courses Not Focused on Climate: The Value of Indirectness in Teaching.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slovic, S.

2015-12-01

I will highlight the following teaching strategies in my presentation: 1) the decision of include climate-related works at the end of syllabi for courses in subjects like "The Literature of Energy" in order to complicate and contextualize readings from earlier in the courses and to delay the climate topic until I feel students are ready to face it; 2) breaking down climate into an array of specific, graspable sub-issues (food, water, transportation, architecture) in courses on sustainability literature; and 3) appreciating the psychology of "numbers and nerves" in course design for topics such as genocide and climate change that seem to require quantitative description (for instance, psychic numbing, pseudoinefficacy, the prominence effect, the asymmetry of trust, and the trans-scalar imaginary). This presentation will briefly describe my own experiences teaching climate change literature at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Idaho and will also draw from my forthcoming book, with psychologist Paul Slovic, titled Numbers and Nerves: Information, Emotion, and Meaning in a World of Data (Oregon State University Press, October 2015).

Adolescent Peer Relations and Socioemotional Development in Latin America: Translating International Theory into Local Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Christian; Lisboa, Carolina; Cuadros, Olga; de Tezanos-Pinto, Pablo

2016-01-01

Peer relations constitute a main developmental context for adolescents. Peers offer an instance for identity definition and set the norms of acceptable and valued characteristics, behaviors, and attitudes, representing a societal model that allows and restrains avenues for adolescents' socioemotional development. The present article departs from…

A Comparative History of Church-State Relations in Irish Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Donoghue, Tom; Harford, Judith

2011-01-01

This essay argues for the development of a research agenda on the comparative history of Catholic education internationally from the nineteenth century to the present. This requires, in the first instance, the production of a series of individual-country case studies, concentrating on relations between the Catholic Church and the particular state…

Using Focus Group Research in Public Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grunig, Larissa A.

1990-01-01

Analyzes a recent instance of focus group research applied to a public relations case (rather than a marketing case). Reviews the advantages and disadvantages of this qualitative method, and describes the case of a county department of mental health relying on focus group research to help plan a program aimed at reducing the stigma of mental…

Real-time transmission of digital video using variable-length coding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bizon, Thomas P.; Shalkhauser, Mary JO; Whyte, Wayne A., Jr.

1993-01-01

Huffman coding is a variable-length lossless compression technique where data with a high probability of occurrence is represented with short codewords, while 'not-so-likely' data is assigned longer codewords. Compression is achieved when the high-probability levels occur so frequently that their benefit outweighs any penalty paid when a less likely input occurs. One instance where Huffman coding is extremely effective occurs when data is highly predictable and differential coding can be applied (as with a digital video signal). For that reason, it is desirable to apply this compression technique to digital video transmission; however, special care must be taken in order to implement a communication protocol utilizing Huffman coding. This paper addresses several of the issues relating to the real-time transmission of Huffman-coded digital video over a constant-rate serial channel. Topics discussed include data rate conversion (from variable to a fixed rate), efficient data buffering, channel coding, recovery from communication errors, decoder synchronization, and decoder architectures. A description of the hardware developed to execute Huffman coding and serial transmission is also included. Although this paper focuses on matters relating to Huffman-coded digital video, the techniques discussed can easily be generalized for a variety of applications which require transmission of variable-length data.

Decentralized Control of Sound Radiation from an Aircraft-Style Panel Using Iterative Loop Recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schiller, Noah H.; Cabell, Randolph H.; Fuller, Chris R.

2008-01-01

A decentralized LQG-based control strategy is designed to reduce low-frequency sound transmission through periodically stiffened panels. While modern control strategies have been used to reduce sound radiation from relatively simple structural acoustic systems, significant implementation issues have to be addressed before these control strategies can be extended to large systems such as the fuselage of an aircraft. For instance, centralized approaches typically require a high level of connectivity and are computationally intensive, while decentralized strategies face stability problems caused by the unmodeled interaction between neighboring control units. Since accurate uncertainty bounds are not known a priori, it is difficult to ensure the decentralized control system will be robust without making the controller overly conservative. Therefore an iterative approach is suggested, which utilizes frequency-shaped loop recovery. The approach accounts for modeling error introduced by neighboring control loops, requires no communication between subsystems, and is relatively simple. The control strategy is validated using real-time control experiments performed on a built-up aluminum test structure representative of the fuselage of an aircraft. Experiments demonstrate that the iterative approach is capable of achieving 12 dB peak reductions and a 3.6 dB integrated reduction in radiated sound power from the stiffened panel.

UK guidance on the management of personal dosimetry systems for healthcare staff working at multiple organizations.

PubMed

Rogers, Andy; Chapple, Claire-Louise; Murray, Maria; Platton, David; Saunderson, John

2017-11-01

There has been concern expressed by the UK regulator, the Health & Safety Executive, regarding the management of occupation dose for healthcare radiation workers who work across multiple organizations. In response to this concern, the British Institute of Radiology led a working group of relevant professional bodies to develop guidance in this area. The guidance addresses issues of general system management that would apply to all personal dosimetry systems, regardless of whether or not the workers within that system work across organizational boundaries, along with exploring efficient strategies to comply with legislation where those workers do indeed work across organizational boundaries. For those specific instances, the guidance discusses both system requirements to enable organizations to co-operate (Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999 Regulation 15), as well as specific instances of staff exposure. This is broken down into three categories-low, medium and high risk. A suggested approach to each is given to guide employers and their radiation advisers in adopting sensible strategies for the monitoring of their staff and the subsequent sharing of dosimetry data to ensure overall compliance with both dose limits and optimization requirements.

Multiobjective optimisation design for enterprise system operation in the case of scheduling problem with deteriorating jobs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hongfeng; Fu, Yaping; Huang, Min; Wang, Junwei

2016-03-01

The operation process design is one of the key issues in the manufacturing and service sectors. As a typical operation process, the scheduling with consideration of the deteriorating effect has been widely studied; however, the current literature only studied single function requirement and rarely considered the multiple function requirements which are critical for a real-world scheduling process. In this article, two function requirements are involved in the design of a scheduling process with consideration of the deteriorating effect and then formulated into two objectives of a mathematical programming model. A novel multiobjective evolutionary algorithm is proposed to solve this model with combination of three strategies, i.e. a multiple population scheme, a rule-based local search method and an elitist preserve strategy. To validate the proposed model and algorithm, a series of randomly-generated instances are tested and the experimental results indicate that the model is effective and the proposed algorithm can achieve the satisfactory performance which outperforms the other state-of-the-art multiobjective evolutionary algorithms, such as nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II and multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition, on all the test instances.

Medicine shortages in Fiji: A qualitative exploration of stakeholders' views.

PubMed

Walker, Josephine; Chaar, Betty B; Vera, Numa; Pillai, Alvish S; Lim, Jessy S; Bero, Lisa; Moles, Rebekah J

2017-01-01

Medicine access is a human right; yet, concerningly, there are international instances of shortages. Quantitative data has allowed WHO to propose global solutions; however, individualised understanding of specific regions is still required to work towards national solutions. Fiji has an established issue with medication supply and the aim of this study was to use qualitative methods to gain a fuller understanding of this context. Semi-structured interviews were used to gain the perspective of key stakeholders involved in the Fijian medicine supply chain in regards to causes, impacts and possible solutions of medicine shortages. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. In total, 48 stakeholders participated and the information was synthesised into three main themes, causes, impacts and solutions and the sub-themes including; political, system and patient causes, adverse health effects on patients, professional dissatisfaction, monetary loss and loss of faith in the health system, workarounds, operation improvements, government intervention and education and training. The situation in Fiji is not dissimilar to other instances of shortages around the world and hence international solutions like that proposed by WHO are feasible; however, they must be modified to be uniquely Fijian to work in this context.

Personnel Dose Assessment during Active Interrogation

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

Miller, Thomas Martin; Akkurt, Hatice; Patton, Bruce W

A leading candidate in the detection of special nuclear material (SNM) is active interrogation (AI). Unlike passive interrogation, AI uses a source to enhance or create a detectable signal from SNM (usually fission), particularly in shielded scenarios or scenarios where the SNM has a low activity. The use of AI thus makes the detection of SNM easier or, in some scenarios, even enables previously impossible detection. During the development of AI sources, significant effort is put into determining the source strength required to detect SNM in specific scenarios. Usually during this process, but not always, an evaluation of personnel dosemore » is also completed. In this instance personnel dose could involve any of the following: (1) personnel performing the AI; (2) unknown stowaways who are inside the object being interrogated; or (3) in clandestine interrogations, personnel who are known to be inside the object being interrogated but are unaware of the interrogation. In most instances, dose to anyone found smuggling SNM will be a secondary issue. However, for the organizations performing the AI, legal if not moral considerations should make dose to the personnel performing the AI, unknown stowaways, or innocent bystanders in clandestine interrogations a serious concern.« less

Medicine shortages in Fiji: A qualitative exploration of stakeholders’ views

PubMed Central

Chaar, Betty B.; Vera, Numa; Pillai, Alvish S.; Lim, Jessy S.; Bero, Lisa; Moles, Rebekah J.

2017-01-01

Objectives Medicine access is a human right; yet, concerningly, there are international instances of shortages. Quantitative data has allowed WHO to propose global solutions; however, individualised understanding of specific regions is still required to work towards national solutions. Fiji has an established issue with medication supply and the aim of this study was to use qualitative methods to gain a fuller understanding of this context. Methods Semi-structured interviews were used to gain the perspective of key stakeholders involved in the Fijian medicine supply chain in regards to causes, impacts and possible solutions of medicine shortages. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. Results In total, 48 stakeholders participated and the information was synthesised into three main themes, causes, impacts and solutions and the sub-themes including; political, system and patient causes, adverse health effects on patients, professional dissatisfaction, monetary loss and loss of faith in the health system, workarounds, operation improvements, government intervention and education and training. Conclusions The situation in Fiji is not dissimilar to other instances of shortages around the world and hence international solutions like that proposed by WHO are feasible; however, they must be modified to be uniquely Fijian to work in this context. PMID:28582409

Automated detection of age-related macular degeneration in OCT images using multiple instance learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Weiwei; Liu, Xiaoming; Yang, Zhou

2017-07-01

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a kind of macular disease which mostly occurs in old people，and it may cause decreased vision or even lead to permanent blindness. Drusen is an important clinical indicator for AMD which can help doctor diagnose disease and decide the strategy of treatment. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is widely used in the diagnosis of ophthalmic diseases, include AMD. In this paper, we propose a classification method based on Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) to detect AMD. Drusen can exist in a few slices of OCT images, and MIL is utilized in our method. We divided the method into two phases: training phase and testing phase. We train the initial features and clustered to create a codebook, and employ the trained classifier in the test set. Experiment results show that our method achieved high accuracy and effectiveness.

A comparison of the results of regulatory compliance inspections in 1999 by the states of Texas, Maine, and Washington.

PubMed

Brown, B J; Emery, R J; Stock, T H; Lee, E S

2004-03-01

Inspection outcome data provided by the state of Washington Department of Health, Division of Radiation Protection, for licensees of radioactive materials was encoded according to a system established by the Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control. The data, representing calendar year 1999 inspection activities, were then analyzed and the results compared to previously published studies for the same year in the states of Texas and Maine. Despite significant differences in regulatory program size, age, and geographic proximity, the most frequently cited violation for radioactive materials licensees were shown to be similar for all three states. Of particular note were the violations that were identified to be consistently issued in all three states. These included physical inventories and utilization logs not performed, not available, or incomplete; leak testing not performed or not performed on schedule; inadequate or unapproved operating and safety procedures; radiation survey and disposal records not available or incomplete; detection or measurement instrument calibration not performed or records not available; and radiation surveys or sampling not performed or performed with a noncalibrated instrument. Comparisons were made in an attempt to generate a summary of the most commonly issued violations that could be generalized to users of radioactive materials across the United States. A generalized list of common violations would be an invaluable tool for radiation protection programs, serving to aid in the reduction of the overall instance of program non-compliance. Any reduction in instances of non-compliance would result in the conservation of finite public health resources that might then be directed to other pressing public health matters.

Unfitness to stand trial decision-making in the extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

PubMed

Freckelton, Ian; Karagiannakis, Magda

2014-06-01

In the small number of trials for matters such as genocide and crimes against humanity that have taken place before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, by 2014 three occasions had arisen in which the fitness of the accused persons to participate in their trials had become contentious. This is hardly surprising given that the key period of Khmer Rouge government occurred a very long while ago--between 1975 and 1979. The accused persons are all aged. In two instances, the Trial Chamber of the Courts of its own motion sought expert evaluations of the accused persons' fitness to stand trial and, promptly, upon receipt of such reports, determined them to be fit by reference to criteria utilised by the Appeal Chamber of the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia (the ICTY). In the other instance an accused person, leng Thirith, was found unfit to stand trial and a range of important issues was traversed as to the measures that can properly be taken to try to render a person fit for trial and how legitimate the imposition of detention for that purpose is, and then how legitimate encroachments on a person's civil liberties are to monitor them if there is only a remote possibility that their mental state might improve. It is likely that the balance adopted by the Supreme Court Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia in making significant efforts to render an accused person fit for trial and then in continuing to monitor their mental state when such efforts do not bear fruit, instead of simply releasing them back into the community, will stand as an important precedent for future occasions under international criminal law when issues of fitness to stand trial and how they should be handled arise.

Toward unified ice core chronologies with the DatIce tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toye Mahamadou Kele, H.; Lemieux-Dudon, B.; Blayo, E.

2012-04-01

Antarctic and Greenland ice cores provide a means to study the phase relationships of climate changes in both hemispheres. They also enable to study the timing between climate, and greenhouse gases or orbital forcings. One key step for such studies is to improve the absolute and relative precisions of ice core age scales (for ice and trapped gas), and beyond that, to try to reach the best consistency between chronologies of paleo records of any kind. The DatIce tool is designed to increase the consistency between pre-existing (also called background) core chronologies. It formulates a variational inverse problem which aims at correcting three key quantities that uniquely define the core age scales: the accumulation rate, the total thinning function, and the close-off depth. For that purpose, it integrates paleo data constraints of many types among which age markers (with for instance documented volcanoes eruptions), and stratigraphic links (with for instance abrupt changes in methane concentration). A cost function is built that enables to calculate new chronologies by making a trade-off between all the constraints (background chronologies and paleo data). The method presented in Lemieux-Dudon et al (2010) has already been applied simultaneously to EPICA EDML and EDC, Vostok and NGRIP. Currently, on going works are conducted at LSCE Saclay and LGGE Grenoble laboratories to construct unified Antarctic chronologies by applying the DatIce tool with new ice cores and new sets of paleo measurements. We here present the DatIce tool, the underlying methodology, and its potential applications. We further show some improvements that have been made recently. We especially adress the issue related to the calibration of the error of pre-existing core chronologies. They are inputs that may have a strong impact on the results. However these uncertainties are uneasy to analyze, since prior chronologies are most of the time assessed on the basis of glaciological models (firn densification and ice flow models) which still face large uncertainties (forcing fields, model parameters, mechanic and physic formulation). For that reason, we chose to calibrate errors by applying consistency diagnostics, a classical method in data assimilation (Desrozier et al, 2009).

Fostering caring relationships: Suggestions to rethink liberal perspectives on the ethics of newborn screening

PubMed Central

Oerlemans, Anke

2018-01-01

Abstract Newborn screening (NBS) involves the collection of blood from the heel of a newborn baby and testing it for a list of rare and inheritable disorders. New biochemical screening technologies led to expansions of NBS programs in the first decade of the 21st century. It is expected that they will in time be replaced by genetic sequencing technologies. These developments have raised a lot of ethical debate. We reviewed the ethical literature on NBS, analyzed the issues and values that emerged, and paid particular interest to the type of impacts authors think NBS should have on the lives of children and their families. Our review shows that most authors keep their ethical reflection confined to policy decisions, about for instance (a) the purpose of the program, and (b) its voluntary or mandatory nature. While some authors show appreciation of how NBS information empowers parents to care for their (diseased) children, most authors consider these aspects to be ‘private’ and leave their evaluation up to parents themselves. While this division of moral labor fits with the liberal conviction to leave individuals free to decide how they want to live their private lives, it also silences the ethical debate about these issues. Given the present and future capacity of NBS to offer an abundance of health‐related information, we argue that there is good reason to develop a more substantive perspective to whether and how NBS can contribute to parents’ good care for children. PMID:29442381

Review article: practical current issues in perioperative patient safety.

PubMed

Eichhorn, John H

2013-02-01

This brief review provides an overview and, importantly, a context perspective of relevant current practical issues in perioperative patient safety. The dramatic improvement in anesthesia patient safety over the last 30 years was not initiated by electronic monitors but, rather, largely by a set of behaviours known as "safety monitoring" that were then made decidedly more effective by extending the human senses through electronic monitoring, for example, capnography and pulse oximetry. In the highly developed world, this current success is threatened by complacency and production pressure. In some areas of the developing/underdeveloped world, the challenge is implementing the components of anesthesia practice that will bring safety improvements to parallel the overall current success, for instance, applying the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) "International Standards for A Safe Practice of Anaesthesia". Generally, expanding the current success in safety involves many practical issues. System issues involve research, effective reporting mechanisms and analysis/broadcasting of results, perioperative communication (including "speaking up to power"), and checklists. Monitoring issues involve enforcing existing published monitoring standards and also recognizing the risk of danger to the patient from hypoventilation during procedural sedation and from postoperative intravenous pain medications. Issues of clinical care include medication errors in the operating room, cerebral hypoperfusion (especially in the head-up position), dangers of airway management, postoperative residual weakness from muscle relaxants, operating room fires, and risks specific in obstetric anesthesia. Recognition of the issues outlined here and empowerment of all anesthesia professionals, from the most senior professors and administrators to the newest practitioners, should help maintain, solidify, and expand the improvements in anesthesia and perioperative patient safety.

Emancipating traditional channel network types: quantification of topology and geometry, and relation to geologic boundary conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Temme, A.; Langston, A. L.

2017-12-01

Traditional classification of channel networks is helpful for qualitative geologic and geomorphic inference. For instance, a dendritic network indicates no strong lithological control on where channels flow. However, an approach where channel network structure is quantified, is required to be able to indicate for instance how increasing levels of lithological control lead, gradually or suddenly, to a trellis-type drainage network Our contribution aims to aid this transition to a quantitative analysis of channel networks. First, to establish the range of typically occurring channel network properties, we selected 30 examples of traditional drainage network types from around the world. For each of these, we calculated a set of topological and geometric properties, such as total drainage length, average length of a channel segment and the average angle of intersection of channel segments. A decision tree was used to formalize the relation between these newly quantified properties on the one hand, and traditional network types on the other hand. Then, to explore how variations in lithological and geomorphic boundary conditions affect channel network structure, we ran a set of experiments with landscape evolution model Landlab. For each simulated channel network, the same set of topological and geometric properties was calculated as for the 30 real-world channel networks. The latter were used for a first, visual evaluation to find out whether a simulated network that looked, for instance, rectangular, also had the same set of properties as real-world rectangular channel networks. Ultimately, the relation between these properties and the imposed lithological and geomorphic boundary conditions was explored using simple bivariate statistics.

A cross-cultural comparison of biology lessons between China and Germany: a video study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ning; Neuhaus, Birgit Jana

2017-08-01

Given the globalization of science education and the different cultures between China and Germany, we tried to compare and explain the differences on teacher questions and real life instances in biology lessons between the two countries from a culture-related perspective. 22 biology teachers from China and 21 biology teachers from Germany participated in this study. Each teacher was videotaped for one lesson on the unit blood and circulatory system. Before the teaching unit, students' prior knowledge was tested with a pretest. After the teaching unit, students' content knowledge was tested with a posttest. The aim of the knowledge tests here was for the better selection of the four samples for qualitative comparison in the two countries. The quantitative analysis showed that more lower-order teacher questions and more real life instances that were introduced after learning relevant concepts were in Chinese lessons than in German lessons. There were no significant differences in the frequency of higher-order questions or real life instances that were introduced before learning concepts. Qualitative analysis showed that both German teachers guided students to analyze the reasoning process of Landsteiner experiment, but nor Chinese teachers did that. The findings reflected the subtle influence of culture on classroom teaching. Relatively, Chinese biology teachers focused more on learning content and the application of the content in real life; German biology teachers emphasized more on invoking students' reasoning and divergent thinking.

Teacher Personality and Pupil Control Ideology: Associations with Response to Relational Aggression in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gyllborg, Amy B.

2015-01-01

The current study investigated the associations between teacher personality and pupil control ideology and the way in which these variables impact the methods used by Midwestern teachers (n = 123) to respond to and intervene in hypothetical instances of relational aggression, presented via vignette. Regression analyses indicated that aspects of…

The Relative Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) for Teaching Students To Read English.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Richard A.

In a review of research on computer assisted instruction (CAI) related to reading, evidence collected provides tentative conclusions about CAI effectiveness. CAI was effective as an instructional medium in the surveyed studies. In a number of instances, CAI groups achieved higher scores than the control groups. Some studies indicated that CAI…

Trauma-Related Dissociation as a Factor Affecting Musicians' Memory for Music: Some Possible Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swart, Inette; van Niekerk, Caroline; Hartman, Woltemade

2010-01-01

An investigation of the influence of trauma on musicians revealed concentration and memory problems as two of the most common symptoms hampering the performance of affected individuals. In many instances where the causes of these problems were related to trauma sequelae, these could clearly be linked to dissociative symptoms. The following…

Opportunities to Learn: Inverse Relations in U.S. and Chinese Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ding, Meixia

2016-01-01

This study, focusing on inverse relations, examines how representative U.S. and Chinese elementary textbooks may provide opportunities to learn fundamental mathematical ideas. Findings from this study indicate that both of the U.S. textbook series (grades K-6) in comparison to the Chinese textbook samples (grades 1-6), presented more instances of…

Positioning women's and children's health in African union policy-making: a policy analysis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background With limited time to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, progress towards improving women's and children's health needs to be accelerated. With Africa accounting for over half of the world's maternal and child deaths, the African Union (AU) has a critical role in prioritizing related policies and catalysing required investments and action. In this paper, the authors assess the evolution of African Union policies related to women's and children's health, and analyze how these policies are prioritized and framed. Methods The main method used in this policy analysis was a document review of all African Union policies developed from 1963 to 2010, focusing specifically on policies that explicitly mention health. The findings from this document review were discussed with key actors to identify policy implications. Results With over 220 policies in total, peace and security is the most common AU policy topic. Social affairs and other development issues became more prominent in the 1990s. The number of policies that mentioned health rose steadily over the years (with 1 policy mentioning health in 1963 to 7 in 2010). This change was catalysed by factors such as: a favourable shift in AU priorities and systems towards development issues, spurred by the transition from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union; the mandate of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights; health-related advocacy initiatives, such as the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA); action and accountability requirements arising from international human rights treaties, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and new health-funding mechanisms, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Prioritization of women's and children's health issues in AU policies has been framed primarily by human rights, advocacy and accountability considerations, more by economic and health frames looking at investments and impact. AU policies related to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health also use fewer policy frames than do AU policies related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Conclusion We suggest that more effective prioritization of women's and children's health in African Union policies would be supported by widening the range of policy frames used (notably health and economic) and strengthening the evidence base of all policy frames used. In addition, we suggest it would be beneficial if the partner groups advocating for women's and children's health were multi-stakeholder, and included, for instance, health care professionals, regional institutions, parliamentarians, the media, academia, NGOs, development partners and the public and private sectors. PMID:22340362

Positioning women's and children's health in African union policy-making: a policy analysis.

PubMed

Toure, Kadidiatou; Sankore, Rotimi; Kuruvilla, Shyama; Scolaro, Elisa; Bustreo, Flavia; Osotimehin, Babatunde

2012-02-16

With limited time to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, progress towards improving women's and children's health needs to be accelerated. With Africa accounting for over half of the world's maternal and child deaths, the African Union (AU) has a critical role in prioritizing related policies and catalysing required investments and action. In this paper, the authors assess the evolution of African Union policies related to women's and children's health, and analyze how these policies are prioritized and framed. The main method used in this policy analysis was a document review of all African Union policies developed from 1963 to 2010, focusing specifically on policies that explicitly mention health. The findings from this document review were discussed with key actors to identify policy implications. With over 220 policies in total, peace and security is the most common AU policy topic. Social affairs and other development issues became more prominent in the 1990s. The number of policies that mentioned health rose steadily over the years (with 1 policy mentioning health in 1963 to 7 in 2010).This change was catalysed by factors such as: a favourable shift in AU priorities and systems towards development issues, spurred by the transition from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union; the mandate of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights; health-related advocacy initiatives, such as the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA); action and accountability requirements arising from international human rights treaties, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and new health-funding mechanisms, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.Prioritization of women's and children's health issues in AU policies has been framed primarily by human rights, advocacy and accountability considerations, more by economic and health frames looking at investments and impact. AU policies related to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health also use fewer policy frames than do AU policies related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. We suggest that more effective prioritization of women's and children's health in African Union policies would be supported by widening the range of policy frames used (notably health and economic) and strengthening the evidence base of all policy frames used. In addition, we suggest it would be beneficial if the partner groups advocating for women's and children's health were multi-stakeholder, and included, for instance, health care professionals, regional institutions, parliamentarians, the media, academia, NGOs, development partners and the public and private sectors.

77 FR 3653 - Import Tolerances for Residues of Unapproved New Animal Drugs in Food

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-25

... could not think of any instance relative to residues within animal-derived food products that would have... animal and other biological experiments in which the methods used and the results obtained are clearly...

Using ontology databases for scalable query answering, inconsistency detection, and data integration

PubMed Central

Dou, Dejing

2011-01-01

An ontology database is a basic relational database management system that models an ontology plus its instances. To reason over the transitive closure of instances in the subsumption hierarchy, for example, an ontology database can either unfold views at query time or propagate assertions using triggers at load time. In this paper, we use existing benchmarks to evaluate our method—using triggers—and we demonstrate that by forward computing inferences, we not only improve query time, but the improvement appears to cost only more space (not time). However, we go on to show that the true penalties were simply opaque to the benchmark, i.e., the benchmark inadequately captures load-time costs. We have applied our methods to two case studies in biomedicine, using ontologies and data from genetics and neuroscience to illustrate two important applications: first, ontology databases answer ontology-based queries effectively; second, using triggers, ontology databases detect instance-based inconsistencies—something not possible using views. Finally, we demonstrate how to extend our methods to perform data integration across multiple, distributed ontology databases. PMID:22163378

Cognitive Analysis of Educational Games: The Number Game.

PubMed

van der Maas, Han L J; Nyamsuren, Enkhbold

2017-04-01

We analyze the cognitive strategies underlying performance in the Number task, a Math game that requires both arithmetic fluency and mathematical creativity. In this game all elements in a set of numbers (for instance, 2, 5, 9) have to be used precisely once to create a target number (for instance, 27) with basic arithmetic operations (solution: [5-2] × 9). We argue that some instances of this game are NP complete, by showing its relation to the well-known Partition problem. We propose heuristics based on the distinction in forward and backward reasoning. The Number Game is part of Math Garden, a popular online educational platform for practicing and monitoring math skills using innovations in computerized adaptive testing. These educational games generate enormous amounts of rich data on children's cognitive development. We found converging evidence for the use of forward proximity heuristics in the data of Math Garden, consisting of more than 20 million answers to 1,700 items. Item difficulties and the structure of correct answers were analyzed. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Medical Student Mental Health Services

PubMed Central

Roman, Brenda

2009-01-01

Medical school is a stressful and challenging time in the academic career of physicians. Because of the psychological pressure inherent to this process, all medical schools should have easily accessible medical student mental health services. Some schools of medicine provide these services through departments of psychiatry or other associated training programs. Since this stressful lifestyle often continues through residency training and life as a physician, this is a critical period in which to develop and utilize functional and effective coping strategies. When psychiatrists provide the mental health treatment to medical students, it is important to consider transference and countertransference issues, over intellectualization, and instances of strong idealization and identification. PMID:19724734

Experimental and modelling studies for the validation of the mechanistic basis of the Local Effect Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tommasino, F.

2016-03-01

This review will summarize results obtained in the recent years applying the Local Effect Model (LEM) approach to the study of basic radiobiological aspects, as for instance DNA damage induction and repair, and charged particle track structure. The promising results obtained using different experimental techniques and looking at different biological end points, support the relevance of the LEM approach for the description of radiation effects induced by both low- and high-LET radiation. Furthermore, they suggest that nowadays the appropriate combination of experimental and modelling tools can lead to advances in the understanding of several open issues in the field of radiation biology.

Clinical approach to Parkinson's disease: features, diagnosis, and principles of management.

PubMed

Massano, João; Bhatia, Kailash P

2012-06-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. The condition causes a heavy burden both on those affected, as well as their families. Accurate diagnosis is critical and remains founded on clinical grounds as no specific diagnostic test is available so far. The clinical picture of PD is typical in many instances; however, features distinguishing it from other disorders should be thoroughly sought. Monogenic forms of PD also have some distinctive characteristics in many cases. This text is a roadmap to accurate diagnosis in PD, as it approaches clinical features, diagnostic methodology, and leading differential diagnoses. Therapeutic issues are also briefly discussed.

Enlargement of the supraglottal cavity and its relation to stop consonant voicing.

PubMed

Westbury, J R

1983-04-01

Measurements were made of saggital plane movements of the larynx, soft palate, and portions of the tongue, from a high-speed cinefluorographic film of utterances produced by one adult male speaker of American English. These measures were then used to approximate the temporal variations in supraglottal cavity volume during the closures of voiced and voiceless stop consonants. All data were subsequently related to a synchronous acoustic recording of the utterances. Instances of /p,t,k/ were always accompanied by silent closures, and sometimes accompanied by decreases in supraglottal volume. In contrast, instances of /b,d,g/ were always accompanied both by significant intervals of vocal fold vibration during closure, and relatively large increases in supraglottal volume. However, the magnitudes of volume increments during the voiced stops, and the means by which those increments were achieved, differed considerably across place of articulation and phonetic environment. These results are discussed in the context of a well-known model of the breath-stream control mechanism, and their relevance for a general theory of speech motor control is considered.

Aging-related gains and losses associated with word production in connected speech.

PubMed

Dennis, Paul A; Hess, Thomas M

2016-11-01

Older adults have been observed to use more nonnormative, or atypical, words than younger adults in connected speech. We examined whether aging-related losses in word-finding abilities or gains in language expertise underlie these age differences. Sixty younger and 60 older adults described two neutral photographs. These descriptions were processed into word types, and textual analysis was used to identify interrupted speech (e.g., pauses), reflecting word-finding difficulty. Word types were assessed for normativeness, with nonnormative word types defined as those used by six (5%) or fewer participants to describe a particular picture. Accuracy and precision ratings were provided by another sample of 48 high-vocabulary younger and older adults. Older adults produced more interrupted and, as predicted, nonnormative words than younger adults. Older adults were more likely than younger adults to use nonnormative language via interrupted speech, suggesting a compensatory process. However, older adults' nonnormative words were more precise and trended for having higher accuracy, reflecting expertise. In tasks offering response flexibility, like connected speech, older adults may be able to offset instances of aging-related deficits by maximizing their expertise in other instances.

Instance annotation for multi-instance multi-label learning

Treesearch

F. Briggs; X.Z. Fern; R. Raich; Q. Lou

2013-01-01

Multi-instance multi-label learning (MIML) is a framework for supervised classification where the objects to be classified are bags of instances associated with multiple labels. For example, an image can be represented as a bag of segments and associated with a list of objects it contains. Prior work on MIML has focused on predicting label sets for previously unseen...

[Instances of alienation: portrait of the torn patient. 2. Medical apparatus and dominant discourses].

PubMed

Stiefel, Friedrich; Bourquin, Céline; Saraga, Michael

2014-02-12

The first part of the article focused on the individual mechanisms--body, psyche and relational context--alienating the patient. The second part addresses alienating mechanisms related to the medical apparatus and the dominant discourses produced within and by society. The aim is not to comprehensively list possible mechanisms, but to discuss some of them using illustrative examples.

Causal Relations and Feature Similarity in Children's Inductive Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Brett K.; Thompson, Susan P.

2007-01-01

Four experiments examined the development of property induction on the basis of causal relations. In the first 2 studies, 5-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and adults were presented with triads in which a target instance was equally similar to 2 inductive bases but shared a causal antecedent feature with 1 of them. All 3 age groups used causal relations…

An ancient trans-kingdom horizontal transfer of Penelope -like retroelements from arthropods to conifers

Treesearch

Xuan Lin; Nurul Faridi; Claudio Casola

2016-01-01

Comparative genomics analyses empowered by the wealth of sequenced genomes have revealed numerous instances of horizontal DNA transfers between distantly related species. In  eukaryotes, repetitive DNA sequences known as transposable elements (TEs) are especially prone to  move across species boundaries. Such horizontal transposon transfers, or HTTs, are relatively  ...

Concepts and Bounded Rationality: An Application of Niestegge's Approach to Conditional Quantum Probabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blutner, Reinhard

2009-03-01

Recently, Gerd Niestegge developed a new approach to quantum mechanics via conditional probabilities developing the well-known proposal to consider the Lüders-von Neumann measurement as a non-classical extension of probability conditionalization. I will apply his powerful and rigorous approach to the treatment of concepts using a geometrical model of meaning. In this model, instances are treated as vectors of a Hilbert space H. In the present approach there are at least two possibilities to form categories. The first possibility sees categories as a mixture of its instances (described by a density matrix). In the simplest case we get the classical probability theory including the Bayesian formula. The second possibility sees categories formed by a distinctive prototype which is the superposition of the (weighted) instances. The construction of prototypes can be seen as transferring a mixed quantum state into a pure quantum state freezing the probabilistic characteristics of the superposed instances into the structure of the formed prototype. Closely related to the idea of forming concepts by prototypes is the existence of interference effects. Such inference effects are typically found in macroscopic quantum systems and I will discuss them in connection with several puzzles of bounded rationality. The present approach nicely generalizes earlier proposals made by authors such as Diederik Aerts, Andrei Khrennikov, Ricardo Franco, and Jerome Busemeyer. Concluding, I will suggest that an active dialogue between cognitive approaches to logic and semantics and the modern approach of quantum information science is mandatory.

Diagnostic health risk assessment of electronic waste on the general population in developing countries' scenarios

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

Frazzoli, Chiara, E-mail: chiara.frazzoli@iss.i; Noodles Onlus, Nutrition and food safety and wholesomeness; Orisakwe, Orish Ebere

2010-11-15

E-waste is the generic name for technological waste. Even though aspects related to e-waste environmental pollution and human exposure are known, scientific assessments are missing so far on the actual risks for health sustainability of the general population exposed to e-waste scenarios, such as illicit dumping, crude recycling and improper treatment and disposal. In fact, further to occupational and direct local exposure, e-waste scenarios may impact on the environment-to-food chain, thus eliciting a widespread and repeated exposure of the general population to mixtures of toxicants, mainly toxic chemical elements, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and persistent organic pollutants. In the absence ofmore » any clear policy on e-waste flow management, the situation in the e-waste receiver countries may become quite scary; accordingly, here we address a diagnostic risk assessment of health issues potentially elicited by e-waste related mixtures of toxicants. Scientific evidence available so far (mainly from China) is discussed with special attention to the concept of health sustainability, i.e. the poor health burden heritage perpetuated through the mother-to-child dyad. Endocrine disruption and neurotoxicity are specifically considered as examples of main health burden issues relevant to perpetuation through life cycle and across generations; toxicological information are considered along with available data on environmental and food contamination and human internal exposure. The risk from exposure to e-waste related mixtures of toxicants of vulnerable subpopulation like breast-fed infants is given special attention. The diagnostic risk assessment demonstrates how e-waste exposure poses an actual public health emergency, as it may entrain significant health risks also for generations to come. Exposure scenarios as well as specific chemicals of major concern may vary in different contexts; for instance, only limited information is available on e-waste related exposures in a major site of e-waste dumping such as West Africa. Therefore, considerations are also given on data gaps possibly fitting a systematic risk assessment of the e-waste health impacts in different subscenarios as well as possible protective factors for exposed subpopulations.« less

Governance Mechanisms in Information Technology Outsourcing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravindran, Kiron

2010-01-01

While the dominance of Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) as a sourcing strategy would seem to indicate successful and well-informed practice, frequent examples of unraveled engagements highlight the associated risks. Successful instances of outsourcing suggest that governance mechanisms effectively manage the related risks. This…

Tensions and Dilemmas in Community Development: New Discourses, New Trojans?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenny, Sue

2002-01-01

Contradictory expectations facing community development practitioners include innovation versus bureaucratic accountability and professionalization versus grassroots activism. Four operating frameworks affect practice: charity, welfare state, activism, and market. In some instances, these frameworks and their related discourses are being fused,…

Noncoercive Inducements in International Conflicts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kriesberg, Louis

This paper examines noncoercion in international struggles, reviews instances in which positive inducements were combined with or used instead of coercion, and analyzes conditions affecting the utilization and effectiveness of noncoercive means in conducting international relations. Coercion refers to actual and threatened violent and nonviolent…

Propylene glycol liposomes as a topical delivery system for miconazole nitrate: comparison with conventional liposomes.

PubMed

Elmoslemany, Riham M; Abdallah, Ossama Y; El-Khordagui, Labiba K; Khalafallah, Nawal M

2012-06-01

Propylene glycol (PG)-phospholipid vesicles have been advocated as flexible lipid vesicles for enhanced skin delivery of drugs. To further characterize the performance of these vesicles and to address some relevant pharmaceutical issues, miconazole nitrate(MN)-loaded PG nanoliposomes were prepared and characterized for vesicle size, entrapment efficiency, in vitro release, and vesicle stability. An issue of pharmaceutical importance is the time-dependent, dilution-driven diffusion of propylene glycol out of the vesicles. This was addressed by assessing propylene glycol using gas chromatography in the separated vesicles and monitoring its buildup in the medium after repeated dispersion of separated vesicles in fresh medium. Further, the antifungal activity of liposomal formulations under study was assessed using Candida albicans, and their in vitro skin permeation and retention were studied using human skin. At all instances, blank and drug-loaded conventional liposomes were included for comparison. The results provided evidence of controlled MN delivery, constant percent PG uptake in the vesicles (≈45.5%) in the PG concentration range 2.5 to 10%, improved vesicle stability, and enhanced skin deposition of MN with minimum skin permeation. These are key issues for different formulation and performance aspects of propylene glycol-phospholipid vesicles.

What Consumers Say About Nursing Homes in Online Reviews.

PubMed

Kellogg, Caitlyn; Zhu, Yujun; Cardenas, Valeria; Vazquez, Katalina; Johari, Kayla; Rahman, Anna; Enguidanos, Susan

2018-04-20

Although patient-centered care is an expressed value of our healthcare system, no studies have examined what consumers say in online reviews about nursing homes (NHs). Insight into themes addressed in these reviews could inform improvement efforts that promote patient-centered NH care. We analyzed nursing home (NH) Yelp reviews. From a list of all NHs in California, we drew a purposeful sample of 51 NHs, selecting facilities representing a range of geographical areas and occupancy rates. Two research teams analyzed the reviews using grounded theory to identify codes and tracked how frequently each code was mentioned. We evaluated 264 reviews, identifying 24 codes, grouped under five categories: quality of staff care and staffing; physical facility and setting; resident safety and security; clinical care quality; and financial issues. More than half (53.41%) of Yelp reviewers posted comments related to staff attitude and caring and nearly a third (29.2%) posted comments related to staff responsiveness. Yelp reviewers also often posted about NHs' physical environment. Infrequently mentioned were the quality of health care provided and concerns about resident safety and security. Our results are consistent with those from related studies. Yelp reviewers focus on NH aspects that are not evaluated in most other NH rating systems. The federal Nursing Home Compare website, for instance, does not report measures of staff attitudes or the NH's physical setting. Rather, it reports measures of staffing levels and clinical processes and outcomes. We recommend that NH consumers consult both types of rating systems because they provide complementary information.

The relative contributions of facial shape and surface information to perceptions of attractiveness and dominance.

PubMed

Torrance, Jaimie S; Wincenciak, Joanna; Hahn, Amanda C; DeBruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C

2014-01-01

Although many studies have investigated the facial characteristics that influence perceptions of others' attractiveness and dominance, the majority of these studies have focused on either the effects of shape information or surface information alone. Consequently, the relative contributions of facial shape and surface characteristics to attractiveness and dominance perceptions are unclear. To address this issue, we investigated the relationships between ratings of original versions of faces and ratings of versions in which either surface information had been standardized (i.e., shape-only versions) or shape information had been standardized (i.e., surface-only versions). For attractiveness and dominance judgments of both male and female faces, ratings of shape-only and surface-only versions independently predicted ratings of the original versions of faces. The correlations between ratings of original and shape-only versions and between ratings of original and surface-only versions differed only in two instances. For male attractiveness, ratings of original versions were more strongly related to ratings of surface-only than shape-only versions, suggesting that surface information is particularly important for men's facial attractiveness. The opposite was true for female physical dominance, suggesting that shape information is particularly important for women's facial physical dominance. In summary, our results indicate that both facial shape and surface information contribute to judgments of others' attractiveness and dominance, suggesting that it may be important to consider both sources of information in research on these topics.

Transfer Learning for Adaptive Relation Extraction

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-13

other NLP tasks, however, supervised learning approach fails when there is not a sufficient amount of labeled data for training, which is often the case...always 12 Syntactic Pattern Relation Instance Relation Type (Subtype) arg-2 arg-1 Arab leaders OTHER-AFF (Ethnic) his father PER-SOC (Family) South...for x. For sequence labeling tasks in NLP , linear-chain conditional random field has been rather suc- cessful. It is an undirected graphical model in

Pricing and Application of Electric Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jialin

Electric storage provides a vehicle to store power for future use. It contributes to the grids in multiple aspects. For instance, electric storage is a more effective approach to provide electricity ancillary services than conventional methods. Additionally, electric storage, especially fast-responding units, allows owners to implement high-frequency power transactions in settings such as the 5-min real-time trading market. Such high-frequency power trades were limited in the past. However, as technology advances, the power markets have evolved. For instance, the California Independent System Operator now supports the 5-min real-time trading and the hourly day-ahead ancillary services bidding. Existing valuation models of electric storage were not designed to accommodate these recent market developments. To fill this gap, I focus on the fast-responding grid-level electric storage that provides both the real-time trading and the day-ahead ancillary services bidding. To evaluate such an asset, I propose a Monte Carlo Simulation-based valuation model. The foundation of my model is simulations of power prices. This study develops a new simulation model of electric prices. It is worth noting that, unlike existing models, my proposed simulation model captures the dependency of the real-time markets on the day-ahead markets. Upon such simulations, this study investigates the pricing and the application of electric storage at a 5-min granularity. Essentially, my model is a Dynamic Programming system with both endogenous variables (i.e., the State-of-Charge of electric storage) and exogenous variables (i.e., power prices). My first numerical example is the valuation of a fictitious 4MWh battery. Similarly, my second example evaluates the application of two units of 2MWh batteries. By comparing these two experiments, I investigate the issues related to battery configurations, such as the impacts of splitting storage capability on the valuation of electric storage.

Editorial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorger, Volker

2015-05-01

The year 2015 will likely have a unique place in the history books for the optics and photonics community, since it is paired with various events that are exciting for this field. For one it is the 125th birthday of the Optical Society (OSA), and in addition, the United Nations declared 2015 to be the Year Of Light. The first special issue of this year is dedicated to the topic of "Emerging Materials on Nanophotonics". While the field of nanophotonics has seen tremendous momentum through the support of plasmonics, opto-mechanics, and quantum photonics, it often are both the breakthroughs and continuing developments of materials that bring enabling opportunities for this field. For instance, the area of 2D materials has grown out of its infancy being focused on Graphene into a crossdisciplinary subject area. Here, both scientific and engineering potential are seen in a) novel physical effects, b) higher functionality, and c) smaller form factors all found in one material option. Coincidentally, theUSNational Science Foundation recently held a path findingworkshop on 2D materials Beyond Graphene, and followed through with a dedicated two-year program to fund engineering innovations of the same. Here, the bandgap tunability of trimetal Dichalcogenides (TMD) has found to bear rich bandgap tunability via composition, alloying, and altering design options such as substrate choices or stress, thus providing a large variety of functions. In this context it is interesting to note, that with the many material choices for TMDs, the importance of targeted approaches towards accelerated material-to-marketwas raised in theMaterial Genome Initiative by the US White House. However, with the fundamental challenge of nanophotonics - weak interactions between light and matter - the choice of materials as both device building block and functionality delivery option needs to be synergistically considered. In this regard metal optics is seen as an emerging field that is able to contribute to this design evolution of devices and systems with ever growing constrains. However, materials with new functionalities and *Corresponding Author: Volker Sorger: E-mail: sorger@email.gwu.edu form factors allow utilizing field enhancement techniques in an unprecedented way. This, for instance, enables subwavelength scale photonic and opto-electronic devices with performance improvements such as utilized by the Purcell effect in light emitters, detectors, or electro-optic switching devices. On the other hand, certain novel materials are able to clearly outperform any existing option; for instance transparent-conductive-oxides (TCO) have been found to be able to alter its refractive index by unity. Lastly, with the maturing of silicon photonics as an on-chip optics platform, higher integration options are considered in this special issue; passive devices such as waveguides made out of the electro-optically active Lithium Niobate aid highfunctionality systems on-chip. However, these novel materials and subsequent devices and systems need to be compared and benchmarked in order to be a guide for the next phase of opto-electronic integration and other technologies as carried out by some contributions of this special issue.As the festivities around this Year Of Light continue, this special issue summarizes some of the interesting work around the emerging materials for nanophotonics. Concluding, I would like to thank for the input and help of the fellow Guest Editors, Jenifer Dionne, Alexandra Boltasseva, and Luke Sweatlock along with the Nanophotonics staff, Dennis Couwenberg and Tara Dorrian. Sincerely

From gender bias to gender awareness in medical education.

PubMed

Verdonk, Petra; Benschop, Yvonne W M; de Haes, Hanneke C J M; Lagro-Janssen, Toine L M

2009-03-01

Gender is an essential determinant of health and illness. Gender awareness in doctors contributes to equity and equality in health and aims towards better health for men and women. Nevertheless, gender has largely been ignored in medicine. First, it is stated that medicine was 'gender blind' by not considering gender whenever relevant. Secondly, medicine is said to be 'male biased' because the largest body of knowledge on health and illness is about men and their health. Thirdly, gender role ideology negatively influences treatment and health outcomes. Finally, gender inequality has been overlooked as a determinant of health and illness. The uptake of gender issues in medical education brings about specific challenges for several reasons. For instance, the political-ideological connotations of gender issues create resistance especially in traditionalists in medical schools. Secondly, it is necessary to clarify which gender issues must be integrated in which domains. Also, some are interdisciplinary issues and as such more difficult to integrate. Finally, schools need assistance with implementation. The integration of psychosocial issues along with biomedical ones in clinical cases, the dissemination of literature and education material, staff education, and efforts towards structural embedding of gender in curricula are determining factors for successful implementation. Gender equity is not a spontaneous process. Medical education provides specific opportunities that may contribute to transformation for medical schools educate future doctors for future patients in future settings. Consequently, future benefits legitimize the integration of gender as a qualitative investment in medical education.

Regulating Emotion and Identity by Narrating Harm

PubMed Central

Pasupathi, Monisha; Billitteri, Jacob; Mansfield, Cade D.; Wainryb, Cecilia; Hanley, Grace E.; Taheri, Kiana

2015-01-01

This study examined how narration of harm experiences can regulate self and emotions in ways relevant to well-being. Participants (n = 88, 65% female) were asked to provide 6 narratives about instances when they were victims of harm and 6 narratives about instances when they were perpetrators of harm. Narratives were coded for extent of exploration, growth, damage conclusions and resolution. Participants drew damage conclusions more frequently in victim narratives and growth conclusions more frequently in perpetrator narratives. Both the type of experience (victim or perpetrator) and the way the experience was narrated (references to damage conclusions and resolution) predicted emotion and identity implications, which were, in turn, related to well-being. Implications for narrative approaches to self-regulation are discussed. PMID:26392641

Smoking and The Simpsons.

PubMed

Eslick, Guy D; Eslick, Marielle G

2009-06-01

To determine the frequency of smoking on The Simpsons television show, and the relationship with the sex and age groups of characters shown smoking, and with positive, negative and neutral connotations associated with instances of smoking. Content analysis (performed from January to October 2008) of instances of smoking that appeared in the first 18 seasons of The Simpsons television show, which aired from 1989 to 2007. Frequency, impact (positive, negative, neutral) of instances of smoking; and frequency associated with age (child or adolescent versus adult characters), sex and types of characters on the show. There were 795 instances of smoking in the 400 episodes observed. Most (498; 63%) involved male characters. Only 8% of instances of smoking (63) involved child or adolescent characters. Just over a third of instances of smoking (275; 35%) reflected smoking in a negative way, compared with the majority, which reflected smoking in a neutral way (504; 63%) and the minority, which reflected smoking in a positive way (16; 2%). Child and adolescent characters were much more likely to be involved in instances of smoking reflected in a negative way compared with adult characters (odds ratio, 44.93; 95% CI, 16.15-172.18). There are a large number of instances of smoking in The Simpsons television show. Child and adolescent characters are much more likely to be portrayed in instances of smoking reflected in a negative way than adult characters. Viewing The Simpsons characters smoking may prompt children to consider smoking at an early age.

Ethical issues in patient-centered outcomes research and comparative effectiveness research: a pilot study of community dialogue.

PubMed

Brody, Howard; Croisant, Sharon A; Crowder, Jerome W; Banda, Jonathan P

2015-02-01

Community bioethics dialogues were held on the topic of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER). Participants were 65 and older and represented either a lower income, African American group (A) or a higher income White group (B). Participants were presented with a variety of background reading and study materials. Meetings were held 2 hr per week for 6 weeks. The groups showed both independence in judgment from the investigators and diversity of opinion between the two groups. Group B addressed more topics than Group A and in some instances explored additional policy nuances. Members of Group A appeared more cognizant of issues of social justice that affect vulnerable populations and appeared leery of approaches that suggested possible disrespect for their own personal experiences. Future plans call for both repeating the dialogue with additional, diverse community groups and repeating community bioethics dialogues on new topics with the same groups. © The Author(s) 2015.

Licensing of Generic Medicines: Are There Any Challenges Left? A Pharmaceutical Regulatory Perspective.

PubMed

Borg, John Joseph; Tomasi, Paolo; Pani, Luca; Aislaitner, George; Pirozynski, Michal; Leufkens, Hubert; Melchiorri, Daniela

2014-01-01

When an innovative product (innovator) is not covered anymore by intellectual property rights, cheaper equivalent medicinal products (generic products) may be marketed and used in clinical practice. The regulation of generic products is well-established, and is primarily based on standard rules for quality, therapeutic equivalence requirements (the latter in most instances proven through a bioequivalence study), and safety data for the innovator. The extensive experience from bringing generic products to the market over the last decades allows the conclusion that they are well-accepted and provide a useful alternative option for cost-effective pharmacotherapy. While supporting this conclusion, there are a number of issues to be considered during the assessment of a generic product application. Six scenarios are described in total, from an efficacy and a safety perspective, where potential concerns with the current regulatory standards could arise in the approval of generic products. We also propose solutions to these scenarios in order to foster debate on these issues.

'Nice girls don't carry knives': constructions of ambition in media coverage of Australia's first female prime minister.

PubMed

Hall, Lauren J; Donaghue, Ngaire

2013-12-01

Julia Gillard became the first female prime minister of Australia in 2010. This paper examines the various ways in which her success was constructed in the Australian print media in the days immediately following her elevation. In particular, we focus on how an issue that has long beset women aspiring to power and leadership - the so-called 'double bind' in which aspiring women leaders must display high competence and ambition in traditionally masculine domains while maintaining sufficient femininity so as not to be disliked - was constructed in this high-profile instance. We discuss the coverage in terms of its implications for the need to create an androgynized presentation of ambition, the continuing relevance of gender stereotypes, and the mixture of threat and opportunity provided to women taking positions on 'the glass cliff'. These issues remain crucially important for women aspiring to power and leadership in contemporary western societies. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

Environmental knowledge and attitudes and behaviours towards energy consumption.

PubMed

Paço, Arminda; Lavrador, Tânia

2017-07-15

Numerous investigations have arisen in order to study and characterise environmentally friendly consumer profiles, with some authors applying the relationship between knowledge, attitudes and behaviour to this end. The present research approach, based upon the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), seeks to verify the existence of relationships between knowledge and attitudes and between knowledge and environmental behaviour. In this instance, data collection involved a questionnaire aimed at assessing the overall environmental knowledge of respondents as well as their attitudes and behaviours regarding energy issues (savings, consumption, interest, use). The results pointed to the lack of relationship between knowledge and attitudes, and between knowledge and behaviour whilst the relationship between attitudes and behaviour proved to be only weak. The results also found that males, older students and those studying Engineering and the Social and Human Sciences are those reporting higher levels of environmental knowledge. However, when it comes to attitudes and behaviours, females seem to display more awareness around these issues. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polluting Canada's Public Square: The Harper Government's War on Science and the Environment?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linnitt, C.; Hoggan, J. C.

2013-12-01

Conversations about key environmental issues like climate change are increasingly viewed as matters of politics rather than matters of science. As a result, competing -and often polarized - interests have made public debate on these issues vulnerable to aggressive politicization. This politicization, particularly when it comes to important policy decisions regarding industrial (and especially fossil fuel) development, obscures the facts on these issues, leaving democratic public debate prey to aggressive public relations tactics, misinformation campaigns, pseudo-science, modern-day propaganda and/or the deliberate ';pollution' of the public square. In Canada a coordinated effort is underway to mischaracterize environmental groups as radical ideologues, associating environmental views and pursuits with extremism. A Tea Party-style echo chamber has also emerged in Canada, coordinating anti-science messaging in an attempt to bolster industrial development while misaligning environmental non-profits with domestic terror threats. This attempt to undermine ecological agendas and to push environmental concerns to the margins is paired with government-sponsored censorship of federally-funded scientists and the elimination of vital public science programs in Canada. The result is a dearth of scientific information surrounding significant environmental concerns - such as the Alberta oil sands and industry contamination of waterways - and a dangerous and false association of these issues with an extremist agenda. Ultimately scientists and science communicators face a unique set of challenges in Canada when it comes to addressing environmental issues. Although the 'science' of science communication has evolved to address relevant cultural and socio-political barriers associated with change resistance (for example, adapting one's behavior to minimize greenhouse gas emissions), much work remains in both acknowledging and ameliorating the politicization of science and the intentional pollution of public conversations. Democracy depends on the public's access to information; however, in a climate in which that access is under threat, scientists and science communicators may need to address those fundamental concerns deliberately in order to participate effectively in the public policy and decision-making process. This paper provides a brief overview of environmental communications theory and practice, current misinformation techniques, and key instances in which either government policy and/or media and industry behavior have actively sought to contaminate or impede more constructive discourse on issues of science and environmental regulation. We conclude by offering a set of recommendations for improving the ability of scientists and experts to communicate effectively in an increasingly complex political and media environment, and for safeguarding the quality of democratic discourse on these and other issues.

Size reduction techniques for vital compliant VHDL simulation models

DOEpatents

Rich, Marvin J.; Misra, Ashutosh

2006-08-01

A method and system select delay values from a VHDL standard delay file that correspond to an instance of a logic gate in a logic model. Then the system collects all the delay values of the selected instance and builds super generics for the rise-time and the fall-time of the selected instance. Then, the system repeats this process for every delay value in the standard delay file (310) that correspond to every instance of every logic gate in the logic model. The system then outputs a reduced size standard delay file (314) containing the super generics for every instance of every logic gate in the logic model.

HYDRAULIC ANALYSIS ON STREAM-AQUIFER INTERACTION BY STORAGE FUNCTION MODELS

EPA Science Inventory

In the natural hydrologic cycle, surface and subsurface water in a watershed are closely related and interact with each other. However, their relatrionships are affected by human activities. For instance, as the impervious area of a basin spreads due to urbanization, rainfall r...

45 CFR 689.2 - General policies and responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false General policies and responsibilities. 689.2 Section 689.2 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE... information-gathering and preliminary fact-finding to determine whether an allegation or apparent instance of...

45 CFR 689.2 - General policies and responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false General policies and responsibilities. 689.2 Section 689.2 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE... information-gathering and preliminary fact-finding to determine whether an allegation or apparent instance of...

45 CFR 689.2 - General policies and responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false General policies and responsibilities. 689.2 Section 689.2 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE... information-gathering and preliminary fact-finding to determine whether an allegation or apparent instance of...

45 CFR 689.2 - General policies and responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false General policies and responsibilities. 689.2 Section 689.2 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE... information-gathering and preliminary fact-finding to determine whether an allegation or apparent instance of...

Research on presentation and query service of geo-spatial data based on ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hong-wei; Li, Qin-chao; Cai, Chang

2008-10-01

The paper analyzed the deficiency on presentation and query of geo-spatial data existed in current GIS, discussed the advantages that ontology possessed in formalization of geo-spatial data and the presentation of semantic granularity, taken land-use classification system as an example to construct domain ontology, and described it by OWL; realized the grade level and category presentation of land-use data benefited from the thoughts of vertical and horizontal navigation; and then discussed query mode of geo-spatial data based on ontology, including data query based on types and grade levels, instances and spatial relation, and synthetic query based on types and instances; these methods enriched query mode of current GIS, and is a useful attempt; point out that the key point of the presentation and query of spatial data based on ontology is to construct domain ontology that can correctly reflect geo-concept and its spatial relation and realize its fine formalization description.

Seasonal Changes in Carbohydrates and Ascorbic Acid and White Pine and Possible Relation to Tipburn Sensitivity

Treesearch

Robert L Barnes; Charles R. Berry

1969-01-01

Changes in amounts of total soluble carbohydrates and ascorbic acid were related to needle length of eastern white pine during June and July 1967 at Bent Creek Experimental Forest. Sugar values remained low through the early growing season, and several instances of injury to clones sensitive to tipburn occurred as late as mid-July. Sugar levels fluctuated somewhat,...

Morphological variation in Homo erectus and the origins of developmental plasticity

PubMed Central

Antón, Susan C.; Taboada, Hannah G.; Middleton, Emily R.; Rainwater, Christopher W.; Taylor, Andrea B.; Turner, Trudy R.; Turnquist, Jean E.; Weinstein, Karen J.; Williams, Scott A.

2016-01-01

Homo erectus was the first hominin to exhibit extensive range expansion. This extraordinary departure from Africa, especially into more temperate climates of Eurasia, has been variously related to technological, energetic and foraging shifts. The temporal and regional anatomical variation in H. erectus suggests that a high level of developmental plasticity, a key factor in the ability of H. sapiens to occupy a variety of habitats, may also have been present in H. erectus. Developmental plasticity, the ability to modify development in response to environmental conditions, results in differences in size, shape and dimorphism across populations that relate in part to levels of resource sufficiency and extrinsic mortality. These differences predict not only regional variations but also overall smaller adult sizes and lower levels of dimorphism in instances of resource scarcity and high predator load. We consider the metric variation in 35 human and non-human primate ‘populations’ from known environmental contexts and 14 time- and space-restricted paleodemes of H. erectus and other fossil Homo. Human and non-human primates exhibit more similar patterns of variation than expected, with plasticity evident, but in differing patterns by sex across populations. The fossil samples show less evidence of variation than expected, although H. erectus varies more than Neandertals. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Major transitions in human evolution’. PMID:27298467

[Health and humanization Diploma: the value of reflection and face to face learning].

PubMed

Martínez-Gutiérrez, Javiera; Magliozzi, Pietro; Torres, Patricio; Soto, Mauricio; Walker, Rosa

2015-03-01

In a rapidly changing culture like ours, with emphasis on productivity, there is a strong need to find the meaning of health care work using learning instances that privilege reflection and face to face contact with others. The Diploma in Health and Humanization (DSH), was developed as an interdisciplinary space for training on issues related to humanization. To analyze the experience of DSH aiming to identify the elements that students considered key factors for the success of the program. We conducted a focus group with DSH graduates, identifying factors associated with satisfaction. Transcripts were coded and analyzed by two independent reviewers. DSH graduates valued a safe space, personal interaction, dialogue and respect as learning tools of the DSH. They also appreciates the opportunity to have emotional interactions among students and between them and the teacher as well as the opportunity to share personal stories and their own search for meaning. DSH is a learning experience in which their graduates value the ability to think about their vocation and the affective interaction with peers and teachers. We hope to contribute to the development of face to face courses in the area of humanization. Face to face methodology is an excellent teaching technique for contents related to the meaning of work, and more specifically, to a group of learners that require affective communication and a personal connection of their work with their own values and beliefs.

Prosody as an interactional resource: turn-projection and overlap.

PubMed

Wells, B; Macfarlane, S

1998-01-01

One aim of current research into talk-in-interaction is to identify the resources that enable recipients to monitor the course of a turn in progress in order to project its upcoming completion. This issue is addressed through analysis of instances of overlapping talk, focusing on their design--that is, their particular prosodic and other linguistic characteristics; their placement--in other words, where precisely they occur in relation to the turn being overlapped; and the subsequent behavior of the coparticipants. Phonetic analysis is combined with interactional techniques developed within Conversation Analysis, to warrant the relevance of categories by reference to the behavior of the participants themselves. As French and Local (1983) found, for an incoming to be treated as turn-competitive, it has to be designed with relatively high pitch and loud volume. These turn-competitive incomings are positioned within the turn in progress, and before the final major accent. By contrast, overlapping incomings positioned after the major accent are not designed as or treated as turn-competitive. On the basis of this analysis, we can define transition relevance place (TRP) as the space between the TRP-projecting accent of the current turn and the onset of the next turn. TRP-projecting accents are identifiable on independent grounds, being phonetically distinct from non-TRP-projecting accents. They thus provide a robust resource for participants to monitor the upcoming completion of the turn.

Synergies and trade-offs between energy-efficient urbanization and health

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Sohail; Pachauri, Shonali; Creutzig, Felix

2017-11-01

Energy-efficient urbanization and public health pose major development challenges for India. While both issues are intensively studied, their interaction is not well understood. Here we explore the relationship between urban infrastructures, public health, and household-related emissions, identifying potential synergies and trade-offs of specific interventions by analyzing nationally representative household surveys from 2005 and 2012. Our analysis confirms previous characterizations of the environmental-health transition, but also points to an important role of energy use and urbanization as modifiers of this transition. We find that non-motorized transport may prove a sweet spot for development, as its use is associated with lower emissions and better public health in cities. Urbanization and improved access to basic services correlate with lower short-term morbidity (STM), such as fever, cough and diarrhea. Our analysis suggests that a 10% increase in urbanization from current levels and concurrent improvement in access to modern cooking and clean water could lower STM for 2.4 million people. This would be associated with a modest increase in electricity related emissions of 84 ktCO2e annually. Promoting energy-efficient mobility systems, for instance by a 10% increase in bicycling, could lower chronic conditions like diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases for 0.3 million people while also abating emissions. These findings provide empirical evidence to validate that energy-efficient and sustainable urbanization can address both public health and climate change challenges simultaneously.

Investigating dye-sensitised solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobin, Laura L.; O'Reilly, Thomas; Zerulla, Dominic; Sheridan, John T.

2010-05-01

At present there is considerable global concern in relation to environmental issues and future energy supplies, for instance climate change (global warming) and the rapid depletion of fossil fuel resources. This trepidation has initiated a more critical investigation into alternative and renewable sources of power such as geothermal, biomass, hydropower, wind and solar energy. The immense dependence on electrical power in today's society has prompted the manufacturing of devices such as photovoltaic (PV) cells to help alleviate and replace current electrical demands of the power grid. The most popular and commercially available PV cells are silicon solar cells which have to date the greatest efficiencies for PV cells. The drawback however is that the manufacturing of these cells is complex and costly due to the expense and difficulty of producing and processing pure silicon. One relatively inexpensive alternative to silicon PV cells that we are currently studying are dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSC or Grätzel Cells). DSSC are biomimetic solar cells which are based on the process of photosynthesis. The SFI Strategic Research Centre for Solar Energy Conversion is a research cluster based in Ireland formed with the express intention of bringing together industry and academia to produce renewable energy solutions. Our specific research area is in DSSC and their electrical properties. We are currently developing testing equipment for arrays of DSSC and developing optoelectronic models which todescribe the performance and behaviour of DSSCs.

A Scalable Framework to Detect Personal Health Mentions on Twitter.

PubMed

Yin, Zhijun; Fabbri, Daniel; Rosenbloom, S Trent; Malin, Bradley

2015-06-05

Biomedical research has traditionally been conducted via surveys and the analysis of medical records. However, these resources are limited in their content, such that non-traditional domains (eg, online forums and social media) have an opportunity to supplement the view of an individual's health. The objective of this study was to develop a scalable framework to detect personal health status mentions on Twitter and assess the extent to which such information is disclosed. We collected more than 250 million tweets via the Twitter streaming API over a 2-month period in 2014. The corpus was filtered down to approximately 250,000 tweets, stratified across 34 high-impact health issues, based on guidance from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We created a labeled corpus of several thousand tweets via a survey, administered over Amazon Mechanical Turk, that documents when terms correspond to mentions of personal health issues or an alternative (eg, a metaphor). We engineered a scalable classifier for personal health mentions via feature selection and assessed its potential over the health issues. We further investigated the utility of the tweets by determining the extent to which Twitter users disclose personal health status. Our investigation yielded several notable findings. First, we find that tweets from a small subset of the health issues can train a scalable classifier to detect health mentions. Specifically, training on 2000 tweets from four health issues (cancer, depression, hypertension, and leukemia) yielded a classifier with precision of 0.77 on all 34 health issues. Second, Twitter users disclosed personal health status for all health issues. Notably, personal health status was disclosed over 50% of the time for 11 out of 34 (33%) investigated health issues. Third, the disclosure rate was dependent on the health issue in a statistically significant manner (P<.001). For instance, more than 80% of the tweets about migraines (83/100) and allergies (85/100) communicated personal health status, while only around 10% of the tweets about obesity (13/100) and heart attack (12/100) did so. Fourth, the likelihood that people disclose their own versus other people's health status was dependent on health issue in a statistically significant manner as well (P<.001). For example, 69% (69/100) of the insomnia tweets disclosed the author's status, while only 1% (1/100) disclosed another person's status. By contrast, 1% (1/100) of the Down syndrome tweets disclosed the author's status, while 21% (21/100) disclosed another person's status. It is possible to automatically detect personal health status mentions on Twitter in a scalable manner. These mentions correspond to the health issues of the Twitter users themselves, but also other individuals. Though this study did not investigate the veracity of such statements, we anticipate such information may be useful in supplementing traditional health-related sources for research purposes.

A Scalable Framework to Detect Personal Health Mentions on Twitter

PubMed Central

Fabbri, Daniel; Rosenbloom, S Trent

2015-01-01

Background Biomedical research has traditionally been conducted via surveys and the analysis of medical records. However, these resources are limited in their content, such that non-traditional domains (eg, online forums and social media) have an opportunity to supplement the view of an individual’s health. Objective The objective of this study was to develop a scalable framework to detect personal health status mentions on Twitter and assess the extent to which such information is disclosed. Methods We collected more than 250 million tweets via the Twitter streaming API over a 2-month period in 2014. The corpus was filtered down to approximately 250,000 tweets, stratified across 34 high-impact health issues, based on guidance from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We created a labeled corpus of several thousand tweets via a survey, administered over Amazon Mechanical Turk, that documents when terms correspond to mentions of personal health issues or an alternative (eg, a metaphor). We engineered a scalable classifier for personal health mentions via feature selection and assessed its potential over the health issues. We further investigated the utility of the tweets by determining the extent to which Twitter users disclose personal health status. Results Our investigation yielded several notable findings. First, we find that tweets from a small subset of the health issues can train a scalable classifier to detect health mentions. Specifically, training on 2000 tweets from four health issues (cancer, depression, hypertension, and leukemia) yielded a classifier with precision of 0.77 on all 34 health issues. Second, Twitter users disclosed personal health status for all health issues. Notably, personal health status was disclosed over 50% of the time for 11 out of 34 (33%) investigated health issues. Third, the disclosure rate was dependent on the health issue in a statistically significant manner (P<.001). For instance, more than 80% of the tweets about migraines (83/100) and allergies (85/100) communicated personal health status, while only around 10% of the tweets about obesity (13/100) and heart attack (12/100) did so. Fourth, the likelihood that people disclose their own versus other people’s health status was dependent on health issue in a statistically significant manner as well (P<.001). For example, 69% (69/100) of the insomnia tweets disclosed the author’s status, while only 1% (1/100) disclosed another person’s status. By contrast, 1% (1/100) of the Down syndrome tweets disclosed the author’s status, while 21% (21/100) disclosed another person’s status. Conclusions It is possible to automatically detect personal health status mentions on Twitter in a scalable manner. These mentions correspond to the health issues of the Twitter users themselves, but also other individuals. Though this study did not investigate the veracity of such statements, we anticipate such information may be useful in supplementing traditional health-related sources for research purposes. PMID:26048075

CHISSL: A Human-Machine Collaboration Space for Unsupervised Learning

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

Arendt, Dustin L.; Komurlu, Caner; Blaha, Leslie M.

We developed CHISSL, a human-machine interface that utilizes supervised machine learning in an unsupervised context to help the user group unlabeled instances by her own mental model. The user primarily interacts via correction (moving a misplaced instance into its correct group) or confirmation (accepting that an instance is placed in its correct group). Concurrent with the user's interactions, CHISSL trains a classification model guided by the user's grouping of the data. It then predicts the group of unlabeled instances and arranges some of these alongside the instances manually organized by the user. We hypothesize that this mode of human andmore » machine collaboration is more effective than Active Learning, wherein the machine decides for itself which instances should be labeled by the user. We found supporting evidence for this hypothesis in a pilot study where we applied CHISSL to organize a collection of handwritten digits.« less

Experiences of Gender-Based Violence at a South African University: Prevalence and Effect on Rape Myth Acceptance.

PubMed

Finchilescu, Gillian; Dugard, Jackie

2018-04-01

Instances of gender-based violence (GBV) on university campuses are rarely reported to the authorities. This makes it difficult to gauge the prevalence of this problem, which in turn affects efforts for prevention. This article describes a university-wide online survey aimed at assessing, first, the prevalence of GBV experienced by the three sectors in the community-students, academic and research staff, and professional/administrative staff. Many of the findings concurred with research elsewhere-students were the predominant victims of GBV; men were the main perpetrators; and instances of rape occurred mainly when the victim/survivor was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In contrast to some of the more well-known U.S. surveys (e.g., Georgetown University), we found relatively few instances of students being exploited by staff members. Occurrences of contrapower harassment were also reported in our survey. The second aim investigated whether rape myth acceptance was related to experiences of GBV. We found that women who had these experiences were more rejecting of rape myths than women who had not had such experiences. The opposite was found for White men. White men who had experienced GBV were more accepting of the rape myths than those who had not had such experiences. It was suggested that this reflected a need for these male victims to establish their hegemonic masculine identity. In general, the level of rape myth acceptance was relatively low. This suggested that widespread victim-blame, and self-blame does not account for the low levels of GBV reports to officials. A limitation of the study was the relatively low response rate (1,350 respondents), which was likely caused by the student protests over university fees that were ongoing at the time of the survey. These protests caused considerable disturbance for all sectors of the university community.

Simplifying the Reinsch algorithm for the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van-Brunt, Alexander; Visser, Matt

2016-02-01

The Goldberg version of the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff series computes the quantity Z ( X , Y ) = ln (" separators=" e X e Y ) = ∑ w g ( w ) w ( X , Y ) , where X and Y are not necessarily commuting in terms of "words" constructed from the {X, Y} "alphabet." The so-called Goldberg coefficients g(w) are the central topic of this article. This Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff series is a general purpose tool of very wide applicability in mathematical physics, quantum physics, and many other fields. The Reinsch algorithm for the truncated series permits one to calculate the Goldberg coefficients up to some fixed word length |w| by using nilpotent (|w| + 1) × (|w| + 1) matrices. We shall show how to further simplify the Reinsch algorithm, making its implementation (in principle) utterly straightforward using "off the shelf" symbolic manipulation software. Specific computations provide examples which help to provide a deeper understanding of the Goldberg coefficients and their properties. For instance, we shall establish some strict bounds (and some equalities) on the number of non-zero Goldberg coefficients. Unfortunately, we shall see that the number of nonzero Goldberg coefficients often grows very rapidly (in fact exponentially) with the word length |w|. Furthermore, the simplified Reinsch algorithm readily generalizes to many closely related but still quite distinct problems—we shall also present closely related results for the symmetric product S ( X , Y ) = ln (" separators=" e X / 2 e Y e X / 2 ) = ∑ w g S ( w ) w ( X , Y ) . Variations on such themes are straightforward. For instance, one can just as easily consider the "loop" product L ( X , Y ) = ln (" separators=" e X e Y e - X e - Y ) = ∑ w g L ( w ) w ( X , Y ) . This "loop" type of series is of interest, for instance, when considering either differential geometric parallel transport around a closed curve, non-Abelian versions of Stokes' theorem, or even Wigner rotation/Thomas precession in special relativity. Several other closely related series are also briefly investigated.

Watersheds in disordered media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrade, Joséi, Jr.; Araújo, Nuno; Herrmann, Hans; Schrenk, Julian

2015-02-01

What is the best way to divide a rugged landscape? Since ancient times, watersheds separating adjacent water systems that flow, for example, toward different seas, have been used to delimit boundaries. Interestingly, serious and even tense border disputes between countries have relied on the subtle geometrical properties of these tortuous lines. For instance, slight and even anthropogenic modifications of landscapes can produce large changes in a watershed, and the effects can be highly nonlocal. Although the watershed concept arises naturally in geomorphology, where it plays a fundamental role in water management, landslide, and flood prevention, it also has important applications in seemingly unrelated fields such as image processing and medicine. Despite the far-reaching consequences of the scaling properties on watershed-related hydrological and political issues, it was only recently that a more profound and revealing connection has been disclosed between the concept of watershed and statistical physics of disordered systems. This review initially surveys the origin and definition of a watershed line in a geomorphological framework to subsequently introduce its basic geometrical and physical properties. Results on statistical properties of watersheds obtained from artificial model landscapes generated with long-range correlations are presented and shown to be in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with real landscapes.

a New Ontological Perspective for Integration of Social and Physical Environments: Disability and Rehabilitation Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gharebaghi, Amin; Abolfazl Mostafavi, Mir

2016-06-01

Social dimension of environment is an important aspect that should be reflected in research works related to studying the interactions between human and the environment. However, this dimension is usually neglected when representing the environment in geographic information systems for different applications. For instance, disability as a result of the interaction between human and environment is influenced by social and physical dimensions of environment. Although, this aspect is highlighted in most conceptual disability models by defining various taxonomies of the environment, from ontological perspective justifying and connecting social dimension to the physical dimension of the environment is not clearly determined. Integrating social dimension of the environment with its physical dimension for disability studies is a challenging task, which is the main objective of the present study. Here, we review some of the disability models and their perspective about classifying the environment. Then, from ontological perspective, their limitations are discussed and a new approach for the classification of concepts form the environment is presented. This approach facilitates and simplifies integration of social dimension in ontologies for more effective assessment of disability issue in Geographic Information System.

Giant and universal magnetoelectric coupling in soft materials and concomitant ramifications for materials science and biology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Liping; Sharma, Pradeep

2013-10-01

Magnetoelectric coupling—the ability of a material to magnetize upon application of an electric field and, conversely, to polarize under the action of a magnetic field—is rare and restricted to a rather small set of exotic hard crystalline materials. Intense research activity has recently ensued on materials development, fundamental scientific issues, and applications related to this phenomenon. This tantalizing property, if present in adequate strength at room temperature, can be used to pave the way for next-generation memory devices such as miniature magnetic random access memories and multiple state memory bits, sensors, energy harvesting, spintronics, among others. In this Rapid Communication, we prove the existence of an overlooked strain mediated nonlinear mechanism that can be used to universally induce the giant magnetoelectric effect in all (sufficiently) soft dielectric materials. For soft polymer foams—which, for instance, may be used in stretchable electronics—we predict room-temperature magnetoelectric coefficients that are comparable to the best known (hard) composite materials created. We also argue, based on a simple quantitative model, that magnetoreception in some biological contexts (e.g., birds) most likely utilizes this very mechanism.

[Injuries in parasailing. A collective GOTS study].

PubMed

Krüger-Franke, M; Pförringer, W

1991-03-01

Regulations permitting the sport of paragliding were issued on April 15, 1987 by the Department of Transportation in Germany. With the rising number participants in this sport, the number of reported injuries has also been steadily increasing. The herein reported epidemiologic study presents the incidence, localization and degree of injuries associated with this sport documented in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. During the period from 1. 1. 1987 until 31. 12. 1989, 218 injuries associated with paragliding were reported in the above mentioned countries. 181 occurred during landing, 28 during start procedures and 9 during flight. The average age of the patients was 29.6 years. The analysis of the localization of the trauma related injury documented 33.9% spinal injuries, 13.8% injuries of the upper extremities and 41.3% of the lower extremities. Over half of these injuries were treated surgically and in 54 instances permanent disability remained. In the sport of paragliding the lower extremities are at greatest risk for injury during the landing phase. Proper equipment especially sturdy shoes, exact training in landing techniques and especially improved instruction in procedures during aborted or crash landings of the individual paraglider is required to reduce the frequency of these injuries.

Application environmental epidemiology to vehicular air pollution and health effects research

PubMed Central

Patil, Rajan R.; Chetlapally, Satish Kumar; Bagvandas, M.

2015-01-01

Vehicular pollution is one of the major contributors to the air pollution in urban areas and perhaps and accounts for the major share of anthropogenic green-house gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides. Knowledge of human health risks related to environmental exposure to vehicular pollution is a current concern. Analyze the range health effects are attributed varied constituents of vehicular air pollution examine evidence for a causal association to specific health effect. In many instances scenario involves exposure to very low doses of putative agents for extended periods, sometimes the period could mean over a lifetime of an individual and yet may result in small increase in health risk that may be imperceptible. Secondary data analysis and literature review. In environmental exposures, traditional epidemiological approaches evaluating mortality and morbidity indicators display many limiting factors such as nonspecificity of biological effects latency time between exposure and magnitude of the effect. Long latency period between exposure and resultant disease, principally for carcinogenic effects and limitation of epidemiological studies for detecting small risk increments. The present paper discusses the methodological challenges in studying vehicular epidemiology and highlights issues that affect the validity of epidemiological studies in vehicular pollution. PMID:26023265

The performance of a mobile air conditioning system with a water cooled condenser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Battista, Davide; Cipollone, Roberto

2015-11-01

Vehicle technological evolution lived, in recent years, a strong acceleration due to the increased awareness of environmental issues related to pollutants and climate altering emissions. This resulted in a series of international regulations on automotive sector which put technical challenges that must consider the engine and the vehicle as a global system, in order to improve the overall efficiency of the system. The air conditioning system of the cabin, for instance, is the one of the most important auxiliaries in a vehicle and requires significant powers. Its performances can be significantly improved if it is integrated within the engine cooling circuit, eventually modified with more temperature levels. In this paper, the Authors present a mathematical model of the A/C system, starting from its single components: compressors, condenser, flush valve and evaporator and a comparison between different refrigerant fluid. In particular, it is introduced the opportunity to have an A/C condenser cooled by a water circuit instead of the external air linked to the vehicle speed, as in the actual traditional configuration. The A/C condenser, in fact, could be housed on a low temperature water circuit, reducing the condensing temperature of the refrigeration cycle with a considerable efficiency increase.

Do Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques Affect Qualitative or Numerical Identity?

PubMed

Liao, S Matthew

2017-01-01

Mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs), known in the popular media as 'three-parent' or 'three-person' IVFs, have the potential to enable women with mitochondrial diseases to have children who are genetically related to them but without such diseases. In the debate regarding whether MRTs should be made available, an issue that has garnered considerable attention is whether MRTs affect the characteristics of an existing individual or whether they result in the creation of a new individual, given that MRTs involve the genetic manipulation of the germline. In other words, do MRTs affect the qualitative identity or the numerical identity of the resulting child? For instance, a group of panelists on behalf of the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has claimed that MRTs affect only the qualitative identity of the resulting child, while the Working Group of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) has argued that MRTs would create a numerically distinct individual. In this article, I shall argue that MRTs do create a new and numerically distinct individual. Since my explanation is different from the NCOB's explanation, I shall also offer reasons why my explanation is preferable to the NCOB's explanation. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Uncovering Offshore Financial Centers: Conduits and Sinks in the Global Corporate Ownership Network.

PubMed

Garcia-Bernardo, Javier; Fichtner, Jan; Takes, Frank W; Heemskerk, Eelke M

2017-07-24

Multinational corporations use highly complex structures of parents and subsidiaries to organize their operations and ownership. Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs) facilitate these structures through low taxation and lenient regulation, but are increasingly under scrutiny, for instance for enabling tax avoidance. Therefore, the identification of OFC jurisdictions has become a politicized and contested issue. We introduce a novel data-driven approach for identifying OFCs based on the global corporate ownership network, in which over 98 million firms (nodes) are connected through 71 million ownership relations. This granular firm-level network data uniquely allows identifying both sink-OFCs and conduit-OFCs. Sink-OFCs attract and retain foreign capital while conduit-OFCs are attractive intermediate destinations in the routing of international investments and enable the transfer of capital without taxation. We identify 24 sink-OFCs. In addition, a small set of five countries - the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore and Switzerland - canalize the majority of corporate offshore investment as conduit-OFCs. Each conduit jurisdiction is specialized in a geographical area and there is significant specialization based on industrial sectors. Against the idea of OFCs as exotic small islands that cannot be regulated, we show that many sink and conduit-OFCs are highly developed countries.

Computational mechanics of viral capsids.

PubMed

Gibbons, Melissa M; Perotti, Luigi E; Klug, William S

2015-01-01

Viral capsids undergo significant mechanical deformations during their assembly, maturation, and infective life-span. In order to characterize the mechanics of viral capsids, their response to applied external forces is analyzed in several experimental studies using, for instance, Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) indentation experiments. In recent years, a broader approach to study the mechanics of viral capsids has leveraged the theoretical tools proper of continuum mechanics. Even though the theory of continuum elasticity is most commonly used to study deformable bodies at larger macroscopic length scales, it has been shown that this very rich theoretical field can still offer useful insights into the mechanics of viral structures at the nanometer scale. Here we show the construction of viral capsid continuum mechanics models starting from different forms of experimental data. We will discuss the kinematics assumptions, the issue of the reference configuration, the material constitutive laws, and the numerical discretization necessary to construct a complete Finite Element capsid mechanical model. Some examples in the second part of the chapter will show the predictive capabilities of the constructed models and underline useful practical aspects related to efficiency and accuracy. We conclude each example by collecting several key findings discovered by simulating AFM indentation experiments using the constructed numerical models.

Star formation around active galactic nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keel, William C.

1987-01-01

Active galactic nuclei (Seyfert nuclei and their relatives) and intense star formation can both deliver substantial amounts of energy to the vicinity of a galactic nucleus. Many luminous nuclei have energetics dominated by one of these mechanisms, but detailed observations show that some have a mixture. Seeing both phenomena at once raises several interesting questions: (1) Is this a general property of some kinds of nuclei? How many AGNs have surround starbursts, and vice versa? (2) As in 1, how many undiscovered AGNs or starbursts are hidden by a more luminous instance of the other? (3) Does one cause the other, and by what means, or do both reflect common influences such as potential well shape or level of gas flow? (4) Can surrounding star formation tell us anything about the central active nuclei, such as lifetimes, kinetic energy output, or mechanical disturbance of the ISM? These are important points in the understanding of activity and star formation in galactic nuclei. Unfortunately, the observational ways of addressing them are as yet not well formulated. Some preliminary studies are reported, aimed at clarifying the issues involved in study of the relationships between stellar and nonstellar excitement in galactic nuclei.

AC HTS Transmission Cable for Integration into the Future EHV Grid of the Netherlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuijderduin, R.; Chevtchenko, O.; Smit, J. J.; Aanhaanen, G.; Melnik, I.; Geschiere, A.

Due to increasing power demand, the electricity grid of the Netherlands is changing. The future grid must be capable to transmit all the connected power. Power generation will be more decentralized like for instance wind parks connected to the grid. Furthermore, future large scale production units are expected to be installed near coastal regions. This creates some potential grid issues, such as: large power amounts to be transmitted to consumers from west to east and grid stability. High temperature superconductors (HTS) can help solving these grid problems. Advantages to integrate HTS components at Extra High Voltage (EHV) and High Voltage (HV) levels are numerous: more power with less losses and less emissions, intrinsic fault current limiting capability, better control of power flow, reduced footprint, etc. Today's main obstacle is the relatively high price of HTS. Nevertheless, as the price goes down, initial market penetration for several HTS components is expected by year 2015 (e.g.: cables, fault current limiters). In this paper we present a design of intrinsically compensated EHV HTS cable for future grid integration. Discussed are the parameters of such cable providing an optimal power transmission in the future network.

Reproducibility of Illumina platform deep sequencing errors allows accurate determination of DNA barcodes in cells.

PubMed

Beltman, Joost B; Urbanus, Jos; Velds, Arno; van Rooij, Nienke; Rohr, Jan C; Naik, Shalin H; Schumacher, Ton N

2016-04-02

Next generation sequencing (NGS) of amplified DNA is a powerful tool to describe genetic heterogeneity within cell populations that can both be used to investigate the clonal structure of cell populations and to perform genetic lineage tracing. For applications in which both abundant and rare sequences are biologically relevant, the relatively high error rate of NGS techniques complicates data analysis, as it is difficult to distinguish rare true sequences from spurious sequences that are generated by PCR or sequencing errors. This issue, for instance, applies to cellular barcoding strategies that aim to follow the amount and type of offspring of single cells, by supplying these with unique heritable DNA tags. Here, we use genetic barcoding data from the Illumina HiSeq platform to show that straightforward read threshold-based filtering of data is typically insufficient to filter out spurious barcodes. Importantly, we demonstrate that specific sequencing errors occur at an approximately constant rate across different samples that are sequenced in parallel. We exploit this observation by developing a novel approach to filter out spurious sequences. Application of our new method demonstrates its value in the identification of true sequences amongst spurious sequences in biological data sets.

Parallel computation with molecular-motor-propelled agents in nanofabricated networks.

PubMed

Nicolau, Dan V; Lard, Mercy; Korten, Till; van Delft, Falco C M J M; Persson, Malin; Bengtsson, Elina; Månsson, Alf; Diez, Stefan; Linke, Heiner; Nicolau, Dan V

2016-03-08

The combinatorial nature of many important mathematical problems, including nondeterministic-polynomial-time (NP)-complete problems, places a severe limitation on the problem size that can be solved with conventional, sequentially operating electronic computers. There have been significant efforts in conceiving parallel-computation approaches in the past, for example: DNA computation, quantum computation, and microfluidics-based computation. However, these approaches have not proven, so far, to be scalable and practical from a fabrication and operational perspective. Here, we report the foundations of an alternative parallel-computation system in which a given combinatorial problem is encoded into a graphical, modular network that is embedded in a nanofabricated planar device. Exploring the network in a parallel fashion using a large number of independent, molecular-motor-propelled agents then solves the mathematical problem. This approach uses orders of magnitude less energy than conventional computers, thus addressing issues related to power consumption and heat dissipation. We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration of such a device by solving, in a parallel fashion, the small instance {2, 5, 9} of the subset sum problem, which is a benchmark NP-complete problem. Finally, we discuss the technical advances necessary to make our system scalable with presently available technology.

[Adipose-derived stromal cells (ASC) - basics and therapeutic approaches in otorhinolaryngology].

PubMed

Frölich, K; Hagen, R; Kleinsasser, N

2014-06-01

Adipose-derived Stromal Cells (ASC) - Basics and Therapeutic Approaches in Otorhinolaryngology Mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue can be easily harvested with less discomfort, low donor-site morbidity and high amount compared to bone marrow-derived stem cells. Due to their multilineage differentiation potential in various cell types, immunmodulatory properties and their capability to enhance wound healing, ASC are a promising cell source for tissue engineering approaches and regenerative medicine. They are characterized by the expression of specific surface marker proteins and their differentiation potential into the mesenchymal lineages. Whereas only preclinical studies are published for otorhinolaryngology-related therapeutic options using ASC, various diseases, for instance graft-versus-host disease, have already been treated with ASC in single cases or clinical trials. Safety and genomic stability of ASC as well as the risk of spontaneous malignant transformation are still disputed. This review summarizes the current literature on characterization and anatomic localization of ASC. In addition, beside the presentation of preclinical studies concerning therapeutic approaches in otorhinolaryngology as well as of current clinical applications, the issue of safety of ASC in human stem cell therapy is discussed. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Fostering caring relationships: Suggestions to rethink liberal perspectives on the ethics of newborn screening.

PubMed

van der Burg, Simone; Oerlemans, Anke

2018-03-01

Newborn screening (NBS) involves the collection of blood from the heel of a newborn baby and testing it for a list of rare and inheritable disorders. New biochemical screening technologies led to expansions of NBS programs in the first decade of the 21st century. It is expected that they will in time be replaced by genetic sequencing technologies. These developments have raised a lot of ethical debate. We reviewed the ethical literature on NBS, analyzed the issues and values that emerged, and paid particular interest to the type of impacts authors think NBS should have on the lives of children and their families. Our review shows that most authors keep their ethical reflection confined to policy decisions, about for instance (a) the purpose of the program, and (b) its voluntary or mandatory nature. While some authors show appreciation of how NBS information empowers parents to care for their (diseased) children, most authors consider these aspects to be 'private' and leave their evaluation up to parents themselves. While this division of moral labor fits with the liberal conviction to leave individuals free to decide how they want to live their private lives, it also silences the ethical debate about these issues. Given the present and future capacity of NBS to offer an abundance of health-related information, we argue that there is good reason to develop a more substantive perspective to whether and how NBS can contribute to parents' good care for children. © 2018 The Authors. Bioethics Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Mental health in Aceh--Indonesia: A decade after the devastating tsunami 2004.

PubMed

Marthoenis, Marthoenis; Yessi, Sarifah; Aichberger, Marion C; Schouler-Ocak, Meryam

2016-02-01

The province of Aceh has suffered enormously from the perennial armed conflict and the devastating Tsunami in 2004. Despite the waves of external aid and national concern geared toward improving healthcare services as part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts after the Tsunami, mental health services still require much attention. This paper aims to understand the mental healthcare system in Aceh Province, Indonesia; its main focus is on the burden, on the healthcare system, its development, service delivery and cultural issues from the devastating Tsunami in 2004 until the present. We reviewed those published and unpublished reports from the local and national government, from international instances (UN bodies, NGOs) and from the academic literature pertaining to mental health related programs conducted in Aceh. To some extent, mental health services in Aceh have been improved compared to their condition before the Tsunami. The development programs have focused on procurement of policy, improvement of human resources, and enhancing service delivery. Culture and religious beliefs shape the pathways by which people seek mental health treatment. The political system also determines the development of the mental health service in the province. The case of Aceh is a unique example where conflict and disaster serve as the catalysts toward the development of a mental healthcare system. Several factors contribute to the improvement of the mental health system, but security is a must. Whilst the Acehnese enjoy the improvements, some issues such as stigma, access to care and political fluctuations remain challenging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regenerative potential of the cartilaginous tissue in mesenchymal stem cells: update, limitations, and challenges.

PubMed

Cruz, Ivana Beatrice Mânica da; Severo, Antônio Lourenço; Azzolin, Verônica Farina; Garcia, Luiz Filipe Machado; Kuhn, André; Lech, Osvandré

2017-01-01

Advances in the studies with adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have turned tissue regenerative therapy into a promising tool in many areas of medicine. In orthopedics, one of the main challenges has been the regeneration of cartilage tissue, mainly in diarthroses. In the induction of the MSCs, in addition to cytodifferentiation, the microenvironmental context of the tissue to be regenerated and an appropriate spatial arrangement are extremely important factors. Furthermore, it is known that MSC differentiation is fundamentally determined by mechanisms such as cell proliferation (mitosis), biochemical-molecular interactions, movement, cell adhesion, and apoptosis. Although the use of MSCs for cartilage regeneration remains at a research level, there are important questions to be resolved in order to make this therapy efficient and safe. It is known, for instance, that the expansion of chondrocytes in cultivation, needed to increase the number of cells, could end up producing fibrocartilage instead of hyaline cartilage. However, the latest results are promising. In 2014, the first stage I/II clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the intra-articular injection of MSCs in femorotibial cartilage regeneration was published, indicating a decrease in injured areas. One issue to be explored is how many modifications in the articulate inflammatory environment could induce differentiation of MSCs already allocated in that region. Such issue arose from studies that suggested that the suppression of the inflammation may increase the efficiency of tissue regeneration. Considering the complexity of the events related to the chondrogenesis and cartilage repair, it can be concluded that the road ahead is still long, and that further studies are needed.

Implementation of an i.v.-compounding robot in a hospital-based cancer center pharmacy.

PubMed

Yaniv, Angela W; Knoer, Scott J

2013-11-15

The implementation of a robotic device for compounding patient-specific chemotherapy doses is described, including a review of data on the robot's performance over a 13-month period. The automated system prepares individualized i.v. chemotherapy doses in a variety of infusion bags and syringes; more than 50 drugs are validated for use in the machine. The robot is programmed to recognize the physical parameters of syringes and vials and uses photographic identification, barcode identification, and gravimetric measurements to ensure that the correct ingredients are compounded and the final dose is accurate. The implementation timeline, including site preparation, logistics planning, installation, calibration, staff training, development of a pharmacy information system (PIS) interface, and validation by the state board of pharmacy, was about 10 months. In its first 13 months of operation, the robot was used to prepare 7384 medication doses; 85 doses (1.2%) found to be outside the desired accuracy range (±4%) were manually modified by pharmacy staff. Ongoing system monitoring has identified mechanical and materials-related problems including vial-recognition failures (in many instances, these issues were resolved by the system operator and robotic compounding proceeded successfully), interface issues affecting robot-PIS communication, and human errors such as the loading of an incorrect vial or bag into the machine. Through staff training, information technology improvements, and workflow adjustments, the robot's throughput has been steadily improved. An i.v.-compounding robot was successfully implemented in a cancer center pharmacy. The robot performs compounding tasks safely and accurately and has been integrated into the pharmacy's workflow.

Health information exchange: national and international approaches.

PubMed

Vest, Joshua R

2012-01-01

Health information exchange (HIE), the process of electronically moving patient-level information between different organizations, is viewed as a solution to the fragmentation of data in health care. This review provides a description of the current state of HIE in seven nations, as well was three international HIE efforts, with a particular focus on the relation of exchange efforts to national health care systems, common challenges, and the implications of cross-border information sharing. National and international efforts highlighted in English language informatics journals, professional associations, and government reports are described. Fully functioning HIE is not yet a common phenomenon worldwide. However, multiple nations see the potential benefits of HIE and that has led to national and international efforts of varying scope, scale, and purview. National efforts continue to work to overcome the challenges of interoperability, record linking, insufficient infrastructures, governance, and interorganizational relationships, but have created architectural strategies, oversight agencies, and incentives to foster exchange. The three international HIE efforts reviewed represent very different approaches to the same problem of ensuring the availability of health information across borders. The potential of HIE to address many cost and quality issues will ensure HIE remains on many national agendas. In many instances, health care executives and leaders have opportunities to work within national programs to help shape local exchange governance and decide technology partners. Furthermore, HIE raises policy questions concerning the role of centralized planning, national identifiers, standards, and types of information exchanged, each of which are vital issues to individual health organizations and worthy of their attention.

Spatial patterns of air pollutants and social groups: a distributive environmental justice study in the phoenix metropolitan region of USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pope, Ronald; Wu, Jianguo; Boone, Christopher

2016-11-01

Quantifying spatial distribution patterns of air pollutants is imperative to understand environmental justice issues. Here we present a landscape-based hierarchical approach in which air pollution variables are regressed against population demographics on multiple spatiotemporal scales. Using this approach, we investigated the potential problem of distributive environmental justice in the Phoenix metropolitan region, focusing on ambient ozone and particulate matter. Pollution surfaces (maps) are evaluated against the demographics of class, age, race (African American, Native American), and ethnicity (Hispanic). A hierarchical multiple regression method is used to detect distributive environmental justice relationships. Our results show that significant relationships exist between the dependent and independent variables, signifying possible environmental inequity. Although changing spatiotemporal scales only altered the overall direction of these relationships in a few instances, it did cause the relationship to become nonsignificant in many cases. Several consistent patterns emerged: people aged 17 and under were significant predictors for ambient ozone and particulate matter, but people 65 and older were only predictors for ambient particulate matter. African Americans were strong predictors for ambient particulate matter, while Native Americans were strong predictors for ambient ozone. Hispanics had a strong negative correlation with ambient ozone, but a less consistent positive relationship with ambient particulate matter. Given the legacy conditions endured by minority racial and ethnic groups, and the relative lack of mobility of all the groups, our findings suggest the existence of environmental inequities in the Phoenix metropolitan region. The methodology developed in this study is generalizable with other pollutants to provide a multi-scaled perspective of environmental justice issues.

What are parents' perspectives on psychological empowerment in the MMR vaccination decision? A focus group study

PubMed Central

Fadda, Marta; Galimberti, Elisa; Carraro, Valter; Schulz, Peter J

2016-01-01

Objectives Most developed countries do not have compulsory immunisation requirements, but instead issue recommendations. Although parents are expected to make an informed, autonomous (ie, empowered) decision regarding their children's vaccinations, there is no evidence about how parents' interpret this demand nor on the latitude of their decision-making. The goal of this study is to gain insights from parents residing in a low measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) uptake area on what constitutes feelings of empowerment in the decision they have to make on their child's MMR vaccination. Design A qualitative study employing focus group interviews. Setting 11 vaccination centres and hospitals in the Province of Trento, Italy. Participants 24 mothers and 4 fathers of children for whom the MMR vaccination decision was still pending participated in 6 focus groups. Results Autonomy and competence were salient themes in relation to empowerment, and were further connected with beliefs regarding legal responsibility and ethics of freedom concerning the decision, parents' relationship with the paediatrician (trust), feelings of relevance of the decision and related stress, and seeking, avoidance, or fear of vaccination-related information. Competence was interpreted as medical knowledge and information-seeking skills, but it was also related to the extent parents perceived the paediatrician to be competent. Conclusions Since parents' interpretation of empowerment goes beyond mere perceptions of being informed and autonomous and differs across individuals, it is important that this construct be correctly interpreted and implemented by best practice, for instance by explicitly adopting a relational conception of autonomy. Knowing whether parents want to make an empowered decision and what their information and autonomy needs are might help health professionals adapt their communication about immunisation, and promote parental perception of making an informed, autonomous decision. PMID:27084284

Nontesticular cancers in relatives of testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) patients from multiple-case TGCT families

PubMed Central

McMaster, Mary L; Heimdal, Ketil R; Loud, Jennifer T; Bracci, Janet S; Rosenberg, Philip S; Greene, Mark H

2015-01-01

Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) exhibit striking familial aggregation that remains incompletely explained. To improve the phenotypic definition of familial TGCT (FTGCT), we studied an international cohort of multiple-case TGCT families to determine whether first-degree relatives of FTGCT cases are at increased risk of other types of cancer. We identified 1041 first-degree relatives of TGCT cases in 66 multiple-case TGCT families from Norway and 64 from the United States (combined follow-up of 31,556 person-years). We collected data on all cancers (except nonmelanoma skin cancers) reported by the family informant in these relatives, and we attempted to verify all reported cancer diagnoses through medical or cancer registry records. We calculated observed-to-expected (O/E) standardized incidence ratios, together with 95% confidence intervals (CI), for invasive cancers other than TGCT. We found no increase in risk of cancer overall (Norway O/E = 0.8; 95% CI: 0.6–1.1 and United States O/E = 0.9; 95% CI: 0.7–1.3). Site-specific analyses pooled across the two countries revealed a leukemia excess (O/E = 6.5; 95% CI: 3.0–12.3), deficit of female breast cancer (O/E = 0.0; 95% CI: 0.0–0.6) and increased risk of soft tissue sarcoma (O/E = 7.2; 95% CI: 2.0–18.4); in all instances, these results were based on small case numbers and statistically significant only in Norway. While limited by sample size and potential issues relating to completeness of cancer reporting, this study in multiple-case TGCT families does not support the hypothesis that cancers other than testis cancer contribute to the FTGCT phenotype. PMID:25882629

The Origins of Syntax in Discourse: A Case Study of Tok Pisin Relatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sankoff, Gillian; Brown, Penelope

1976-01-01

This article discusses the discourse functions of relativization. Relativization is seen as an instance of the application of "bracketing" devices used in the organization of information. Syntactic structure is thus seen as a component of, and derivative from, discourse structure. (CLK)

Business Informatics: An Engineering Perspective on Information Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helfert, Markus

2008-01-01

Over the last three decades many universities have offered various programmes related to Information Systems. However, the rapid changes in recent years demand constant evaluation and modification of education programmes. Recent challenges include, for instance, the move towards programmes that are more applied and professionally-orientated. The…

Reformation and Resistance in American Nursing Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Lucy Heim

The American Nurses' Association's "First Position on Nursing" (1965), one instance of attempted reformation in American nursing education, recommends that nursing education should take place in institutions of higher education. Failures of this suggested reform seem to relate directly to the reform's incongruence with the continued or…

Fostering Civic Engagement in the Communication Research Methods Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Min

2011-01-01

Civic engagement has become an essential learning goal for institutions throughout higher education. Communication scholars employ various pedagogical tools to foster civic engagement. For instance, service learning has been shown to increase political and community engagement in courses such as family communication and public relations. Teachers…

Forms of benefit sharing in global health research undertaken in resource poor settings: a qualitative study of stakeholders' views in Kenya.

PubMed

Lairumbi, Geoffrey M; Parker, Michael; Fitzpatrick, Raymond; English, Michael C

2012-01-17

Increase in global health research undertaken in resource poor settings in the last decade though a positive development has raised ethical concerns relating to potential for exploitation. Some of the suggested strategies to address these concerns include calls for providing universal standards of care, reasonable availability of proven interventions and more recently, promoting the overall social value of research especially in clinical research. Promoting the social value of research has been closely associated with providing fair benefits to various stakeholders involved in research. The debate over what constitutes fair benefits; whether those that addresses micro level issues of justice or those focusing on the key determinants of health at the macro level has continued. This debate has however not benefited from empirical work on what stakeholders consider fair benefits. This study explores practical experiences of stakeholders involved in global health research in Kenya, over what benefits are fair within a developing world context. We conducted in-depth interviews with key informants drawn from within the broader health research system in Kenya including researchers from the mainstream health research institutions, networks and universities, teaching hospitals, policy makers, institutional review boards, civil society organisations and community representative groups.The range of benefits articulated by stakeholders addresses both micro and macro level concerns for justice by for instance, seeking to engage with interests of those facilitating research, and the broader systemic issues that make resource poor settings vulnerable to exploitation. We interpret these views to suggest a need for global health research to engage with current crises that face people in these settings as well as the broader systemic issues that produce them. Global health research should provide benefits that address both the micro and macro level issues of justice in order to forestall exploitation. Embracing the two is however challenging in terms of how the various competing interests/needs should be balanced ethically, especially in the absence of structures to guide the process. This challenge should point to the need for greater dialogue to facilitate value clarification among stakeholders.

Societal and ethical issues in human biomonitoring – a view from science studies

PubMed Central

Bauer, Susanne

2008-01-01

Background Human biomonitoring (HBM) has rapidly gained importance. In some epidemiological studies, the measurement and use of biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility and disease have replaced traditional environmental indicators. While in HBM, ethical issues have mostly been addressed in terms of informed consent and confidentiality, this paper maps out a larger array of societal issues from an epistemological perspective, i.e. bringing into focus the conditions of how and what is known in environmental health science. Methods In order to analyse the effects of HBM and the shift towards biomarker research in the assessment of environmental pollution in a broader societal context, selected analytical frameworks of science studies are introduced. To develop the epistemological perspective, concepts from "biomedical platform sociology" and the notion of "epistemic cultures" and "thought styles" are applied to the research infrastructures of HBM. Further, concepts of "biocitizenship" and "civic epistemologies" are drawn upon as analytical tools to discuss the visions and promises of HBM as well as related ethical problematisations. Results In human biomonitoring, two different epistemological cultures meet; these are environmental science with for instance pollution surveys and toxicological assessments on the one hand, and analytical epidemiology investigating the association between exposure and disease in probabilistic risk estimation on the other hand. The surveillance of exposure and dose via biomarkers as envisioned in HBM is shifting the site of exposure monitoring to the human body. Establishing an HBM platform faces not only the need to consider individual decision autonomy as an ethics issue, but also larger epistemological and societal questions, such as the mode of evidence demanded in science, policy and regulation. Conclusion The shift of exposure monitoring towards the biosurveillance of human populations involves fundamental changes in the ways environment, health and disease are conceptualised; this may lead to an individualisation of responsibilities for health risks and preventive action. Attention to the conditions of scientific knowledge generation and to their broader societal context is critical in order to make HBM contribute to environmental justice. PMID:18541064

For Richer, for Poorer: Money as a Topic of Marital Conflict in the Home

PubMed Central

Papp, Lauren M.; Cummings, E. Mark; Goeke-Morey, Marcie C.

2011-01-01

Guided by a family stress perspective, we examined the hypothesis that discussing money would be associated with the handling of marital conflict in the home. Analyses were based on dyadic hierarchical linear modeling of 100 husbands’ and 100 wives’ diary reports of 748 conflict instances. Contrary to findings from previous laboratory-based surveys, spouses did not rate money as the most frequent source of marital conflict in the home. However, compared to non-money issues, marital conflicts about money were more pervasive, problematic, and recurrent, and remained unresolved, despite including more attempts at problem solving. Implications for professionals who assist couples in managing their relationships and family finances are discussed. PMID:22162622

Two-qubit non-Markovianity induced by a common environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Addis, C.; Haikka, P.; McEndoo, S.; Macchiavello, C.; Maniscalco, S.

2013-05-01

We study non-Markovianity as backflow of information in two-qubit systems. We consider a setting where, by changing the distance between the qubits, one can interpolate between independent reservoir and common reservoir scenarios. We demonstrate that non-Markovianity can be induced by the common reservoir and single out the physical origin of this phenomenon. We show that two-qubit non-Markovianity coincides with instances of nondivisibility of the corresponding dynamical map, and we discuss the pair of states maximizing information flowback. We also discuss the issue of additivity for the measure we use and in doing so give an indication of its usefulness as a resource for multipartite quantum systems.

For Richer, for Poorer: Money as a Topic of Marital Conflict in the Home.

PubMed

Papp, Lauren M; Cummings, E Mark; Goeke-Morey, Marcie C

2009-02-01

Guided by a family stress perspective, we examined the hypothesis that discussing money would be associated with the handling of marital conflict in the home. Analyses were based on dyadic hierarchical linear modeling of 100 husbands' and 100 wives' diary reports of 748 conflict instances. Contrary to findings from previous laboratory-based surveys, spouses did not rate money as the most frequent source of marital conflict in the home. However, compared to non-money issues, marital conflicts about money were more pervasive, problematic, and recurrent, and remained unresolved, despite including more attempts at problem solving. Implications for professionals who assist couples in managing their relationships and family finances are discussed.

Theory Versus Experiment: The Case of the Positron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leone, Matteo

The history of positron discovery is an interesting case-study of complex relationship between theory and experiment, and therefore could promote understanding of a key issue on the nature of science (NoS) within a learning environment. As it is well known we had indeed a theory, P.A.M. Dirac's theory of the anti-electron (1931), before the beginning of the experiments leading to the experimental discovery of the positive electron (Anderson 1932). Yet, this case is not merely an instance of successful corroboration of a theoretical prediction since, as it will be shown, the man who made the discovery, Anderson, actually did not know from the start what to look for.

Patient follow-up: the scope of the duty, the impact of tort law reform and practical suggestions to comply with legal requirements.

PubMed

Ellis, Matthew

2007-12-01

The exercise of reasonable care and skill by a medical practitioner may give rise to an obligation to follow up a patient after a consultation or procedure. That obligation cannot always be discharged by passing the burden onto the patient, for instance, by advising the patient to return for a further consultation. The few cases that have addressed the issue in Australia have clearly placed a heavier burden on the medical profession to implement effective follow-up procedures. This article addresses the scope of the duty and makes practical recommendations to assist the medical profession in addressing its legal responsibilities.

Performance of quantum annealing on random Ising problems implemented using the D-Wave Two

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhihui; Job, Joshua; Rønnow, Troels F.; Troyer, Matthias; Lidar, Daniel A.; USC Collaboration; ETH Collaboration

2014-03-01

Detecting a possible speedup of quantum annealing compared to classical algorithms is a pressing task in experimental adiabatic quantum computing. In this talk, we discuss the performance of the D-Wave Two quantum annealing device on Ising spin glass problems. The expected time to solution for the device to solve random instances with up to 503 spins and with specified coupling ranges is evaluated while carefully addressing the issue of statistical errors. We perform a systematic comparison of the expected time to solution between the D-Wave Two and classical stochastic solvers, specifically simulated annealing, and simulated quantum annealing based on quantum Monte Carlo, and discuss the question of speedup.

Metrics-based assessments of research: incentives for 'institutional plagiarism'?

PubMed

Berry, Colin

2013-06-01

The issue of plagiarism--claiming credit for work that is not one's own, rightly, continues to cause concern in the academic community. An analysis is presented that shows the effects that may arise from metrics-based assessments of research, when credit for an author's outputs (chiefly publications) is given to an institution that did not support the research but which subsequently employs the author. The incentives for what is termed here "institutional plagiarism" are demonstrated with reference to the UK Research Assessment Exercise in which submitting units of assessment are shown in some instances to derive around twice the credit for papers produced elsewhere by new recruits, compared to papers produced 'in-house'.

Evidence of Placentophagia and Mother-Infant Cannibalism in Free-Ranging Macaca mulatta tcheliensis in Mount Taihangshan, Jiyuan, China.

PubMed

Tian, Jundong; Zhang, Shiqiang; Guo, Yongman; Garber, Paul A; Guo, Weijie; Kuang, San''ao; Lu, Jiqi

2016-01-01

Placentophagia or the consumption of the afterbirth is reported in many primate species, whereas cannibalism is a relatively rare event. Based on our field observations over the course of 3 years, we present evidence of placentophagia and mother-infant cannibalism in a free-ranging population of the Taihangshan macaque, Macaca mulatta tcheliensis, in the Mt. Taihangshan area, Jiyuan, Henan, China. We documented 1 case in which a mother consumed the afterbirth of her infant. In a second instance, we observed a fresh placenta discarded on the ground by an unknown individual. We also present a description of the first documented instance of mother-infant cannibalism in the same group of free-ranging rhesus macaques. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Extracting Dynamic Evidence Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

on the performance of the three models as a function of training set size, and on experiments showing the viability of using active learning techniques...potential relation instances, which include 28K actual relations. 2.3.2 Active Learning We also ran a set of experiments designed to explore the...viability of using active learning techniques to maximize the usefulness of the training data annotated for use by the system. The idea is to

[The consolidation of memory, one century on].

PubMed

Prado-Alcala, R A; Quirarte, G L

The theory of memory consolidation, based on the work published by Georg Elias Muller and Alfons Pilzecker over a century ago, continues to guide research into the neurobiology of memory, either directly or indirectly. In their classic monographic work, they concluded that fixing memory requires the passage of time (consolidation) and that memory is vulnerable during this period of consolidation, as symptoms of amnesia appear when brain functioning is interfered with before the consolidation process is completed. Most of the experimental data concerning this phenomenon strongly support the theory. In this article we present a review of experiments that have made it possible to put forward a model that explains the amnesia produced in conventional learning conditions, as well as another model related to the protection of memory when the same instances of learning are submitted to a situation involving intensive training. Findings from relatively recent studies have shown that treatments that typically produce amnesia when they are administered immediately after a learning experience (during the period in which the memory would be consolidating itself) no longer have any effect when the instances of learning involve a relatively large number of trials or training sessions, or relatively high intensity aversive events. These results are not congruent with the prevailing theories about consolidation.

45 CFR 303.21 - Safeguarding and disclosure of confidential information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... (ii) Information on known or suspected instances of physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or... of information when the State has reasonable evidence of domestic violence or child abuse against a... information. 303.21 Section 303.21 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare OFFICE OF CHILD...

Assessing Risks of Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals: A Scientific Odyssey

EPA Science Inventory

In the mid-90s there was a marked increase in public awareness of, and concern for, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). There have been a number of purported impacts of EDCs on both human and wildlife health; however, in some instances it has been challenging to relate observ...

Comparative Learning in Partnerships: Control, Competition or Collaboration?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takahashi, Chie

2008-01-01

This paper examines the quality and development of relations between organisations and the ways in which these are informed by incidental learning experiences in two projects. The paper conceptualizes instances of inter-organisational learning (IOL) applying theories such as principal-agent, prisoners' dilemma and women's place in community…

Poverty-Related Topics Found in Dissertations: A Bibliography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neill, Mara, Comp.; And Others

Arranged alphabetically by main topic, this bibliography cites 322 doctoral dissertations, written between 1970 and 1974, pertaining to various aspects of poverty. Where possible, annotations have been written to present the kernel idea of the work. Im many instances, additional subject headings which reflect important secondary thrusts are also…

32 CFR 516.48 - Official information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 32 National Defense 3 2012-07-01 2009-07-01 true Official information. 516.48 Section 516.48... PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Release of Information and Appearance of Witnesses Scope Da Personnel As Witnesses in Private Litigation § 516.48 Official information. (a) In instances involving § 516.47(a)(1...

32 CFR 516.48 - Official information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 32 National Defense 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Official information. 516.48 Section 516.48... PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Release of Information and Appearance of Witnesses Scope Da Personnel As Witnesses in Private Litigation § 516.48 Official information. (a) In instances involving § 516.47(a)(1...

22 CFR 518.48 - Contract provisions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... remedies in instances in which a contractor violates or breaches the contract terms, and provide for such... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Contract provisions. 518.48 Section 518.48... Requirements Procurement Standards § 518.48 Contract provisions. The recipient shall include, in addition to...

48 CFR 42.101 - Contract audit responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... other related data as to the acceptability of the contractor's incurred and estimated costs; (2... contractor. In those instances, the two agencies shall agree on the most efficient and economical approach to... cognizance will be determined according to the provisions of OMB Circular A-133, Audits of Institutions of...

48 CFR 42.101 - Contract audit responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... other related data as to the acceptability of the contractor's incurred and estimated costs; (2... contractor. In those instances, the two agencies shall agree on the most efficient and economical approach to... cognizance will be determined according to the provisions of OMB Circular A-133, Audits of Institutions of...

Evidence-based planning for forest adaptation

Treesearch

Lee Hannah; Thomas E. Lovejoy

2014-01-01

Forest conservation under climate change requires conserving species both in their present ranges and where they may exist in the future as climate changes. Several debates in the literature are pioneering this relatively novel ground. For instance, conservation planning using species distribution models is advocated because it uses information on both exposure to...

26 CFR 301.7611-1 - Questions and answers relating to church tax inquiries and examinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... regarding, among other things, withholding responsibilities for income tax or FICA (social security) tax... the church; (2) compliance with income tax or FICA (social security) tax withholding responsibilities... exemption or for unrelated business income (for instance, assessments of social security or other employment...

Sexist Language and the Competence/Performance Distinction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saporta, Sol

Sexist language provides a useful diagnostic symptom of how pervasively women's invisibility and degradation are manifested in modern society. In analyzing instances of sexist language usage, three types of factors may be considered: (1) linguistic facts related to the sexist usage; (2) cognitive factors--attitudes, values, perceptions--behind the…

Teaching Structured Design of Network Algorithms in Enhanced Versions of SQL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Brock, Bert

2004-01-01

From time to time developers of (database) applications will encounter, explicitly or implicitly, structures such as trees, graphs, and networks. Such applications can, for instance, relate to bills of material, organization charts, networks of (rail)roads, networks of conduit pipes (e.g., plumbing, electricity), telecom networks, and data…

Semantics and Language Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benjamin, Robert L.

This book explores the workings of language, explains the operation of language as a coherent system, and examines instances of effective as well as ineffective communication. Chapters deal with (1) a "meaning" approach to language and the relation of semantics to the communicator, (2) how language works and what makes it work, (3) how language…

The Design and Analysis of Efficient Learning Algorithms

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

will be c-close to the target concept with high probability. (Technically, their approach needs some minor modifications to handle, for instance, a...test in the sense that if cii = cik = cik then nothing can be concluded about the relative depth of 17, and Fk . However, our next lemnas give

Acute Peat Smoke Inhalation Increases Blood Pressure and Cardiac Arrhythmia Risk in Rats

EPA Science Inventory

Wildland fires are increasingly linked to adverse health impacts related to poor air quality. For instance, short-term exposure to smoldering peat (SP) air pollution in eastern North Carolina during separate burns in 2008 and 2011 led to increased cardiopulmonary emergency room v...

Learning the Language of Difference: The Dictionary in the High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willinsky, John

1987-01-01

Reports on dictionaries' power to misrepresent gender. Examines the definitions of three terms (clitoris, penis, and vagina) in eight leading high school dictionaries. Concludes that the absence of certain female gender-related terms represents another instance of institutionalized silence about the experience of women. (MM)

Determinants of choice, and vulnerability and recovery in addiction.

PubMed

Lamb, R J; Maguire, David R; Ginsburg, Brett C; Pinkston, Jonathan W; France, Charles P

2016-06-01

Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed rewards. Discounting of delayed rewards influences addiction vulnerability because of competition between relatively immediate gains of drug use, e.g. intoxication, versus relatively remote gains of abstinence, e.g. family stability. Factors modifying delay sensitivity can be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, increased delay sensitivity can be similarly observed in adolescent humans and non-human animals. Similarly, genetic factors influence delay sensitivity in humans and animals. Recovery from addiction may also be viewed as choice behavior. Thus, reinforcing alternative behavior facilitates recovery because reinforcing alternative behavior decreases the frequency of using drugs. How reinforcing alternative behavior influences recovery can also be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, relapse risk decreases as abstinence duration increases, and this decreasing risk can be modeled in animals using choice procedures. In summary, addiction in many respects can be conceptualized as a problem of choice. Animal models of choice disorders stand to increase our understanding of the core processes that establish and maintain addiction and serve as a proving ground for development of novel treatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determinants of choice, and vulnerability and recovery in addiction

PubMed Central

Lamb, R.J.; Maguire, David R.; Ginsburg, Brett C.; Pinkston, Jonathan W.; France, Charles P.

2016-01-01

Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed rewards. Discounting of delayed rewards influences addiction vulnerability because of competition between relatively immediate gains of drug use, e.g. intoxication, versus relatively remote gains of abstinence, e.g. family stability. Factors modifying delay sensitivity can be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, increased delay sensitivity can be similarly observed in adolescent humans and non-human animals. Similarly, genetic factors influence delay sensitivity in humans and animals. Recovery from addiction may also be viewed as choice behavior. Thus, reinforcing alternative behavior facilitates recovery because reinforcing alternative behavior decreases the frequency of using drugs. How reinforcing alternative behavior influences recovery can also be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, relapse risk decreases as abstinence duration increases, and this decreasing risk can be modeled in animals using choice procedures. In summary, addiction in many respects can be conceptualized as a problem of choice. Animal models of choice disorders stand to increase our understanding of the core processes that establish and maintain addiction and serve as a proving ground for development of novel treatments. PMID:27083500

What do people with MS want and expect from health-care services?

PubMed

Somerset, M; Campbell, R; Sharp, D J; Peters, T J

2001-03-01

To determine the health-care preferences of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Cross-sectional survey using a postal questionnaire comprising standardized measures of health related quality of life (SF-36) and of depression (BDI) and original questions about issues linked to health-care, prioritized by people with MS during an earlier qualitative phase. A stratified sample of 318 people with MS in Scotland and England. Questionnaires were sent to 471 people with multiple sclerosis. The 318 respondents (68%) reported a wide variation in quality of life, but on average scored significantly lower than normative values in all dimensions of the SF-36. The most commonly used home treatment during the previous year was evening primrose oil, taken by almost half of the sample (47%). Use of cannabis was acknowledged by 8%. There was evidence that many preferences concerning health services were not satisfied. For instance lack of advice about at least one MS related issue was reported lacking for three-quarters of the sample and 17% lacked advice in at least five areas. Advice about exercise was the single most requested area. The most frequently consulted health professional was the GP (78%) followed by the hospital consultant (50%). The professional that respondents most commonly said they would like to have seen was a specialist MS nurse (30%). Forty-three percent of the sample said they had attended a special meeting for people with MS or disabilities. They were equally divided between those who did and who did not find their last attendance helpful. People with MS display a wide variation in their preference for services and unmet needs. Information about management (both conventional and unconventional), relevant tailored advice and access to appropriately skilled professionals should be feasible components of high quality care. This work has highlighted the value of involving people with MS in the identification of their preferences; further research is needed to show how these might be provided most effectively.

Determinants of teenage pregnancies: the case of Busia District in Kenya.

PubMed

Were, Maureen

2007-07-01

Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest levels of teenage pregnancies in the world. In spite of that, there is paucity of empirical research on causes of teenage pregnancies in African countries. This paper investigates the determinants of teenage pregnancies based on a case study of Busia District in Kenya. The data are from a household survey conducted in 1998/1999. Empirical results indicate that girls' education level has significant influence on the probability of teenage birth, with non-schooling adolescents and those with primary school level education being more vulnerable. Among the variables used as proxies for access to sex education, availability of church forums that educate adolescents about sex and family life issues reduce probability of teenage pregnancy. Age is positively related to teenage pregnancies, with older adolescents being more predisposed to pregnancies. Though use of contraceptives is found to have a positive effect, only a small proportion of adolescents were using modern contraceptives and, supply side factors such as quality and availability were not accounted for. Other key factors as outlined by the adolescents themselves include peer pressure and social environment-related factors like inappropriate forms of recreation, which act as rendezvous for pre-marital sex, as well as lack of parental guidance and counselling. Overall, lack of access to education opportunities, sex education and information regarding contraceptives, as well the widespread poverty predispose girls to teenage pregnancies. The problem of teenage pregnancies should be viewed within the broader socio-economic and socio-cultural environment in which the adolescents operate. For instance, lack of parental guidance on issues of sexuality and sex education was reinforced by cultural taboos that inhibit such discussions. Adolescents should be equipped with the relevant knowledge to enable them make informed choices regarding sexual relationships. This should be complemented with broader programmes aimed at promoting girl education and poverty alleviation.

Thruster Limitation Consideration for Formation Flight Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Xu, Yunjun; Fitz-Coy, Norman; Mason, Paul

2003-01-01

Physical constraints of any real system can have a drastic effect on its performance. Some of the more recognized constraints are actuator and sensor saturation and bandwidth, power consumption, sampling rate (sensor and control-loop) and computation limits. These constraints can degrade system s performance, such as settling time, overshoot, rising time, and stability margins. In order to address these issues, researchers have investigated the use of robust and nonlinear controllers that can incorporate uncertainty and constraints into a controller design. For instance, uncertainties can be addressed in the synthesis model used in such algorithms as H(sub infinity), or mu. There is a significant amount of literature addressing this type of problem. However, there is one constraint that has not often been considered; that is, actuator authority resolution. In this work, thruster resolution and controller schemes to compensate for this effect are investigated for position and attitude control of a Low Earth Orbit formation flight system In many academic problems, actuators are assumed to have infinite resolution. In real system applications, such as formation flight systems, the system actuators will not have infinite resolution. High-precision formation flying requires the relative position and the relative attitude to be controlled on the order of millimeters and arc-seconds, respectively. Therefore, the minimum force resolution is a significant concern in this application. Without the sufficient actuator resolution, the system may be unable to attain the required pointing and position precision control. Furthermore, fuel may be wasted due to high-frequency chattering phenomena when attempting to provide a fine control with inadequate actuators. To address this issue, a Sliding Mode Controller is developed along with the boundary Layer Control to provide the best control resolution constraints. A Genetic algorithm is used to optimize the controller parameters according to the states error and fuel consumption criterion. The tradeoffs and effects of the minimum force limitation on performance are studied and compared to the case without the limitation. Furthermore, two methods are proposed to reduce chattering and improve precision.

Object instance recognition using motion cues and instance specific appearance models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumann, Arne

2014-03-01

In this paper we present an object instance retrieval approach. The baseline approach consists of a pool of image features which are computed on the bounding boxes of a query object track and compared to a database of tracks in order to find additional appearances of the same object instance. We improve over this simple baseline approach in multiple ways: 1) we include motion cues to achieve improved robustness to viewpoint and rotation changes, 2) we include operator feedback to iteratively re-rank the resulting retrieval lists and 3) we use operator feedback and location constraints to train classifiers and learn an instance specific appearance model. We use these classifiers to further improve the retrieval results. The approach is evaluated on two popular public datasets for two different applications. We evaluate person re-identification on the CAVIAR shopping mall surveillance dataset and vehicle instance recognition on the VIVID aerial dataset and achieve significant improvements over our baseline results.

Method & apparatus for monitoring plasma processing operations

DOEpatents

Smith, Jr., Michael Lane; Ward, Pamela Denise; Stevenson, Joel O'Don

2004-10-19

The invention generally relates to various aspects of a plasma process and, more specifically, to the monitoring of such plasma processes. One aspect relates to a plasma monitoring module that may be adjusted in at least some manner so as to re-evaluate a previously monitored plasma process. For instance, optical emissions data on a plasma process that was previously monitored by the plasma monitoring module may be replayed through the plasma monitoring module after making at least one adjustment in relation to the plasma monitoring module.

The Importance of Being Interpreted: Grounded Words and Children’s Relational Reasoning

PubMed Central

Son, Ji Y.; Smith, Linda B.; Goldstone, Robert L.; Leslie, Michelle

2012-01-01

Although young children typically have trouble reasoning relationally, they are aided by the presence of “relational” words (e.g., Gentner and Rattermann, 1991). They also reason well about commonly experienced event structures (e.g., Fivush, 1984). To explore what makes a word “relational” and therefore helpful in relational reasoning, we hypothesized that these words activate well-understood event structures. Furthermore, the activated schema must be open enough (without too much specificity) that it can be applied analogically to novel problems. Four experiments examine this hypothesis by exploring: how training with a label influence the schematic interpretation of a scene, what kinds of scenes are conducive to schematic interpretation, and whether children must figure out the interpretation themselves to benefit from the act of interpreting a scene as an event. Experiment 1 shows the superiority of schema-evoking words over words that do not connect to schematized experiences. Experiments 2 and 3 further reveal that these words must be applied to perceptual instances that require cognitive effort to connect to a label rather than unrelated or concretely related instances in order to draw attention to relational structure. Experiment 4 provides evidence that even when children do not work out an interpretation for themselves, just the act of interpreting an ambiguous scene is potent for relational generalization. The present results suggest that relational words (and in particular their meanings) are created from the act of interpreting a perceptual situation in the context of a word. PMID:22408628

Prospective evaluation of unidirectional barbed suture for various indications in surgeon-controlled robotic reconstructive urologic surgery: Wake Forest University experience.

PubMed

Shah, Hemendra N; Nayyar, Rishi; Rajamahanty, Shrinivas; Hemal, Ashok K

2012-06-01

To evaluate the usage of unidirectional barbed suture and its related implications in various surgeon-controlled robotic reconstructive urologic surgeries. From March 2010 to March 2011, all patients undergoing various surgeon-controlled robotic reconstructive urologic surgeries utilizing barbed sutures were prospectively enrolled in this study. Type and number of procedure performed were noted. Intraoperative and peri-operative outcomes potentially related to suture technique and material were recorded. This study reports on 210 patients, in whom barbed suture was used during this period. These included partial nephrectomy (20), pyeloplasty (9), ureteric tailoring and reimplantation (1), closure of bladder after Nephroureterectomy with excision of bladder cuff (8), closure of vaginal cuff in female radical cystectomy (12), partial cystectomy (1), radical prostatectomy (152), simple prostatectomy (2), vesicovaginal fistula repair (3), sacrocolpopexy (1), and hernia repair (1). We encountered 5 instances (2.38%) of tissue cut through possibly attributable to the use of barbed suture and 4 instances of misplacement of suture occurred, of these two required a new suture, whereas retrograde pull back of suture and needle was performed in 2 cases. No instance of slip back/loosening of suture was noted once it was tightened. At mean follow-up of 6.8 (1-14 months) months, we did not encounter any complications of urinary leakage, stone formation or fistula or any clinical evidence of urinary tract obstruction due to the use of barbed suture. Use of unidirectional barbed suture is safe, feasible, and efficient at short-term follow-up for reconstructive part of urological procedures.

Application of ecological momentary assessment in workplace health evaluation.

PubMed

Engelen, Lina; Chau, Josephine Y; Burks-Young, Sarah; Bauman, Adrian

2016-02-01

Issue addressed Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involves repeated sampling of current behaviours and experiences in real-time at random intervals. EMA is an innovative measurement method for program evaluation, using mobile technology (e.g. smartphones) to collect valid contextual health promotion data with good compliance. The present study examined the feasibility of using EMA for measuring workplace health outcomes. Methods Twenty-two office-based adults were prompted at four random times per work-day during a 5-day period to respond to a short survey via a smartphone application. The prompting stopped when participants had either responded 12 times or the 5-day period had ended. The questions pertained to posture, task currently being undertaken, social interactions, musculoskeletal issues, mood, and perceptions of engagement and creativity. Results In total 156 responses were collected. Nine participants completed all 12 surveys; the average completion rate was 58% (7/12). The average completion time was initially 50s and reduced to 24s during the later surveys. On average the participants were sitting and standing in 79% and 14% of survey instances, respectively. The participants reported they were working alone at their desks in 68% of instances. Reported productivity and stress were on average 6 and 3 out of 10, respectively, but varied up to 6-8 points within one person, hence the method appears sensitive to temporal variations in perceptions and mood. Conclusion Given the rich real-time data, minimal participant burden and use of readily available technology, EMA has substantial potential in workplace health promotion evaluation through the measurement of participants' well being, activities, and behaviour change. So what? An in-the-moment method using readily available mobile technology to assess participants' perceptions, mood and activity that provides rich information with minimal participant burden is a promising way to evaluate future health promotion programs.

A geometric stochastic approach based on marked point processes for road mark detection from high resolution aerial images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tournaire, O.; Paparoditis, N.

Road detection has been a topic of great interest in the photogrammetric and remote sensing communities since the end of the 70s. Many approaches dealing with various sensor resolutions, the nature of the scene or the wished accuracy of the extracted objects have been presented. This topic remains challenging today as the need for accurate and up-to-date data is becoming more and more important. Based on this context, we will study in this paper the road network from a particular point of view, focusing on road marks, and in particular dashed lines. Indeed, they are very useful clues, for evidence of a road, but also for tasks of a higher level. For instance, they can be used to enhance quality and to improve road databases. It is also possible to delineate the different circulation lanes, their width and functionality (speed limit, special lanes for buses or bicycles...). In this paper, we propose a new robust and accurate top-down approach for dashed line detection based on stochastic geometry. Our approach is automatic in the sense that no intervention from a human operator is necessary to initialise the algorithm or to track errors during the process. The core of our approach relies on defining geometric, radiometric and relational models for dashed lines objects. The model also has to deal with the interactions between the different objects making up a line, meaning that it introduces external knowledge taken from specifications. Our strategy is based on a stochastic method, and in particular marked point processes. Our goal is to find the objects configuration minimising an energy function made-up of a data attachment term measuring the consistency of the image with respect to the objects and a regularising term managing the relationship between neighbouring objects. To sample the energy function, we use Green algorithm's; coupled with a simulated annealing to find its minimum. Results from aerial images at various resolutions are presented showing that our approach is relevant and accurate as it can handle the most frequent layouts of dashed lines. Some issues, for instance, such as the relative weighting of both terms of the energy are also discussed in the conclusion.

What patients' complaints and praise tell the health practitioner: implications for health care quality. A qualitative research study.

PubMed

Mattarozzi, Katia; Sfrisi, Fiamma; Caniglia, Filippo; De Palma, Alessandra; Martoni, Monica

2017-02-01

In order to identify which health care aspects play a role in patient satisfaction and quality of health care, the present study analyses a large number of instances of complaint and praise. One thousand two hundred and thirty-five instances of complaint and one thousand five hundred thirty-six of praise submitted from patients or other souces (i.e. a patient's family member or a legal representative) to a northern-Italian hospital were analysed. We adopted Reader and colleagues' (2014) patients' complaint taxonomy, in conjunction with a detailed content analysis of relationship and communication of information aspects. The most frequent causes of complaint concerned care system management (68.1%), particularly the time taken to access treatment, and relationship aspects (52.8%). The importance of relationship aspects was confirmed by the expression of gratitude through praise (89%). The most critical factor of the relationship domain was effective communication of information to the patient (39.3%). Frequently patients complained of: (i) having received information that was inconsistent with the truth, (ii) having had difficulty in obtaining information, and (iii) untimely communication of information. Clinical aspects did not seem to be the main factors that triggered a complaint (36,8%), and, when indicated, they were almost always associated with relationship issues. This study indicates that not only complaints, but also instances of praise, are a potentially important source of information regarding health care aspects that play a role in patient satisfaction and quality of care. Our findings underline the relevance of relationship aspects in determining patients' satisfaction with the care received. In particular, health practitioners should focus their attention on how information is understood, translated and applied by patients. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

One network metric datastore to track them all: the OSG network metric service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quick, Robert; Babik, Marian; Fajardo, Edgar M.; Gross, Kyle; Hayashi, Soichi; Krenz, Marina; Lee, Thomas; McKee, Shawn; Pipes, Christopher; Teige, Scott

2017-10-01

The Open Science Grid (OSG) relies upon the network as a critical part of the distributed infrastructures it enables. In 2012, OSG added a new focus area in networking with a goal of becoming the primary source of network information for its members and collaborators. This includes gathering, organizing, and providing network metrics to guarantee effective network usage and prompt detection and resolution of any network issues, including connection failures, congestion, and traffic routing. In September of 2015, this service was deployed into the OSG production environment. We will report on the creation, implementation, testing, and deployment of the OSG Networking Service. Starting from organizing the deployment of perfSONAR toolkits within OSG and its partners, to the challenges of orchestrating regular testing between sites, to reliably gathering the resulting network metrics and making them available for users, virtual organizations, and higher level services, all aspects of implementation will be reviewed. In particular, several higher-level services were developed to bring the OSG network service to its full potential. These include a web-based mesh configuration system, which allows central scheduling and management of all the network tests performed by the instances; a set of probes to continually gather metrics from the remote instances and publish it to different sources; a central network datastore (esmond), which provides interfaces to access the network monitoring information in close to real time and historically (up to a year) giving the state of the tests; and a perfSONAR infrastructure monitor system, ensuring the current perfSONAR instances are correctly configured and operating as intended. We will also describe the challenges we encountered in ongoing operations of the network service and how we have evolved our procedures to address those challenges. Finally we will describe our plans for future extensions and improvements to the service.

Variations in risk and protective factors for life satisfaction and mental wellbeing with deprivation: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Bellis, Mark A; Lowey, Helen; Hughes, Karen; Deacon, Lynn; Stansfield, Jude; Perkins, Clare

2012-07-02

Improving life satisfaction (LS) and mental wellbeing (MWB) is important for better public health. Like other health issues, LS and MWB are closely related to deprivation (i.e. lack of resources). Developing public health measures that reduce inequalities in wellbeing requires an understanding of how factors associated with high and low LS and MWB vary with deprivation. Here, we examine such variations and explore which public health measures are likely to improve wellbeing while reducing related inequalities. A self-administered questionnaire measuring LS and MWB was used with a cross-sectional sample of adults from the North West of England (n = 15,228). Within deprivation tertiles, analyses examined how demographics, health status, employment, relationships and behaviours (alcohol, tobacco, physical exercise) were associated with LS and MWB. Deprivation was strongly related to low LS and MWB with, for instance, 17.1% of the most deprived tertile having low LS compared to 8.9% in the most affluent. After controlling for confounders, across all deprivation tertiles, better self-assessed health status and being in a relationship were protective against low LS and MWB. Unemployment increased risks of low LS across all tertiles but only risks of low MWB in the deprived tertile. For this tertile, South Asian ethnicity and higher levels of exercise were protective against low MWB. In the middle tertile retired individuals had a reduced risk of low MWB and an increased chance of high LS even in comparison to those in employment. Alcohol's impact on LS was limited to the most deprived tertile where heavy drinkers were at most risk of poor outcomes. In this study, positive outcomes for LS and MWB were strongly associated with lower deprivation and good health status. Public health measures already developed to promote these issues are likely to improve LS and MWB. Efforts to increase engagement in exercise are also likely to have positive impacts, particularly in deprived communities. The development of future initiatives that address LS and MWB must take account of variations in their risk and protective factors at different levels of deprivation.