Identifying Key Features of Student Performance in Educational Video Games and Simulations through Cluster Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Deirdre; Chung, Gregory K. W. K.

2012-01-01

The assessment cycle of "evidence-centered design" (ECD) provides a framework for treating an educational video game or simulation as an assessment. One of the main steps in the assessment cycle of ECD is the identification of the key features of student performance. While this process is relatively simple for multiple choice tests, when…

A method for data‐driven exploration to pinpoint key features in medical data and facilitate expert review

PubMed Central

Juhlin, Kristina; Norén, G. Niklas

2017-01-01

Abstract Purpose To develop a method for data‐driven exploration in pharmacovigilance and illustrate its use by identifying the key features of individual case safety reports related to medication errors. Methods We propose vigiPoint, a method that contrasts the relative frequency of covariate values in a data subset of interest to those within one or more comparators, utilizing odds ratios with adaptive statistical shrinkage. Nested analyses identify higher order patterns, and permutation analysis is employed to protect against chance findings. For illustration, a total of 164 000 adverse event reports related to medication errors were characterized and contrasted to the other 7 833 000 reports in VigiBase, the WHO global database of individual case safety reports, as of May 2013. The initial scope included 2000 features, such as patient age groups, reporter qualifications, and countries of origin. Results vigiPoint highlighted 109 key features of medication error reports. The most prominent were that the vast majority of medication error reports were from the United States (89% compared with 49% for other reports in VigiBase); that the majority of reports were sent by consumers (53% vs 17% for other reports); that pharmacists (12% vs 5.3%) and lawyers (2.9% vs 1.5%) were overrepresented; and that there were more medication error reports than expected for patients aged 2‐11 years (10% vs 5.7%), particularly in Germany (16%). Conclusions vigiPoint effectively identified key features of medication error reports in VigiBase. More generally, it reduces lead times for analysis and ensures reproducibility and transparency. An important next step is to evaluate its use in other data. PMID:28815800

Key Features of Academic Detailing: Development of an Expert Consensus Using the Delphi Method.

PubMed

Yeh, James S; Van Hoof, Thomas J; Fischer, Michael A

2016-02-01

Academic detailing is an outreach education technique that combines the direct social marketing traditionally used by pharmaceutical representatives with unbiased content summarizing the best evidence for a given clinical issue. Academic detailing is conducted with clinicians to encourage evidence-based practice in order to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. The adoption of academic detailing has increased substantially since the original studies in the 1980s. However, the lack of standard agreement on its implementation makes the evaluation of academic detailing outcomes challenging. To identify consensus on the key elements of academic detailing among a group of experts with varying experiences in academic detailing. This study is based on an online survey of 20 experts with experience in academic detailing. We used the Delphi process, an iterative and systematic method of developing consensus within a group. We conducted 3 rounds of online surveys, which addressed 72 individual items derived from a previous literature review of 5 features of academic detailing, including (1) content, (2) communication process, (3) clinicians targeted, (4) change agents delivering intervention, and (5) context for intervention. Nonrespondents were removed from later rounds of the surveys. For most questions, a 4-point ordinal scale was used for responses. We defined consensus agreement as 70% of respondents for a single rating category or 80% for dichotomized ratings. The overall survey response rate was 95% (54 of 57 surveys) and nearly 92% consensus agreement on the survey items (66 of 72 items) by the end of the Delphi exercise. The experts' responses suggested that (1) focused clinician education offering support for clinical decision-making is a key component of academic detailing, (2) detailing messages need to be tailored and provide feasible strategies and solutions to challenging cases, and (3) academic detailers need to develop specific skill sets

Key Features of Academic Detailing: Development of an Expert Consensus Using the Delphi Method

PubMed Central

Yeh, James S.; Van Hoof, Thomas J.; Fischer, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Background Academic detailing is an outreach education technique that combines the direct social marketing traditionally used by pharmaceutical representatives with unbiased content summarizing the best evidence for a given clinical issue. Academic detailing is conducted with clinicians to encourage evidence-based practice in order to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. The adoption of academic detailing has increased substantially since the original studies in the 1980s. However, the lack of standard agreement on its implementation makes the evaluation of academic detailing outcomes challenging. Objective To identify consensus on the key elements of academic detailing among a group of experts with varying experiences in academic detailing. Methods This study is based on an online survey of 20 experts with experience in academic detailing. We used the Delphi process, an iterative and systematic method of developing consensus within a group. We conducted 3 rounds of online surveys, which addressed 72 individual items derived from a previous literature review of 5 features of academic detailing, including (1) content, (2) communication process, (3) clinicians targeted, (4) change agents delivering intervention, and (5) context for intervention. Nonrespondents were removed from later rounds of the surveys. For most questions, a 4-point ordinal scale was used for responses. We defined consensus agreement as 70% of respondents for a single rating category or 80% for dichotomized ratings. Results The overall survey response rate was 95% (54 of 57 surveys) and nearly 92% consensus agreement on the survey items (66 of 72 items) by the end of the Delphi exercise. The experts' responses suggested that (1) focused clinician education offering support for clinical decision-making is a key component of academic detailing, (2) detailing messages need to be tailored and provide feasible strategies and solutions to challenging cases, and (3) academic detailers need

Providing comprehensive health services for young key populations: needs, barriers and gaps

PubMed Central

Delany-Moretlwe, Sinead; Cowan, Frances M; Busza, Joanna; Bolton-Moore, Carolyn; Kelley, Karen; Fairlie, Lee

2015-01-01

Introduction Adolescence is a time of physical, emotional and social transitions that have implications for health. In addition to being at high risk for HIV, young key populations (YKP) may experience other health problems attributable to high-risk behaviour or their developmental stage, or a combination of both. Discussion We reviewed the needs, barriers and gaps for other non-HIV health services for YKP. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for articles that provided specific age-related data on sexual and reproductive health; mental health; violence; and substance use problems for adolescent, youth or young sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people, and people who inject drugs. Results YKP experience more unprotected sex, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, unintended pregnancy, violence, mental health disorders and substance use compared to older members of key populations and youth among the general population. YKP experience significant barriers to accessing care; coverage of services is low, largely because of stigma and discrimination experienced at both the health system and policy levels. Discussion YKP require comprehensive, integrated services that respond to their specific developmental needs, including health, educational and social services within the context of a human rights-based approach. The recent WHO Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations are an important first step for a more comprehensive approach to HIV programming for YKP, but there are limited data on the effective delivery of combined interventions for YKP. Significant investments in research and implementation will be required to ensure adequate provision and coverage of services for YKP. In addition, greater commitments to harm reduction and rights-based approaches are needed to address structural barriers to access to care. PMID:25724511

Identifying Key Features of Effective Active Learning: The Effects of Writing and Peer Discussion

PubMed Central

Pangle, Wiline M.; Wyatt, Kevin H.; Powell, Karli N.; Sherwood, Rachel E.

2014-01-01

We investigated some of the key features of effective active learning by comparing the outcomes of three different methods of implementing active-learning exercises in a majors introductory biology course. Students completed activities in one of three treatments: discussion, writing, and discussion + writing. Treatments were rotated weekly between three sections taught by three different instructors in a full factorial design. The data set was analyzed by generalized linear mixed-effect models with three independent variables: student aptitude, treatment, and instructor, and three dependent (assessment) variables: change in score on pre- and postactivity clicker questions, and coding scores on in-class writing and exam essays. All independent variables had significant effects on student performance for at least one of the dependent variables. Students with higher aptitude scored higher on all assessments. Student scores were higher on exam essay questions when the activity was implemented with a writing component compared with peer discussion only. There was a significant effect of instructor, with instructors showing different degrees of effectiveness with active-learning techniques. We suggest that individual writing should be implemented as part of active learning whenever possible and that instructors may need training and practice to become effective with active learning. PMID:25185230

Single-Word Recognition Need Not Depend on Single-Word Features: Narrative Coherence Counteracts Effects of Single-Word Features that Lexical Decision Emphasizes.

PubMed

Teng, Dan W; Wallot, Sebastian; Kelty-Stephen, Damian G

2016-12-01

Research on reading comprehension of connected text emphasizes reliance on single-word features that organize a stable, mental lexicon of words and that speed or slow the recognition of each new word. However, the time needed to recognize a word might not actually be as fixed as previous research indicates, and the stability of the mental lexicon may change with task demands. The present study explores the effects of narrative coherence in self-paced story reading to single-word feature effects in lexical decision. We presented single strings of letters to 24 participants, in both lexical decision and self-paced story reading. Both tasks included the same words composing a set of adjective-noun pairs. Reading times revealed that the tasks, and the order of the presentation of the tasks, changed and/or eliminated familiar effects of single-word features. Specifically, experiencing the lexical-decision task first gradually emphasized the role of single-word features, and experiencing the self-paced story-reading task afterwards counteracted the effect of single-word features. We discuss the implications that task-dependence and narrative coherence might have for the organization of the mental lexicon. Future work will need to consider what architectures suit the apparent flexibility with which task can accentuate or diminish effects of single-word features.

CAREGIVERS’ DIFFERING NEEDS ACROSS KEY EXPERIENCES OF THE ADVANCED CANCER DISEASE TRAJECTORY

PubMed Central

Bernard-DuBenske, Lori L.; Wen, Kuang-Yi; Gustafson, David H.; Guarnaccia, Charles A.; Cleary, James F.; Dinauer, Susan K.; McTavish, Fiona M.

2013-01-01

Familial caregivers are providing increasing amounts of care to advanced cancer patients. Increased understanding of caregivers’ needs is vital in providing necessary support to lessen caregiver burden and morbidity. Current literature has identified caregiver and patient needs at broad stages of the cancer trajectory; however, such broad stages may be too general to inform a practice of targeting specific interventions when they have the greatest utility. This study examines a variety of particular needs across a number of more discrete illness-related transition experiences specifically in the advanced cancer disease trajectory. One hundred fifty-nine female informal caregivers of people with advanced cancer completed a needs assessment survey. Analyses of these cross-sectional retrospective-report data reveal that cancer caregiver needs vary across specific key experiences occurring within the broader stages of illness identified by current literature. Furthermore, caregivers have unique needs during bereavement. While the sample characteristics are demographically limited, this study provides preliminary evidence that the broad stages are not specific enough increments for effectively examining caregiver needs, and supports the need for more precise distribution of cancer-related information at more discrete times in the illness course. PMID:18662420

Nursing textbooks need to inform about spirituality.

PubMed

2016-09-21

Considering the spiritual needs of patients is an important aspect of holistic patient care. However, many nurses lack knowledge and awareness of the subject, and spirituality is not strongly featured as a key part of holistic care in core nursing textbooks. The author argues that guidance given by nursing textbooks needs to be more applicable to practice.

Crafting your Elevator Pitch: Key Features of an Elevator Speech to Help You Reach the Top Floor

EPA Science Inventory

You never know when you will end up talking to someone who will end up helping to shape your career. Many of these chance meetings are brief and when you only get 2-3 minutes to make your case everything that you say has to count. This presentation will cover the key features o...

Improving Latino Children's Early Language and Literacy Development: Key Features of Early Childhood Education within Family Literacy Programmes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jung, Youngok; Zuniga, Stephen; Howes, Carollee; Jeon, Hyun-Joo; Parrish, Deborah; Quick, Heather; Manship, Karen; Hauser, Alison

2016-01-01

Noting the lack of research on how early childhood education (ECE) programmes within family literacy programmes influence Latino children's early language and literacy development, this study examined key features of ECE programmes, specifically teacher-child interactions and child engagement in language and literacy activities and how these…

Cycling hypoxia: A key feature of the tumor microenvironment.

PubMed

Michiels, Carine; Tellier, Céline; Feron, Olivier

2016-08-01

A compelling body of evidence indicates that most human solid tumors contain hypoxic areas. Hypoxia is the consequence not only of the chaotic proliferation of cancer cells that places them at distance from the nearest capillary but also of the abnormal structure of the new vasculature network resulting in transient blood flow. Hence two types of hypoxia are observed in tumors: chronic and cycling (intermittent) hypoxia. Most of the current work aims at understanding the role of chronic hypoxia in tumor growth, response to treatment and metastasis. Only recently, cycling hypoxia, with spatial and temporal fluctuations in oxygen levels, has emerged as another key feature of the tumor environment that triggers different responses in comparison to chronic hypoxia. Either type of hypoxia is associated with distinct effects not only in cancer cells but also in stromal cells. In particular, cycling hypoxia has been demonstrated to favor, to a higher extent than chronic hypoxia, angiogenesis, resistance to anti-cancer treatments, intratumoral inflammation and tumor metastasis. These review details these effects as well as the signaling pathway it triggers to switch on specific transcriptomic programs. Understanding the signaling pathways through which cycling hypoxia induces these processes that support the development of an aggressive cancer could convey to the emergence of promising new cancer treatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Secure image retrieval with multiple keys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Haihua; Zhang, Xinpeng; Wei, Qiuhan; Cheng, Hang

2018-03-01

This article proposes a secure image retrieval scheme under a multiuser scenario. In this scheme, the owner first encrypts and uploads images and their corresponding features to the cloud; then, the user submits the encrypted feature of the query image to the cloud; next, the cloud compares the encrypted features and returns encrypted images with similar content to the user. To find the nearest neighbor in the encrypted features, an encryption with multiple keys is proposed, in which the query feature of each user is encrypted by his/her own key. To improve the key security and space utilization, global optimization and Gaussian distribution are, respectively, employed to generate multiple keys. The experiments show that the proposed encryption can provide effective and secure image retrieval for each user and ensure confidentiality of the query feature of each user.

The Abnormal vs. Normal ECG Classification Based on Key Features and Statistical Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Jun; Tong, Jia-Fei; Liu, Xia

As cardiovascular diseases appear frequently in modern society, the medicine and health system should be adjusted to meet the new requirements. Chinese government has planned to establish basic community medical insurance system (BCMIS) before 2020, where remote medical service is one of core issues. Therefore, we have developed the "remote network hospital system" which includes data server and diagnosis terminal by the aid of wireless detector to sample ECG. To improve the efficiency of ECG processing, in this paper, abnormal vs. normal ECG classification approach based on key features and statistical learning is presented, and the results are analyzed. Large amount of normal ECG could be filtered by computer automatically and abnormal ECG is left to be diagnosed specially by physicians.

Identifying key features of effective active learning: the effects of writing and peer discussion.

PubMed

Linton, Debra L; Pangle, Wiline M; Wyatt, Kevin H; Powell, Karli N; Sherwood, Rachel E

2014-01-01

We investigated some of the key features of effective active learning by comparing the outcomes of three different methods of implementing active-learning exercises in a majors introductory biology course. Students completed activities in one of three treatments: discussion, writing, and discussion + writing. Treatments were rotated weekly between three sections taught by three different instructors in a full factorial design. The data set was analyzed by generalized linear mixed-effect models with three independent variables: student aptitude, treatment, and instructor, and three dependent (assessment) variables: change in score on pre- and postactivity clicker questions, and coding scores on in-class writing and exam essays. All independent variables had significant effects on student performance for at least one of the dependent variables. Students with higher aptitude scored higher on all assessments. Student scores were higher on exam essay questions when the activity was implemented with a writing component compared with peer discussion only. There was a significant effect of instructor, with instructors showing different degrees of effectiveness with active-learning techniques. We suggest that individual writing should be implemented as part of active learning whenever possible and that instructors may need training and practice to become effective with active learning. © 2014 D. L. Linton et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Enhancing Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR) Level-0 Physical Process Security Using Field Device Distinct Native Attribute Features

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

Lopez, Juan; Liefer, Nathan C.; Busho, Colin R.

Here, the need for improved Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource (CIKR) security is unquestioned and there has been minimal emphasis on Level-0 (PHY Process) improvements. Wired Signal Distinct Native Attribute (WS-DNA) Fingerprinting is investigated here as a non-intrusive PHY-based security augmentation to support an envisioned layered security strategy. Results are based on experimental response collections from Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) Differential Pressure Transmitter (DPT) devices from three manufacturers (Yokogawa, Honeywell, Endress+Hauer) installed in an automated process control system. Device discrimination is assessed using Time Domain (TD) and Slope-Based FSK (SB-FSK) fingerprints input to Multiple Discriminant Analysis, Maximum Likelihood (MDA/ML)more » and Random Forest (RndF) classifiers. For 12 different classes (two devices per manufacturer at two distinct set points), both classifiers performed reliably and achieved an arbitrary performance benchmark of average cross-class percent correct of %C > 90%. The least challenging cross-manufacturer results included near-perfect %C ≈ 100%, while the more challenging like-model (serial number) discrimination results included 90%< %C < 100%, with TD Fingerprinting marginally outperforming SB-FSK Fingerprinting; SB-FSK benefits from having less stringent response alignment and registration requirements. The RndF classifier was most beneficial and enabled reliable selection of dimensionally reduced fingerprint subsets that minimize data storage and computational requirements. The RndF selected feature sets contained 15% of the full-dimensional feature sets and only suffered a worst case %CΔ = 3% to 4% performance degradation.« less

Key Features of High-Quality Policies and Guidelines to Support Social and Emotional Learning: Recommendations and Examples for the Collaborating States Initiative (CSI)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dusenbury, Linda; Yoder, Nick

2017-01-01

The current document serves two purposes. First, it provides an overview of six key features of a high-quality, comprehensive package of policies and guidance to support student social and emotional learning (SEL). These features are based on Collaborative for Academic Social, and Emotional Learning's (CASEL's) review of the research literature on…

Work Keys USA.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Work Keys USA, 1998

1998-01-01

"Work Keys" is a comprehensive program for assessing and teaching workplace skills. This serial "special issue" features 18 first-hand reports on Work Keys projects in action in states across North America. They show how the Work Keys is helping businesses and educators solve the challenge of building a world-class work force.…

Review of 11 national policies for rare diseases in the context of key patient needs.

PubMed

Dharssi, Safiyya; Wong-Rieger, Durhane; Harold, Matthew; Terry, Sharon

2017-03-31

Rare diseases collectively exert a global public health burden in the severity of their manifestations and the total number of people they afflict. For many patients, considerable barriers exist in terms of access to appropriate care, delayed diagnosis and limited or non-existing treatment options. Motivated by these challenges, the rare disease patient community has played a critical role, elevating the patient voice and mobilizing legislation to support the development of programs that address the needs of patients with rare diseases.The US Orphan Drug Act of 1983 served as a key milestone in this journey, providing a roadmap for other countries to introduce and implement similar orphan drug legislation; more recently, the European Union (EU) has gone further to encourage the widespread adoption and implementation of rare disease plans or strategies designed to more adequately address the comprehensive needs of patients with rare diseases. Despite these legislative efforts and the growing contributions of patient advocacy groups in moving forward implementation and adoption of rare disease programs, gaps still exist across the policy landscape for several countries. To gain deeper insights into the challenges and opportunities to address key needs of rare disease patients, it is critical to define the current status of rare disease legislation and policy across a geographically and economically diverse selection of countries. We analyzed the rare disease policy landscape across 11 countries: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Bulgaria, Turkey, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, China, and Taiwan. The status and implementation of policy was evaluated for each country in the context of key patient needs across 5 dimensions: improving coordination of care, diagnostic resources, access to treatments, patient awareness and support, and promoting innovative research. Our findings highlight the continuing role of the patient community in driving the establishment and

Vocational bias: a potential pitfall in the use of key informant interviews in pediatric community needs assessments.

PubMed

Northrip, Kimberly; Chen, Candice; Marsh, Jennifer

2008-04-29

Key informants are individuals with insight into a community or a problem of interest. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the employment type of key informants on the outcome of a pediatric needs assessment for an urban community. Twenty-one interviews were conducted during the course of a pediatric community needs assessment. As part of the interview, informants were asked to list the top three problems facing children in their community. We analyzed their answers to determine if informant responses differed by employment type. Key informants were divided into four employment types: health care setting, social service, business, and infrastructure. Responses were coded as being primarily one of three types: medical, social, or resource. Our results showed that those informants who worked in a health care setting listed medical problems more often than those who did not (p < 0.04). Those who worked in social services listed resource problems more often than those who did not (p < 0.05). Those in business and infrastructure positions listed more social problems (p < 0.37). No difference was observed in response type between those who had lived in the community at some point and those who had not. This study lends support to the hypothesis that informants' reporting of community problems is biased by their vocation. Clinicians often focus their needs assessments on health care workers. This study suggests, however, that we need to take into consideration the bias this presents and to seek to interview people with diverse work experiences. By limiting the process to health care workers, clinicians are likely to get a skewed perspective of a community's needs and wants.

Some key features in the evolution of self psychology and psychoanalysis.

PubMed

Fosshage, James L

2009-04-01

Psychoanalysis, as every science and its application, has continued to evolve over the past century, especially accelerating over the last 30 years. Self psychology has played a constitutive role in that evolution and has continued to change itself. These movements have been supported and augmented by a wide range of emergent research and theory, especially that of cognitive psychology, infant and attachment research, rapid eye movement and dream research, psychotherapy research, and neuroscience. I present schematically some of what I consider to be the key features of the evolution of self psychology and their interconnection with that of psychoanalysis at large, including the revolutionary paradigm changes, the new epistemology, listening/experiencing perspectives, from narcissism to the development of the self, the new organization model of transference, the new organization model of dreams, and the implicit and explicit dimensions of analytic work. I conclude with a focus on the radical ongoing extension of the analyst's participation in the analytic relationship, using, as an example, the co-creation of analytic love, and providing several brief clinical illustrations. The leading edge question guiding my discussion is "How does analytic change occur?"

Key Features Of Peer Support In Chronic Disease Prevention And Management.

PubMed

Fisher, Edwin B; Ballesteros, Juana; Bhushan, Nivedita; Coufal, Muchieh M; Kowitt, Sarah D; McDonough, A Manuela; Parada, Humberto; Robinette, Jennifer B; Sokol, Rebeccah L; Tang, Patrick Y; Urlaub, Diana

2015-09-01

Peer support from community health workers, promotores de salud, and others through community and health care organizations can provide social support and other assistance that enhances health. There is substantial evidence for both the effectiveness and the cost-effectiveness of peer support, as well as for its feasibility, reach, and sustainability. We discuss findings from Peers for Progress, a program of the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, to examine when peer support does not work, guide dissemination of peer support programs, and help integrate approaches such as e-health into peer support. Success factors for peer support programs include proactive implementation, attention to participants' emotions, and ongoing supervision. Reaching those whom conventional clinical and preventive services too often fail to reach; reaching whole populations, such as people with diabetes, rather than selected samples; and addressing behavioral health are strengths of peer support that can help achieve health care that is efficient and of high quality. Challenges for policy makers going forward include encouraging workforce development, balancing quality control with maintaining key features of peer support, and ensuring that underresourced organizations can develop and manage peer support programs. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

An Evaluation of Key Working for Families of Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mengoni, Silvana; Bardsley, Janet; Oates, John

2015-01-01

Key working is a way of supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families, and is highly regarded by families and practitioners. However, there is a lack of up-to-date research exploring key working in the current context of policy reforms in England. This article reports an evaluation…

Local Responses to Global Problems: A Key to Meeting Basic Human Needs. Worldwatch Paper 17.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stokes, Bruce

The booklet maintains that the key to meeting basic human needs is the participation of individuals and communities in local problem solving. Some of the most important achievements in providing food, upgrading housing, improving human health, and tapping new energy sources, comes through local self-help projects. Proponents of local efforts at…

Five Key Leadership Actions Needed to Redesign Family Medicine Residencies.

PubMed

Kozakowski, Stanley M; Eiff, M Patrice; Green, Larry A; Pugno, Perry A; Waller, Elaine; Jones, Samuel M; Fetter, Gerald; Carney, Patricia A

2015-06-01

New skills are needed to properly prepare the next generation of physicians and health professionals to practice in medical homes. Transforming residency training to address these new skills requires strong leadership. We sought to increase the understanding of leadership skills useful in residency programs that plan to undertake meaningful change. The Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice (P4) project (2007-2014) was a comparative case study of 14 family medicine residencies that engaged in innovative training redesign, including altering the scope, content, sequence, length, and location of training to align resident education with requirements of the patient-centered medical home. In 2012, each P4 residency team submitted a final summary report of innovations implemented, overall insights, and dissemination activities during the study. Six investigators conducted independent narrative analyses of these reports. A consensus meeting held in September 2012 was used to identify key leadership actions associated with successful educational redesign. Five leadership actions were associated with successful implementation of innovations and residency transformation: (1) manage change; (2) develop financial acumen; (3) adapt best evidence educational strategies to the local environment; (4) create and sustain a vision that engages stakeholders; and (5) demonstrate courage and resilience. Residency programs are expected to change to better prepare their graduates for a changing delivery system. Insights about effective leadership skills can provide guidance for faculty to develop the skills needed to face practical realities while guiding transformation.

Qualitative research methods: key features and insights gained from use in infection prevention research.

PubMed

Forman, Jane; Creswell, John W; Damschroder, Laura; Kowalski, Christine P; Krein, Sarah L

2008-12-01

Infection control professionals and hospital epidemiologists are accustomed to using quantitative research. Although quantitative studies are extremely important in the field of infection control and prevention, often they cannot help us explain why certain factors affect the use of infection control practices and identify the underlying mechanisms through which they do so. Qualitative research methods, which use open-ended techniques, such as interviews, to collect data and nonstatistical techniques to analyze it, provide detailed, diverse insights of individuals, useful quotes that bring a realism to applied research, and information about how different health care settings operate. Qualitative research can illuminate the processes underlying statistical correlations, inform the development of interventions, and show how interventions work to produce observed outcomes. This article describes the key features of qualitative research and the advantages that such features add to existing quantitative research approaches in the study of infection control. We address the goal of qualitative research, the nature of the research process, sampling, data collection and analysis, validity, generalizability of findings, and presentation of findings. Health services researchers are increasingly using qualitative methods to address practical problems by uncovering interacting influences in complex health care environments. Qualitative research methods, applied with expertise and rigor, can contribute important insights to infection prevention efforts.

Single-Word Recognition Need Not Depend on Single-Word Features: Narrative Coherence Counteracts Effects of Single-Word Features That Lexical Decision Emphasizes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teng, Dan W.; Wallot, Sebastian; Kelty-Stephen, Damian G.

2016-01-01

Research on reading comprehension of connected text emphasizes reliance on single-word features that organize a stable, mental lexicon of words and that speed or slow the recognition of each new word. However, the time needed to recognize a word might not actually be as fixed as previous research indicates, and the stability of the mental lexicon…

Graduating to Postdoc: Information-Sharing in Support of Organizational Structures and Needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.; Lucas, Paul J.; Compton, Michael M.; Stewart, Helen J.; Baya, Vinod; DelAlto, Martha

1999-01-01

The deployment of information-sharing systems in large organizations can significantly impact existing policies and procedures with regard to authority and control over information. Unless information-sharing systems explicitly support organizational structures and needs, these systems will be rejected summarily. The Postdoc system is a deployed Web-based information-sharing system created specifically to address organizational needs. Postdoc contains various organizational support features including a shared, globally navigable document space, as well as specialized access control, distributed administration, and mailing list features built around the key notion of hierarchical group structures. We review successes and difficulties in supporting organizational needs with Postdoc

A step towards considering the spatial heterogeneity of urban key features in urban hydrology flood modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leandro, J.; Schumann, A.; Pfister, A.

2016-04-01

Some of the major challenges in modelling rainfall-runoff in urbanised areas are the complex interaction between the sewer system and the overland surface, and the spatial heterogeneity of the urban key features. The former requires the sewer network and the system of surface flow paths to be solved simultaneously. The latter is still an unresolved issue because the heterogeneity of runoff formation requires high detailed information and includes a large variety of feature specific rainfall-runoff dynamics. This paper discloses a methodology for considering the variability of building types and the spatial heterogeneity of land surfaces. The former is achieved by developing a specific conceptual rainfall-runoff model and the latter by defining a fully distributed approach for infiltration processes in urban areas with limited storage capacity dependent on OpenStreetMaps (OSM). The model complexity is increased stepwise by adding components to an existing 2D overland flow model. The different steps are defined as modelling levels. The methodology is applied in a German case study. Results highlight that: (a) spatial heterogeneity of urban features has a medium to high impact on the estimated overland flood-depths, (b) the addition of multiple urban features have a higher cumulative effect due to the dynamic effects simulated by the model, (c) connecting the runoff from buildings to the sewer contributes to the non-linear effects observed on the overland flood-depths, and (d) OSM data is useful in identifying pounding areas (for which infiltration plays a decisive role) and permeable natural surface flow paths (which delay the flood propagation).

Six-State Quantum Key Distribution Using Photons with Orbital Angular Momentum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jun-Lin; Wang, Chuan

2010-11-01

A new implementation of high-dimensional quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol is discussed. Using three mutual unbiased bases, we present a d-level six-state QKD protocol that exploits the orbital angular momentum with the spatial mode of the light beam. The protocol shows that the feature of a high capacity since keys are encoded using photon modes in d-level Hilbert space. The devices for state preparation and measurement are also discussed. This protocol has high security and the alignment of shared reference frames is not needed between sender and receiver.

Summary of the key features of seven biomathematical models of human fatigue and performance.

PubMed

Mallis, Melissa M; Mejdal, Sig; Nguyen, Tammy T; Dinges, David F

2004-03-01

Biomathematical models that quantify the effects of circadian and sleep/wake processes on the regulation of alertness and performance have been developed in an effort to predict the magnitude and timing of fatigue-related responses in a variety of contexts (e.g., transmeridian travel, sustained operations, shift work). This paper summarizes key features of seven biomathematical models reviewed as part of the Fatigue and Performance Modeling Workshop held in Seattle, WA, on June 13-14, 2002. The Workshop was jointly sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and U.S. Department of Transportation. An invitation was sent to developers of seven biomathematical models that were commonly cited in scientific literature and/or supported by government funding. On acceptance of the invitation to attend the Workshop, developers were asked to complete a survey of the goals, capabilities, inputs, and outputs of their biomathematical models of alertness and performance. Data from the completed surveys were summarized and juxtaposed to provide a framework for comparing features of the seven models. Survey responses revealed that models varied greatly relative to their reported goals and capabilities. While all modelers reported that circadian factors were key components of their capabilities, they differed markedly with regard to the roles of sleep and work times as input factors for prediction: four of the seven models had work time as their sole input variable(s), while the other three models relied on various aspects of sleep timing for model input. Models also differed relative to outputs: five sought to predict results from laboratory experiments, field, and operational data, while two models were developed without regard to predicting laboratory experimental results. All modelers provided published papers

Summary of the key features of seven biomathematical models of human fatigue and performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mallis, Melissa M.; Mejdal, Sig; Nguyen, Tammy T.; Dinges, David F.

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: Biomathematical models that quantify the effects of circadian and sleep/wake processes on the regulation of alertness and performance have been developed in an effort to predict the magnitude and timing of fatigue-related responses in a variety of contexts (e.g., transmeridian travel, sustained operations, shift work). This paper summarizes key features of seven biomathematical models reviewed as part of the Fatigue and Performance Modeling Workshop held in Seattle, WA, on June 13-14, 2002. The Workshop was jointly sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and U.S. Department of Transportation. METHODS: An invitation was sent to developers of seven biomathematical models that were commonly cited in scientific literature and/or supported by government funding. On acceptance of the invitation to attend the Workshop, developers were asked to complete a survey of the goals, capabilities, inputs, and outputs of their biomathematical models of alertness and performance. Data from the completed surveys were summarized and juxtaposed to provide a framework for comparing features of the seven models. RESULTS: Survey responses revealed that models varied greatly relative to their reported goals and capabilities. While all modelers reported that circadian factors were key components of their capabilities, they differed markedly with regard to the roles of sleep and work times as input factors for prediction: four of the seven models had work time as their sole input variable(s), while the other three models relied on various aspects of sleep timing for model input. Models also differed relative to outputs: five sought to predict results from laboratory experiments, field, and operational data, while two models were developed without regard to predicting laboratory experimental results. All modelers

Quantitative radiomics: impact of stochastic effects on textural feature analysis implies the need for standards

PubMed Central

Nyflot, Matthew J.; Yang, Fei; Byrd, Darrin; Bowen, Stephen R.; Sandison, George A.; Kinahan, Paul E.

2015-01-01

Abstract. Image heterogeneity metrics such as textural features are an active area of research for evaluating clinical outcomes with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and other modalities. However, the effects of stochastic image acquisition noise on these metrics are poorly understood. We performed a simulation study by generating 50 statistically independent PET images of the NEMA IQ phantom with realistic noise and resolution properties. Heterogeneity metrics based on gray-level intensity histograms, co-occurrence matrices, neighborhood difference matrices, and zone size matrices were evaluated within regions of interest surrounding the lesions. The impact of stochastic variability was evaluated with percent difference from the mean of the 50 realizations, coefficient of variation and estimated sample size for clinical trials. Additionally, sensitivity studies were performed to simulate the effects of patient size and image reconstruction method on the quantitative performance of these metrics. Complex trends in variability were revealed as a function of textural feature, lesion size, patient size, and reconstruction parameters. In conclusion, the sensitivity of PET textural features to normal stochastic image variation and imaging parameters can be large and is feature-dependent. Standards are needed to ensure that prospective studies that incorporate textural features are properly designed to measure true effects that may impact clinical outcomes. PMID:26251842

Quantitative radiomics: impact of stochastic effects on textural feature analysis implies the need for standards.

PubMed

Nyflot, Matthew J; Yang, Fei; Byrd, Darrin; Bowen, Stephen R; Sandison, George A; Kinahan, Paul E

2015-10-01

Image heterogeneity metrics such as textural features are an active area of research for evaluating clinical outcomes with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and other modalities. However, the effects of stochastic image acquisition noise on these metrics are poorly understood. We performed a simulation study by generating 50 statistically independent PET images of the NEMA IQ phantom with realistic noise and resolution properties. Heterogeneity metrics based on gray-level intensity histograms, co-occurrence matrices, neighborhood difference matrices, and zone size matrices were evaluated within regions of interest surrounding the lesions. The impact of stochastic variability was evaluated with percent difference from the mean of the 50 realizations, coefficient of variation and estimated sample size for clinical trials. Additionally, sensitivity studies were performed to simulate the effects of patient size and image reconstruction method on the quantitative performance of these metrics. Complex trends in variability were revealed as a function of textural feature, lesion size, patient size, and reconstruction parameters. In conclusion, the sensitivity of PET textural features to normal stochastic image variation and imaging parameters can be large and is feature-dependent. Standards are needed to ensure that prospective studies that incorporate textural features are properly designed to measure true effects that may impact clinical outcomes.

Distinguishing obsessive features and worries: the role of thought-action fusion.

PubMed

Coles, M E; Mennin, D S; Heimberg, R G

2001-08-01

Obsessions are a key feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and chronic worry is the cardinal feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, these two cognitive processes are conceptually very similar, and there is a need to determine how they differ. Recent studies have attempted to identify cognitive processes that may be differentially related to obsessive features and worry. In the current study we proposed that (1) obsessive features and worry could be differentiated and that (2) a measure of the cognitive process thought-action fusion would distinguish between obsessive features and worry, being strongly related to obsessive features after controlling for the effects of worry. These hypotheses were supported in a sample of 173 undergraduate students. Thought-action fusion may be a valuable construct in differentiating between obsessive features and worry.

Quantum key management

DOEpatents

Hughes, Richard John; Thrasher, James Thomas; Nordholt, Jane Elizabeth

2016-11-29

Innovations for quantum key management harness quantum communications to form a cryptography system within a public key infrastructure framework. In example implementations, the quantum key management innovations combine quantum key distribution and a quantum identification protocol with a Merkle signature scheme (using Winternitz one-time digital signatures or other one-time digital signatures, and Merkle hash trees) to constitute a cryptography system. More generally, the quantum key management innovations combine quantum key distribution and a quantum identification protocol with a hash-based signature scheme. This provides a secure way to identify, authenticate, verify, and exchange secret cryptographic keys. Features of the quantum key management innovations further include secure enrollment of users with a registration authority, as well as credential checking and revocation with a certificate authority, where the registration authority and/or certificate authority can be part of the same system as a trusted authority for quantum key distribution.

Effective, clinically feasible and sustainable: Key design features of psycho-educational and supportive care interventions to promote individualised self-management in cancer care.

PubMed

Schofield, Penelope; Chambers, Suzanne

2015-05-01

As the global burden of cancer increases healthcare services will face increasing challenges in meet the complex needs of these patients, their families and the communities in which they live. This raises the question of how to meet patient need where direct clinical contact may be constrained or not readily available. Patients and families require resources and skills to manage their illness outside of the hospital setting within their own communities. To propose a framework for the development and delivery of psycho-educational and supportive care interventions drawing on theoretical principles of behaviour change and evidence-based interventions, and based on extensive experience in developing and testing complex interventions in oncology. At the core of this intervention framework are considerations of efficiency: interventions are designed to cater for individuals' unique needs; to place minimal demands on the health system infrastructure and to be rapidly disseminated into usual care if successful. There are seven key features: 1) Targeting cancer type and stage; 2) Tailoring to unique individual needs; 3) Promotion of patient self-management of their disease and treatment side effects; 4) Efficient delivery of the intervention; 5) Training and adherence to protocol; 6) Ensuring the intervention is evidence-based; 7) Confirming stakeholder acceptability of the intervention. A case study of a randomised controlled trial which tested psycho-educational oncology interventions using this framework is presented. These interventions were designed to cater for individuals' unique needs and promote self-management while placing minimal demands on the acute health care setting. Innovative ways to realise the potentially major impact that psycho-educational and supportive care interventions can have on psychological morbidity, coping, symptoms and quality of life in serious and chronic illness are needed. This framework, which is driven by theory, evidence, and

Bile Routing Modification Reproduces Key Features of Gastric Bypass in Rat.

PubMed

Goncalves, Daisy; Barataud, Aude; De Vadder, Filipe; Vinera, Jennifer; Zitoun, Carine; Duchampt, Adeline; Mithieux, Gilles

2015-12-01

To evaluate the role of bile routing modification on the beneficial effects of gastric bypass surgery on glucose and energy metabolism. Gastric bypass surgery (GBP) promotes early improvements in glucose and energy homeostasis in obese diabetic patients. A suggested mechanism associates a decrease in hepatic glucose production to an enhanced intestinal gluconeogenesis. Moreover, plasma bile acids are elevated after GBP and bile acids are inhibitors of gluconeogenesis. In male Sprague-Dawley rats, we performed bile diversions from the bile duct to the midjejunum or the mid-ileum to match the modified bile delivery in the gut occurring in GBP. Body weight, food intake, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and food preference were analyzed. The expression of gluconeogenesis genes was evaluated in both the liver and the intestine. Bile diversions mimicking GBP promote an increase in plasma bile acids and a marked improvement in glucose control. Bile bioavailability modification is causal because a bile acid sequestrant suppresses the beneficial effects of bile diversions on glucose control. In agreement with the inhibitory role of bile acids on gluconeogenesis, bile diversions promote a blunting in hepatic glucose production, whereas intestinal gluconeogenesis is increased in the gut segments devoid of bile. In rats fed a high-fat-high-sucrose diet, bile diversions improve glucose control and dramatically decrease food intake because of an acquired disinterest in fatty food. This study shows that bile routing modification is a key mechanistic feature in the beneficial outcomes of GBP.

Instructor-Designed Tutorials--Meeting the Needs of Our Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brichta, J. P.; Bizheva, K.; Sanderson, J. H.; Holbrook, J.

2009-01-01

We have developed an easy-to-use online tutorial generator designed to allow instructors to make tutorials quickly and with a minimal learning curve. The motivation was to create a generator that would allow instructors to create tutorials as needed and possibly build up a bank of tutorials over a number of years. A key design feature of the…

High-Need Schools in Australia: The Leadership of Two Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurr, David; Drysdale, Lawrie; Clarke, Simon; Wildy, Helen

2014-01-01

In this article, we report on our initial work with the International School Leadership Development Network. In doing so, we present two cases of principals leading high-need schools, and conclude with some key observations in relation to what is distinctive about leading these schools. The first case features a principal leading a suburban school…

How we developed and piloted an electronic key features examination for the internal medicine clerkship based on a US national curriculum.

PubMed

Bronander, Kirk A; Lang, Valerie J; Nixon, L James; Harrell, Heather E; Kovach, Regina; Hingle, Susan; Berman, Norman

2015-01-01

Key features examinations (KFEs) have been used to assess clinical decision making in medical education, yet there are no reports of an online KFE-based on a national curriculum for the internal medicine clerkship. What we did: The authors developed and pilot tested an electronic KFE based on the US Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine core curriculum. Teams, with expert oversight and peer review, developed key features (KFs) and cases. The exam was pilot tested at eight medical schools with 162 third and fourth year medical students, of whom 96 (59.3%) responded to a survey. While most students reported that the exam was more difficult than a multiple choice question exam, 61 (83.3%) students agreed that it reflected problems seen in clinical practice and 51 (69.9%) students reported that it more accurately assessed the ability to make clinical decisions. The development of an electronic KFs exam is a time-intensive process. A team approach offers built-in peer review and accountability. Students, although not familiar with this format in the US, recognized it as authentically assessing clinical decision-making for problems commonly seen in the clerkship.

Bile Routing Modification Reproduces Key Features of Gastric Bypass in Rat

PubMed Central

Goncalves, Daisy; Barataud, Aude; De Vadder, Filipe; Vinera, Jennifer; Zitoun, Carine; Duchampt, Adeline; Mithieux, Gilles

2015-01-01

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the role of bile routing modification on the beneficial effects of gastric bypass surgery on glucose and energy metabolism. Summary background data Gastric bypass surgery (GBP) promotes early improvements in glucose and energy homeostasis in obese diabetic patients. A suggested mechanism associates a decrease in hepatic glucose production (HGP) to an enhanced intestinal gluconeogenesis (IGN). Moreover, plasma bile acids are elevated after GBP and bile acids are inhibitors of gluconeogenesis. Methods In male Sprague-Dawley rats, we performed bile diversions from the bile duct to the mid-jejunum or the mid-ileum to match the modified bile delivery in the gut occurring in GBP. Body weight, food intake, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and food preference were analyzed. The expression of gluconeogenesis genes was evaluated in both the liver and the intestine. Results Bile diversions mimicking GBP promote an increase in plasma bile acids and a marked improvement in glucose control. Bile bioavailability modification is causal since a bile acid sequestrant suppresses the beneficial effects of bile diversions on glucose control. In agreement with the inhibitory role of bile acids on gluconeogenesis, bile diversions promote a blunting in HGP, whereas IGN is increased in the gut segments devoid of bile. In rats fed a high fat-high sucrose diet, bile diversions improve glucose control and dramatically decrease food intake due to an acquired disinterest in fatty food. Conclusion This study shows that bile routing modification is a key mechanistic feature in the beneficial outcomes of GBP. PMID:25575265

Interventions and assessment tools addressing key concepts people need to know to appraise claims about treatment effects: a systematic mapping review.

PubMed

Austvoll-Dahlgren, Astrid; Nsangi, Allen; Semakula, Daniel

2016-12-29

People's ability to appraise claims about treatment effects is crucial for informed decision-making. Our objective was to systematically map this area of research in order to (a) provide an overview of interventions targeting key concepts that people need to understand to assess treatment claims and (b) to identify assessment tools used to evaluate people's understanding of these concepts. The findings of this review provide a starting point for decisions about which key concepts to address when developing new interventions, and which assessment tools should be considered. We conducted a systematic mapping review of interventions and assessment tools addressing key concepts important for people to be able to assess treatment claims. A systematic literature search was done by a reserach librarian in relevant databases. Judgement about inclusion of studies and data collection was done by at least two researchers. We included all quantitative study designs targeting one or more of the key concepts, and targeting patients, healthy members of the public, and health professionals. The studies were divided into four categories: risk communication and decision aids, evidence-based medicine and critical appraisal, understanding of controlled trials, and science education. Findings were summarised descriptively. We included 415 studies, of which the interventions and assessment tools we identified included only a handful of the key concepts. The most common key concepts in interventions were "Treatments usually have beneficial and harmful effects," "Treatment comparisons should be fair," "Compare like with like," and "Single studies can be misleading." A variety of assessment tools were identified, but only four assessment tools included 10 or more key concepts. There is great potential for developing learning and assessment tools targeting key concepts that people need to understand to assess claims about treatment effects. There is currently no instrument covering

Single Cell Mathematical Model Successfully Replicates Key Features of GBM: Go-Or-Grow Is Not Necessary.

PubMed

Scribner, Elizabeth; Fathallah-Shaykh, Hassan M

2017-01-01

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a malignant brain tumor that continues to be associated with neurological morbidity and poor survival times. Brain invasion is a fundamental property of malignant glioma cells. The Go-or-Grow (GoG) phenotype proposes that cancer cell motility and proliferation are mutually exclusive. Here, we construct and apply a single glioma cell mathematical model that includes motility and angiogenesis and lacks the GoG phenotype. Simulations replicate key features of GBM including its multilayer structure (i.e.edema, enhancement, and necrosis), its progression patterns associated with bevacizumab treatment, and replicate the survival times of GBM treated or untreated with bevacizumab. These results suggest that the GoG phenotype is not a necessary property for the formation of the multilayer structure, recurrence patterns, and the poor survival times of patients diagnosed with GBM.

Action Research to Improve Phonological Recognition at Key Stage 1 with Reference to Pupils with Special Educational Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Charlotte

2017-01-01

Given the focus on phonological attainment in the National Phonics Screening Check, small-scale school-based action research was undertaken to improve phonological recognition and assess the impact on progress and attainment in a sample drawn from Key Stage 1 which included pupils on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Register. The research…

Spatial features register: toward standardization of spatial features

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cascio, Janette

1994-01-01

As the need to share spatial data increases, more than agreement on a common format is needed to ensure that the data is meaningful to both the importer and the exporter. Effective data transfer also requires common definitions of spatial features. To achieve this, part 2 of the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) provides a model for a spatial features data content specification and a glossary of features and attributes that fit this model. The model provides a foundation for standardizing spatial features. The glossary now contains only a limited subset of hydrographic and topographic features. For it to be useful, terms and definitions must be included for other categories, such as base cartographic, bathymetric, cadastral, cultural and demographic, geodetic, geologic, ground transportation, international boundaries, soils, vegetation, water, and wetlands, and the set of hydrographic and topographic features must be expanded. This paper will review the philosophy of the SDTS part 2 and the current plans for creating a national spatial features register as one mechanism for maintaining part 2.

Occlusal features and need for orthodontic treatment in persons with osteogenesis imperfecta.

PubMed

Nguyen, Minh Son; Binh, Ho Duy; Nguyen, Khac Minh; Maasalu, Katre; Kõks, Sulev; Märtson, Aare; Saag, Mare; Jagomägi, Triin

2017-02-01

The aim of the study was to (a) analyse dental occlusion and determine the need for orthodontic treatment of persons with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) in comparison with the healthy population and (b) investigate the associations between OI and malocclusion. A case-control study included 26 OI persons and 400 healthy participants (control group). Occlusal features and the need for orthodontic treatment were defined according to Dental Health Component-Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need and Dental Aesthetic Index. Results showed that Angle Class I, II, and III relationship was found in 23.1%, 3.8%, and 73.1% of OI group, and in the control group, it was 67%, 17.5%, and 15.5%, respectively. OI group had significantly higher prevalence of reverse overjet >1 mm (76.9%), missing teeth (42.3%), posterior crossbite (34.6%), and open bite >2 mm (19.2%) compared to the control group (8.5%, 2.2%, 6.2%, and 3.5%, respectively). OI group had less incisal segment crowding and more incisal segment spacing than the control group ( p  < 0.05). The need for orthodontic treatment of OI group according to Dental Health Component-Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need and Dental Aesthetic Index was 88.5% and 61.5%, respectively, while in the control group, it was 24.8% and 51.8%. The malocclusion in OI persons was associated with reverse overjet > 1 mm (OR = 13.3, 95% CI = 3.9-44.7, p  < .001), Angle Class III malocclusion (OR = 8.0, 95% CI = 2.0-30.8, p  = .003), and missing teeth (OR = 4.7, 95% CI = 1.0-22.4, p  = .049). In conclusion, there is the high probability of malocclusion in OI persons. Persons with OI require early orthodontic treatment because of significant correlation of OI disease with Angle Class III malocclusion, reverse overjet, and missing teeth.

Occlusal features and need for orthodontic treatment in persons with osteogenesis imperfecta

PubMed Central

Binh, Ho Duy; Nguyen, Khac Minh; Maasalu, Katre; Kõks, Sulev; Märtson, Aare; Saag, Mare; Jagomägi, Triin

2017-01-01

Abstract The aim of the study was to (a) analyse dental occlusion and determine the need for orthodontic treatment of persons with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) in comparison with the healthy population and (b) investigate the associations between OI and malocclusion. A case‐control study included 26 OI persons and 400 healthy participants (control group). Occlusal features and the need for orthodontic treatment were defined according to Dental Health Component‐Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need and Dental Aesthetic Index. Results showed that Angle Class I, II, and III relationship was found in 23.1%, 3.8%, and 73.1% of OI group, and in the control group, it was 67%, 17.5%, and 15.5%, respectively. OI group had significantly higher prevalence of reverse overjet >1 mm (76.9%), missing teeth (42.3%), posterior crossbite (34.6%), and open bite >2 mm (19.2%) compared to the control group (8.5%, 2.2%, 6.2%, and 3.5%, respectively). OI group had less incisal segment crowding and more incisal segment spacing than the control group (p < 0.05). The need for orthodontic treatment of OI group according to Dental Health Component‐Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need and Dental Aesthetic Index was 88.5% and 61.5%, respectively, while in the control group, it was 24.8% and 51.8%. The malocclusion in OI persons was associated with reverse overjet > 1 mm (OR = 13.3, 95% CI = 3.9–44.7, p < .001), Angle Class III malocclusion (OR = 8.0, 95% CI = 2.0–30.8, p = .003), and missing teeth (OR = 4.7, 95% CI = 1.0–22.4, p = .049). In conclusion, there is the high probability of malocclusion in OI persons. Persons with OI require early orthodontic treatment because of significant correlation of OI disease with Angle Class III malocclusion, reverse overjet, and missing teeth. PMID:29744175

RSA Key Development Using Fingerprint Image on Text Message

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, Sayuti; Triana, Indah; Khairani, Sumi; Yasir, Amru; Sundari, Siti

2017-12-01

Along with the development of technology today, humans are very facilitated in accessing information and Communicate with various media, including through the Internet network . Messages are sent by media such as text are not necessarily guaranteed security. it is often found someone that wants to send a secret message to the recipient, but the messages can be known by irresponsible people. So the sender feels dissappointed because the secret message that should be known only to the recipient only becomes known by the irresponsible people . It is necessary to do security the message by using the RSA algorithm, Using fingerprint image to generate RSA key.This is a solution to enrich the security of a message,it is needed to process images firstly before generating RSA keys with feature extraction.

"Key Concepts in ELT": Taking Stock

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Graham

2012-01-01

This article identifies patterns and trends within "Key Concepts in ELT", both since the inception of the feature in ELT Journal in 1993 and during the 17 years of the current editorship. After outlining the aims of the series, the article identifies key themes that have emerged over time, exploring the links between "Key Concepts" pieces and the…

Enhanced Recovery after Urological Surgery: A Contemporary Systematic Review of Outcomes, Key Elements, and Research Needs.

PubMed

Azhar, Raed A; Bochner, Bernard; Catto, James; Goh, Alvin C; Kelly, John; Patel, Hiten D; Pruthi, Raj S; Thalmann, George N; Desai, Mihir

2016-07-01

Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) programs are multimodal care pathways that aim to decrease intra-operative blood loss, decrease postoperative complications, and reduce recovery times. To overview the use and key elements of ERAS pathways, and define needs for future clinical trials. A comprehensive systematic MEDLINE search was performed for English language reports published before May 2015 using the terms "postoperative period," "postoperative care," "enhanced recovery after surgery," "enhanced recovery," "accelerated recovery," "fast track recovery," "recovery program," "recovery pathway", "ERAS," and "urology" or "cystectomy" or "urologic surgery." We identified 18 eligible articles. Patient counseling, physical conditioning, avoiding excessive alcohol and smoking, and good nutrition appeared to protect against postoperative complications. Fasting from solid food for only 6h and perioperative liquid-carbohydrate loading up to 2h prior to surgery appeared to be safe and reduced recovery times. Restricted, balanced, and goal-directed fluid replacement is effective when individualized, depending on patient morbidity and surgical procedure. Decreased intraoperative blood loss may be achieved by several measures. Deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, antibiotic prophylaxis, and thermoregulation were found to help reduce postsurgical complications, as was a multimodal approach to postoperative nausea, vomiting, and analgesia. Chewing gum, prokinetic agents, oral laxatives, and an early resumption to normal diet appear to aid faster return to normal bowel function. Further studies should compare anesthetic protocols, refine analgesia, and evaluate the importance of robot-assisted surgery and the need/timing for drains and catheters. ERAS regimens are multidisciplinary, multimodal pathways that optimize postoperative recovery. This review provides an overview of the use and key elements of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery programs, which are multimodal

Stereoscopic Feature Tracking System for Retrieving Velocity of Surface Waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuniga Zamalloa, C. C.; Landry, B. J.

2017-12-01

The present work is concerned with the surface velocity retrieval of flows using a stereoscopic setup and finding the correspondence in the images via feature tracking (FT). The feature tracking provides a key benefit of substantially reducing the level of user input. In contrast to other commonly used methods (e.g., normalized cross-correlation), FT does not require the user to prescribe interrogation window sizes and removes the need for masking when specularities are present. The results of the current FT methodology are comparable to those obtained via Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry while requiring little to no user input which allowed for rapid, automated processing of imagery.

Human action recognition based on spatial-temporal descriptors using key poses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Shuo; Chen, Yuxin; Wang, Huaibao; Zuo, Yaqing

2014-11-01

Human action recognition is an important area of pattern recognition today due to its direct application and need in various occasions like surveillance and virtual reality. In this paper, a simple and effective human action recognition method is presented based on the key poses of human silhouette and the spatio-temporal feature. Firstly, the contour points of human silhouette have been gotten, and the key poses are learned by means of K-means clustering based on the Euclidean distance between each contour point and the centre point of the human silhouette, and then the type of each action is labeled for further match. Secondly, we obtain the trajectories of centre point of each frame, and create a spatio-temporal feature value represented by W to describe the motion direction and speed of each action. The value W contains the information of location and temporal order of each point on the trajectories. Finally, the matching stage is performed by comparing the key poses and W between training sequences and test sequences, the nearest neighbor sequences is found and its label supplied the final result. Experiments on the public available Weizmann datasets show the proposed method can improve accuracy by distinguishing amphibious poses and increase suitability for real-time applications by reducing the computational cost.

Knowing healthcare customer needs key to profitable niche marketing.

PubMed

Weller, S C

1992-06-01

A potential $177 million-a-year market has been opened to textile rental operators, thanks to OSHA's recent ruling on bloodborne pathogens. Healthcare providers nationwide are now searching for solutions to their protective apparel needs. Such customer needs are what drive niche markets. Whether you've been serving the healthcare market for years or are just now targeting it, here are the marketing strategies you need.

Coordination Is Key: Transporting Special-Needs Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, Peter

2013-01-01

Transporting students with special needs can be a costly proposition. However, school business officials can help mitigate those costs by focusing on four specific areas: relationships, information sharing, safety, and time lines. Although these areas may seem a bit far removed from the numbers we love to crunch, they do affect your…

Features of resilience

DOE PAGES

Connelly, Elizabeth B.; Allen, Craig R.; Hatfield, Kirk; ...

2017-02-20

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) definition of resilience is used here to organize common concepts and synthesize a set of key features of resilience that can be used across diverse application domains. The features in common include critical functions (services), thresholds, cross-scale (both space and time) interactions, and memory and adaptive management. We propose a framework for linking these features to the planning, absorbing, recovering, and adapting phases identified in the NAS definition. As a result, the proposed delineation of resilience can be important in understanding and communicating resilience concepts.

Features of resilience

USGS Publications Warehouse

Connelly, Elizabeth B.; Allen, Craig R.; Hatfield, Kirk; Palma-Oliveira, José M.; Woods, David D.; Linkov, Igor

2017-01-01

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) definition of resilience is used here to organize common concepts and synthesize a set of key features of resilience that can be used across diverse application domains. The features in common include critical functions (services), thresholds, cross-scale (both space and time) interactions, and memory and adaptive management. We propose a framework for linking these features to the planning, absorbing, recovering, and adapting phases identified in the NAS definition. The proposed delineation of resilience can be important in understanding and communicating resilience concepts.

Chromium picolinate does not improve key features of metabolic syndrome in obese nondiabetic adults.

PubMed

Iqbal, Nayyar; Cardillo, Serena; Volger, Sheri; Bloedon, LeAnne T; Anderson, Richard A; Boston, Raymond; Szapary, Philippe O

2009-04-01

The use of chromium-containing dietary supplements is widespread among patients with type 2 diabetes. Chromium's effects in patients at high risk for developing diabetes, especially those with metabolic syndrome, is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of chromium picolinate (CrPic) on glucose metabolism in patients with metabolic syndrome. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was conducted at a U.S. academic medical center. Sixty three patients with National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III)-defined metabolic syndrome were included. The primary end point was a change in the insulin sensitivity index derived from a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test. Prespecified secondary end points included changes in other measurements of glucose metabolism, oxidative stress, fasting serum lipids, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein. After 16 weeks of CrPic treatment, there was no significant change in insulin sensitivity index between groups (P = 0.14). However, CrPic increased acute insulin response to glucose (P 0.02). CrPic had no significant effect on other measures of glucose metabolism, body weight, serum lipids, or measures of inflammation and oxidative stress. CrPic at 1000 microg/day does not improve key features of the metabolic syndrome in obese nondiabetic patients.

Beliefs about unmet interpersonal needs mediate the relation between conflictual family relations and borderline personality features in young adult females.

PubMed

Kalpakci, Allison; Venta, Amanda; Sharp, Carla

2014-01-01

Central to most theories of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is the notion that the family environment interacts with genetically-based vulnerabilities to influence the development of BPD, with particular attention given to risk conferred by conflictual familial relations. However, the extent to which family conflict may relate to the development of BPD via related interpersonal beliefs is currently unknown. This study sought to test the hypothesis that the concurrent relation between conflictual family relations and borderline features in female college students is explained by beliefs associated with real or perceived unmet interpersonal needs (captured by Joiner's [2005] Interpersonal Psychological Theory, specifically thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness). The sample included 267 female undergraduates ages 18-25 years (M = 20.86; SD = 1.80). Level of borderline personality features, unmet interpersonal needs, and family conflict were assessed. Bivariate analyses revealed significant relations between both thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, conflictual family relations, and borderline features. Multivariate analyses revealed that thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness both mediated the relation between family conflict and borderline personality features, thus supporting a multiple mediation model. This cross-sectional study is a preliminary step towards confirming the broad theoretical hypothesis that conflictual family relations relate to beliefs about thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, which, in turn, relate to borderline personality pathology. Limitations and areas of future research are discussed.

Parametric Human Body Reconstruction Based on Sparse Key Points.

PubMed

Cheng, Ke-Li; Tong, Ruo-Feng; Tang, Min; Qian, Jing-Ye; Sarkis, Michel

2016-11-01

We propose an automatic parametric human body reconstruction algorithm which can efficiently construct a model using a single Kinect sensor. A user needs to stand still in front of the sensor for a couple of seconds to measure the range data. The user's body shape and pose will then be automatically constructed in several seconds. Traditional methods optimize dense correspondences between range data and meshes. In contrast, our proposed scheme relies on sparse key points for the reconstruction. It employs regression to find the corresponding key points between the scanned range data and some annotated training data. We design two kinds of feature descriptors as well as corresponding regression stages to make the regression robust and accurate. Our scheme follows with dense refinement where a pre-factorization method is applied to improve the computational efficiency. Compared with other methods, our scheme achieves similar reconstruction accuracy but significantly reduces runtime.

Artistic shaping of key facial features in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Sullivan, P K; Singer, D P

2001-12-01

Facial aesthetics can be enhanced by otoplasty, rhinoplasty and genioplasty. Excellent outcomes can be obtained given appropriate timing, patient selection, preoperative planning, and artistic sculpting of the region with the appropriate surgical technique. Choosing a patient with mature psychological, developmental, and anatomic features that are amenable to treatment in the pediatric population can be challenging, yet rewarding.

Key Clinical Features to Identify Girls with "CDKL5" Mutations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bahi-Buisson, Nadia; Nectoux, Juliette; Rosas-Vargas, Haydee; Milh, Mathieu; Boddaert, Nathalie; Girard, Benoit; Cances, Claude; Ville, Dorothee; Afenjar, Alexandra; Rio, Marlene; Heron, Delphine; Morel, Marie Ange N'Guyen; Arzimanoglou, Alexis; Philippe, Christophe; Jonveaux, Philippe; Chelly, Jamel; Bienvenu, Thierry

2008-01-01

Mutations in the human X-linked cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 ("CDKL5") gene have been shown to cause infantile spasms as well as Rett syndrome (RTT)-like phenotype. To date, less than 25 different mutations have been reported. So far, there are still little data on the key clinical diagnosis criteria and on the natural history of…

Key design features of a new smokefree law to help achieve the Smokefree Aotearoa.

PubMed

Delany, Louise; Thomson, George; Wilson, Nick; Edwards, Richard

2016-08-05

To design new tobacco control legislation to achieve the New Zealand Government's 2025 smokefree goal. An original analysis of the legislative options for New Zealand tobacco control. 'Business as usual' is most unlikely to achieve smoking prevalence that is less than 5% by 2025. Key components of a new Act would ideally include plans and targets with teeth, a focus on the industry, a focus on the product, reduction of supply, and a whole-of-society approach to promote consistency in policy implementation through: i) a public duty on government agencies to act consistently with smokefree law; ii) a general duty on those associated with the tobacco/nicotine industry in relation to tobacco control objectives; and iii) a principle requiring international treaties to be interpreted consistently with tobacco control objectives. Strategies such as those identified in this Viewpoint should be explored further as part of urgently needed planning to achieve the New Zealand Government's goal for Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025.

A free-access online key to identify Amazonian ferns.

PubMed

Zuquim, Gabriela; Tuomisto, Hanna; Prado, Jefferson

2017-01-01

There is urgent need for more data on species distributions in order to improve conservation planning. A crucial but challenging aspect of producing high-quality data is the correct identification of organisms. Traditional printed floras and dichotomous keys are difficult to use for someone not familiar with the technical jargon. In poorly known areas, such as Amazonia, they also become quickly outdated as new species are described or ranges extended. Recently, online tools have allowed developing dynamic, interactive, and accessible keys that make species identification possible for a broader public. In order to facilitate identifying plants collected in field inventories, we developed an internet-based free-access tool to identify Amazonian fern species. We focused on ferns, because they are easy to collect and their edaphic affinities are relatively well known, so they can be used as an indicator group for habitat mapping. Our key includes 302 terrestrial and aquatic entities mainly from lowland Amazonian forests. It is a free-access key, so the user can freely choose which morphological features to use and in which order to assess them. All taxa are richly illustrated, so specimens can be identified by a combination of character choices, visual comparison, and written descriptions. The identification tool was developed in Lucid 3.5 software and it is available at http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org:8080/sandbox/keys.jsp.

A free-access online key to identify Amazonian ferns

PubMed Central

Zuquim, Gabriela; Tuomisto, Hanna; Prado, Jefferson

2017-01-01

Abstract There is urgent need for more data on species distributions in order to improve conservation planning. A crucial but challenging aspect of producing high-quality data is the correct identification of organisms. Traditional printed floras and dichotomous keys are difficult to use for someone not familiar with the technical jargon. In poorly known areas, such as Amazonia, they also become quickly outdated as new species are described or ranges extended. Recently, online tools have allowed developing dynamic, interactive, and accessible keys that make species identification possible for a broader public. In order to facilitate identifying plants collected in field inventories, we developed an internet-based free-access tool to identify Amazonian fern species. We focused on ferns, because they are easy to collect and their edaphic affinities are relatively well known, so they can be used as an indicator group for habitat mapping. Our key includes 302 terrestrial and aquatic entities mainly from lowland Amazonian forests. It is a free-access key, so the user can freely choose which morphological features to use and in which order to assess them. All taxa are richly illustrated, so specimens can be identified by a combination of character choices, visual comparison, and written descriptions. The identification tool was developed in Lucid 3.5 software and it is available at http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org:8080/sandbox/keys.jsp. PMID:28781548

Need for intraoperative ultrasound and surgical recommendation for partial nephrectomy: correlation with tumor imaging features and urologist practice patterns.

PubMed

Sun, Maryellen R M; Wagner, Andrew A; San Francisco, Ignacio F; Brook, Alexander; Kavoussi, Louis; Russo, Paul; Steele, Graeme; Viterbo, Rosalia; Pedrosa, Ivan

2012-03-01

This study aimed to evaluate the need for intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) and recommendation for surgical approach in the resection of renal tumors through a survey of practicing urologists, with correlation to tumor imaging features and urologist practice pattern. An institutional review board-approved retrospective review, compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, of 44 renal tumors that underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy at the study institution was performed. The numeric component of the RENAL nephrometry score (radius [diameter], % exophytic, nearness [to collecting system/renal sinus], location) was calculated for each case using preoperative computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging. Five anonymized images of each tumor were presented to 4 academic urologists with varying practice patterns. Reviewers independently scored each case for its need for IOUS, for recommendation of a surgical technique, and for the difficulty of the proposed surgery. The RENAL scores were as follows: RENAL 1 (low complexity, score 4-6; n = 19); RENAL 2 (moderate complexity, score 7-9; n = 23); RENAL 3 (high complexity, score 10-12; n = 2). The only RENAL score component significantly influencing need for IOUS was percentage exophytic (P = 0.00002). There was an inverse relationship between normalized and averaged need for IOUS and percentage exophytic (P < 0.0001). The predominant influence for recommendation of surgical method was the reviewer him/herself, with each reviewer's recommendations closely matching his/her practice pattern. Size and percentage exophytic represented the only tumor features significantly (P = 0.03) influencing surgical recommendation. There was a significant difference in the perceived need for IOUS and surgical recommendation when 4 academic urologists reviewed a series of renal masses requiring resection. Percentage exophytic correlated inversely with need for IOUS. Urologist's practice pattern and tumor size

Transverse beam splitting made operational: Key features of the multiturn extraction at the CERN Proton Synchrotron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huschauer, A.; Blas, A.; Borburgh, J.; Damjanovic, S.; Gilardoni, S.; Giovannozzi, M.; Hourican, M.; Kahle, K.; Le Godec, G.; Michels, O.; Sterbini, G.; Hernalsteens, C.

2017-06-01

Following a successful commissioning period, the multiturn extraction (MTE) at the CERN Proton Synchrotron (PS) has been applied for the fixed-target physics programme at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) since September 2015. This exceptional extraction technique was proposed to replace the long-serving continuous transfer (CT) extraction, which has the drawback of inducing high activation in the ring. MTE exploits the principles of nonlinear beam dynamics to perform loss-free beam splitting in the horizontal phase space. Over multiple turns, the resulting beamlets are then transferred to the downstream accelerator. The operational deployment of MTE was rendered possible by the full understanding and mitigation of different hardware limitations and by redesigning the extraction trajectories and nonlinear optics, which was required due to the installation of a dummy septum to reduce the activation of the magnetic extraction septum. This paper focuses on these key features including the use of the transverse damper and the septum shadowing, which allowed a transition from the MTE study to a mature operational extraction scheme.

Chromium Picolinate Does Not Improve Key Features of Metabolic Syndrome in Obese Nondiabetic Adults

PubMed Central

Iqbal, Nayyar; Cardillo, Serena; Volger, Sheri; Bloedon, LeAnne T.; Anderson, Richard A.; Boston, Raymond

2009-01-01

Abstract Background The use of chromium-containing dietary supplements is widespread among patients with type 2 diabetes. Chromium's effects in patients at high risk for developing diabetes, especially those with metabolic syndrome, is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of chromium picolinate (CrPic) on glucose metabolism in patients with metabolic syndrome. Method A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was conducted at a U.S. academic medical center. Sixty three patients with National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III)-defined metabolic syndrome were included. The primary end point was a change in the insulin sensitivity index derived from a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test. Prespecified secondary end points included changes in other measurements of glucose metabolism, oxidative stress, fasting serum lipids, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein. Results After 16 weeks of CrPic treatment, there was no significant change in insulin sensitivity index between groups (P = 0.14). However, CrPic increased acute insulin response to glucose (P = 0.02). CrPic had no significant effect on other measures of glucose metabolism, body weight, serum lipids, or measures of inflammation and oxidative stress. Conclusion CrPic at 1000 μg/day does not improve key features of the metabolic syndrome in obese nondiabetic patients. PMID:19422140

Florida Nurse Leader Survey Findings: Key Leadership Competencies, Barriers to Leadership, and Succession Planning Needs.

PubMed

Denker, Ann-Lynn; Sherman, Rose O; Hutton-Woodland, Michael; Brunell, Mary Lou; Medina, Pamela

2015-01-01

This study examined barriers to nursing leadership and succession planning needs for nurse leaders in Florida. The Florida Action Coalition responded to the call to prepare and enable nurses to lead change to advance health, through a grant supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Florida Blue Foundation. This is a nurse leader subset of a 56-item statewide survey of actively licensed RNs and advanced RN practitioners in Florida conducted via a cross-sectional, exploratory descriptive research design. Key findings included a description of leadership competencies, barriers, and succession planning practices. Florida nurse leaders are aging and less diverse than the general population and report limited utilization of succession planning by their organizations. In Florida, attention must be directed to resources and strategies to develop skilled nurse leaders and plan succession.

AP1000{sup R} severe accident features and post-Fukushima considerations

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

Scobel, J. H.; Schulz, T. L.; Williams, M. G.

2012-07-01

The AP1000{sup R} passive nuclear power plant is uniquely equipped to withstand an extended station blackout scenario such as the events following the earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima without compromising core and containment integrity. The AP1000 plant shuts down the reactor, cools the core, containment and spent fuel pool for more than 3 days using passive systems that do not require AC or DC power or operator actions. Following this passive coping period, minimal operator actions are needed to extend the operation of the passive features to 7 days using installed equipment. To provide defense-in-depth for design extension conditions, themore » AP1000 plant has engineered features that mitigate the effects of core damage. Engineered features retain damaged core debris within the reactor vessel as a key feature. Other aspects of the design protect containment integrity during severe accidents, including unique features of the AP1000 design relative to passive containment cooling with water and air, and hydrogen management. (authors)« less

A Key to Sharing Science: Listening to Community Needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varga, M.; Phartiyal, P.; Johnson, C.

2015-12-01

To achieve greater effectiveness in science communication and outreach, we need to shift the paradigm from one-way communication from scientists to the (bystander) public to a two-way, listen-learn-respond exchange with concerned and knowledgeable public. Scientists need to not only know their audiences but also the needs of their audiences. Society can benefit tremendously when personal and public decisions are informed by independent and best available science. But on a variety of issues from climate to chemicals, local decision makers and public groups often struggle to know what questions to ask and to find independent information, data and analysis. Scientists also face barriers in sharing knowledge with community members. Fortunately, scientists all across the country are making such connections and forging trusted relationships with the public. The speaker will present examples of scientist-community engagement where researchers have taken the path of communicating and partnering with their local communities to address everyday issues of concern to them, from food to fracking. While such engagement efforts gain from effective communication and strategic outreach with public groups, they also has the attendant benefits of challenging scientists to consider the broader, societal implications of their work; consider how their research can serve the needs of the public; and how they can aspire to become, more than educators, learners and allies in effecting change in their communities.

Faked state attacks on realistic round robin DPS quantum key distribution systems and countermeasure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwakoshi, T.

2015-05-01

In May 2014, a new quantum key distribution protocol named "Round Robin Differential-Phase-Shift Quantum Key Distribution (RR DPS QKD)" was proposed. It has a special feature that the key consumption via privacy amplification is a small constant because RR DPS QKD guarantees its security by information causality, not by information-disturbance trade-off. Therefore, the authors claimed that RR DPS QKD systems does not need to monitor the disturbance by an attacker in the quantum channel. However, this study shows that a modified Faked-State Attack (or so-called bright illumination attack) can hack a RR DPS QKD system almost perfectly if it is implemented with realistic detectors even information-causality guarantees the security of RR DPS QKD protocol. Therefore, this study also proposes a possible Measurement-Device-Independent RR DPS QKD system to avoid the modified Faked-State Attack.

Predicting Key Events in the Popularity Evolution of Online Information.

PubMed

Hu, Ying; Hu, Changjun; Fu, Shushen; Fang, Mingzhe; Xu, Wenwen

2017-01-01

The popularity of online information generally experiences a rising and falling evolution. This paper considers the "burst", "peak", and "fade" key events together as a representative summary of popularity evolution. We propose a novel prediction task-predicting when popularity undergoes these key events. It is of great importance to know when these three key events occur, because doing so helps recommendation systems, online marketing, and containment of rumors. However, it is very challenging to solve this new prediction task due to two issues. First, popularity evolution has high variation and can follow various patterns, so how can we identify "burst", "peak", and "fade" in different patterns of popularity evolution? Second, these events usually occur in a very short time, so how can we accurately yet promptly predict them? In this paper we address these two issues. To handle the first one, we use a simple moving average to smooth variation, and then a universal method is presented for different patterns to identify the key events in popularity evolution. To deal with the second one, we extract different types of features that may have an impact on the key events, and then a correlation analysis is conducted in the feature selection step to remove irrelevant and redundant features. The remaining features are used to train a machine learning model. The feature selection step improves prediction accuracy, and in order to emphasize prediction promptness, we design a new evaluation metric which considers both accuracy and promptness to evaluate our prediction task. Experimental and comparative results show the superiority of our prediction solution.

Polycystic ovary syndrome: perceptions and attitudes of women and primary health care physicians on features of PCOS and renaming the syndrome.

PubMed

Teede, Helena; Gibson-Helm, Melanie; Norman, Robert J; Boyle, Jacqueline

2014-01-01

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an under-recognized, common, and complex endocrinopathy. The name PCOS is a misnomer, and there have been calls for a change to reflect the broader clinical syndrome. The aim of the study was to determine perceptions held by women and primary health care physicians around key clinical features of PCOS and attitudes toward current and alternative names for the syndrome. We conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing a devised questionnaire. Participants were recruited throughout Australia via professional associations, women's health organizations, and a PCOS support group. Fifty-seven women with PCOS and 105 primary care physicians participated in the study. Perceptions of key clinical PCOS features and attitudes toward current and alternative syndrome names were investigated. Irregular periods were identified as a key clinical feature of PCOS by 86% of the women with PCOS and 90% of the primary care physicians. In both groups, 60% also identified hormone imbalance as a key feature. Among women with PCOS, 47% incorrectly identified ovarian cysts as key, 48% felt the current name is confusing, and 51% supported a change. Most primary care physicians agreed that the name is confusing (74%) and needs changing (81%); however, opinions on specific alternative names were divided. The name "polycystic ovary syndrome" is perceived as confusing, and there is general support for a change to reflect the broader clinical syndrome. Engagement of primary health care physicians and consumers is strongly recommended to ensure that an alternative name enhances understanding and recognition of the syndrome and its complex features.

Quantum key distribution without the wavefunction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niestegge, Gerd

A well-known feature of quantum mechanics is the secure exchange of secret bit strings which can then be used as keys to encrypt messages transmitted over any classical communication channel. It is demonstrated that this quantum key distribution allows a much more general and abstract access than commonly thought. The results include some generalizations of the Hilbert space version of quantum key distribution, but are based upon a general nonclassical extension of conditional probability. A special state-independent conditional probability is identified as origin of the superior security of quantum key distribution; this is a purely algebraic property of the quantum logic and represents the transition probability between the outcomes of two consecutive quantum measurements.

Predicting Key Events in the Popularity Evolution of Online Information

PubMed Central

Fu, Shushen; Fang, Mingzhe; Xu, Wenwen

2017-01-01

The popularity of online information generally experiences a rising and falling evolution. This paper considers the “burst”, “peak”, and “fade” key events together as a representative summary of popularity evolution. We propose a novel prediction task—predicting when popularity undergoes these key events. It is of great importance to know when these three key events occur, because doing so helps recommendation systems, online marketing, and containment of rumors. However, it is very challenging to solve this new prediction task due to two issues. First, popularity evolution has high variation and can follow various patterns, so how can we identify “burst”, “peak”, and “fade” in different patterns of popularity evolution? Second, these events usually occur in a very short time, so how can we accurately yet promptly predict them? In this paper we address these two issues. To handle the first one, we use a simple moving average to smooth variation, and then a universal method is presented for different patterns to identify the key events in popularity evolution. To deal with the second one, we extract different types of features that may have an impact on the key events, and then a correlation analysis is conducted in the feature selection step to remove irrelevant and redundant features. The remaining features are used to train a machine learning model. The feature selection step improves prediction accuracy, and in order to emphasize prediction promptness, we design a new evaluation metric which considers both accuracy and promptness to evaluate our prediction task. Experimental and comparative results show the superiority of our prediction solution. PMID:28046121

Eight Key Facets of Small Business Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, James Calvert

1980-01-01

Identifies eight key facets of small business management and suggests activities that may be used to assist in their development. The key facets are (1) product or service, (2) competition, (3) marketing strategies, (4) personnel needs, (5) equipment and facility needs, (6) finances, (7) planning, and (8) entrepreneurship. (JOW)

A mental health needs assessment of children and adolescents in post-conflict Liberia: results from a quantitative key-informant survey

PubMed Central

Borba, Christina P.C.; Ng, Lauren C.; Stevenson, Anne; Vesga-Lopez, Oriana; Harris, Benjamin L.; Parnarouskis, Lindsey; Gray, Deborah A.; Carney, Julia R.; Domínguez, Silvia; Wang, Edward K.S.; Boxill, Ryan; Song, Suzan J.; Henderson, David C.

2016-01-01

Between 1989 and 2004, Liberia experienced a devastating civil war that resulted in widespread trauma with almost no mental health infrastructure to help citizens cope. In 2009, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare collaborated with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital to conduct a rapid needs assessment survey in Liberia with local key informants (n = 171) to examine the impact of war and post-war events on emotional and behavioral problems of, functional limitations of, and appropriate treatment settings for Liberian youth aged 5–22. War exposure and post-conflict sexual violence, poverty, infectious disease and parental death negatively impacted youth mental health. Key informants perceived that youth displayed internalizing and externalizing symptoms and mental health-related functional impairment at home, school, work and in relationships. Medical clinics were identified as the most appropriate setting for mental health services. Youth in Liberia continue to endure the harsh social, economic and material conditions of everyday life in a protracted post-conflict state, and have significant mental health needs. Their observed functional impairment due to mental health issues further limited their access to protective factors such as education, employment and positive social relationships. Results from this study informed Liberia's first post-conflict mental health policy. PMID:26807147

A mental health needs assessment of children and adolescents in post-conflict Liberia: results from a quantitative key-informant survey.

PubMed

Borba, Christina P C; Ng, Lauren C; Stevenson, Anne; Vesga-Lopez, Oriana; Harris, Benjamin L; Parnarouskis, Lindsey; Gray, Deborah A; Carney, Julia R; Domínguez, Silvia; Wang, Edward K S; Boxill, Ryan; Song, Suzan J; Henderson, David C

2016-01-02

Between 1989 and 2004, Liberia experienced a devastating civil war that resulted in widespread trauma with almost no mental health infrastructure to help citizens cope. In 2009, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare collaborated with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital to conduct a rapid needs assessment survey in Liberia with local key informants ( n = 171) to examine the impact of war and post-war events on emotional and behavioral problems of, functional limitations of, and appropriate treatment settings for Liberian youth aged 5-22. War exposure and post-conflict sexual violence, poverty, infectious disease and parental death negatively impacted youth mental health. Key informants perceived that youth displayed internalizing and externalizing symptoms and mental health-related functional impairment at home, school, work and in relationships. Medical clinics were identified as the most appropriate setting for mental health services. Youth in Liberia continue to endure the harsh social, economic and material conditions of everyday life in a protracted post-conflict state, and have significant mental health needs. Their observed functional impairment due to mental health issues further limited their access to protective factors such as education, employment and positive social relationships. Results from this study informed Liberia's first post-conflict mental health policy.

SIMPL Systems, or: Can We Design Cryptographic Hardware without Secret Key Information?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rührmair, Ulrich

This paper discusses a new cryptographic primitive termed SIMPL system. Roughly speaking, a SIMPL system is a special type of Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) which possesses a binary description that allows its (slow) public simulation and prediction. Besides this public key like functionality, SIMPL systems have another advantage: No secret information is, or needs to be, contained in SIMPL systems in order to enable cryptographic protocols - neither in the form of a standard binary key, nor as secret information hidden in random, analog features, as it is the case for PUFs. The cryptographic security of SIMPLs instead rests on (i) a physical assumption on their unclonability, and (ii) a computational assumption regarding the complexity of simulating their output. This novel property makes SIMPL systems potentially immune against many known hardware and software attacks, including malware, side channel, invasive, or modeling attacks.

A new method for generating an invariant iris private key based on the fuzzy vault system.

PubMed

Lee, Youn Joo; Park, Kang Ryoung; Lee, Sung Joo; Bae, Kwanghyuk; Kim, Jaihie

2008-10-01

Cryptographic systems have been widely used in many information security applications. One main challenge that these systems have faced has been how to protect private keys from attackers. Recently, biometric cryptosystems have been introduced as a reliable way of concealing private keys by using biometric data. A fuzzy vault refers to a biometric cryptosystem that can be used to effectively protect private keys and to release them only when legitimate users enter their biometric data. In biometric systems, a critical problem is storing biometric templates in a database. However, fuzzy vault systems do not need to directly store these templates since they are combined with private keys by using cryptography. Previous fuzzy vault systems were designed by using fingerprint, face, and so on. However, there has been no attempt to implement a fuzzy vault system that used an iris. In biometric applications, it is widely known that an iris can discriminate between persons better than other biometric modalities. In this paper, we propose a reliable fuzzy vault system based on local iris features. We extracted multiple iris features from multiple local regions in a given iris image, and the exact values of the unordered set were then produced using the clustering method. To align the iris templates with the new input iris data, a shift-matching technique was applied. Experimental results showed that 128-bit private keys were securely and robustly generated by using any given iris data without requiring prealignment.

A Public-Key Based Authentication and Key Establishment Protocol Coupled with a Client Puzzle.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, M. C.; Fung, Chun-Kan

2003-01-01

Discusses network denial-of-service attacks which have become a security threat to the Internet community and suggests the need for reliable authentication protocols in client-server applications. Presents a public-key based authentication and key establishment protocol coupled with a client puzzle protocol and validates it through formal logic…

Defeating feature fatigue.

PubMed

Rust, Roland T; Thompson, Debora Viana; Hamilton, Rebecca W

2006-02-01

Consider a coffeemaker that offers 12 drink options, a car with more than 700 features on the dashboard, and a mouse pad that's also a clock, calculator, and FM radio. All are examples of "feature bloat", or "featuritis", the result of an almost irresistible temptation to load products with lots of bells and whistles. The problem is that the more features a product boasts, the harder it is to use. Manufacturers that increase a product's capability--the number of useful functions it can perform--at the expense of its usability are exposing their customers to feature fatigue. The authors have conducted three studies to gain a better understanding of how consumers weigh a product's capability relative to its usability. They found that even though consumers know that products with more features are harder to use, they initially choose high-feature models. They also pile on more features when given the chance to customize a product for their needs. Once consumers have actually worked with a product, however, usability starts to matter more to them than capability. For managers in consumer products companies, these findings present a dilemma: Should they maximize initial sales by designing high-feature models, which consumers consistently choose, or should they limit the number of features in order to enhance the lifetime value of their customers? The authors' analytical model guides companies toward a happy middle ground: maximizing the net present value of the typical customer's profit stream. The authors also advise companies to build simpler products, help consumers learn which products suit their needs, develop products that do one thing very well, and design market research in which consumers use actual products or prototypes.

Simple 2.5 GHz time-bin quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boaron, Alberto; Korzh, Boris; Houlmann, Raphael; Boso, Gianluca; Rusca, Davide; Gray, Stuart; Li, Ming-Jun; Nolan, Daniel; Martin, Anthony; Zbinden, Hugo

2018-04-01

We present a 2.5 GHz quantum key distribution setup with the emphasis on a simple experimental realization. It features a three-state time-bin protocol based on a pulsed diode laser and a single intensity modulator. Implementing an efficient one-decoy scheme and finite-key analysis, we achieve record breaking secret key rates of 1.5 kbps over 200 km of standard optical fibers.

High resolution as a key feature to perform accurate ELISPOT measurements using Zeiss KS ELISPOT readers.

PubMed

Malkusch, Wolf

2005-01-01

The enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay was originally developed for the detection of individual antibody secreting B-cells. Since then, the method has been improved, and ELISPOT is used for the determination of the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interferon (IFN)-gamma, or various interleukins (IL)-4, IL-5. ELISPOT measurements are performed in 96-well plates with nitrocellulose membranes either visually or by means of image analysis. Image analysis offers various procedures to overcome variable background intensity problems and separate true from false spots. ELISPOT readers offer a complete solution for precise and automatic evaluation of ELISPOT assays. Number, size, and intensity of each single spot can be determined, printed, or saved for further statistical evaluation. Cytokine spots are always round, but because of floating edges with the background, they have a nonsmooth borderline. Resolution is a key feature for a precise detection of ELISPOT. In standard applications shape and edge steepness are essential parameters in addition to size and color for an accurate spot recognition. These parameters need a minimum spot diameter of 6 pixels. Collecting one single image per well with a standard color camera with 750 x 560 pixels will result in a resolution much too low to get all of the spots in a specimen. IFN-gamma spots may have only 25 microm diameters, and TNF-alpha spots just 15 microm. A 750 x 560 pixel image of a 6-mm well has a pixel size of 12 microm, resulting in only 1 or 2 pixel for a spot. Using a precise microscope optic in combination with a high resolution (1300 x 1030 pixel) integrating digital color camera, and at least 2 x 2 images per well will result in a pixel size of 2.5 microm and, as a minimum, 6 pixel diameter per spot. New approaches try to detect two cytokines per cell at the same time (i.e., IFN-gamma and IL-5). Standard staining procedures produce brownish spots (horseradish peroxidase) and blue spots

ClinicalKey: a point-of-care search engine.

PubMed

Vardell, Emily

2013-01-01

ClinicalKey is a new point-of-care resource for health care professionals. Through controlled vocabulary, ClinicalKey offers a cross section of resources on diseases and procedures, from journals to e-books and practice guidelines to patient education. A sample search was conducted to demonstrate the features of the database, and a comparison with similar tools is presented.

Key Features of the Deployed NPP/NPOESS Ground System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heckmann, G.; Grant, K. D.; Mulligan, J. E.

2010-12-01

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Defense (DoD), and National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) are jointly acquiring the next-generation weather/environmental satellite system; the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). NPOESS replaces the current NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) and DoD Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). NPOESS satellites carry sensors to collect meteorological, oceanographic, climatological, and solar-geophysical data of the earth, atmosphere, and space. The ground data processing segment is the Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS), developed by Raytheon Intelligence & Information Systems (IIS). The IDPS processes NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP)/NPOESS satellite data to provide environmental data products/records (EDRs) to NOAA and DoD processing centers operated by the US government. The IDPS will process EDRs beginning with NPP and continuing through the lifetime of the NPOESS system. The command & telemetry segment is the Command, Control & Communications Segment (C3S), also developed by Raytheon IIS. C3S is responsible for managing the overall NPP/NPOESS missions from control & status of the space and ground assets to ensuring delivery of timely, high quality data from the Space Segment to IDPS for processing. In addition, the C3S provides the globally-distributed ground assets needed to collect and transport mission, telemetry, and command data between the satellites and processing locations. The C3S provides all functions required for day-to-day satellite commanding & state-of-health monitoring, and delivery of Stored Mission Data to each Central IDP for data products development and transfer to system subscribers. The C3S also monitors and reports system-wide health & status and data communications with external systems and between the segments. The C3S & IDPS segments were delivered & transitioned to

Long-term assessment of facial features and functions needing more attention in treatment of Treacher Collins syndrome.

PubMed

Plomp, Raul G; Versnel, Sarah L; van Lieshout, Manouk J S; Poublon, Rene M L; Mathijssen, Irene M J

2013-08-01

This study aimed to determine which facial features and functions need more attention during surgical treatment of Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) in the long term. A cross-sectional cohort study was conducted to compare 23 TCS patients with 206 controls (all≥18 years) regarding satisfaction with their face. The adjusted Body Cathexis Scale was used to determine satisfaction with the appearance of the different facial features and functions. Desire for further treatment of these items was questioned. For each patient an overview was made of all facial operations performed, the affected facial features and the objective severity of the facial deformities. Patients were least satisfied with the appearance of the ears, facial profile and eyelids and with the functions hearing and nasal patency (P<0.001). Residual deformity of the reconstructed facial areas remained a problem in mainly the orbital area. The desire for further treatment and dissatisfaction was high in the operated patients, predominantly for eyelid reconstructions. Another significant wish was for improvement of hearing. In patients with TCS, functional deficits of the face are shown to be as important as the facial appearance. Particularly nasal patency and hearing are frequently impaired and require routine screening and treatment from intake onwards. Furthermore, correction of ear deformities and midface hypoplasia should be offered and performed more frequently. Residual deformity and dissatisfaction remains a problem, especially in reconstructed eyelids. II. Copyright © 2013 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Housing Stakeholder Preferences for the "Soft" Features of Sustainable and Healthy Housing Design in the UK.

PubMed

Prochorskaite, Agne; Couch, Chris; Malys, Naglis; Maliene, Vida

2016-01-07

It is widely recognised that the quantity and sustainability of new homes in the UK need to increase. However, it is important that sustainable housing is regarded holistically, and not merely in environmental terms, and incorporates elements that enhance the quality of life, health and well-being of its users. This paper focuses on the "soft" features of sustainable housing, that is, the non-technological components of sustainable housing and neighbourhood design that can impact occupants' health and well-being. Aims of the study are to ascertain the relative level of importance that key housing stakeholders attach to these features and to investigate whether the opinions of housing users and housing providers are aligned with regards to their importance. An online survey was carried out to gauge the level of importance that the key stakeholders, such as housing users, local authorities, housing associations, and developers (n = 235), attach to these features. Results revealed that while suitable indoor space was the feature regarded as most important by all stakeholders, there were also a number of disparities in opinion between housing users and housing providers (and among the different types of providers). This implies a scope for initiatives to achieve a better alignment between housing users and providers.

Fast Localization in Large-Scale Environments Using Supervised Indexing of Binary Features.

PubMed

Youji Feng; Lixin Fan; Yihong Wu

2016-01-01

The essence of image-based localization lies in matching 2D key points in the query image and 3D points in the database. State-of-the-art methods mostly employ sophisticated key point detectors and feature descriptors, e.g., Difference of Gaussian (DoG) and Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT), to ensure robust matching. While a high registration rate is attained, the registration speed is impeded by the expensive key point detection and the descriptor extraction. In this paper, we propose to use efficient key point detectors along with binary feature descriptors, since the extraction of such binary features is extremely fast. The naive usage of binary features, however, does not lend itself to significant speedup of localization, since existing indexing approaches, such as hierarchical clustering trees and locality sensitive hashing, are not efficient enough in indexing binary features and matching binary features turns out to be much slower than matching SIFT features. To overcome this, we propose a much more efficient indexing approach for approximate nearest neighbor search of binary features. This approach resorts to randomized trees that are constructed in a supervised training process by exploiting the label information derived from that multiple features correspond to a common 3D point. In the tree construction process, node tests are selected in a way such that trees have uniform leaf sizes and low error rates, which are two desired properties for efficient approximate nearest neighbor search. To further improve the search efficiency, a probabilistic priority search strategy is adopted. Apart from the label information, this strategy also uses non-binary pixel intensity differences available in descriptor extraction. By using the proposed indexing approach, matching binary features is no longer much slower but slightly faster than matching SIFT features. Consequently, the overall localization speed is significantly improved due to the much faster key

Key rate for calibration robust entanglement based BB84 quantum key distribution protocol

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

Gittsovich, O.; Moroder, T.

2014-12-04

We apply the approach of verifying entanglement, which is based on the sole knowledge of the dimension of the underlying physical system to the entanglement based version of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol. We show that the familiar one-way key rate formula holds already if one assumes the assumption that one of the parties is measuring a qubit and no further assumptions about the measurement are needed.

Adults Need Vaccines, Too!

MedlinePlus

... turn JavaScript on. Feature: Adult Vaccinations Adults Need Vaccines, Too! Past Issues / Summer 2015 Table of Contents ... of the millions of adults not receiving the vaccines you need? What vaccines do you need? All ...

Updated Mars Mission Architectures Featuring Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriguez, Mitchell A.; Percy, Thomas K.

2017-01-01

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) can potentially enable routine human exploration of Mars and the solar system. By using nuclear fission instead of a chemical combustion process, and using hydrogen as the propellant, NTP systems promise rocket efficiencies roughly twice that of the best chemical rocket engines currently available. The most recent major Mars architecture study featuring NTP was the Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (DRA 5.0), performed in 2009. Currently, the predominant transportation options being considered are solar electric propulsion (SEP) and chemical propulsion; however, given NTP's capabilities, an updated architectural analysis is needed. This paper provides a top-level overview of several different architectures featuring updated NTP performance data. New architectures presented include a proposed update to the DRA 5.0 as well as an investigation of architectures based on the current Evolvable Mars Campaign, which is the focus of NASA's current analyses for the Journey to Mars. Architectures investigated leverage the latest information relating to NTP performance and design considerations and address new support elements not available at the time of DRA 5.0, most notably the Orion crew module and the Space Launch System (SLS). The paper provides a top level quantitative comparison of key performance metrics as well as a qualitative discussion of improvements and key challenges still to be addressed. Preliminary results indicate that the updated NTP architectures can significantly reduce the campaign mass and subsequently the costs for assembly and number of launches.

Secret information reconciliation based on punctured low-density parity-check codes for continuous-variable quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Xue-Qin; Huang, Peng; Huang, Duan; Lin, Dakai; Zeng, Guihua

2017-02-01

Achieving information theoretic security with practical complexity is of great interest to continuous-variable quantum key distribution in the postprocessing procedure. In this paper, we propose a reconciliation scheme based on the punctured low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Compared to the well-known multidimensional reconciliation scheme, the present scheme has lower time complexity. Especially when the chosen punctured LDPC code achieves the Shannon capacity, the proposed reconciliation scheme can remove the information that has been leaked to an eavesdropper in the quantum transmission phase. Therefore, there is no information leaked to the eavesdropper after the reconciliation stage. This indicates that the privacy amplification algorithm of the postprocessing procedure is no more needed after the reconciliation process. These features lead to a higher secret key rate, optimal performance, and availability for the involved quantum key distribution scheme.

Integration of Supportive Design Features and Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazaros, Edward J.; Ahmadi, Reza

2008-01-01

Integrating supportive design features and technology into the home are excellent ways to plan to make a home "age-friendly." When an immediate need occurs for eliminating barriers in an existing home, supportive design features and technology will most often need to be examined, and some form of implementation will need to take place. While…

Information verification cryptosystem using one-time keys based on double random phase encoding and public-key cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Tieyu; Ran, Qiwen; Yuan, Lin; Chi, Yingying; Ma, Jing

2016-08-01

A novel image encryption system based on double random phase encoding (DRPE) and RSA public-key algorithm is proposed. The main characteristic of the system is that each encryption process produces a new decryption key (even for the same plaintext), thus the encryption system conforms to the feature of the one-time pad (OTP) cryptography. The other characteristic of the system is the use of fingerprint key. Only with the rightful authorization will the true decryption be obtained, otherwise the decryption will result in noisy images. So the proposed system can be used to determine whether the ciphertext is falsified by attackers. In addition, the system conforms to the basic agreement of asymmetric cryptosystem (ACS) due to the combination with the RSA public-key algorithm. The simulation results show that the encryption scheme has high robustness against the existing attacks.

Semantic image segmentation with fused CNN features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Hui-qiang; Zhang, Hua; Xue, Yan-bing; Zhou, Mian; Xu, Guang-ping; Gao, Zan

2017-09-01

Semantic image segmentation is a task to predict a category label for every image pixel. The key challenge of it is to design a strong feature representation. In this paper, we fuse the hierarchical convolutional neural network (CNN) features and the region-based features as the feature representation. The hierarchical features contain more global information, while the region-based features contain more local information. The combination of these two kinds of features significantly enhances the feature representation. Then the fused features are used to train a softmax classifier to produce per-pixel label assignment probability. And a fully connected conditional random field (CRF) is used as a post-processing method to improve the labeling consistency. We conduct experiments on SIFT flow dataset. The pixel accuracy and class accuracy are 84.4% and 34.86%, respectively.

Housing Stakeholder Preferences for the “Soft” Features of Sustainable and Healthy Housing Design in the UK

PubMed Central

Prochorskaite, Agne; Couch, Chris; Malys, Naglis; Maliene, Vida

2016-01-01

It is widely recognised that the quantity and sustainability of new homes in the UK need to increase. However, it is important that sustainable housing is regarded holistically, and not merely in environmental terms, and incorporates elements that enhance the quality of life, health and well-being of its users. This paper focuses on the “soft” features of sustainable housing, that is, the non-technological components of sustainable housing and neighbourhood design that can impact occupants’ health and well-being. Aims of the study are to ascertain the relative level of importance that key housing stakeholders attach to these features and to investigate whether the opinions of housing users and housing providers are aligned with regards to their importance. An online survey was carried out to gauge the level of importance that the key stakeholders, such as housing users, local authorities, housing associations, and developers (n = 235), attach to these features. Results revealed that while suitable indoor space was the feature regarded as most important by all stakeholders, there were also a number of disparities in opinion between housing users and housing providers (and among the different types of providers). This implies a scope for initiatives to achieve a better alignment between housing users and providers. PMID:26751465

Feature Masking in Computer Game Promotes Visual Imagery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Glenn Gordon; Morey, Jim; Tjoe, Edwin

2007-01-01

Can learning of mental imagery skills for visualizing shapes be accelerated with feature masking? Chemistry, physics fine arts, military tactics, and laparoscopic surgery often depend on mentally visualizing shapes in their absence. Does working with "spatial feature-masks" (skeletal shapes, missing key identifying portions) encourage people to…

SU-E-J-237: Image Feature Based DRR and Portal Image Registration

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

Wang, X; Chang, J

Purpose: Two-dimensional (2D) matching of the kV X-ray and digitally reconstructed radiography (DRR) images is an important setup technique for image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). In our clinics, mutual information based methods are used for this purpose on commercial linear accelerators, but with often needs for manual corrections. This work proved the feasibility that feature based image transform can be used to register kV and DRR images. Methods: The scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) method was implemented to detect the matching image details (or key points) between the kV and DRR images. These key points represent high image intensity gradients, and thusmore » the scale invariant features. Due to the poor image contrast from our kV image, direct application of the SIFT method yielded many detection errors. To assist the finding of key points, the center coordinates of the kV and DRR images were read from the DICOM header, and the two groups of key points with similar relative positions to their corresponding centers were paired up. Using these points, a rigid transform (with scaling, horizontal and vertical shifts) was estimated. We also artificially introduced vertical and horizontal shifts to test the accuracy of our registration method on anterior-posterior (AP) and lateral pelvic images. Results: The results provided a satisfactory overlay of the transformed kV onto the DRR image. The introduced vs. detected shifts were fit into a linear regression. In the AP image experiments, linear regression analysis showed a slope of 1.15 and 0.98 with an R2 of 0.89 and 0.99 for the horizontal and vertical shifts, respectively. The results are 1.2 and 1.3 with R2 of 0.72 and 0.82 for the lateral image shifts. Conclusion: This work provided an alternative technique for kV to DRR alignment. Further improvements in the estimation accuracy and image contrast tolerance are underway.« less

Parallel Key Frame Extraction for Surveillance Video Service in a Smart City.

PubMed

Zheng, Ran; Yao, Chuanwei; Jin, Hai; Zhu, Lei; Zhang, Qin; Deng, Wei

2015-01-01

Surveillance video service (SVS) is one of the most important services provided in a smart city. It is very important for the utilization of SVS to provide design efficient surveillance video analysis techniques. Key frame extraction is a simple yet effective technique to achieve this goal. In surveillance video applications, key frames are typically used to summarize important video content. It is very important and essential to extract key frames accurately and efficiently. A novel approach is proposed to extract key frames from traffic surveillance videos based on GPU (graphics processing units) to ensure high efficiency and accuracy. For the determination of key frames, motion is a more salient feature in presenting actions or events, especially in surveillance videos. The motion feature is extracted in GPU to reduce running time. It is also smoothed to reduce noise, and the frames with local maxima of motion information are selected as the final key frames. The experimental results show that this approach can extract key frames more accurately and efficiently compared with several other methods.

A fast image matching algorithm based on key points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Huilin; Wang, Ying; An, Ru; Yan, Peng

2014-05-01

Image matching is a very important technique in image processing. It has been widely used for object recognition and tracking, image retrieval, three-dimensional vision, change detection, aircraft position estimation, and multi-image registration. Based on the requirements of matching algorithm for craft navigation, such as speed, accuracy and adaptability, a fast key point image matching method is investigated and developed. The main research tasks includes: (1) Developing an improved celerity key point detection approach using self-adapting threshold of Features from Accelerated Segment Test (FAST). A method of calculating self-adapting threshold was introduced for images with different contrast. Hessian matrix was adopted to eliminate insecure edge points in order to obtain key points with higher stability. This approach in detecting key points has characteristics of small amount of computation, high positioning accuracy and strong anti-noise ability; (2) PCA-SIFT is utilized to describe key point. 128 dimensional vector are formed based on the SIFT method for the key points extracted. A low dimensional feature space was established by eigenvectors of all the key points, and each eigenvector was projected onto the feature space to form a low dimensional eigenvector. These key points were re-described by dimension-reduced eigenvectors. After reducing the dimension by the PCA, the descriptor was reduced to 20 dimensions from the original 128. This method can reduce dimensions of searching approximately near neighbors thereby increasing overall speed; (3) Distance ratio between the nearest neighbour and second nearest neighbour searching is regarded as the measurement criterion for initial matching points from which the original point pairs matched are obtained. Based on the analysis of the common methods (e.g. RANSAC (random sample consensus) and Hough transform cluster) used for elimination false matching point pairs, a heuristic local geometric restriction

Handwriting: Feature Correlation Analysis for Biometric Hashes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vielhauer, Claus; Steinmetz, Ralf

2004-12-01

In the application domain of electronic commerce, biometric authentication can provide one possible solution for the key management problem. Besides server-based approaches, methods of deriving digital keys directly from biometric measures appear to be advantageous. In this paper, we analyze one of our recently published specific algorithms of this category based on behavioral biometrics of handwriting, the biometric hash. Our interest is to investigate to which degree each of the underlying feature parameters contributes to the overall intrapersonal stability and interpersonal value space. We will briefly discuss related work in feature evaluation and introduce a new methodology based on three components: the intrapersonal scatter (deviation), the interpersonal entropy, and the correlation between both measures. Evaluation of the technique is presented based on two data sets of different size. The method presented will allow determination of effects of parameterization of the biometric system, estimation of value space boundaries, and comparison with other feature selection approaches.

Tempest: Tools for Addressing the Needs of Next-Generation Climate Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullrich, P. A.; Guerra, J. E.; Pinheiro, M. C.; Fong, J.

2015-12-01

Tempest is a comprehensive simulation-to-science infrastructure that tackles the needs of next-generation, high-resolution, data intensive climate modeling activities. This project incorporates three key components: TempestDynamics, a global modeling framework for experimental numerical methods and high-performance computing; TempestRemap, a toolset for arbitrary-order conservative and consistent remapping between unstructured grids; and TempestExtremes, a suite of detection and characterization tools for identifying weather extremes in large climate datasets. In this presentation, the latest advances with the implementation of this framework will be discussed, and a number of projects now utilizing these tools will be featured.

Simple dynamical models capturing the key features of the Central Pacific El Niño.

PubMed

Chen, Nan; Majda, Andrew J

2016-10-18

The Central Pacific El Niño (CP El Niño) has been frequently observed in recent decades. The phenomenon is characterized by an anomalous warm sea surface temperature (SST) confined to the central Pacific and has different teleconnections from the traditional El Niño. Here, simple models are developed and shown to capture the key mechanisms of the CP El Niño. The starting model involves coupled atmosphere-ocean processes that are deterministic, linear, and stable. Then, systematic strategies are developed for incorporating several major mechanisms of the CP El Niño into the coupled system. First, simple nonlinear zonal advection with no ad hoc parameterization of the background SST gradient is introduced that creates coupled nonlinear advective modes of the SST. Secondly, due to the recent multidecadal strengthening of the easterly trade wind, a stochastic parameterization of the wind bursts including a mean easterly trade wind anomaly is coupled to the simple atmosphere-ocean processes. Effective stochastic noise in the wind burst model facilitates the intermittent occurrence of the CP El Niño with realistic amplitude and duration. In addition to the anomalous warm SST in the central Pacific, other major features of the CP El Niño such as the rising branch of the anomalous Walker circulation being shifted to the central Pacific and the eastern Pacific cooling with a shallow thermocline are all captured by this simple coupled model. Importantly, the coupled model succeeds in simulating a series of CP El Niño that lasts for 5 y, which resembles the two CP El Niño episodes during 1990-1995 and 2002-2006.

Dialectical Features of Students' Argumentation: A Critical Review of Argumentation Studies in Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielsen, Jan Alexis

2013-02-01

This paper explores the challenges of using the Toulmin model to analyze students' dialogical argumentation. The paper presents a theoretical exposition of what is involved in an empirical study of real dialogic argumentation. Dialogic argumentation embodies dialectical features — i.e. the features that are operative when students collaboratively manage disagreement by providing arguments and engaging critically with the arguments provided by others. The paper argues that while dialectical features cannot readily be understood from a Toulminian perspective, it appears that an investigation of them is a prerequisite for conducting Toulminian analysis. This claim is substantiated by a detailed review of five of the ten most significant papers on students' argumentation in science education. This leads to the surprising notion that empirical studies in the argumentation strand — even those studies that have employed non-dialectical frameworks such as the Toulmin model — have implicitly struggled to come to terms with the dialectical features of students' discourse. The paper finally explores how some scholars have worked to attend directly to these dialectical features; and it presents five key issues that need to be addressed in a continued scholarly discussion.

Water Infrastructure Needs and Investment: Review and Analysis of Key Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-24

the Rural Development Act of 1972, as amended (7 U.S.C. § 1926). The purpose of these USDA programs is to provide basic amenities, alleviate health...nonregulatory costs (e.g., routine replacement of basic infrastructure).12 Wastewater Needs. The most recent wastewater survey, conducted in 2004 and issued...1.6 billion just to implement the most basic steps needed to improve security (such as better controlling access to facilities with fences, locks

Experience improves feature extraction in Drosophila.

PubMed

Peng, Yueqing; Xi, Wang; Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Ke; Guo, Aike

2007-05-09

Previous exposure to a pattern in the visual scene can enhance subsequent recognition of that pattern in many species from honeybees to humans. However, whether previous experience with a visual feature of an object, such as color or shape, can also facilitate later recognition of that particular feature from multiple visual features is largely unknown. Visual feature extraction is the ability to select the key component from multiple visual features. Using a visual flight simulator, we designed a novel protocol for visual feature extraction to investigate the effects of previous experience on visual reinforcement learning in Drosophila. We found that, after conditioning with a visual feature of objects among combinatorial shape-color features, wild-type flies exhibited poor ability to extract the correct visual feature. However, the ability for visual feature extraction was greatly enhanced in flies trained previously with that visual feature alone. Moreover, we demonstrated that flies might possess the ability to extract the abstract category of "shape" but not a particular shape. Finally, this experience-dependent feature extraction is absent in flies with defective MBs, one of the central brain structures in Drosophila. Our results indicate that previous experience can enhance visual feature extraction in Drosophila and that MBs are required for this experience-dependent visual cognition.

Experimental demonstration of subcarrier multiplexed quantum key distribution system.

PubMed

Mora, José; Ruiz-Alba, Antonio; Amaya, Waldimar; Martínez, Alfonso; García-Muñoz, Víctor; Calvo, David; Capmany, José

2012-06-01

We provide, to our knowledge, the first experimental demonstration of the feasibility of sending several parallel keys by exploiting the technique of subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) widely employed in microwave photonics. This approach brings several advantages such as high spectral efficiency compatible with the actual secure key rates, the sharing of the optical fainted pulse by all the quantum multiplexed channels reducing the system complexity, and the possibility of upgrading with wavelength division multiplexing in a two-tier scheme, to increase the number of parallel keys. Two independent quantum SCM channels featuring a sifted key rate of 10 Kb/s/channel over a link with quantum bit error rate <2% is reported.

A Web-Based Data Collection Platform for Multisite Randomized Behavioral Intervention Trials: Development, Key Software Features, and Results of a User Survey.

PubMed

Modi, Riddhi A; Mugavero, Michael J; Amico, Rivet K; Keruly, Jeanne; Quinlivan, Evelyn Byrd; Crane, Heidi M; Guzman, Alfredo; Zinski, Anne; Montue, Solange; Roytburd, Katya; Church, Anna; Willig, James H

2017-06-16

Meticulous tracking of study data must begin early in the study recruitment phase and must account for regulatory compliance, minimize missing data, and provide high information integrity and/or reduction of errors. In behavioral intervention trials, participants typically complete several study procedures at different time points. Among HIV-infected patients, behavioral interventions can favorably affect health outcomes. In order to empower newly diagnosed HIV positive individuals to learn skills to enhance retention in HIV care, we developed the behavioral health intervention Integrating ENGagement and Adherence Goals upon Entry (iENGAGE) funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where we deployed an in-clinic behavioral health intervention in 4 urban HIV outpatient clinics in the United States. To scale our intervention strategy homogenously across sites, we developed software that would function as a behavioral sciences research platform. This manuscript aimed to: (1) describe the design and implementation of a Web-based software application to facilitate deployment of a multisite behavioral science intervention; and (2) report on results of a survey to capture end-user perspectives of the impact of this platform on the conduct of a behavioral intervention trial. In order to support the implementation of the NIAID-funded trial iENGAGE, we developed software to deploy a 4-site behavioral intervention for new clinic patients with HIV/AIDS. We integrated the study coordinator into the informatics team to participate in the software development process. Here, we report the key software features and the results of the 25-item survey to evaluate user perspectives on research and intervention activities specific to the iENGAGE trial (N=13). The key features addressed are study enrollment, participant randomization, real-time data collection, facilitation of longitudinal workflow, reporting, and reusability. We found 100% user

Topological numbering of features on a mesh

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atallah, Mikhail J.; Hambrusch, Susanne E.; Tewinkel, Lynn E.

1988-01-01

Assume a nxn binary image is given containing horizontally convex features; i.e., for each feature, each of its row's pixels form an interval on that row. The problem of assigning topological numbers to such features is considered; i.e., assign a number to every feature f so that all features to the left of f have a smaller number assigned to them. This problem arises in solutions to the stereo matching problem. A parallel algorithm to solve the topological numbering problem in O(n) time on an nxn mesh of processors is presented. The key idea of the solution is to create a tree from which the topological numbers can be obtained even though the tree does not uniquely represent the to the left of relationship of the features.

The Main Features and the Key Challenges of the Education System in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chien, Chiu-Kuei Chang; Lin, Lung-Chi; Chen, Chun-Fu

2013-01-01

Taiwan has undergone radical innovation of its educational system in the wake of political liberalization and democratization, with a request for a change in the idea which diverts from "de-centralization" to "individualization." The reforms have led to two main features of pluralism and generalization of education in our…

Review: An urgent need for research on factors impacting adherence to and retention in care among HIV-positive youth and adolescents from key populations

PubMed Central

Lall, Priya; Lim, Sin How; Khairuddin, Norliana; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba

2015-01-01

Introduction The 50% increase in HIV-related deaths in youth and adolescents (aged 10–24) from 2005 to 2012 highlights the need to improve HIV treatment and care in this population, including treatment adherence and retention. Youth and adolescents from key populations or young key populations (YKP) in particular are highly stigmatized and may face additional barrier(s) in adhering to HIV treatment and services. We reviewed the current knowledge on treatment adherence and retention in HIV care among YKP to identify gaps in the literature and suggest future directions to improve HIV care for YKP. Methods We conducted a comprehensive literature search for YKP and their adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and retention in HIV care on PsycInfo (Ovid), PubMed and Google Scholar using combinations of the keywords HIV/AIDS, ART, adolescents, young adults, adherence (or compliance), retention, men who have sex with men, transgender, injection drug users, people who inject drugs and prisoners. We included empirical studies on key populations defined by WHO; included the terms youth and adolescents and/or aged between 10 and 24; examined adherence to or retention in HIV care; and published in English-language journals. All articles were coded using NVivo. Results and discussion The systematic search yielded 10 articles on YKP and 16 articles on behaviourally infected youth and adolescents from 1999 to 2014. We found no studies reporting on youth and adolescents identified as sex workers, transgender people and prisoners. From existing literature, adherence to ART was reported to be influenced by age, access to healthcare, the burden of multiple vulnerabilities, policy involving risk behaviours and mental health. A combination of two or more of these factors negatively impacted adherence to ART among YKP. Collectively, these studies demonstrated that future programmes need to be tailored specifically to YKP to ensure adherence. Conclusions There is an urgent need for

Photovoltaic research needs industry perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ravi, K. V.

1982-01-01

An industries perspective of photovoltaic research needs is presented. Objectives and features of industry needs are discussed for the materials, devices, processes, and reliability research categories.

Needs and Requirements for Future Research Reactors (ORNL Perspectives)

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

Ilas, Germina; Bryan, Chris; Gehin, Jess C.

2016-02-10

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) is a vital national and international resource for neutron science research, production of radioisotopes, and materials irradiation. While HFIR is expected to continue operation for the foreseeable future, interest is growing in understanding future research reactors features, needs, and requirements. To clarify, discuss, and compile these needs from the perspective of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) research and development (R&D) missions, a workshop, titled “Needs and Requirements for Future Research Reactors”, was held at ORNL on May 12, 2015. The workshop engaged ORNL staff that is directly involved in research using HFIR to collectmore » valuable input on the reactor’s current and future missions. The workshop provided an interactive forum for a fruitful exchange of opinions, and included a mix of short presentations and open discussions. ORNL staff members made 15 technical presentations based on their experience and areas of expertise, and discussed those capabilities of the HFIR and future research reactors that are essential for their current and future R&D needs. The workshop was attended by approximately 60 participants from three ORNL directorates. The agenda is included in Appendix A. This document summarizes the feedback provided by workshop contributors and participants. It also includes information and insights addressing key points that originated from the dialogue started at the workshop. A general overview is provided on the design features and capabilities of high performance research reactors currently in use or under construction worldwide. Recent and ongoing design efforts in the US and internationally are briefly summarized, followed by conclusions and recommendations.« less

Photo interpretation key to Michigan land cover/use

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Enslin, W. R.; Hudson, W. D.; Lusch, D. P.

1983-01-01

A set of photo interpretation keys is presented to provide a structured approach to the identification of land cover/use categories as specified in the Michigan Resource Inventory Act. The designated categories are urban and; built up lands; agricultural lands; forest land; nonforested land; water bodies; wetlands; and barren land. The keys were developed for use with medium scale (1:20,000 to 1:24,000) color infrared aerial photography. Although each key is generalized in that it relies only upon the most distinguishing photo characteristics in separating the various land cover/use categories, additional interpretation characteristics, distinguishing features and background material are given.

Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions for Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN): A Review Using the Drummond and Jefferson (1996) "Referee's Checklist"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Law, James; Zeng, Biao; Lindsay, Geoff; Beecham, Jennifer

2012-01-01

Background: Although economic evaluation has been widely recognized as a key feature of both health services and educational research, for many years there has been a paucity of such studies relevant to services for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), making the application of economic arguments to the development of…

Key Data on Education in Europe 2009

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranguelov, Stanislav; de Coster, Isabelle; Forsthuber, Bernadette; Noorani, Sogol; Ruffio, Philippe

2009-01-01

This seventh edition of "Key Data on Education in Europe" retains its main special feature which is the combination of statistical data and qualitative information to describe the organisation and functioning of education systems in Europe. The present 2009 edition maintains the subject-based structure defined by the previous one but…

Bit-Oriented Quantum Public-Key Cryptosystem Based on Bell States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, WanQing; Cai, QingYu; Zhang, HuanGuo; Liang, XiaoYan

2018-02-01

Quantum public key encryption system provides information confidentiality using quantum mechanics. This paper presents a quantum public key cryptosystem (Q P K C) based on the Bell states. By H o l e v o's theorem, the presented scheme provides the security of the secret key using one-wayness during the QPKC. While the QPKC scheme is information theoretic security under chosen plaintext attack (C P A). Finally some important features of presented QPKC scheme can be compared with other QPKC scheme.

Bit-Oriented Quantum Public-Key Cryptosystem Based on Bell States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, WanQing; Cai, QingYu; Zhang, HuanGuo; Liang, XiaoYan

2018-06-01

Quantum public key encryption system provides information confidentiality using quantum mechanics. This paper presents a quantum public key cryptosystem ( Q P K C) based on the Bell states. By H o l e v o' s theorem, the presented scheme provides the security of the secret key using one-wayness during the QPKC. While the QPKC scheme is information theoretic security under chosen plaintext attack ( C P A). Finally some important features of presented QPKC scheme can be compared with other QPKC scheme.

Confirming the key role of Ar+ ion bombardment in the growth feature of nanostructured carbon materials by PECVD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yulin; Lin, Jinghuang; Jia, Henan; Chen, Shulin; Qi, Junlei; Qu, Chaoqun; Cao, Jian; Feng, Jicai; Fei, Weidong

2017-11-01

In order to confirm the key role of Ar+ ion bombardment in the growth feature of nanostructured carbon materials (NCMs), here we report a novel strategy to create different Ar+ ion states in situ in plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) by separating catalyst film from the substrate. Different bombardment environments on either side of the catalyst film were created simultaneously to achieve multi-layered structural NCMs. Results showed that Ar+ ion bombardment is crucial and complex for the growth of NCMs. Firstly, Ar+ ion bombardment has both positive and negative effects on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). On one hand, Ar+ ions can break up the graphic structure of CNTs and suppress thin CNT nucleation and growth. On the other hand, Ar+ ion bombardment can remove redundant carbon layers on the surface of large catalyst particles which is essential for thick CNTs. As a result, the diameter of the CNTs depends on the Ar+ ion state. As for vertically oriented few-layer graphene (VFG), Ar+ ions are essential and can even convert the CNTs into VFG. Therefore, by combining with the catalyst separation method, specific or multi-layered structural NCMs can be obtained by PECVD only by changing the intensity of Ar+ ion bombardment, and these special NCMs are promising in many fields.

Confirming the key role of Ar+ ion bombardment in the growth feature of nanostructured carbon materials by PECVD.

PubMed

Liu, Yulin; Lin, Jinghuang; Jia, Henan; Chen, Shulin; Qi, Junlei; Qu, Chaoqun; Cao, Jian; Feng, Jicai; Fei, Weidong

2017-11-24

In order to confirm the key role of Ar + ion bombardment in the growth feature of nanostructured carbon materials (NCMs), here we report a novel strategy to create different Ar + ion states in situ in plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) by separating catalyst film from the substrate. Different bombardment environments on either side of the catalyst film were created simultaneously to achieve multi-layered structural NCMs. Results showed that Ar + ion bombardment is crucial and complex for the growth of NCMs. Firstly, Ar + ion bombardment has both positive and negative effects on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). On one hand, Ar + ions can break up the graphic structure of CNTs and suppress thin CNT nucleation and growth. On the other hand, Ar + ion bombardment can remove redundant carbon layers on the surface of large catalyst particles which is essential for thick CNTs. As a result, the diameter of the CNTs depends on the Ar + ion state. As for vertically oriented few-layer graphene (VFG), Ar + ions are essential and can even convert the CNTs into VFG. Therefore, by combining with the catalyst separation method, specific or multi-layered structural NCMs can be obtained by PECVD only by changing the intensity of Ar + ion bombardment, and these special NCMs are promising in many fields.

Exclusion of overlapping symptoms in DSM-5 mixed features specifier: heuristic diagnostic and treatment implications.

PubMed

Malhi, Gin S; Byrow, Yulisha; Outhred, Tim; Fritz, Kristina

2017-04-01

This article focuses on the controversial decision to exclude the overlapping symptoms of distractibility, irritability, and psychomotor agitation (DIP) with the introduction of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) mixed features specifier. In order to understand the placement of mixed states within the current classification system, we first review the evolution of mixed states. Then, using Kraepelin's original classification of mixed states, we compare and contrast his conceptualization with modern day definitions. The DSM-5 workgroup excluded DIP symptoms, arguing that they lack the ability to differentiate between manic and depressive states; however, accumulating evidence suggests that DIP symptoms may be core features of mixed states. We suggest a return to a Kraepelinian approach to classification-with mood, ideation, and activity as key axes-and reintegration of DIP symptoms as features that are expressed across presentations. An inclusive definition of mixed states is urgently needed to resolve confusion in clinical practice and to redirect future research efforts.

Modelling efforts needed to advance herpes simplex virus (HSV) vaccine development: Key findings from the World Health Organization Consultation on HSV Vaccine Impact Modelling.

PubMed

Gottlieb, Sami L; Giersing, Birgitte; Boily, Marie-Claude; Chesson, Harrell; Looker, Katharine J; Schiffer, Joshua; Spicknall, Ian; Hutubessy, Raymond; Broutet, Nathalie

2017-06-21

Development of a vaccine against herpes simplex virus (HSV) is an important goal for global sexual and reproductive health. In order to more precisely define the health and economic burden of HSV infection and the theoretical impact and cost-effectiveness of an HSV vaccine, in 2015 the World Health Organization convened an expert consultation meeting on HSV vaccine impact modelling. The experts reviewed existing model-based estimates and dynamic models of HSV infection to outline critical future modelling needs to inform development of a comprehensive business case and preferred product characteristics for an HSV vaccine. This article summarizes key findings and discussions from the meeting on modelling needs related to HSV burden, costs, and vaccine impact, essential data needs to carry out those models, and important model components and parameters. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

TU-AB-BRA-04: Quantitative Radiomics: Sensitivity of PET Textural Features to Image Acquisition and Reconstruction Parameters Implies the Need for Standards

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

Nyflot, MJ; Yang, F; Byrd, D

Purpose: Despite increased use of heterogeneity metrics for PET imaging, standards for metrics such as textural features have yet to be developed. We evaluated the quantitative variability caused by image acquisition and reconstruction parameters on PET textural features. Methods: PET images of the NEMA IQ phantom were simulated with realistic image acquisition noise. 35 features based on intensity histograms (IH), co-occurrence matrices (COM), neighborhood-difference matrices (NDM), and zone-size matrices (ZSM) were evaluated within lesions (13, 17, 22, 28, 33 mm diameter). Variability in metrics across 50 independent images was evaluated as percent difference from mean for three phantom girths (850,more » 1030, 1200 mm) and two OSEM reconstructions (2 iterations, 28 subsets, 5 mm FWHM filtration vs 6 iterations, 28 subsets, 8.6 mm FWHM filtration). Also, patient sample size to detect a clinical effect of 30% with Bonferroni-corrected α=0.001 and 95% power was estimated. Results: As a class, NDM features demonstrated greatest sensitivity in means (5–50% difference for medium girth and reconstruction comparisons and 10–100% for large girth comparisons). Some IH features (standard deviation, energy, entropy) had variability below 10% for all sensitivity studies, while others (kurtosis, skewness) had variability above 30%. COM and ZSM features had complex sensitivities; correlation, energy, entropy (COM) and zone percentage, short-zone emphasis, zone-size non-uniformity (ZSM) had variability less than 5% while other metrics had differences up to 30%. Trends were similar for sample size estimation; for example, coarseness, contrast, and strength required 12, 38, and 52 patients to detect a 30% effect for the small girth case but 38, 88, and 128 patients in the large girth case. Conclusion: The sensitivity of PET textural features to image acquisition and reconstruction parameters is large and feature-dependent. Standards are needed to ensure that prospective

Environmental Influences on Physical Activity among Rural Adults in Montana, United States: Views from Built Environment Audits, Resident Focus Groups, and Key Informant Interviews.

PubMed

Lo, Brian K; Morgan, Emily H; Folta, Sara C; Graham, Meredith L; Paul, Lynn C; Nelson, Miriam E; Jew, Nicolette V; Moffat, Laurel F; Seguin, Rebecca A

2017-10-04

Rural populations in the United States have lower physical activity levels and are at a higher risk of being overweight and suffering from obesity than their urban counterparts. This paper aimed to understand the environmental factors that influence physical activity among rural adults in Montana. Eight built environment audits, 15 resident focus groups, and 24 key informant interviews were conducted between August and December 2014. Themes were triangulated and summarized into five categories of environmental factors: built, social, organizational, policy, and natural environments. Although the existence of active living features was documented by environmental audits, residents and key informants agreed that additional indoor recreation facilities and more well-maintained and conveniently located options were needed. Residents and key informants also agreed on the importance of age-specific, well-promoted, and structured physical activity programs, offered in socially supportive environments, as facilitators to physical activity. Key informants, however, noted that funding constraints and limited political will were barriers to developing these opportunities. Since building new recreational facilities and structures to support active transportation pose resource challenges, especially for rural communities, our results suggest that enhancing existing features, making small improvements, and involving stakeholders in the city planning process would be more fruitful to build momentum towards larger changes.

Complex posttraumatic stress disorder: The need to consolidate a distinct clinical syndrome or to reevaluate features of psychiatric disorders following interpersonal trauma?

PubMed

Giourou, Evangelia; Skokou, Maria; Andrew, Stuart P; Alexopoulou, Konstantina; Gourzis, Philippos; Jelastopulu, Eleni

2018-03-22

Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (Complex PTSD) has been recently proposed as a distinct clinical entity in the WHO International Classification of Diseases, 11 th version, due to be published, two decades after its first initiation. It is described as an enhanced version of the current definition of PTSD, with clinical features of PTSD plus three additional clusters of symptoms namely emotional dysregulation, negative self-cognitions and interpersonal hardship, thus resembling the clinical features commonly encountered in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Complex PTSD is related to complex trauma which is defined by its threatening and entrapping context, generally interpersonal in nature. In this manuscript, we review the current findings related to traumatic events predisposing the above-mentioned disorders as well as the biological correlates surrounding them, along with their clinical features. Furthermore, we suggest that besides the present distinct clinical diagnoses (PTSD; Complex PTSD; BPD), there is a cluster of these comorbid disorders, that follow a continuum of trauma and biological severity on a spectrum of common or similar clinical features and should be treated as such. More studies are needed to confirm or reject this hypothesis, particularly in clinical terms and how they correlate to clinical entities' biological background, endorsing a shift from the phenomenologically only classification of psychiatric disorders towards a more biologically validated classification.

Model-based assist feature insertion for sub-40nm memory device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suh, Sungsoo; Lee, Suk-joo; Choi, Seong-woon; Lee, Sung-Woo; Park, Chan-hoon

2009-04-01

Many issues need to be resolved for a production-worthy model based assist feature insertion flow for single and double exposure patterning process to extend low k1 process at 193 nm immersion technology. Model based assist feature insertion is not trivial to implement either for single and double exposure patterning compared to rule based methods. As shown in Fig. 1, pixel based mask inversion technology in itself has difficulties in mask writing and inspection although it presents as one of key technology to extend single exposure for contact layer. Thus far, inversion technology is tried as a cooptimization of target mask to simultaneously generate optimized main and sub-resolution assists features for a desired process window. Alternatively, its technology can also be used to optimize for a target feature after an assist feature types are inserted in order to simplify the mask complexity. Simplification of inversion mask is one of major issue with applying inversion technology to device development even if a smaller mask feature can be fabricated since the mask writing time is also a major factor. As shown in Figure 2, mask writing time may be a limiting factor in determining whether or not an inversion solution is viable. It can be reasoned that increased number of shot counts relates to increase in margin for inversion methodology. On the other hand, there is a limit on how complex a mask can be in order to be production worthy. There is also source and mask co-optimization which influences the final mask patterns and assist feature sizes and positions for a given target. In this study, we will discuss assist feature insertion methods for sub 40-nm technology.

A giant sediment trap in the Florida keys

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shinn, E.A.; Reich, C.D.; Locker, S.D.; Hine, A.C.

1996-01-01

Aerial photography, high-resolution seismic profiling, coring and jet probing have revealed a large sediment-filled sinkhole in the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo, Florida. The 600-m-diameter feature straddles coral reef and carbonate-sand facies and contains >55 m of marine lime sand and aragonite mud. Bulk 14C age determinations of mud from a 30- m sediment core indicate infilling rates exceeding 20 m/ka between 3 and 5.6 ka. The total thickness and nature of the sediment near the base of the sinkhole are not known.

Feature: Special Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Miguel R.; And Others

1993-01-01

Includes "Filling in the Cracks" (Flores) about an intarsia class for at-risk students; "Closing the Gap--Women in Technology" (Husher) about summer camps for junior high girls; "Work Force of the Future--Multi-Ethnic, Multicultural" (Hall) about vocational education for culturally diverse students;…

Cities and health: history, approaches, and key questions.

PubMed

Vlahov, David; Gibble, Emily; Freudenberg, Nicholas; Galea, Sandro

2004-12-01

The majority of the world's population will live in cities in the next few years, and the pace of urbanization worldwide will continue to accelerate over the coming decades. Such a dramatic demographic shift can be expected to have an impact on population health. Although there has been historic interest in how city living is associated with health, this interest has waxed and waned and a cogent framework has yet to evolve that encompasses key issues in urban health. In this article, the authors discuss three alternate approaches to the study of urban health today; these include considering urban health from the perspective of a presumed urban health penalty, from an urban sprawl perspective, and more comprehensively, considering how urban living conditions may be associated with health. The authors also propose three key questions that may help guide the study and practice of urban health in coming decades. These include considering what specific features of cities are causally related to health, the extent to which these features are unique to a particular city or are different between cities, and ultimately, to what extent these features of cities are modifiable in order to allow interventions that can improve the health of urban populations.

Tag Content Access Control with Identity-based Key Exchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Liang; Rong, Chunming

2010-09-01

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology that used to identify objects and users has been applied to many applications such retail and supply chain recently. How to prevent tag content from unauthorized readout is a core problem of RFID privacy issues. Hash-lock access control protocol can make tag to release its content only to reader who knows the secret key shared between them. However, in order to get this shared secret key required by this protocol, reader needs to communicate with a back end database. In this paper, we propose to use identity-based secret key exchange approach to generate the secret key required for hash-lock access control protocol. With this approach, not only back end database connection is not needed anymore, but also tag cloning problem can be eliminated at the same time.

Laboratory Needs for Interstellar Ice Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boogert, Abraham C. A.

2012-05-01

A large fraction of the molecules in dense interstellar and circumstellar environments is stored in icy grain mantles. The mantles are formed by a complex interplay between chemical and physical processes. Key questions on the accretion and desorption processes and the chemistry on the grain surfaces and within the icy mantles can only be answered by laboratory experiments. Recent infrared (2-30 micron) spectroscopic surveys of large samples of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) and background stars tracing quiescent cloud material have shown that the ice band profiles and depths vary considerably as a function of environment. Using laboratory spectra in the identification process, it is clear that a rather complex mixture of simple species (CH3OH, CO2, H2O, CO) exists even in the quiescent cloud phase. Variations of the local physical conditions (CO freeze out) and time scales (CH3OH formation) appear to be key factors in the observed variations. Sublimation and thermal processing dominate as YSOs heat their environments. The identification of several ice absorption features is still disputed. I will outline laboratory work (e.g., on salts, PAHs, and aliphatic hydrocarbons) needed to further constrain the ice band identification as well as the thermal and chemical history of the carriers. Such experiments will also be essential to interpret future high spectral resolution SOFIA and JWST observations.

The feature-weighted receptive field: an interpretable encoding model for complex feature spaces.

PubMed

St-Yves, Ghislain; Naselaris, Thomas

2017-06-20

We introduce the feature-weighted receptive field (fwRF), an encoding model designed to balance expressiveness, interpretability and scalability. The fwRF is organized around the notion of a feature map-a transformation of visual stimuli into visual features that preserves the topology of visual space (but not necessarily the native resolution of the stimulus). The key assumption of the fwRF model is that activity in each voxel encodes variation in a spatially localized region across multiple feature maps. This region is fixed for all feature maps; however, the contribution of each feature map to voxel activity is weighted. Thus, the model has two separable sets of parameters: "where" parameters that characterize the location and extent of pooling over visual features, and "what" parameters that characterize tuning to visual features. The "where" parameters are analogous to classical receptive fields, while "what" parameters are analogous to classical tuning functions. By treating these as separable parameters, the fwRF model complexity is independent of the resolution of the underlying feature maps. This makes it possible to estimate models with thousands of high-resolution feature maps from relatively small amounts of data. Once a fwRF model has been estimated from data, spatial pooling and feature tuning can be read-off directly with no (or very little) additional post-processing or in-silico experimentation. We describe an optimization algorithm for estimating fwRF models from data acquired during standard visual neuroimaging experiments. We then demonstrate the model's application to two distinct sets of features: Gabor wavelets and features supplied by a deep convolutional neural network. We show that when Gabor feature maps are used, the fwRF model recovers receptive fields and spatial frequency tuning functions consistent with known organizational principles of the visual cortex. We also show that a fwRF model can be used to regress entire deep

Image feature extraction based on the camouflage effectiveness evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Xin; Lv, Xuliang; Li, Ling; Wang, Xinzhu; Zhang, Zhi

2018-04-01

The key step of camouflage effectiveness evaluation is how to combine the human visual physiological features, psychological features to select effectively evaluation indexes. Based on the predecessors' camo comprehensive evaluation method, this paper chooses the suitable indexes combining with the image quality awareness, and optimizes those indexes combining with human subjective perception. Thus, it perfects the theory of index extraction.

Key Exoplanets in the Era of JWST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batalha, Natasha; Mandell, Avi; Lewis, Nikole K.; Pontoppidan, Klaus

2017-01-01

In 2018, exoplanet science will enter a new era with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). With JWST's observing power, several studies have sought to characterize how the instruments will perform and what atmospheric spectral features could theoretically be detected using transmission spectroscopy. With just two years left until launch, it is imperative that the exoplanet community begins to digest and integrate these studies into their observing plans and strategies. In order to encourage this and to allow all members of the community access to JWST simulations, we present here an open source tool for creating observation simulations of all observatory-supported time-series spectroscopy modes. We describe our tool, PandExo and use it to calculate the expected signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for every confirmed planetary system with J<12. Assuming chemical equilibrium, we then determine how many observation hours are needed to attain a SNR of 5 on key molecular absorption bands of H2O, CH4, and CO. We end by determining the number of planets (hot Jupiters, warm Neptunes, super-Earths, etc.) that are currently attainable with JWST.

One-Time Password Registration Key Code Request | High-Performance

Science.gov Websites

Computing | NREL One-Time Password Registration Key Code Request One-Time Password Registration Key Code Request Use this form to request a one-time password (OTP) registration key code for using . Alternate Email In case there is a second email where we might contact you Phone In case we need to contact

Keys and seats: Spatial response coding underlying the joint spatial compatibility effect.

PubMed

Dittrich, Kerstin; Dolk, Thomas; Rothe-Wulf, Annelie; Klauer, Karl Christoph; Prinz, Wolfgang

2013-11-01

Spatial compatibility effects (SCEs) are typically observed when participants have to execute spatially defined responses to nonspatial stimulus features (e.g., the color red or green) that randomly appear to the left and the right. Whereas a spatial correspondence of stimulus and response features facilitates response execution, a noncorrespondence impairs task performance. Interestingly, the SCE is drastically reduced when a single participant responds to one stimulus feature (e.g., green) by operating only one response key (individual go/no-go task), whereas a full-blown SCE is observed when the task is distributed between two participants (joint go/no-go task). This joint SCE (a.k.a. the social Simon effect) has previously been explained by action/task co-representation, whereas alternative accounts ascribe joint SCEs to spatial components inherent in joint go/no-go tasks that allow participants to code their responses spatially. Although increasing evidence supports the idea that spatial rather than social aspects are responsible for joint SCEs emerging, it is still unclear to which component(s) the spatial coding refers to: the spatial orientation of response keys, the spatial orientation of responding agents, or both. By varying the spatial orientation of the responding agents (Exp. 1) and of the response keys (Exp. 2), independent of the spatial orientation of the stimuli, in the present study we found joint SCEs only when both the seating and the response key alignment matched the stimulus alignment. These results provide evidence that spatial response coding refers not only to the response key arrangement, but also to the-often neglected-spatial orientation of the responding agents.

Attentional Selection of Feature Conjunctions Is Accomplished by Parallel and Independent Selection of Single Features.

PubMed

Andersen, Søren K; Müller, Matthias M; Hillyard, Steven A

2015-07-08

features separately. This result is key to understanding attentional selection in complex (natural) scenes, where relevant stimuli are likely to be defined by a combination of stimulus features. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/359912-08$15.00/0.

Biologically Inspired Model for Visual Cognition Achieving Unsupervised Episodic and Semantic Feature Learning.

PubMed

Qiao, Hong; Li, Yinlin; Li, Fengfu; Xi, Xuanyang; Wu, Wei

2016-10-01

Recently, many biologically inspired visual computational models have been proposed. The design of these models follows the related biological mechanisms and structures, and these models provide new solutions for visual recognition tasks. In this paper, based on the recent biological evidence, we propose a framework to mimic the active and dynamic learning and recognition process of the primate visual cortex. From principle point of view, the main contributions are that the framework can achieve unsupervised learning of episodic features (including key components and their spatial relations) and semantic features (semantic descriptions of the key components), which support higher level cognition of an object. From performance point of view, the advantages of the framework are as follows: 1) learning episodic features without supervision-for a class of objects without a prior knowledge, the key components, their spatial relations and cover regions can be learned automatically through a deep neural network (DNN); 2) learning semantic features based on episodic features-within the cover regions of the key components, the semantic geometrical values of these components can be computed based on contour detection; 3) forming the general knowledge of a class of objects-the general knowledge of a class of objects can be formed, mainly including the key components, their spatial relations and average semantic values, which is a concise description of the class; and 4) achieving higher level cognition and dynamic updating-for a test image, the model can achieve classification and subclass semantic descriptions. And the test samples with high confidence are selected to dynamically update the whole model. Experiments are conducted on face images, and a good performance is achieved in each layer of the DNN and the semantic description learning process. Furthermore, the model can be generalized to recognition tasks of other objects with learning ability.

Provably secure and high-rate quantum key distribution with time-bin qudits

PubMed Central

Islam, Nurul T.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Cahall, Clinton; Kim, Jungsang; Gauthier, Daniel J.

2017-01-01

The security of conventional cryptography systems is threatened in the forthcoming era of quantum computers. Quantum key distribution (QKD) features fundamentally proven security and offers a promising option for quantum-proof cryptography solution. Although prototype QKD systems over optical fiber have been demonstrated over the years, the key generation rates remain several orders of magnitude lower than current classical communication systems. In an effort toward a commercially viable QKD system with improved key generation rates, we developed a discrete-variable QKD system based on time-bin quantum photonic states that can generate provably secure cryptographic keys at megabit-per-second rates over metropolitan distances. We use high-dimensional quantum states that transmit more than one secret bit per received photon, alleviating detector saturation effects in the superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors used in our system that feature very high detection efficiency (of more than 70%) and low timing jitter (of less than 40 ps). Our system is constructed using commercial off-the-shelf components, and the adopted protocol can be readily extended to free-space quantum channels. The security analysis adopted to distill the keys ensures that the demonstrated protocol is robust against coherent attacks, finite-size effects, and a broad class of experimental imperfections identified in our system. PMID:29202028

Provably secure and high-rate quantum key distribution with time-bin qudits.

PubMed

Islam, Nurul T; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Cahall, Clinton; Kim, Jungsang; Gauthier, Daniel J

2017-11-01

The security of conventional cryptography systems is threatened in the forthcoming era of quantum computers. Quantum key distribution (QKD) features fundamentally proven security and offers a promising option for quantum-proof cryptography solution. Although prototype QKD systems over optical fiber have been demonstrated over the years, the key generation rates remain several orders of magnitude lower than current classical communication systems. In an effort toward a commercially viable QKD system with improved key generation rates, we developed a discrete-variable QKD system based on time-bin quantum photonic states that can generate provably secure cryptographic keys at megabit-per-second rates over metropolitan distances. We use high-dimensional quantum states that transmit more than one secret bit per received photon, alleviating detector saturation effects in the superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors used in our system that feature very high detection efficiency (of more than 70%) and low timing jitter (of less than 40 ps). Our system is constructed using commercial off-the-shelf components, and the adopted protocol can be readily extended to free-space quantum channels. The security analysis adopted to distill the keys ensures that the demonstrated protocol is robust against coherent attacks, finite-size effects, and a broad class of experimental imperfections identified in our system.

Childhood Ataxia: Clinical Features, Pathogenesis, Key Unanswered Questions, and Future Directions

PubMed Central

Ashley, Claire N.; Hoang, Kelly D.; Lynch, David R.; Perlman, Susan L.; Maria, Bernard L.

2013-01-01

Childhood ataxia is characterized by impaired balance and coordination primarily due to cerebellar dysfunction. Friedreich ataxia, a form of childhood ataxia, is the most common multisystem autosomal recessive disease. Most of these patients are homozygous for the GAA repeat expansion located on the first intron of the frataxin gene on chromosome 9. Mutations in the frataxin gene impair mitochondrial function, increase reactive oxygen species, and trigger redistribution of iron in the mitochondria and cytosol. Targeted therapies for Friedreich ataxia are undergoing testing. In addition, a centralized database, patient registry, and natural history study have been launched to support clinical trials in Friedreich ataxia. The 2011 Neurobiology of Disease in Children symposium, held in conjunction with the 40th annual Child Neurology Society meeting, aimed to (1) describe clinical features surrounding Friedreich ataxia, including cardiomyopathy and genetics; (2) discuss recent advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis of Friedreich ataxia and developments of clinical trials; (3) review new investigations of characteristic symptoms; (4) establish clinical and biochemical overlaps in neurodegenerative diseases and possible directions for future basic, translational, and clinical studies. PMID:22859693

Enhancing LoRaWAN Security through a Lightweight and Authenticated Key Management Approach.

PubMed

Sanchez-Iborra, Ramon; Sánchez-Gómez, Jesús; Pérez, Salvador; Fernández, Pedro J; Santa, José; Hernández-Ramos, José L; Skarmeta, Antonio F

2018-06-05

Luckily, new communication technologies and protocols are nowadays designed considering security issues. A clear example of this can be found in the Internet of Things (IoT) field, a quite recent area where communication technologies such as ZigBee or IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) already include security features to guarantee authentication, confidentiality and integrity. More recent technologies are Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LP-WAN), which also consider security, but present initial approaches that can be further improved. An example of this can be found in Long Range (LoRa) and its layer-two supporter LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which include a security scheme based on pre-shared cryptographic material lacking flexibility when a key update is necessary. Because of this, in this work, we evaluate the security vulnerabilities of LoRaWAN in the area of key management and propose different alternative schemes. Concretely, the application of an approach based on the recently specified Ephemeral Diffie⁻Hellman Over COSE (EDHOC) is found as a convenient solution, given its flexibility in the update of session keys, its low computational cost and the limited message exchanges needed. A comparative conceptual analysis considering the overhead of different security schemes for LoRaWAN is carried out in order to evaluate their benefits in the challenging area of LP-WAN.

A Novel Real-Time Reference Key Frame Scan Matching Method

PubMed Central

Mohamed, Haytham; Moussa, Adel; Elhabiby, Mohamed; El-Sheimy, Naser; Sesay, Abu

2017-01-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles represent an effective technology for indoor search and rescue operations. Typically, most indoor missions’ environments would be unknown, unstructured, and/or dynamic. Navigation of UAVs in such environments is addressed by simultaneous localization and mapping approach using either local or global approaches. Both approaches suffer from accumulated errors and high processing time due to the iterative nature of the scan matching method. Moreover, point-to-point scan matching is prone to outlier association processes. This paper proposes a low-cost novel method for 2D real-time scan matching based on a reference key frame (RKF). RKF is a hybrid scan matching technique comprised of feature-to-feature and point-to-point approaches. This algorithm aims at mitigating errors accumulation using the key frame technique, which is inspired from video streaming broadcast process. The algorithm depends on the iterative closest point algorithm during the lack of linear features which is typically exhibited in unstructured environments. The algorithm switches back to the RKF once linear features are detected. To validate and evaluate the algorithm, the mapping performance and time consumption are compared with various algorithms in static and dynamic environments. The performance of the algorithm exhibits promising navigational, mapping results and very short computational time, that indicates the potential use of the new algorithm with real-time systems. PMID:28481285

A Novel Real-Time Reference Key Frame Scan Matching Method.

PubMed

Mohamed, Haytham; Moussa, Adel; Elhabiby, Mohamed; El-Sheimy, Naser; Sesay, Abu

2017-05-07

Unmanned aerial vehicles represent an effective technology for indoor search and rescue operations. Typically, most indoor missions' environments would be unknown, unstructured, and/or dynamic. Navigation of UAVs in such environments is addressed by simultaneous localization and mapping approach using either local or global approaches. Both approaches suffer from accumulated errors and high processing time due to the iterative nature of the scan matching method. Moreover, point-to-point scan matching is prone to outlier association processes. This paper proposes a low-cost novel method for 2D real-time scan matching based on a reference key frame (RKF). RKF is a hybrid scan matching technique comprised of feature-to-feature and point-to-point approaches. This algorithm aims at mitigating errors accumulation using the key frame technique, which is inspired from video streaming broadcast process. The algorithm depends on the iterative closest point algorithm during the lack of linear features which is typically exhibited in unstructured environments. The algorithm switches back to the RKF once linear features are detected. To validate and evaluate the algorithm, the mapping performance and time consumption are compared with various algorithms in static and dynamic environments. The performance of the algorithm exhibits promising navigational, mapping results and very short computational time, that indicates the potential use of the new algorithm with real-time systems.

Practical issues in quantum-key-distribution postprocessing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fung, Chi-Hang Fred; Ma, Xiongfeng; Chau, H. F.

2010-01-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a secure key generation method between two distant parties by wisely exploiting properties of quantum mechanics. In QKD, experimental measurement outcomes on quantum states are transformed by the two parties to a secret key. This transformation is composed of many logical steps (as guided by security proofs), which together will ultimately determine the length of the final secret key and its security. We detail the procedure for performing such classical postprocessing taking into account practical concerns (including the finite-size effect and authentication and encryption for classical communications). This procedure is directly applicable to realistic QKD experiments and thus serves as a recipe that specifies what postprocessing operations are needed and what the security level is for certain lengths of the keys. Our result is applicable to the BB84 protocol with a single or entangled photon source.

Babies Need Tummy Time

MedlinePlus

... Environment? Babies Need Tummy Time! FAQs Myths and Facts Campaign Materials Explore the Campaign Key Moments in Campaign History Outreach Activities The Science of SIDS and Safe Infant Sleep Collaborators and ...

Ecological Understanding 2: Transformation--A Key to Ecological Understanding.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlsson, Britta

2002-01-01

Describes the structure and general features of the phenomenon of ecological understanding. Presents qualitatively different ways of experiencing cycling of matter and the flow of energy in the context of ecosystems. The idea of transformation is key to the development of ecological understanding. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/YDS)

Quality control, analysis and secure sharing of Luminex® immunoassay data using the open source LabKey Server platform

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Immunoassays that employ multiplexed bead arrays produce high information content per sample. Such assays are now frequently used to evaluate humoral responses in clinical trials. Integrated software is needed for the analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of the high volume of data produced by such multiplexed assays. Software that facilitates data exchange and provides flexibility to perform customized analyses (including multiple curve fits and visualizations of assay performance over time) could increase scientists’ capacity to use these immunoassays to evaluate human clinical trials. Results The HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention collaborated with LabKey Software to enhance the open source LabKey Server platform to facilitate workflows for multiplexed bead assays. This system now supports the management, analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of data from multiplexed immunoassays that leverage Luminex xMAP® technology. These assays may be custom or kit-based. Newly added features enable labs to: (i) import run data from spreadsheets output by Bio-Plex Manager™ software; (ii) customize data processing, curve fits, and algorithms through scripts written in common languages, such as R; (iii) select script-defined calculation options through a graphical user interface; (iv) collect custom metadata for each titration, analyte, run and batch of runs; (v) calculate dose–response curves for titrations; (vi) interpolate unknown concentrations from curves for titrated standards; (vii) flag run data for exclusion from analysis; (viii) track quality control metrics across runs using Levey-Jennings plots; and (ix) automatically flag outliers based on expected values. Existing system features allow researchers to analyze, integrate, visualize, export and securely share their data, as well as to construct custom user interfaces and workflows. Conclusions Unlike other tools tailored for

Quality control, analysis and secure sharing of Luminex® immunoassay data using the open source LabKey Server platform.

PubMed

Eckels, Josh; Nathe, Cory; Nelson, Elizabeth K; Shoemaker, Sara G; Nostrand, Elizabeth Van; Yates, Nicole L; Ashley, Vicki C; Harris, Linda J; Bollenbeck, Mark; Fong, Youyi; Tomaras, Georgia D; Piehler, Britt

2013-04-30

Immunoassays that employ multiplexed bead arrays produce high information content per sample. Such assays are now frequently used to evaluate humoral responses in clinical trials. Integrated software is needed for the analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of the high volume of data produced by such multiplexed assays. Software that facilitates data exchange and provides flexibility to perform customized analyses (including multiple curve fits and visualizations of assay performance over time) could increase scientists' capacity to use these immunoassays to evaluate human clinical trials. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention collaborated with LabKey Software to enhance the open source LabKey Server platform to facilitate workflows for multiplexed bead assays. This system now supports the management, analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of data from multiplexed immunoassays that leverage Luminex xMAP® technology. These assays may be custom or kit-based. Newly added features enable labs to: (i) import run data from spreadsheets output by Bio-Plex Manager™ software; (ii) customize data processing, curve fits, and algorithms through scripts written in common languages, such as R; (iii) select script-defined calculation options through a graphical user interface; (iv) collect custom metadata for each titration, analyte, run and batch of runs; (v) calculate dose-response curves for titrations; (vi) interpolate unknown concentrations from curves for titrated standards; (vii) flag run data for exclusion from analysis; (viii) track quality control metrics across runs using Levey-Jennings plots; and (ix) automatically flag outliers based on expected values. Existing system features allow researchers to analyze, integrate, visualize, export and securely share their data, as well as to construct custom user interfaces and workflows. Unlike other tools tailored for Luminex immunoassays, LabKey Server

Experimental quantum key distribution with source flaws

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Feihu; Wei, Kejin; Sajeed, Shihan; Kaiser, Sarah; Sun, Shihai; Tang, Zhiyuan; Qian, Li; Makarov, Vadim; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2015-09-01

Decoy-state quantum key distribution (QKD) is a standard technique in current quantum cryptographic implementations. Unfortunately, existing experiments have two important drawbacks: the state preparation is assumed to be perfect without errors and the employed security proofs do not fully consider the finite-key effects for general attacks. These two drawbacks mean that existing experiments are not guaranteed to be proven to be secure in practice. Here, we perform an experiment that shows secure QKD with imperfect state preparations over long distances and achieves rigorous finite-key security bounds for decoy-state QKD against coherent attacks in the universally composable framework. We quantify the source flaws experimentally and demonstrate a QKD implementation that is tolerant to channel loss despite the source flaws. Our implementation considers more real-world problems than most previous experiments, and our theory can be applied to general discrete-variable QKD systems. These features constitute a step towards secure QKD with imperfect devices.

Space division multiplexing chip-to-chip quantum key distribution.

PubMed

Bacco, Davide; Ding, Yunhong; Dalgaard, Kjeld; Rottwitt, Karsten; Oxenløwe, Leif Katsuo

2017-09-29

Quantum cryptography is set to become a key technology for future secure communications. However, to get maximum benefit in communication networks, transmission links will need to be shared among several quantum keys for several independent users. Such links will enable switching in quantum network nodes of the quantum keys to their respective destinations. In this paper we present an experimental demonstration of a photonic integrated silicon chip quantum key distribution protocols based on space division multiplexing (SDM), through multicore fiber technology. Parallel and independent quantum keys are obtained, which are useful in crypto-systems and future quantum network.

Quantum cryptography using coherent states: Randomized encryption and key generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corndorf, Eric

With the advent of the global optical-telecommunications infrastructure, an increasing number of individuals, companies, and agencies communicate information with one another over public networks or physically-insecure private networks. While the majority of the traffic flowing through these networks requires little or no assurance of secrecy, the same cannot be said for certain communications between banks, between government agencies, within the military, and between corporations. In these arenas, the need to specify some level of secrecy in communications is a high priority. While the current approaches to securing sensitive information (namely the public-key-cryptography infrastructure and deterministic private-key ciphers like AES and 3DES) seem to be cryptographically strong based on empirical evidence, there exist no mathematical proofs of secrecy for any widely deployed cryptosystem. As an example, the ubiquitous public-key cryptosystems infer all of their secrecy from the assumption that factoring of the product of two large primes is necessarily time consuming---something which has not, and perhaps cannot, be proven. Since the 1980s, the possibility of using quantum-mechanical features of light as a physical mechanism for satisfying particular cryptographic objectives has been explored. This research has been fueled by the hopes that cryptosystems based on quantum systems may provide provable levels of secrecy which are at least as valid as quantum mechanics itself. Unfortunately, the most widely considered quantum-cryptographic protocols (BB84 and the Ekert protocol) have serious implementation problems. Specifically, they require quantum-mechanical states which are not readily available, and they rely on unproven relations between intrusion-level detection and the information available to an attacker. As a result, the secrecy level provided by these experimental implementations is entirely unspecified. In an effort to provably satisfy the cryptographic

Feature Binding in Visual Working Memory Evaluated by Type Identification Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saiki, Jun; Miyatsuji, Hirofumi

2007-01-01

Memory for feature binding comprises a key ingredient in coherent object representations. Previous studies have been equivocal about human capacity for objects in the visual working memory. To evaluate memory for feature binding, a type identification paradigm was devised and used with a multiple-object permanence tracking task. Using objects…

For Dr. Nancy Snyderman's Parents, Staying Close to Family Is Key

MedlinePlus

... Issues Feature: Senior Living For Dr. Nancy Snyderman's Parents, Staying Close to Family Is Key Past Issues / ... home. "Watching my children grow closer to my parents has been a blessing, and having us nearby ...

Cascaded ensemble of convolutional neural networks and handcrafted features for mitosis detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Haibo; Cruz-Roa, Angel; Basavanhally, Ajay; Gilmore, Hannah; Shih, Natalie; Feldman, Mike; Tomaszewski, John; Gonzalez, Fabio; Madabhushi, Anant

2014-03-01

Breast cancer (BCa) grading plays an important role in predicting disease aggressiveness and patient outcome. A key component of BCa grade is mitotic count, which involves quantifying the number of cells in the process of dividing (i.e. undergoing mitosis) at a specific point in time. Currently mitosis counting is done manually by a pathologist looking at multiple high power fields on a glass slide under a microscope, an extremely laborious and time consuming process. The development of computerized systems for automated detection of mitotic nuclei, while highly desirable, is confounded by the highly variable shape and appearance of mitoses. Existing methods use either handcrafted features that capture certain morphological, statistical or textural attributes of mitoses or features learned with convolutional neural networks (CNN). While handcrafted features are inspired by the domain and the particular application, the data-driven CNN models tend to be domain agnostic and attempt to learn additional feature bases that cannot be represented through any of the handcrafted features. On the other hand, CNN is computationally more complex and needs a large number of labeled training instances. Since handcrafted features attempt to model domain pertinent attributes and CNN approaches are largely unsupervised feature generation methods, there is an appeal to attempting to combine these two distinct classes of feature generation strategies to create an integrated set of attributes that can potentially outperform either class of feature extraction strategies individually. In this paper, we present a cascaded approach for mitosis detection that intelligently combines a CNN model and handcrafted features (morphology, color and texture features). By employing a light CNN model, the proposed approach is far less demanding computationally, and the cascaded strategy of combining handcrafted features and CNN-derived features enables the possibility of maximizing performance by

SVGenes: a library for rendering genomic features in scalable vector graphic format.

PubMed

Etherington, Graham J; MacLean, Daniel

2013-08-01

Drawing genomic features in attractive and informative ways is a key task in visualization of genomics data. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format is a modern and flexible open standard that provides advanced features including modular graphic design, advanced web interactivity and animation within a suitable client. SVGs do not suffer from loss of image quality on re-scaling and provide the ability to edit individual elements of a graphic on the whole object level independent of the whole image. These features make SVG a potentially useful format for the preparation of publication quality figures including genomic objects such as genes or sequencing coverage and for web applications that require rich user-interaction with the graphical elements. SVGenes is a Ruby-language library that uses SVG primitives to render typical genomic glyphs through a simple and flexible Ruby interface. The library implements a simple Page object that spaces and contains horizontal Track objects that in turn style, colour and positions features within them. Tracks are the level at which visual information is supplied providing the full styling capability of the SVG standard. Genomic entities like genes, transcripts and histograms are modelled in Glyph objects that are attached to a track and take advantage of SVG primitives to render the genomic features in a track as any of a selection of defined glyphs. The feature model within SVGenes is simple but flexible and not dependent on particular existing gene feature formats meaning graphics for any existing datasets can easily be created without need for conversion. The library is provided as a Ruby Gem from https://rubygems.org/gems/bio-svgenes under the MIT license, and open source code is available at https://github.com/danmaclean/bioruby-svgenes also under the MIT License. dan.maclean@tsl.ac.uk.

Key Practices of the Capability Maturity Model, Version 1.1

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-02-01

0-W31 4 Interpreting the CMM ............................................................ 0-35 4.1 Interpreting the Key...Practices............................................. 0-35 4.2 Interpreting the Common Features ..................................... 0-w35 4.2.1...4.2.5 Verifying Implementation ....................................... 0-47 4.3 Interpreting Software Process Definition

Collaborative socioeconomic tool development to address management and planning needs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richardson, Leslie A.; Huber, Christopher; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Donovan, Elizabeth; Koontz, Lynne M.

2014-01-01

Public lands and resources managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and other land management agencies provide a wide range of social and economic benefits to both nearby local communities and society as a whole, ranging from job creation, to access to unique recreational opportunities, to subsistence and tribal uses of the land. Over the years, there has been an increased need to identify and analyze the socioeconomic effects of the public’s use of NPS lands and resources, and the wide range of NPS land management decisions. This need stems from laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), increased litigation and appeals on NPS management decisions, as well as an overall need to demonstrate how parks benefit communities and the American public. To address these needs, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NPS have an ongoing partnership to collaboratively develop socioeconomic tools to support planning needs and resource management. This article discusses two such tools. The first, Assessing Socioeconomic Planning Needs (ASPN), was developed to help NPS planners and managers identify key social and economic issues that can arise as a result of land management actions. The second tool, the Visitor Spending Effects (VSE) model, provides a specific example of a type of analysis that may be recommended by ASPN. The remainder of this article discusses the development, main features, and plans for future versions and applications of both ASPN and the VSE.

Thermoelectric Energy Conversion: Future Directions and Technology Development Needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fleurial, Jean-Pierre

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the process of thermoelectric energy conversion along with key technology needs and challenges. The topics include: 1) The Case for Thermoelectrics; 2) Advances in Thermoelectrics: Investment Needed; 3) Current U.S. Investment (FY07); 4) Increasing Thermoelectric Materials Conversion Efficiency Key Science Needs and Challenges; 5) Developing Advanced TE Components & Systems Key Technology Needs and Challenges; 6) Thermoelectrics; 7) 200W Class Lightweight Portable Thermoelectric Generator; 8) Hybrid Absorption Cooling/TE Power Cogeneration System; 9) Major Opportunities in Energy Industry; 10) Automobile Waste Heat Recovery; 11) Thermoelectrics at JPL; 12) Recent Advances at JPL in Thermoelectric Converter Component Technologies; 13) Thermoelectrics Background on Power Generation and Cooling Operational Modes; 14) Thermoelectric Power Generation; and 15) Thermoelectric Cooling.

Feature selection and classification model construction on type 2 diabetic patients' data.

PubMed

Huang, Yue; McCullagh, Paul; Black, Norman; Harper, Roy

2007-11-01

Diabetes affects between 2% and 4% of the global population (up to 10% in the over 65 age group), and its avoidance and effective treatment are undoubtedly crucial public health and health economics issues in the 21st century. The aim of this research was to identify significant factors influencing diabetes control, by applying feature selection to a working patient management system to assist with ranking, classification and knowledge discovery. The classification models can be used to determine individuals in the population with poor diabetes control status based on physiological and examination factors. The diabetic patients' information was collected by Ulster Community and Hospitals Trust (UCHT) from year 2000 to 2004 as part of clinical management. In order to discover key predictors and latent knowledge, data mining techniques were applied. To improve computational efficiency, a feature selection technique, feature selection via supervised model construction (FSSMC), an optimisation of ReliefF, was used to rank the important attributes affecting diabetic control. After selecting suitable features, three complementary classification techniques (Naïve Bayes, IB1 and C4.5) were applied to the data to predict how well the patients' condition was controlled. FSSMC identified patients' 'age', 'diagnosis duration', the need for 'insulin treatment', 'random blood glucose' measurement and 'diet treatment' as the most important factors influencing blood glucose control. Using the reduced features, a best predictive accuracy of 95% and sensitivity of 98% was achieved. The influence of factors, such as 'type of care' delivered, the use of 'home monitoring', and the importance of 'smoking' on outcome can contribute to domain knowledge in diabetes control. In the care of patients with diabetes, the more important factors identified: patients' 'age', 'diagnosis duration' and 'family history', are beyond the control of physicians. Treatment methods such as 'insulin', 'diet

Roles and Responsibilities in Feature Teams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eckstein, Jutta

Agile development requires self-organizing teams. The set-up of a (feature) team has to enable self-organization. Special care has to be taken if the project is not only distributed, but also large and more than one feature team is involved. Every feature team needs in such a setting a product owner who ensures the continuous focus on business delivery. The product owners collaborate by working together in a virtual team. Each feature team is supported by a coach who ensures not only the agile process of the individual feature team but also across all feature teams. An architect (or if necessary a team of architects) takes care that the system is technically sound. Contrariwise to small co-located projects, large global projects require a project manager who deals with—among other things—internal and especially external politics.

Prominent feature extraction for review analysis: an empirical study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agarwal, Basant; Mittal, Namita

2016-05-01

Sentiment analysis (SA) research has increased tremendously in recent times. SA aims to determine the sentiment orientation of a given text into positive or negative polarity. Motivation for SA research is the need for the industry to know the opinion of the users about their product from online portals, blogs, discussion boards and reviews and so on. Efficient features need to be extracted for machine-learning algorithm for better sentiment classification. In this paper, initially various features are extracted such as unigrams, bi-grams and dependency features from the text. In addition, new bi-tagged features are also extracted that conform to predefined part-of-speech patterns. Furthermore, various composite features are created using these features. Information gain (IG) and minimum redundancy maximum relevancy (mRMR) feature selection methods are used to eliminate the noisy and irrelevant features from the feature vector. Finally, machine-learning algorithms are used for classifying the review document into positive or negative class. Effects of different categories of features are investigated on four standard data-sets, namely, movie review and product (book, DVD and electronics) review data-sets. Experimental results show that composite features created from prominent features of unigram and bi-tagged features perform better than other features for sentiment classification. mRMR is a better feature selection method as compared with IG for sentiment classification. Boolean Multinomial Naïve Bayes) algorithm performs better than support vector machine classifier for SA in terms of accuracy and execution time.

District-Wide Involvement: The Key to Successful School Improvement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mundell, Scott; Babich, George

1989-01-01

Describes the self-study process used by the Marana Unified School District to meet accreditation requirements with minimal expense, to emphasize curriculum development, and to improve the school. Considers the key feature of the cyclical review model to be the personal involvement of nearly every faculty member in the 10-school district. (DMM)

Registration algorithm of point clouds based on multiscale normal features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Jun; Peng, Zhongtao; Su, Hang; Xia, GuiHua

2015-01-01

The point cloud registration technology for obtaining a three-dimensional digital model is widely applied in many areas. To improve the accuracy and speed of point cloud registration, a registration method based on multiscale normal vectors is proposed. The proposed registration method mainly includes three parts: the selection of key points, the calculation of feature descriptors, and the determining and optimization of correspondences. First, key points are selected from the point cloud based on the changes of magnitude of multiscale curvatures obtained by using principal components analysis. Then the feature descriptor of each key point is proposed, which consists of 21 elements based on multiscale normal vectors and curvatures. The correspondences in a pair of two point clouds are determined according to the descriptor's similarity of key points in the source point cloud and target point cloud. Correspondences are optimized by using a random sampling consistency algorithm and clustering technology. Finally, singular value decomposition is applied to optimized correspondences so that the rigid transformation matrix between two point clouds is obtained. Experimental results show that the proposed point cloud registration algorithm has a faster calculation speed, higher registration accuracy, and better antinoise performance.

Integrating care for older people with complex needs: key insights and lessons from a seven-country cross-case analysis.

PubMed

Wodchis, Walter P; Dixon, Anna; Anderson, Geoff M; Goodwin, Nick

2015-01-01

To address the challenges of caring for a growing number of older people with a mix of both health problems and functional impairment, programmes in different countries have different approaches to integrating health and social service supports. The goal of this analysis is to identify important lessons for policy makers and service providers to enable better design, implementation and spread of successful integrated care models. This paper provides a structured cross-case synthesis of seven integrated care programmes in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the USA. All seven programmes involved bottom-up innovation driven by local needs and included: (1) a single point of entry, (2) holistic care assessments, (3) comprehensive care planning, (4) care co-ordination and (5) a well-connected provider network. The process of achieving successful integration involves collaboration and, although the specific types of collaboration varied considerably across the seven case studies, all involved a care coordinator or case manager. Most programmes were not systematically evaluated but the two with formal external evaluations showed benefit and have been expanded. Case managers or care coordinators who support patient-centred collaborative care are key to successful integration in all our cases as are policies that provide funds and support for local initiatives that allow for bottom-up innovation. However, more robust and systematic evaluation of these initiatives is needed to clarify the 'business case' for integrated health and social care and to ensure successful generalization of local successes.

[Elucidation of key genes in sex determination in genetics teaching].

PubMed

Li, Meng; He, Zhumei

2014-06-01

Sex is an important and complex feature of organisms, which is controlled by the genetic and environmental factors. The genetic factors, i.e., genes, are vital in sex determination. However, not all the related genes play the same roles, and some key genes play a vital role in the sex determination and differentiation. With the development of the modern genetics, a great progress on the key genes has been made in sex determination. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of sex determination and the strategy of how to study the key genes in sex determination. It will help us to understand the mechanism of sex determination better in the teaching of genetics.

[Key content and formulation of national Chinese materia medica resources survey at county level].

PubMed

Lu, Jian-Wei; Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Li, Hai-Tao; Guo, Lan-Ping; Zhao, Run-Huai; Zhang, Ben-Gang; Sun, Li-Ying; Huang, Lu-Qi

2013-08-01

According to National Census for Water, National Population Census, National Land and Resources Survey, and work experience of experimental measures for national Chinese materia medica resources(CMMR) survey,the national CMMR survey at the county level is the key point of whole survey, that includes organization and management, field survey, sorting data three key links. Organization and management works of national CMMR survey needs to finish four key contents, there are definite goals and tasks, practicable crew, preparation directory, and security assurance. Field survey works of the national CMMR survey needs to finish five key contents, there are preparation works for field survey, the choice of the key survey area (samples), fill in the questionnaire, video data collection, specimen and other physical collection. Sorting data works of the national CMMR survey needs to finish tree key contents, there are data, specimen and census results.

Provably secure and high-rate quantum key distribution with time-bin qudits

DOE PAGES

Islam, Nurul T.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Cahall, Clinton; ...

2017-11-24

The security of conventional cryptography systems is threatened in the forthcoming era of quantum computers. Quantum key distribution (QKD) features fundamentally proven security and offers a promising option for quantum-proof cryptography solution. Although prototype QKD systems over optical fiber have been demonstrated over the years, the key generation rates remain several orders of magnitude lower than current classical communication systems. In an effort toward a commercially viable QKD system with improved key generation rates, we developed a discrete-variable QKD system based on time-bin quantum photonic states that can generate provably secure cryptographic keys at megabit-per-second rates over metropolitan distances. Wemore » use high-dimensional quantum states that transmit more than one secret bit per received photon, alleviating detector saturation effects in the superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors used in our system that feature very high detection efficiency (of more than 70%) and low timing jitter (of less than 40 ps). Our system is constructed using commercial off-the-shelf components, and the adopted protocol can be readily extended to free-space quantum channels. In conclusion, the security analysis adopted to distill the keys ensures that the demonstrated protocol is robust against coherent attacks, finite-size effects, and a broad class of experimental imperfections identified in our system.« less

Provably secure and high-rate quantum key distribution with time-bin qudits

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

Islam, Nurul T.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Cahall, Clinton

The security of conventional cryptography systems is threatened in the forthcoming era of quantum computers. Quantum key distribution (QKD) features fundamentally proven security and offers a promising option for quantum-proof cryptography solution. Although prototype QKD systems over optical fiber have been demonstrated over the years, the key generation rates remain several orders of magnitude lower than current classical communication systems. In an effort toward a commercially viable QKD system with improved key generation rates, we developed a discrete-variable QKD system based on time-bin quantum photonic states that can generate provably secure cryptographic keys at megabit-per-second rates over metropolitan distances. Wemore » use high-dimensional quantum states that transmit more than one secret bit per received photon, alleviating detector saturation effects in the superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors used in our system that feature very high detection efficiency (of more than 70%) and low timing jitter (of less than 40 ps). Our system is constructed using commercial off-the-shelf components, and the adopted protocol can be readily extended to free-space quantum channels. In conclusion, the security analysis adopted to distill the keys ensures that the demonstrated protocol is robust against coherent attacks, finite-size effects, and a broad class of experimental imperfections identified in our system.« less

Shielding voices: The modulation of binding processes between voice features and response features by task representations.

PubMed

Bogon, Johanna; Eisenbarth, Hedwig; Landgraf, Steffen; Dreisbach, Gesine

2017-09-01

Vocal events offer not only semantic-linguistic content but also information about the identity and the emotional-motivational state of the speaker. Furthermore, most vocal events have implications for our actions and therefore include action-related features. But the relevance and irrelevance of vocal features varies from task to task. The present study investigates binding processes for perceptual and action-related features of spoken words and their modulation by the task representation of the listener. Participants reacted with two response keys to eight different words spoken by a male or a female voice (Experiment 1) or spoken by an angry or neutral male voice (Experiment 2). There were two instruction conditions: half of participants learned eight stimulus-response mappings by rote (SR), and half of participants applied a binary task rule (TR). In both experiments, SR instructed participants showed clear evidence for binding processes between voice and response features indicated by an interaction between the irrelevant voice feature and the response. By contrast, as indicated by a three-way interaction with instruction, no such binding was found in the TR instructed group. These results are suggestive of binding and shielding as two adaptive mechanisms that ensure successful communication and action in a dynamic social environment.

Key features of wave energy.

PubMed

Rainey, R C T

2012-01-28

For a weak point source or dipole, or a small body operating as either, we show that the power from a wave energy converter (WEC) is the product of the particle velocity in the waves, and the wave force (suitably defined). There is a thus a strong analogy with a wind or tidal turbine, where the power is the product of the fluid velocity through the turbine, and the force on it. As a first approximation, the cost of a structure is controlled by the force it has to carry, which governs its strength, and the distance it has to be carried, which governs its size. Thus, WECs are at a disadvantage compared with wind and tidal turbines because the fluid velocities are lower, and hence the forces are higher. On the other hand, the distances involved are lower. As with turbines, the implication is also that a WEC must make the most of its force-carrying ability-ideally, to carry its maximum force all the time, the '100% sweating WEC'. It must be able to limit the wave force on it in larger waves, ultimately becoming near-transparent to them in the survival condition-just like a turbine in extreme conditions, which can stop and feather its blades. A turbine of any force rating can achieve its maximum force in low wind speeds, if its diameter is sufficiently large. This is not possible with a simple monopole or dipole WEC, however, because of the 'nλ/2π' capture width limits. To achieve reasonable 'sweating' in typical wave climates, the force is limited to about 1 MN for a monopole device, or 2 MN for a dipole. The conclusion is that the future of wave energy is in devices that are not simple monopoles or dipoles, but multi-body devices or other shapes equivalent to arrays.

A Novel Re-keying Function Protocol (NRFP) For Wireless Sensor Network Security

PubMed Central

Abdullah, Maan Younis; Hua, Gui Wei; Alsharabi, Naif

2008-01-01

This paper describes a novel re-keying function protocol (NRFP) for wireless sensor network security. A re-keying process management system for sensor networks is designed to support in-network processing. The design of the protocol is motivated by decentralization key management for wireless sensor networks (WSNs), covering key deployment, key refreshment, and key establishment. NRFP supports the establishment of novel administrative functions for sensor nodes that derive/re-derive a session key for each communication session. The protocol proposes direct connection, in-direct connection and hybrid connection. NRFP also includes an efficient protocol for local broadcast authentication based on the use of one-way key chains. A salient feature of the authentication protocol is that it supports source authentication without precluding innetwork processing. Security and performance analysis shows that it is very efficient in computation, communication and storage and, that NRFP is also effective in defending against many sophisticated attacks. PMID:27873963

A Novel Re-keying Function Protocol (NRFP) For Wireless Sensor Network Security.

PubMed

Abdullah, Maan Younis; Hua, Gui Wei; Alsharabi, Naif

2008-12-04

This paper describes a novel re-keying function protocol (NRFP) for wireless sensor network security. A re-keying process management system for sensor networks is designed to support in-network processing. The design of the protocol is motivated by decentralization key management for wireless sensor networks (WSNs), covering key deployment, key refreshment, and key establishment. NRFP supports the establishment of novel administrative functions for sensor nodes that derive/re-derive a session key for each communication session. The protocol proposes direct connection, in-direct connection and hybrid connection. NRFP also includes an efficient protocol for local broadcast authentication based on the use of one-way key chains. A salient feature of the authentication protocol is that it supports source authentication without precluding in-network processing. Security and performance analysis shows that it is very efficient in computation, communication and storage and, that NRFP is also effective in defending against many sophisticated attacks.

Characterizing Feature Matching Performance Over Long Time Periods (Author’s Manuscript)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-05

older imagery. These applications, including approaches to geo-location, geo- orientation [13], geo-tagging [16], landmark recognition [23], image... orientation between features is less than 10 degrees. We calculate the percent of features from the reference image that fit into each of these three...always because the key point detection algorithm did not find feature points at the same locations and orientation . 5. Conclusions In this paper, we offer

Multiple Paths to Mathematics Practice in Al-Kashi's "Key to Arithmetic"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taani, Osama

2014-01-01

In this paper, I discuss one of the most distinguishing features of Jamshid al-Kashi's pedagogy from his "Key to Arithmetic", a well-known Arabic mathematics textbook from the fifteenth century. This feature is the multiple paths that he includes to find a desired result. In the first section light is shed on al-Kashi's life…

How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almond, Russell G.; Kim, Yoon Jeon; Velasquez, Gertrudes; Shute, Valerie J.

2014-01-01

One of the key ideas of evidence-centered assessment design (ECD) is that task features can be deliberately manipulated to change the psychometric properties of items. ECD identifies a number of roles that task-feature variables can play, including determining the focus of evidence, guiding form creation, determining item difficulty and…

Experimental realization of equiangular three-state quantum key distribution

PubMed Central

Schiavon, Matteo; Vallone, Giuseppe; Villoresi, Paolo

2016-01-01

Quantum key distribution using three states in equiangular configuration combines a security threshold comparable with the one of the Bennett-Brassard 1984 protocol and a quantum bit error rate (QBER) estimation that does not need to reveal part of the key. We implement an entanglement-based version of the Renes 2004 protocol, using only passive optic elements in a linear scheme for the positive-operator valued measure (POVM), generating an asymptotic secure key rate of more than 10 kbit/s, with a mean QBER of 1.6%. We then demonstrate its security in the case of finite key and evaluate the key rate for both collective and general attacks. PMID:27465643

Multiple Paths to Mathematics Practice in Al-Kashi's Key to Arithmetic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taani, Osama

2014-01-01

In this paper, I discuss one of the most distinguishing features of Jamshid al-Kashi's pedagogy from his Key to Arithmetic, a well-known Arabic mathematics textbook from the fifteenth century. This feature is the multiple paths that he includes to find a desired result. In the first section light is shed on al-Kashi's life and his contributions to mathematics and astronomy. Section 2 starts with a brief discussion of the contents and pedagogy of the Key to Arithmetic. Al-Kashi's multiple approaches are discussed through four different examples of his versatility in presenting a topic from multiple perspectives. These examples are multiple definitions, multiple algorithms, multiple formulas, and multiple methods for solving word problems. Section 3 is devoted to some benefits that can be gained by implementing al-Kashi's multiple paths approach in modern curricula. For this discussion, examples from two teaching modules taken from the Key to Arithmetic and implemented in Pre-Calculus and mathematics courses for preservice teachers are discussed. Also, the conclusions are supported by some aspects of these modules. This paper is an attempt to help mathematics educators explore more benefits from reading from original sources.

Relating interesting quantitative time series patterns with text events and text features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wanner, Franz; Schreck, Tobias; Jentner, Wolfgang; Sharalieva, Lyubka; Keim, Daniel A.

2013-12-01

In many application areas, the key to successful data analysis is the integrated analysis of heterogeneous data. One example is the financial domain, where time-dependent and highly frequent quantitative data (e.g., trading volume and price information) and textual data (e.g., economic and political news reports) need to be considered jointly. Data analysis tools need to support an integrated analysis, which allows studying the relationships between textual news documents and quantitative properties of the stock market price series. In this paper, we describe a workflow and tool that allows a flexible formation of hypotheses about text features and their combinations, which reflect quantitative phenomena observed in stock data. To support such an analysis, we combine the analysis steps of frequent quantitative and text-oriented data using an existing a-priori method. First, based on heuristics we extract interesting intervals and patterns in large time series data. The visual analysis supports the analyst in exploring parameter combinations and their results. The identified time series patterns are then input for the second analysis step, in which all identified intervals of interest are analyzed for frequent patterns co-occurring with financial news. An a-priori method supports the discovery of such sequential temporal patterns. Then, various text features like the degree of sentence nesting, noun phrase complexity, the vocabulary richness, etc. are extracted from the news to obtain meta patterns. Meta patterns are defined by a specific combination of text features which significantly differ from the text features of the remaining news data. Our approach combines a portfolio of visualization and analysis techniques, including time-, cluster- and sequence visualization and analysis functionality. We provide two case studies, showing the effectiveness of our combined quantitative and textual analysis work flow. The workflow can also be generalized to other

Taking knowledge users' knowledge needs into account in health: an evidence synthesis framework.

PubMed

Wickremasinghe, Deepthi; Kuruvilla, Shyama; Mays, Nicholas; Avan, Bilal Iqbal

2016-05-01

The increased demand for evidence-based practice in health policy in recent years has provoked a parallel increase in diverse evidence-based outputs designed to translate knowledge from researchers to policy makers and practitioners. Such knowledge translation ideally creates user-friendly outputs, tailored to meet information needs in a particular context for a particular audience. Yet matching users' knowledge needs to the most suitable output can be challenging. We have developed an evidence synthesis framework to help knowledge users, brokers, commissioners and producers decide which type of output offers the best 'fit' between 'need' and 'response'. We conducted a four-strand literature search for characteristics and methods of evidence synthesis outputs using databases of peer reviewed literature, specific journals, grey literature and references in relevant documents. Eight experts in synthesis designed to get research into policy and practice were also consulted to hone issues for consideration and ascertain key studies. In all, 24 documents were included in the literature review. From these we identified essential characteristics to consider when planning an output-Readability, Relevance, Rigour and Resources-which we then used to develop a process for matching users' knowledge needs with an appropriate evidence synthesis output. We also identified 10 distinct evidence synthesis outputs, classifying them in the evidence synthesis framework under four domains: key features, utility, technical characteristics and resources, and in relation to six primary audience groups-professionals, practitioners, researchers, academics, advocates and policy makers. Users' knowledge needs vary and meeting them successfully requires collaborative planning. The Framework should facilitate a more systematic assessment of the balance of essential characteristics required to select the best output for the purpose. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

Coordinating Council. Sixth Meeting: Who Are Our Key Users?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

This NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Coordinating Council meeting deals with the topic 'Who are our key users?' Presentations were made on the following subtopics: Key users: Who uses the system the most, Who orders the most documents, Users: What do we know about them?, NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion research project on 'Potential key users', How we meet the user's needs, and STI Council user requirements update. Summaries of discussions after the presentations are included along with visuals for the presentations.

Teaching Science to Learners with Special Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGinnis, J. Randy

2013-01-01

A fundamental social justice issue worldwide is how to meet the needs of all learners, especially those with special needs who historically have faced discrimination, exclusion, and oppression due to special needs (physical, cognitive, or behavioral dimensions). This article focuses on the key questions that researchers interested in improving…

Visualizing complex hydrodynamic features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kempf, Jill L.; Marshall, Robert E.; Yen, Chieh-Cheng

1990-08-01

The Lake Erie Forecasting System is a cooperative project by university, private and governmental institutions to provide continuous forecasting of three-dimensional structure within the lake. The forecasts will include water velocity and temperature distributions throughout the body of water, as well as water level and wind-wave distributions at the lake's surface. Many hydrodynamic features can be extracted from this data, including coastal jets, large-scale thermocline motion and zones of upwelling and downwelling. A visualization system is being developed that will aid in understanding these features and their interactions. Because of the wide variety of features, they cannot all be adequately represented by a single rendering technique. Particle tracing, surface rendering, and volumetric techniques are all necessary. This visualization effortis aimed towards creating a system that will provide meaningful forecasts for those using the lake for recreational and commercial purposes. For example, the fishing industry needs to know about large-scale thermocline motion in order to find the best fishing areas and power plants need to know water intAke temperatures. The visualization system must convey this information in a manner that is easily understood by these users. Scientists must also be able to use this system to verify their hydrodynamic simulation. The focus of the system, therefore, is to provide the information to serve these diverse interests, without overwhelming any single user with unnecessary data.

Prediction of active sites of enzymes by maximum relevance minimum redundancy (mRMR) feature selection.

PubMed

Gao, Yu-Fei; Li, Bi-Qing; Cai, Yu-Dong; Feng, Kai-Yan; Li, Zhan-Dong; Jiang, Yang

2013-01-27

Identification of catalytic residues plays a key role in understanding how enzymes work. Although numerous computational methods have been developed to predict catalytic residues and active sites, the prediction accuracy remains relatively low with high false positives. In this work, we developed a novel predictor based on the Random Forest algorithm (RF) aided by the maximum relevance minimum redundancy (mRMR) method and incremental feature selection (IFS). We incorporated features of physicochemical/biochemical properties, sequence conservation, residual disorder, secondary structure and solvent accessibility to predict active sites of enzymes and achieved an overall accuracy of 0.885687 and MCC of 0.689226 on an independent test dataset. Feature analysis showed that every category of the features except disorder contributed to the identification of active sites. It was also shown via the site-specific feature analysis that the features derived from the active site itself contributed most to the active site determination. Our prediction method may become a useful tool for identifying the active sites and the key features identified by the paper may provide valuable insights into the mechanism of catalysis.

Feature bindings endure without attention: evidence from an explicit recall task.

PubMed

Gajewski, Daniel A; Brockmole, James R

2006-08-01

Are integrated objects the unit of capacity of visual working memory, or is continued attention needed to maintain bindings between independently stored features? In a delayed recall task, participants reported the color and shape of a probed item from a memory array. During the delay, attention was manipulated with an exogenous cue. Recall was elevated at validly cued positions, indicating that the cue affected item memory. On invalid trials, participants most frequently recalled either both features (perfect object memory) or neither of the two features (no object memory); the frequency with which only one feature was recalled was significantly lower than predicted by feature independence as determined in a single-feature recall task. These data do not support the view that features are remembered independently when attention is withdrawn. Instead, integrated objects are stored in visual working memory without need for continued attention.

Preferred features of urban parks and forests

Treesearch

Herbert W. Schroeder

1982-01-01

To make the most efficient use of scarce recreation resources, urban forest managers need to know what features of recreation sites are the most important for creating high-quality recreation environments. In this study, observers viewed photographs of urban forest sites in the Chicago area and described the features of the sites that they liked and disliked. Natural...

CT Features of Ovarian Tumors: Defining Key Differences Between Serous Borderline Tumors and Low-Grade Serous Carcinomas.

PubMed

Nougaret, Stephanie; Lakhman, Yulia; Molinari, Nicolas; Feier, Diana; Scelzo, Chiara; Vargas, Hebert A; Sosa, Ramon E; Hricak, Hedvig; Soslow, Robert A; Grisham, Rachel N; Sala, Evis

2018-04-01

The objective of our study was to investigate whether the CT features of serous borderline tumors (SBTs) differ from those of low-grade serous carcinomas (LGSCs) and to evaluate if mutation status is associated with distinct CT phenotypes. This retrospective study included 59 women, 37 with SBT and 22 with LGSC, who underwent CT before primary surgical resection. Thirty of 59 patients were genetically profiled. Two radiologists (readers 1 and 2) independently and retrospectively reviewed CT examinations for qualitative features and quantified total tumor volumes (TTVs), solid tumor volumes (STVs), and solid proportion of ovarian masses. Univariate and multivariate associations of the CT features with histopathologic diagnoses and mutations were evaluated, and interreader agreement was determined. At multivariate analysis, the presence of bilateral ovarian masses (p = 0.03), the presence of peritoneal disease (PD) (p = 0.002), and higher STV of ovarian masses (p = 0.002) were associated with LGSC. The presence of nodular PD pattern (p < 0.001 each reader) and the presence of PD calcifications (reader 1, p = 0.02; reader 2, p = 0.003) were associated with invasive peritoneal lesions (i.e., LGSC). The presence of bilateral ovarian masses (p = 0.04 each reader), PD (reader 1, p = 0.01; reader 2, p = 0.004), and higher STV (p = 0.03 for each reader) were associated with the absence of BRAF mutation (i.e., wild type [wt]-BRAF). The CT features of LGSCs were distinct from those of SBTs. The CT manifestations of LGSC and the wt-BRAF phenotype were similar.

ClinicalKey 2.0: Upgrades in a Point-of-Care Search Engine.

PubMed

Huslig, Mary Ann; Vardell, Emily

2015-01-01

ClinicalKey 2.0, launched September 23, 2014, offers a mobile-friendly design with a search history feature for targeting point-of-care resources for health care professionals. Browsing is improved with searchable, filterable listings of sources highlighting new resources. ClinicalKey 2.0 improvements include more than 1,400 new Topic Pages for quick access to point-of-care content. A sample search details some of the upgrades and content options.

Virtual-optical information security system based on public key infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Xiang; Zhang, Peng; Cai, Lilong; Niu, Hanben

2005-01-01

A virtual-optical based encryption model with the aid of public key infrastructure (PKI) is presented in this paper. The proposed model employs a hybrid architecture in which our previously published encryption method based on virtual-optics scheme (VOS) can be used to encipher and decipher data while an asymmetric algorithm, for example RSA, is applied for enciphering and deciphering the session key(s). The whole information security model is run under the framework of international standard ITU-T X.509 PKI, which is on basis of public-key cryptography and digital signatures. This PKI-based VOS security approach has additional features like confidentiality, authentication, and integrity for the purpose of data encryption under the environment of network. Numerical experiments prove the effectiveness of the method. The security of proposed model is briefly analyzed by examining some possible attacks from the viewpoint of a cryptanalysis.

Escalator design features evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimmerman, W. F.; Deshpande, G. K.

1982-01-01

Escalators are available with design features such as dual speed (90 and 120 fpm), mat operation and flat steps. These design features were evaluated based on the impact of each on capital and operating costs, traffic flow, and safety. A human factors engineering model was developed to analyze the need for flat steps at various speeds. Mat operation of escalators was found to be cost effective in terms of energy savings. Dual speed operation of escalators with the higher speed used during peak hours allows for efficient operation. A minimum number of flat steps required as a function of escalator speed was developed to ensure safety for the elderly.

A Detailed Data-Driven Network Model of Prefrontal Cortex Reproduces Key Features of In Vivo Activity

PubMed Central

Hass, Joachim; Hertäg, Loreen; Durstewitz, Daniel

2016-01-01

The prefrontal cortex is centrally involved in a wide range of cognitive functions and their impairment in psychiatric disorders. Yet, the computational principles that govern the dynamics of prefrontal neural networks, and link their physiological, biochemical and anatomical properties to cognitive functions, are not well understood. Computational models can help to bridge the gap between these different levels of description, provided they are sufficiently constrained by experimental data and capable of predicting key properties of the intact cortex. Here, we present a detailed network model of the prefrontal cortex, based on a simple computationally efficient single neuron model (simpAdEx), with all parameters derived from in vitro electrophysiological and anatomical data. Without additional tuning, this model could be shown to quantitatively reproduce a wide range of measures from in vivo electrophysiological recordings, to a degree where simulated and experimentally observed activities were statistically indistinguishable. These measures include spike train statistics, membrane potential fluctuations, local field potentials, and the transmission of transient stimulus information across layers. We further demonstrate that model predictions are robust against moderate changes in key parameters, and that synaptic heterogeneity is a crucial ingredient to the quantitative reproduction of in vivo-like electrophysiological behavior. Thus, we have produced a physiologically highly valid, in a quantitative sense, yet computationally efficient PFC network model, which helped to identify key properties underlying spike time dynamics as observed in vivo, and can be harvested for in-depth investigation of the links between physiology and cognition. PMID:27203563

Key structural features of nonsteroidal ligands for binding and activation of the androgen receptor.

PubMed

Yin, Donghua; He, Yali; Perera, Minoli A; Hong, Seoung Soo; Marhefka, Craig; Stourman, Nina; Kirkovsky, Leonid; Miller, Duane D; Dalton, James T

2003-01-01

The purposes of the present studies were to examine the androgen receptor (AR) binding ability and in vitro functional activity of multiple series of nonsteroidal compounds derived from known antiandrogen pharmacophores and to investigate the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of these nonsteroidal compounds. The AR binding properties of sixty-five nonsteroidal compounds were assessed by a radioligand competitive binding assay with the use of cytosolic AR prepared from rat prostates. The AR agonist and antagonist activities of high-affinity ligands were determined by the ability of the ligand to regulate AR-mediated transcriptional activation in cultured CV-1 cells, using a cotransfection assay. Nonsteroidal compounds with diverse structural features demonstrated a wide range of binding affinity for the AR. Ten compounds, mainly from the bicalutamide-related series, showed a binding affinity superior to the structural pharmacophore from which they were derived. Several SARs regarding nonsteroidal AR binding were revealed from the binding data, including stereoisomeric conformation, steric effect, and electronic effect. The functional activity of high-affinity ligands ranged from antagonist to full agonist for the AR. Several structural features were found to be determinative of agonist and antagonist activities. The nonsteroidal AR agonists identified from the present studies provided a pool of candidates for further development of selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) for androgen therapy. Also, these studies uncovered or confirmed numerous important SARs governing AR binding and functional properties by nonsteroidal molecules, which would be valuable in the future structural optimization of SARMs.

Five Keys for Teaching Mental Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, James R.

2015-01-01

After studying the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and brain-based learning research, James Olsen believes mental math instruction in secondary school mathematics (grades 7-12) and in teacher education programs needs increased attention. The purpose of this article is to share some keys for teaching mental math. Olsen also…

Medical Need, Equality, and Uncertainty.

PubMed

Horne, L Chad

2016-10-01

Many hold that distributing healthcare according to medical need is a requirement of equality. Most egalitarians believe, however, that people ought to be equal on the whole, by some overall measure of well-being or life-prospects; it would be a massive coincidence if distributing healthcare according to medical need turned out to be an effective way of promoting equality overall. I argue that distributing healthcare according to medical need is important for reducing individuals' uncertainty surrounding their future medical needs. In other words, distributing healthcare according to medical need is a natural feature of healthcare insurance; it is about indemnity, not equality. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Compact cancer biomarkers discovery using a swarm intelligence feature selection algorithm.

PubMed

Martinez, Emmanuel; Alvarez, Mario Moises; Trevino, Victor

2010-08-01

Biomarker discovery is a typical application from functional genomics. Due to the large number of genes studied simultaneously in microarray data, feature selection is a key step. Swarm intelligence has emerged as a solution for the feature selection problem. However, swarm intelligence settings for feature selection fail to select small features subsets. We have proposed a swarm intelligence feature selection algorithm based on the initialization and update of only a subset of particles in the swarm. In this study, we tested our algorithm in 11 microarray datasets for brain, leukemia, lung, prostate, and others. We show that the proposed swarm intelligence algorithm successfully increase the classification accuracy and decrease the number of selected features compared to other swarm intelligence methods. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensor-oriented feature usability evaluation in fingerprint segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ying; Yin, Yilong; Yang, Gongping

2013-06-01

Existing fingerprint segmentation methods usually process fingerprint images captured by different sensors with the same feature or feature set. We propose to improve the fingerprint segmentation result in view of an important fact that images from different sensors have different characteristics for segmentation. Feature usability evaluation, which means to evaluate the usability of features to find the personalized feature or feature set for different sensors to improve the performance of segmentation. The need for feature usability evaluation for fingerprint segmentation is raised and analyzed as a new issue. To address this issue, we present a decision-tree-based feature-usability evaluation method, which utilizes a C4.5 decision tree algorithm to evaluate and pick the best suitable feature or feature set for fingerprint segmentation from a typical candidate feature set. We apply the novel method on the FVC2002 database of fingerprint images, which are acquired by four different respective sensors and technologies. Experimental results show that the accuracy of segmentation is improved, and time consumption for feature extraction is dramatically reduced with selected feature(s).

One Step Quantum Key Distribution Based on EPR Entanglement.

PubMed

Li, Jian; Li, Na; Li, Lei-Lei; Wang, Tao

2016-06-30

A novel quantum key distribution protocol is presented, based on entanglement and dense coding and allowing asymptotically secure key distribution. Considering the storage time limit of quantum bits, a grouping quantum key distribution protocol is proposed, which overcomes the vulnerability of first protocol and improves the maneuverability. Moreover, a security analysis is given and a simple type of eavesdropper's attack would introduce at least an error rate of 46.875%. Compared with the "Ping-pong" protocol involving two steps, the proposed protocol does not need to store the qubit and only involves one step.

Completely device-independent quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aguilar, Edgar A.; Ramanathan, Ravishankar; Kofler, Johannes; Pawłowski, Marcin

2016-08-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a provably secure way for two distant parties to establish a common secret key, which then can be used in a classical cryptographic scheme. Using quantum entanglement, one can reduce the necessary assumptions that the parties have to make about their devices, giving rise to device-independent QKD (DIQKD). However, in all existing protocols to date the parties need to have an initial (at least partially) random seed as a resource. In this work, we show that this requirement can be dropped. Using recent advances in the fields of randomness amplification and randomness expansion, we demonstrate that it is sufficient for the message the parties want to communicate to be (partially) unknown to the adversaries—an assumption without which any type of cryptography would be pointless to begin with. One party can use her secret message to locally generate a secret sequence of bits, which can then be openly used by herself and the other party in a DIQKD protocol. Hence our work reduces the requirements needed to perform secure DIQKD and establish safe communication.

The Progressive BSSG Rat Model of Parkinson's: Recapitulating Multiple Key Features of the Human Disease

PubMed Central

Van Kampen, Jackalina M.; Baranowski, David C.; Robertson, Harold A.; Shaw, Christopher A.; Kay, Denis G.

2015-01-01

The development of effective neuroprotective therapies for Parkinson's disease (PD) has been severely hindered by the notable lack of an appropriate animal model for preclinical screening. Indeed, most models currently available are either acute in nature or fail to recapitulate all characteristic features of the disease. Here, we present a novel progressive model of PD, with behavioural and cellular features that closely approximate those observed in patients. Chronic exposure to dietary phytosterol glucosides has been found to be neurotoxic. When fed to rats, β-sitosterol β-d-glucoside (BSSG) triggers the progressive development of parkinsonism, with clinical signs and histopathology beginning to appear following cessation of exposure to the neurotoxic insult and continuing to develop over several months. Here, we characterize the progressive nature of this model, its non-motor features, the anatomical spread of synucleinopathy, and response to levodopa administration. In Sprague Dawley rats, chronic BSSG feeding for 4 months triggered the progressive development of a parkinsonian phenotype and pathological events that evolved slowly over time, with neuronal loss beginning only after toxin exposure was terminated. At approximately 3 months following initiation of BSSG exposure, animals displayed the early emergence of an olfactory deficit, in the absence of significant dopaminergic nigral cell loss or locomotor deficits. Locomotor deficits developed gradually over time, initially appearing as locomotor asymmetry and developing into akinesia/bradykinesia, which was reversed by levodopa treatment. Late-stage cognitive impairment was observed in the form of spatial working memory deficits, as assessed by the radial arm maze. In addition to the progressive loss of TH+ cells in the substantia nigra, the appearance of proteinase K-resistant intracellular α-synuclein aggregates was also observed to develop progressively, appearing first in the olfactory bulb, then

Features of CRISPR-Cas Regulation Key to Highly Efficient and Temporally-Specific crRNA Production.

PubMed

Rodic, Andjela; Blagojevic, Bojana; Djordjevic, Magdalena; Severinov, Konstantin; Djordjevic, Marko

2017-01-01

Bacterial immune systems, such as CRISPR-Cas or restriction-modification (R-M) systems, affect bacterial pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance by modulating horizontal gene flow. A model system for CRISPR-Cas regulation, the Type I-E system from Escherichia coli , is silent under standard laboratory conditions and experimentally observing the dynamics of CRISPR-Cas activation is challenging. Two characteristic features of CRISPR-Cas regulation in E. coli are cooperative transcription repression of cas gene and CRISPR array promoters, and fast non-specific degradation of full length CRISPR transcripts (pre-crRNA). In this work, we use computational modeling to understand how these features affect the system expression dynamics. Signaling which leads to CRISPR-Cas activation is currently unknown, so to bypass this step, we here propose a conceptual setup for cas expression activation, where cas genes are put under transcription control typical for a restriction-modification (R-M) system and then introduced into a cell. Known transcription regulation of an R-M system is used as a proxy for currently unknown CRISPR-Cas transcription control, as both systems are characterized by high cooperativity, which is likely related to similar dynamical constraints of their function. We find that the two characteristic CRISPR-Cas control features are responsible for its temporally-specific dynamical response, so that the system makes a steep (switch-like) transition from OFF to ON state with a time-delay controlled by pre-crRNA degradation rate. We furthermore find that cooperative transcription regulation qualitatively leads to a cross-over to a regime where, at higher pre-crRNA processing rates, crRNA generation approaches the limit of an infinitely abrupt system induction. We propose that these dynamical properties are associated with rapid expression of CRISPR-Cas components and efficient protection of bacterial cells against foreign DNA. In terms of synthetic applications

Semiquantum key distribution with secure delegated quantum computation

PubMed Central

Li, Qin; Chan, Wai Hong; Zhang, Shengyu

2016-01-01

Semiquantum key distribution allows a quantum party to share a random key with a “classical” party who only can prepare and measure qubits in the computational basis or reorder some qubits when he has access to a quantum channel. In this work, we present a protocol where a secret key can be established between a quantum user and an almost classical user who only needs the quantum ability to access quantum channels, by securely delegating quantum computation to a quantum server. We show the proposed protocol is robust even when the delegated quantum server is a powerful adversary, and is experimentally feasible with current technology. As one party of our protocol is the most quantum-resource efficient, it can be more practical and significantly widen the applicability scope of quantum key distribution. PMID:26813384

Transforming Medical Education is the Key to Meeting North Carolina's Physician Workforce Needs.

PubMed

Cunningham, Paul R G; Baxley, Elizabeth G; Garrison, Herbert G

2016-01-01

To meet the needs of the population of North Carolina, an epic transformation is under way in health care. This transformation requires that we find new ways to educate and train physicians and other health care professionals. In this commentary, we propose that the success of the Brody School of Medicine in preparing a primary care physician workforce can serve as a model for meeting the state's future physician workforce needs. Other considerations include increasing graduate medical education positions through state funding and providing incentives for medical students who stay in North Carolina. ©2016 by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and The Duke Endowment. All rights reserved.

Information security system based on virtual-optics imaging methodology and public key infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Xiang; Zhang, Peng; Cai, Lilong

In this paper, we present a virtual-optical based information security system model with the aid of public-key-infrastructure (PKI) techniques. The proposed model employs a hybrid architecture in which our previously published encryption algorithm based on virtual-optics imaging methodology (VOIM) can be used to encipher and decipher data while an asymmetric algorithm, for example RSA, is applied for enciphering and deciphering the session key(s). For an asymmetric system, given an encryption key, it is computationally infeasible to determine the decryption key and vice versa. The whole information security model is run under the framework of PKI, which is on basis of public-key cryptography and digital signatures. This PKI-based VOIM security approach has additional features like confidentiality, authentication, and integrity for the purpose of data encryption under the environment of network.

Key Elements for Judging the Quality of a Risk Assessment

PubMed Central

Fenner-Crisp, Penelope A.; Dellarco, Vicki L.

2016-01-01

Background: Many reports have been published that contain recommendations for improving the quality, transparency, and usefulness of decision making for risk assessments prepared by agencies of the U.S. federal government. A substantial measure of consensus has emerged regarding the characteristics that high-quality assessments should possess. Objective: The goal was to summarize the key characteristics of a high-quality assessment as identified in the consensus-building process and to integrate them into a guide for use by decision makers, risk assessors, peer reviewers and other interested stakeholders to determine if an assessment meets the criteria for high quality. Discussion: Most of the features cited in the guide are applicable to any type of assessment, whether it encompasses one, two, or all four phases of the risk-assessment paradigm; whether it is qualitative or quantitative; and whether it is screening level or highly sophisticated and complex. Other features are tailored to specific elements of an assessment. Just as agencies at all levels of government are responsible for determining the effectiveness of their programs, so too should they determine the effectiveness of their assessments used in support of their regulatory decisions. Furthermore, if a nongovernmental entity wishes to have its assessments considered in the governmental regulatory decision-making process, then these assessments should be judged in the same rigorous manner and be held to similar standards. Conclusions: The key characteristics of a high-quality assessment can be summarized and integrated into a guide for judging whether an assessment possesses the desired features of high quality, transparency, and usefulness. Citation: Fenner-Crisp PA, Dellarco VL. 2016. Key elements for judging the quality of a risk assessment. Environ Health Perspect 124:1127–1135; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510483 PMID:26862984

Opinion mining feature-level using Naive Bayes and feature extraction based analysis dependencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanda, Regi; Baizal, Z. K. Abdurahman; Nhita, Fhira

2015-12-01

Development of internet and technology, has major impact and providing new business called e-commerce. Many e-commerce sites that provide convenience in transaction, and consumers can also provide reviews or opinions on products that purchased. These opinions can be used by consumers and producers. Consumers to know the advantages and disadvantages of particular feature of the product. Procuders can analyse own strengths and weaknesses as well as it's competitors products. Many opinions need a method that the reader can know the point of whole opinion. The idea emerged from review summarization that summarizes the overall opinion based on sentiment and features contain. In this study, the domain that become the main focus is about the digital camera. This research consisted of four steps 1) giving the knowledge to the system to recognize the semantic orientation of an opinion 2) indentify the features of product 3) indentify whether the opinion gives a positive or negative 4) summarizing the result. In this research discussed the methods such as Naï;ve Bayes for sentiment classification, and feature extraction algorithm based on Dependencies Analysis, which is one of the tools in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and knowledge based dictionary which is useful for handling implicit features. The end result of research is a summary that contains a bunch of reviews from consumers on the features and sentiment. With proposed method, accuration for sentiment classification giving 81.2 % for positive test data, 80.2 % for negative test data, and accuration for feature extraction reach 90.3 %.

The method for froth floatation condition recognition based on adaptive feature weighted

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jieran; Zhang, Jun; Tian, Jinwen; Zhang, Daimeng; Liu, Xiaomao

2018-03-01

The fusion of foam characteristics can play a complementary role in expressing the content of foam image. The weight of foam characteristics is the key to make full use of the relationship between the different features. In this paper, an Adaptive Feature Weighted Method For Froth Floatation Condition Recognition is proposed. Foam features without and with weights are both classified by using support vector machine (SVM).The classification accuracy and optimal equaling algorithm under the each ore grade are regarded as the result of the adaptive feature weighting algorithm. At the same time the effectiveness of adaptive weighted method is demonstrated.

Water and the other three revolutions needed to end rural poverty.

PubMed

Polak, P

2005-01-01

Eight hundred million of the current 1.1 billion people who earn less than a dollar-a-day live in rural areas in developing countries. Since more than 550 million of them earn their living from agriculture, poverty eradication depends on increasing their income from farming. The millennium goals for hunger and poverty in the semi-arid tropics will not be met without four simultaneous revolutions. A revolution in water is needed to develop and mass disseminate a whole range of new affordable small plot irrigation technology. A revolution in agriculture is required to enable smallholders to produce a variety of high value marketable labor intensive cash crops. A revolution in markets is needed to open access to inputs and to profitable markets for their high value crops, incorporating effective strategies for aggregation, quality control, and decentralized added value processing. Finally, a revolution in design based on the ruthless pursuit of affordability is needed to support the other three revolutions. This paper describes the rapidly growing micro-irrigation revolution exemplified by the 250 million dollars in new net annual income now being earned by Treadle Pump farmers, and outlines the key features of the other three revolutions required to meet millennium poverty goals.

Interplay of multiple synaptic plasticity features in filamentary memristive devices for neuromorphic computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

La Barbera, Selina; Vincent, Adrien F.; Vuillaume, Dominique; Querlioz, Damien; Alibart, Fabien

2016-12-01

Bio-inspired computing represents today a major challenge at different levels ranging from material science for the design of innovative devices and circuits to computer science for the understanding of the key features required for processing of natural data. In this paper, we propose a detail analysis of resistive switching dynamics in electrochemical metallization cells for synaptic plasticity implementation. We show how filament stability associated to joule effect during switching can be used to emulate key synaptic features such as short term to long term plasticity transition and spike timing dependent plasticity. Furthermore, an interplay between these different synaptic features is demonstrated for object motion detection in a spike-based neuromorphic circuit. System level simulation presents robust learning and promising synaptic operation paving the way to complex bio-inspired computing systems composed of innovative memory devices.

Calculation of key reduction for B92 QKD protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehic, Miralem; Partila, Pavol; Tovarek, Jaromir; Voznak, Miroslav

2015-05-01

It is well known that Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) can be used with the highest level of security for distribution of the secret key, which is further used for symmetrical encryption. B92 is one of the oldest QKD protocols. It uses only two non-orthogonal states, each one coding for one bit-value. It is much faster and simpler when compared to its predecessors, but with the idealized maximum efficiencies of 25% over the quantum channel. B92 consists of several phases in which initial key is significantly reduced: secret key exchange, extraction of the raw key (sifting), error rate estimation, key reconciliation and privacy amplification. QKD communication is performed over two channels: the quantum channel and the classical public channel. In order to prevent a man-in-the-middle attack and modification of messages on the public channel, authentication of exchanged values must be performed. We used Wegman-Carter authentication because it describes an upper bound for needed symmetric authentication key. We explained the reduction of the initial key in each of QKD phases.

Effective Moment Feature Vectors for Protein Domain Structures

PubMed Central

Shi, Jian-Yu; Yiu, Siu-Ming; Zhang, Yan-Ning; Chin, Francis Yuk-Lun

2013-01-01

Imaging processing techniques have been shown to be useful in studying protein domain structures. The idea is to represent the pairwise distances of any two residues of the structure in a 2D distance matrix (DM). Features and/or submatrices are extracted from this DM to represent a domain. Existing approaches, however, may involve a large number of features (100–400) or complicated mathematical operations. Finding fewer but more effective features is always desirable. In this paper, based on some key observations on DMs, we are able to decompose a DM image into four basic binary images, each representing the structural characteristics of a fundamental secondary structure element (SSE) or a motif in the domain. Using the concept of moments in image processing, we further derive 45 structural features based on the four binary images. Together with 4 features extracted from the basic images, we represent the structure of a domain using 49 features. We show that our feature vectors can represent domain structures effectively in terms of the following. (1) We show a higher accuracy for domain classification. (2) We show a clear and consistent distribution of domains using our proposed structural vector space. (3) We are able to cluster the domains according to our moment features and demonstrate a relationship between structural variation and functional diversity. PMID:24391828

Identifying key radiogenomic associations between DCE-MRI and micro-RNA expressions for breast cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samala, Ravi K.; Chan, Heang-Ping; Hadjiiski, Lubomir; Helvie, Mark A.; Kim, Renaid

2017-03-01

Understanding the key radiogenomic associations for breast cancer between DCE-MRI and micro-RNA expressions is the foundation for the discovery of radiomic features as biomarkers for assessing tumor progression and prognosis. We conducted a study to analyze the radiogenomic associations for breast cancer using the TCGA-TCIA data set. The core idea that tumor etiology is a function of the behavior of miRNAs is used to build the regression models. The associations based on regression are analyzed for three study outcomes: diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. The diagnosis group consists of miRNAs associated with clinicopathologic features of breast cancer and significant aberration of expression in breast cancer patients. The prognosis group consists of miRNAs which are closely associated with tumor suppression and regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation. The treatment group consists of miRNAs that contribute significantly to the regulation of metastasis thereby having the potential to be part of therapeutic mechanisms. As a first step, important miRNA expressions were identified and their ability to classify the clinical phenotypes based on the study outcomes was evaluated using the area under the ROC curve (AUC) as a figure-of-merit. The key mapping between the selected miRNAs and radiomic features were determined using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis within a two-loop leave-one-out cross-validation strategy. These key associations indicated a number of radiomic features from DCE-MRI to be potential biomarkers for the three study outcomes.

Tumors of the Testis: Morphologic Features and Molecular Alterations.

PubMed

Howitt, Brooke E; Berney, Daniel M

2015-12-01

This article reviews the most frequently encountered tumor of the testis; pure and mixed malignant testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT), with emphasis on adult (postpubertal) TGCTs and their differential diagnoses. We additionally review TGCT in the postchemotherapy setting, and findings to be integrated into the surgical pathology report, including staging of testicular tumors and other problematic issues. The clinical features, gross pathologic findings, key histologic features, common differential diagnoses, the use of immunohistochemistry, and molecular alterations in TGCTs are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Key-value store with internal key-value storage interface

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

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Ting, Dennis P. J.

A key-value store is provided having one or more key-value storage interfaces. A key-value store on at least one compute node comprises a memory for storing a plurality of key-value pairs; and an abstract storage interface comprising a software interface module that communicates with at least one persistent storage device providing a key-value interface for persistent storage of one or more of the plurality of key-value pairs, wherein the software interface module provides the one or more key-value pairs to the at least one persistent storage device in a key-value format. The abstract storage interface optionally processes one or moremore » batch operations on the plurality of key-value pairs. A distributed embodiment for a partitioned key-value store is also provided.« less

Online feature selection with streaming features.

PubMed

Wu, Xindong; Yu, Kui; Ding, Wei; Wang, Hao; Zhu, Xingquan

2013-05-01

We propose a new online feature selection framework for applications with streaming features where the knowledge of the full feature space is unknown in advance. We define streaming features as features that flow in one by one over time whereas the number of training examples remains fixed. This is in contrast with traditional online learning methods that only deal with sequentially added observations, with little attention being paid to streaming features. The critical challenges for Online Streaming Feature Selection (OSFS) include 1) the continuous growth of feature volumes over time, 2) a large feature space, possibly of unknown or infinite size, and 3) the unavailability of the entire feature set before learning starts. In the paper, we present a novel Online Streaming Feature Selection method to select strongly relevant and nonredundant features on the fly. An efficient Fast-OSFS algorithm is proposed to improve feature selection performance. The proposed algorithms are evaluated extensively on high-dimensional datasets and also with a real-world case study on impact crater detection. Experimental results demonstrate that the algorithms achieve better compactness and higher prediction accuracy than existing streaming feature selection algorithms.

FPL designs meet family housing needs

Treesearch

G. E. Sherwood

1972-01-01

The Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has developed five house plans for low-cost rural houses to demonstrate cost-saving principles of construction, The plans feature simplicity of design, but provide structurally sound houses that fulfill the needs of many families. To determine to what extent the plans were used, how they met the needs and the acceptance standards of...

Job loss, human capital job feature, and work condition job feature as distinct job insecurity constructs.

PubMed

Blau, Gary; Tatum, Donna Surges; McCoy, Keith; Dobria, Lidia; Ward-Cook, Kory

2004-01-01

The projected growth of new technologies, increasing use of automation, and continued consolidation of health-related services suggest that continued study of job insecurity is needed for health care professionals. Using a sample of 178 medical technologists over a 5-year period, this study's findings extend earlier work by Blau and Sharp (2000) and suggest that job loss insecurity, human capital job feature insecurity, and work condition job feature insecurity are related but distinct types of job insecurity. A seven-item measure of job loss insecurity, a four-item measure of human capital job feature insecurity, and a four-item measure of work condition job feature insecurity were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis using a more heterogeneous sample of 447 working adults supported this three-factor structure. Using correlation and path analysis, different significant relationships of antecedent variables and subsequent organizational withdrawal cognitions to these three types of job insecurity were found.

Lipid Processing in the Brain: A Key Regulator of Systemic Metabolism

PubMed Central

Bruce, Kimberley D.; Zsombok, Andrea; Eckel, Robert H.

2017-01-01

Metabolic disorders, particularly aberrations in lipid homeostasis, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertriglyceridemia often manifest together as the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Despite major advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of these disorders, the prevalence of the MetS continues to rise. It is becoming increasingly apparent that intermediary metabolism within the central nervous system is a major contributor to the regulation of systemic metabolism. In particular, lipid metabolism within the brain is tightly regulated to maintain neuronal structure and function and may signal nutrient status to modulate metabolism in key peripheral tissues such as the liver. There is now a growing body of evidence to suggest that fatty acid (FA) sensing in hypothalamic neurons via accumulation of FAs or FA metabolites may signal nutritional sufficiency and may decrease hepatic glucose production, lipogenesis, and VLDL-TG secretion. In addition, recent studies have highlighted the existence of liver-related neurons that have the potential to direct such signals through parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity. However, to date whether these liver-related neurons are FA sensitive remain to be determined. The findings discussed in this review underscore the importance of the autonomic nervous system in the regulation of systemic metabolism and highlight the need for further research to determine the key features of FA neurons, which may serve as novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of metabolic disorders. PMID:28421037

Adolescent Sleep Needs and School Starting Times.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wahlstrom, Kyla L., Ed.

A key task for schools is to ensure that the conditions in which learning is to take place address the biological needs of the learners. This book examines sleep needs of adolescents and discusses the implications of these needs for school starting times. This book is a collection of five articles that appeared in a special section of the Phi…

Differential Fault Analysis on CLEFIA with 128, 192, and 256-Bit Keys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Junko; Fukunaga, Toshinori

This paper describes a differential fault analysis (DFA) attack against CLEFIA. The proposed attack can be applied to CLEFIA with all supported keys: 128, 192, and 256-bit keys. DFA is a type of side-channel attack. This attack enables the recovery of secret keys by injecting faults into a secure device during its computation of the cryptographic algorithm and comparing the correct ciphertext with the faulty one. CLEFIA is a 128-bit blockcipher with 128, 192, and 256-bit keys developed by the Sony Corporation in 2007. CLEFIA employs a generalized Feistel structure with four data lines. We developed a new attack method that uses this characteristic structure of the CLEFIA algorithm. On the basis of the proposed attack, only 2 pairs of correct and faulty ciphertexts are needed to retrieve the 128-bit key, and 10.78 pairs on average are needed to retrieve the 192 and 256-bit keys. The proposed attack is more efficient than any previously reported. In order to verify the proposed attack and estimate the calculation time to recover the secret key, we conducted an attack simulation using a PC. The simulation results show that we can obtain each secret key within three minutes on average. This result shows that we can obtain the entire key within a feasible computational time.

Automatic Extraction of Planetary Image Features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Troglio, G.; LeMoigne, J.; Moser, G.; Serpico, S. B.; Benediktsson, J. A.

2009-01-01

With the launch of several Lunar missions such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Chandrayaan-1, a large amount of Lunar images will be acquired and will need to be analyzed. Although many automatic feature extraction methods have been proposed and utilized for Earth remote sensing images, these methods are not always applicable to Lunar data that often present low contrast and uneven illumination characteristics. In this paper, we propose a new method for the extraction of Lunar features (that can be generalized to other planetary images), based on the combination of several image processing techniques, a watershed segmentation and the generalized Hough Transform. This feature extraction has many applications, among which image registration.

One Step Quantum Key Distribution Based on EPR Entanglement

PubMed Central

Li, Jian; Li, Na; Li, Lei-Lei; Wang, Tao

2016-01-01

A novel quantum key distribution protocol is presented, based on entanglement and dense coding and allowing asymptotically secure key distribution. Considering the storage time limit of quantum bits, a grouping quantum key distribution protocol is proposed, which overcomes the vulnerability of first protocol and improves the maneuverability. Moreover, a security analysis is given and a simple type of eavesdropper’s attack would introduce at least an error rate of 46.875%. Compared with the “Ping-pong” protocol involving two steps, the proposed protocol does not need to store the qubit and only involves one step. PMID:27357865

Key exchange using biometric identity based encryption for sharing encrypted data in cloud environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassan, Waleed K.; Al-Assam, Hisham

2017-05-01

The main problem associated with using symmetric/ asymmetric keys is how to securely store and exchange the keys between the parties over open networks particularly in the open environment such as cloud computing. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) have been providing a practical solution for session key exchange for loads of web services. The key limitation of PKI solution is not only the need for a trusted third partly (e.g. certificate authority) but also the absent link between data owner and the encryption keys. The latter is arguably more important where accessing data needs to be linked with identify of the owner. Currently available key exchange protocols depend on using trusted couriers or secure channels, which can be subject to man-in-the-middle attack and various other attacks. This paper proposes a new protocol for Key Exchange using Biometric Identity Based Encryption (KE-BIBE) that enables parties to securely exchange cryptographic keys even an adversary is monitoring the communication channel between the parties. The proposed protocol combines biometrics with IBE in order to provide a secure way to access symmetric keys based on the identity of the users in unsecure environment. In the KE-BIOBE protocol, the message is first encrypted by the data owner using a traditional symmetric key before migrating it to a cloud storage. The symmetric key is then encrypted using public biometrics of the users selected by data owner to decrypt the message based on Fuzzy Identity-Based Encryption. Only the selected users will be able to decrypt the message by providing a fresh sample of their biometric data. The paper argues that the proposed solution eliminates the needs for a key distribution centre in traditional cryptography. It will also give data owner the power of finegrained sharing of encrypted data by control who can access their data.

The role of emotion in musical improvisation: an analysis of structural features.

PubMed

McPherson, Malinda J; Lopez-Gonzalez, Monica; Rankin, Summer K; Limb, Charles J

2014-01-01

One of the primary functions of music is to convey emotion, yet how music accomplishes this task remains unclear. For example, simple correlations between mode (major vs. minor) and emotion (happy vs. sad) do not adequately explain the enormous range, subtlety or complexity of musically induced emotions. In this study, we examined the structural features of unconstrained musical improvisations generated by jazz pianists in response to emotional cues. We hypothesized that musicians would not utilize any universal rules to convey emotions, but would instead combine heterogeneous musical elements together in order to depict positive and negative emotions. Our findings demonstrate a lack of simple correspondence between emotions and musical features of spontaneous musical improvisation. While improvisations in response to positive emotional cues were more likely to be in major keys, have faster tempos, faster key press velocities and more staccato notes when compared to negative improvisations, there was a wide distribution for each emotion with components that directly violated these primary associations. The finding that musicians often combine disparate features together in order to convey emotion during improvisation suggests that structural diversity may be an essential feature of the ability of music to express a wide range of emotion.

Key issues in space nuclear power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandhorst, Henry W.

1991-01-01

The future appears rich in missions that will extend the frontiers of knowledge, human presence in space, and opportunities for profitable commerce. Key to the success of these ventures is the availability of plentiful, cost effective electric power and assured, low cost access to space. While forecasts of space power needs are problematic, an assessment of future needs based on terrestrial experience has been made. These needs fall into three broad categories: survival, self sufficiency, and industrialization. The cost of delivering payloads to orbital locations from LEO to Mars has been determined and future launch cost reductions projected. From these factors, then, projections of the performance necessary for future solar and nuclear space power options has been made. These goals are largely dependent upon orbital location and energy storage needs. Finally the cost of present space power systems has been determined and projections made for future systems.

Key Players in Inclusion: Are We Meeting the Professional Needs of Learning Support Assistants for Pupils with Complex Needs?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbott, Lesley; McConkey, Roy; Dobbins, Michael

2011-01-01

Under the aegis of inclusion, greater numbers of learning support assistants (LSAs) in mainstream and special schools are increasingly required to assist teachers with pupils who have complex needs across the full age range. Because of the numerous and wide-ranging learning difficulties and learning disabilities in addition to sensory impairment,…

Needs for Robotic Assessments of Nuclear Disasters

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

Victor Walker; Derek Wadsworth

Following the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactor plant in Japan, the need for systems which can assist in dynamic high-radiation environments such as nuclear incidents has become more apparent. The INL participated in delivering robotic technologies to Japan and has identified key components which are needed for success and obstacles to their deployment. In addition, we are proposing new work and methods to improve assessments and reactions to such events in the future. Robotics needs in disaster situations include phases such as: Assessment, Remediation, and Recovery Our particular interest is in the initial assessment activities. In assessment wemore » need collection of environmental parameters, determination of conditions, and physical sample collection. Each phase would require key tools and efforts to develop. This includes study of necessary sensors and their deployment methods, the effects of radiation on sensors and deployment, and the development of training and execution systems.« less

Maximizing the benefits of antiretroviral therapy for key affected populations.

PubMed

Grubb, Ian R; Beckham, Sarah W; Kazatchkine, Michel; Thomas, Ruth M; Albers, Eliot R; Cabral, Mauro; Lange, Joep; Vella, Stefano; Kurian, Manoj; Beyrer, Chris

2014-01-01

Scientific research has demonstrated the clinical benefits of earlier initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART), and that ART can markedly reduce HIV transmission to sexual partners. Ensuring universal access to ART for those who need it has long been a core principle of the HIV response, and extending the benefits of ART to key populations is critical to increasing the impact of ART and the overall effectiveness of the HIV response. However, this can only be achieved through coordinated efforts to address political, social, legal and economic barriers that key populations face in accessing HIV services. Recent analyses show that HIV prevalence levels among key populations are far higher than among the general population, and they experience a range of biological and behavioural factors, and social, legal and economic barriers that increase their vulnerability to HIV and have resulted in alarmingly low ART coverage. World Health Organization 2014 consolidated guidance on HIV among key populations offers the potential for increased access to ART by key populations, following the same principles as for the general adult population. However, it should not be assumed that key populations will achieve greater access to ART unless stigma, discrimination and punitive laws, policies and practices that limit access to ART and other HIV interventions in many countries are addressed. Rights-based approaches and investments in critical enablers, such as supportive legal and policy environments, are essential to enable wider access to ART and other HIV interventions for key populations. The primary objective of ART should always be to treat the person living with HIV; prevention is an important, additional benefit. ART should be provided only with informed consent. The preventive benefits of treatment must not be used as a pretext for failure to provide other necessary HIV programming for key populations, including comprehensive harm reduction and other prevention

Greedy feature selection for glycan chromatography data with the generalized Dirichlet distribution

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Glycoproteins are involved in a diverse range of biochemical and biological processes. Changes in protein glycosylation are believed to occur in many diseases, particularly during cancer initiation and progression. The identification of biomarkers for human disease states is becoming increasingly important, as early detection is key to improving survival and recovery rates. To this end, the serum glycome has been proposed as a potential source of biomarkers for different types of cancers. High-throughput hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) technology for glycan analysis allows for the detailed quantification of the glycan content in human serum. However, the experimental data from this analysis is compositional by nature. Compositional data are subject to a constant-sum constraint, which restricts the sample space to a simplex. Statistical analysis of glycan chromatography datasets should account for their unusual mathematical properties. As the volume of glycan HILIC data being produced increases, there is a considerable need for a framework to support appropriate statistical analysis. Proposed here is a methodology for feature selection in compositional data. The principal objective is to provide a template for the analysis of glycan chromatography data that may be used to identify potential glycan biomarkers. Results A greedy search algorithm, based on the generalized Dirichlet distribution, is carried out over the feature space to search for the set of “grouping variables” that best discriminate between known group structures in the data, modelling the compositional variables using beta distributions. The algorithm is applied to two glycan chromatography datasets. Statistical classification methods are used to test the ability of the selected features to differentiate between known groups in the data. Two well-known methods are used for comparison: correlation-based feature selection (CFS) and recursive partitioning (rpart). CFS

Florida Keys

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-12-13

The Florida Keys are a chain of islands, islets and reefs extending from Virginia Key to the Dry Tortugas for about 309 kilometers (192 miles). The keys are chiefly limestone and coral formations. The larger islands of the group are Key West (with its airport), Key Largo, Sugarloaf Key, and Boca Chica Key. A causeway extends from the mainland to Key West. This image was acquired on October 28, 2001, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03890

PyEEG: an open source Python module for EEG/MEG feature extraction.

PubMed

Bao, Forrest Sheng; Liu, Xin; Zhang, Christina

2011-01-01

Computer-aided diagnosis of neural diseases from EEG signals (or other physiological signals that can be treated as time series, e.g., MEG) is an emerging field that has gained much attention in past years. Extracting features is a key component in the analysis of EEG signals. In our previous works, we have implemented many EEG feature extraction functions in the Python programming language. As Python is gaining more ground in scientific computing, an open source Python module for extracting EEG features has the potential to save much time for computational neuroscientists. In this paper, we introduce PyEEG, an open source Python module for EEG feature extraction.

PyEEG: An Open Source Python Module for EEG/MEG Feature Extraction

PubMed Central

Bao, Forrest Sheng; Liu, Xin; Zhang, Christina

2011-01-01

Computer-aided diagnosis of neural diseases from EEG signals (or other physiological signals that can be treated as time series, e.g., MEG) is an emerging field that has gained much attention in past years. Extracting features is a key component in the analysis of EEG signals. In our previous works, we have implemented many EEG feature extraction functions in the Python programming language. As Python is gaining more ground in scientific computing, an open source Python module for extracting EEG features has the potential to save much time for computational neuroscientists. In this paper, we introduce PyEEG, an open source Python module for EEG feature extraction. PMID:21512582

A Statewide Key Informant Survey and Social Indicators Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleischer, Mitchell

This needs assessment study of mental health needs of the elderly in Pennsylvania used a three-part approach. These parts were a review of existing data sources, an extensive key informant study, and a review of service delivery models. A recent study found a prevalence rate for mental illness in the elderly of 12.8%, more than 5% lower than the…

3D face analysis by using Mesh-LBP feature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Haoyu; Yang, Fumeng; Zhang, Yuming; Wu, Congzhong

2017-11-01

Objective: Face Recognition is one of the widely application of image processing. Corresponding two-dimensional limitations, such as the pose and illumination changes, to a certain extent restricted its accurate rate and further development. How to overcome the pose and illumination changes and the effects of self-occlusion is the research hotspot and difficulty, also attracting more and more domestic and foreign experts and scholars to study it. 3D face recognition fusing shape and texture descriptors has become a very promising research direction. Method: Our paper presents a 3D point cloud based on mesh local binary pattern grid (Mesh-LBP), then feature extraction for 3D face recognition by fusing shape and texture descriptors. 3D Mesh-LBP not only retains the integrity of the 3D geometry, is also reduces the need for recognition process of normalization steps, because the triangle Mesh-LBP descriptor is calculated on 3D grid. On the other hand, in view of multi-modal consistency in face recognition advantage, construction of LBP can fusing shape and texture information on Triangular Mesh. In this paper, some of the operators used to extract Mesh-LBP, Such as the normal vectors of the triangle each face and vertex, the gaussian curvature, the mean curvature, laplace operator and so on. Conclusion: First, Kinect devices obtain 3D point cloud face, after the pretreatment and normalization, then transform it into triangular grid, grid local binary pattern feature extraction from face key significant parts of face. For each local face, calculate its Mesh-LBP feature with Gaussian curvature, mean curvature laplace operator and so on. Experiments on the our research database, change the method is robust and high recognition accuracy.

Managing Dive Tourism for the Sustainable Use of Coral Reefs: Validating Diver Perceptions of Attractive Site Features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uyarra, Maria C.; Watkinson, Andrew R.; Côté, Isabelle M.

2009-01-01

It has been argued that strategies to manage natural areas important for tourism and recreation should integrate an understanding of tourist preferences for specific natural features. However, the accuracy of tourist recalled perceptions of environmental attributes, which are usually derived from post hoc surveys and used to establish management priorities, is currently unmeasured. We tested the validity of the relationship between tourist-stated preferences and actual condition of coral reefs around the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Using standardized questionnaires, we asked 200 divers to select their most and least favorite dive sites and the attributes that contributed to that selection. We also carried out ecological surveys at 76 of the 81 dives sites around the island to assess the actual conditions of the attributes indicated as important for site selection. Fish- and coral-related attributes were key features affecting dive enjoyment. In general, divers appeared to be able to perceive differences between sites in the true condition of biological attributes such as fish species richness, total number of fish schools, live coral cover, coral species richness, and reef structural complexity, although men and women divers differed in their ability to perceive/recall some of the attributes. Perceived differences in environmental attributes, such as surface conditions, underwater current, and the likelihood of encountering rare fish and sea turtles, were not empirically validated. The fact that divers perceive correctly differences in the condition of some of the key biological attributes that affect dive enjoyment reinforces the need to maintain overall reef condition at satisfactory levels. However, variation in accuracy of perceptions owing to demographic factors and attribute type suggests the need for caution when using public perceptions to develop environmental management strategies, particularly for coral reefs.

Managing dive tourism for the sustainable use of coral reefs: validating diver perceptions of attractive site features.

PubMed

Uyarra, Maria C; Watkinson, Andrew R; Côté, Isabelle M

2009-01-01

It has been argued that strategies to manage natural areas important for tourism and recreation should integrate an understanding of tourist preferences for specific natural features. However, the accuracy of tourist recalled perceptions of environmental attributes, which are usually derived from post hoc surveys and used to establish management priorities, is currently unmeasured. We tested the validity of the relationship between tourist-stated preferences and actual condition of coral reefs around the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Using standardized questionnaires, we asked 200 divers to select their most and least favorite dive sites and the attributes that contributed to that selection. We also carried out ecological surveys at 76 of the 81 dives sites around the island to assess the actual conditions of the attributes indicated as important for site selection. Fish- and coral-related attributes were key features affecting dive enjoyment. In general, divers appeared to be able to perceive differences between sites in the true condition of biological attributes such as fish species richness, total number of fish schools, live coral cover, coral species richness, and reef structural complexity, although men and women divers differed in their ability to perceive/recall some of the attributes. Perceived differences in environmental attributes, such as surface conditions, underwater current, and the likelihood of encountering rare fish and sea turtles, were not empirically validated. The fact that divers perceive correctly differences in the condition of some of the key biological attributes that affect dive enjoyment reinforces the need to maintain overall reef condition at satisfactory levels. However, variation in accuracy of perceptions owing to demographic factors and attribute type suggests the need for caution when using public perceptions to develop environmental management strategies, particularly for coral reefs.

Washington state short line rail inventory and needs assessment.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-06-01

The recently completed State Rail Plan for the state of Washington identified several key issues facing the states : rail system. Among these key issues are abandonment, port access and competitive needs of the ports and local : production regions...

Developing Cognitive Control: Three Key Transitions

PubMed Central

Munakata, Yuko; Snyder, Hannah R.; Chatham, Christopher H.

2012-01-01

The ability to flexibly break out of routine behaviors develops gradually and is essential for success in life. We discuss three key developmental transitions toward more flexible behavior. First, children develop an increasing ability to overcome habits by engaging cognitive control in response to environmental signals. Second, children shift from recruiting cognitive control reactively, as needed in the moment, to recruiting cognitive control proactively, in preparation for needing it. Third, children shift from relying on environmental signals for engaging cognitive control to becoming more self-directed. All three transitions can be understood in terms of the development of increasingly active and abstract goal representations in prefrontal cortex. PMID:22711982

Modeling, Simulation and Analysis of Public Key Infrastructure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Yuan-Kwei; Tuey, Richard; Ma, Paul (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

Security is an essential part of network communication. The advances in cryptography have provided solutions to many of the network security requirements. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is the foundation of the cryptography applications. The main objective of this research is to design a model to simulate a reliable, scalable, manageable, and high-performance public key infrastructure. We build a model to simulate the NASA public key infrastructure by using SimProcess and MatLab Software. The simulation is from top level all the way down to the computation needed for encryption, decryption, digital signature, and secure web server. The application of secure web server could be utilized in wireless communications. The results of the simulation are analyzed and confirmed by using queueing theory.

Image Mosaic Method Based on SIFT Features of Line Segment

PubMed Central

Zhu, Jun; Ren, Mingwu

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a novel image mosaic method based on SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) feature of line segment, aiming to resolve incident scaling, rotation, changes in lighting condition, and so on between two images in the panoramic image mosaic process. This method firstly uses Harris corner detection operator to detect key points. Secondly, it constructs directed line segments, describes them with SIFT feature, and matches those directed segments to acquire rough point matching. Finally, Ransac method is used to eliminate wrong pairs in order to accomplish image mosaic. The results from experiment based on four pairs of images show that our method has strong robustness for resolution, lighting, rotation, and scaling. PMID:24511326

A Critical Realist Orientation to Learner Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayers, David F.

2011-01-01

The objective of this essay is to propose critical realism as a philosophical middle way between two sets of ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions regarding learner needs. Key concepts of critical realism, a tradition in the philosophy of science, are introduced and applied toward an analysis of learner needs, resulting in…

Efficient multiparty quantum key agreement with collective detection.

PubMed

Huang, Wei; Su, Qi; Liu, Bin; He, Yuan-Hang; Fan, Fan; Xu, Bing-Jie

2017-11-10

As a burgeoning branch of quantum cryptography, quantum key agreement is a kind of key establishing processes where the security and fairness of the established common key should be guaranteed simultaneously. However, the difficulty on designing a qualified quantum key agreement protocol increases significantly with the increase of the number of the involved participants. Thus far, only few of the existing multiparty quantum key agreement (MQKA) protocols can really achieve security and fairness. Nevertheless, these qualified MQKA protocols are either too inefficient or too impractical. In this paper, an MQKA protocol is proposed with single photons in travelling mode. Since only one eavesdropping detection is needed in the proposed protocol, the qubit efficiency and measurement efficiency of it are higher than those of the existing ones in theory. Compared with the protocols which make use of the entangled states or multi-particle measurements, the proposed protocol is more feasible with the current technologies. Security and fairness analysis shows that the proposed protocol is not only immune to the attacks from external eavesdroppers, but also free from the attacks from internal betrayers.

Behavioral science in video games for children's diet and physical activity change: Key research needs

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Innovative intervention programs are needed to overcome the limitations in previous programs that promoted change in diabetes risk behaviors in children. Serious video games show promise of changing dietary and physical activity behaviors, but research is needed on the optimal design of behavior-cha...

Authentication and Key Establishment in Dynamic Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Qiu, Ying; Zhou, Jianying; Baek, Joonsang; Lopez, Javier

2010-01-01

When a sensor node roams within a very large and distributed wireless sensor network, which consists of numerous sensor nodes, its routing path and neighborhood keep changing. In order to provide a high level of security in this environment, the moving sensor node needs to be authenticated to new neighboring nodes and a key established for secure communication. The paper proposes an efficient and scalable protocol to establish and update the authentication key in a dynamic wireless sensor network environment. The protocol guarantees that two sensor nodes share at least one key with probability 1 (100%) with less memory and energy cost, while not causing considerable communication overhead. PMID:22319321

Toward Predicting Social Support Needs in Online Health Social Networks.

PubMed

Choi, Min-Je; Kim, Sung-Hee; Lee, Sukwon; Kwon, Bum Chul; Yi, Ji Soo; Choo, Jaegul; Huh, Jina

2017-08-02

While online health social networks (OHSNs) serve as an effective platform for patients to fulfill their various social support needs, predicting the needs of users and providing tailored information remains a challenge. The objective of this study was to discriminate important features for identifying users' social support needs based on knowledge gathered from survey data. This study also provides guidelines for a technical framework, which can be used to predict users' social support needs based on raw data collected from OHSNs. We initially conducted a Web-based survey with 184 OHSN users. From this survey data, we extracted 34 features based on 5 categories: (1) demographics, (2) reading behavior, (3) posting behavior, (4) perceived roles in OHSNs, and (5) values sought in OHSNs. Features from the first 4 categories were used as variables for binary classification. For the prediction outcomes, we used features from the last category: the needs for emotional support, experience-based information, unconventional information, and medical facts. We compared 5 binary classifier algorithms: gradient boosting tree, random forest, decision tree, support vector machines, and logistic regression. We then calculated the scores of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) to understand the comparative effectiveness of the used features. The best performance was AUC scores of 0.89 for predicting users seeking emotional support, 0.86 for experience-based information, 0.80 for unconventional information, and 0.83 for medical facts. With the gradient boosting tree as our best performing model, we analyzed the strength of individual features in predicting one's social support need. Among other discoveries, we found that users seeking emotional support tend to post more in OHSNs compared with others. We developed an initial framework for automatically predicting social support needs in OHSNs using survey data. Future work should involve nonsurvey

Deconstructing the simplification of jury instructions: How simplifying the features of complexity affects jurors' application of instructions.

PubMed

Baguley, Chantelle M; McKimmie, Blake M; Masser, Barbara M

2017-06-01

Research consistently shows that techniques currently used to simplify jury instructions do not always improve mock jurors' comprehension. If improvements are observed, these are limited and overall comprehension remains low. It is unclear, however, why this occurs. It is possible that current simplification techniques do not effectively simplify the features of complexity, present in standardized instructions, which have the greatest effect on jurors' comprehension. It is not yet known, however, how much each feature of complexity individually affects jurors' comprehension. To investigate this, the authors used existing data from published empirical studies to examine how simplifying each feature of complexity affects mock jurors' application of instructions, as jurors can only apply instructions to the extent they understand them. The results suggest that reducing the conceptual complexity and proportion of supplementary information was associated with increased application of the instructions; however, reducing both the linguistic complexity and amount of information, and providing the instructions in a written format was not. In addition, results showed an unexpected adverse effect of simplification-reducing the amount of information was associated with an increase in the punitiveness of mock jurors' verdicts, independently of the instruction content. Together, these results suggest a need to make jury instructions comprehensible, highlight the key principles in the decision-process, and identify a way to eliminate the negative effect of reducing the amount of information. Addressing these needs is essential for developing a simplification technique that maximizes jurors' comprehension and application of instructions, while minimizing the previously overlooked negative effects of simplification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Quantum key distribution: vulnerable if imperfectly implemented

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leuchs, G.

2013-10-01

We report several vulnerabilities found in Clavis2, the flagship quantum key distribution (QKD) system from ID Quantique. We show the hacking of a calibration sequence run by Clavis2 to synchronize the Alice and Bob devices before performing the secret key exchange. This hack induces a temporal detection efficiency mismatch in Bob that can allow Eve to break the security of the cryptosystem using faked states. We also experimentally investigate the superlinear behaviour in the single-photon detectors (SPDs) used by Bob. Due to this superlinearity, the SPDs feature an actual multi-photon detection probability which is generally higher than the theoretically-modelled value. We show how this increases the risk of detector control attacks on QKD systems (including Clavis2) employing such SPDs. Finally, we review the experimental feasibility of Trojan-horse attacks. In the case of Clavis2, the objective is to read Bob's phase modulator to acquire knowledge of his basis choice as this information suffices for constructing the raw key in the Scarani-Acin-Ribordy-Gisin 2004 (SARG04) protocol. We work in close collaboration with ID Quantique and for all these loopholes, we notified them in advance. Wherever possible, we or ID Quantique proposed countermeasures and they implemented suitable patches and upgrade their systems.

Function key and shortcut key use in airway facilities.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-02-01

This document provides information on the function keys and shortcut keys used by systems in the Federal Aviation Administration : Airway Facilities (AF) work environment. It includes a catalog of the function keys and shortcut keys used by each syst...

Larvae of five horticulturally important species of Chrysopodes (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae): shared generic features, descriptions and keys

PubMed Central

Silva, Patrícia S.; Tauber, Catherine A.; Albuquerque, Gilberto S.; Tauber, Maurice J.

2013-01-01

Abstract An expanded list of generic level larval characteristics is presented for Chrysopodes; it includes a reinterpretation of the mesothoracic and metathoracic structure and setation. Keys, descriptions and images of Semaphoront A (first instar) and Semaphoront B (second and third instars) are offered for identifying five species of Chrysopodes (Chrysopodes) that are commonly reported from horticultural habitats in the Neotropical region. PMID:23653514

Metacatalog of Planetary Surface Features for Multicriteria Evaluation of Surface Evolution: the Integrated Planetary Feature Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargitai, Henrik

2016-10-01

We have created a metacatalog, or catalog or catalogs, of surface features of Mars that also includes the actual data in the catalogs listed. The goal is to make mesoscale surface feature databases available in one place, in a GIS-ready format. The databases can be directly imported to ArcGIS or other GIS platforms, like Google Mars. Some of the catalogs in our database are also ingested into the JMARS platform.All catalogs have been previously published in a peer-reviewed journal, but they may contain updates of the published catalogs. Many of the catalogs are "integrated", i.e. they merge databases or information from various papers on the same topic, including references to each individual features listed.Where available, we have included shapefiles with polygon or linear features, however, most of the catalogs only contain point data of their center points and morphological data.One of the unexpected results of the planetary feature metacatalog is that some features have been described by several papers, using different, i.e., conflicting designations. This shows the need for the development of an identification system suitable for mesoscale (100s m to km sized) features that tracks papers and thus prevents multiple naming of the same feature.The feature database can be used for multicriteria analysis of a terrain, thus enables easy distribution pattern analysis and the correlation of the distribution of different landforms and features on Mars. Such catalog makes a scientific evaluation of potential landing sites easier and more effective during the selection process and also supports automated landing site selections.The catalog is accessible at https://planetarydatabase.wordpress.com/.

Organizational Self-Awareness in the Key to Knowledge Superiority

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

needs is physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem , and self -actualization (Maslow 1943; Simons, Irwin and Drinnien 1987). The major...43 initiative itself is minimal once the decision is made by them to proceed. The stronger impacts are in their esteem and self -actualization needs... SELF -AWARENESS IS THE KEY TO KNOWLEDGE SUPERIORITY by Ricardo Rivera December 2015 Thesis Advisor: Mark E. Nissen Second Reader: Walter

How do you select the right security features for your company's products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pickett, Gordon E.

1998-04-01

If your company manufacturers, supplies, or distributes products of almost any type, style, shape, or for any usage, they may become the objective of fraudulent activities from one or more sources. Therefore, someone at your company should be concerned about how these activities may affect the company's future. This paper/presentation will provide information about where these 'threats' may come from, what products have been compromised in the past, and what steps might be taken to deter these threats. During product security conferences, conversations, and other sources of information, you'll hear about many different types of security features that can be incorporated into monetary and identification documents, packaging, labeling, and other products/systems to help protect against counterfeiting, unauthorized tampering, or to identify 'genuine' products. Many of these features have been around for some time (which means that they may have lost at least some of their effectiveness) while others, or improved versions of some of the more mature features, have been or are being developed. This area is a 'moving target' and re-examination of the threats and counterthreats needs to be an ongoing activity. The 'value' and the capabilities of these features can sometimes be overstated, i.e. that a feature/system can solve all of the security-related problems that you may (or may not) have with your products. A couple of things to always keep in mind is that no feature(s) is universally effective and none of the features, or even combinations of features, is totally 'tamperproof' or counterfeitproof, irrespective of what may be said or claimed. So how do you go about determining if you have a product security problem and what, if any, security features might be used to reduce the threat(s) to your products? This paper will attempt to provide information to help you separate the 'wheat from the chaff' in these considerations. Specifically, information to be discussed in

Key Stage 3 Pupils' Views about Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkinson, Cathy

2006-01-01

Recent developments in literacy teaching have tended to target the needs of primary, rather than high school pupils and focus on technical, rather than affective aspects of reading. This paper describes a questionnaire-based study undertaken to identify perceptions and views held by Key Stage 3 readers of different ages, genders and abilities.…

General practitioner services in primary care groups in England: is there inequity between service availability and population need?

PubMed

Baker, D; Hann, M

2001-06-01

This study examined the coverage of minor surgery, child health surveillance and chronic disease management for asthma and diabetes in relation to population need and key organisational features of general practice in the 481 primary care groups (PCGs) in England. PCG-level summary scores were developed to estimate the relative availability of all four services and their relative importance in discriminating between high and low levels of service provision. The coverage of services was widespread and, in such circumstances, there was no systematic evidence of poorer service availability for PCGs with higher population need (the 'inverse care' law). Rather this relation was localised, being most predominant for PCGs covering London and its suburbs. In these PCGs, there was no association between indicators of lack of capacity, such as single-handed practice, and levels of service provision.

Face Alignment via Regressing Local Binary Features.

PubMed

Ren, Shaoqing; Cao, Xudong; Wei, Yichen; Sun, Jian

2016-03-01

This paper presents a highly efficient and accurate regression approach for face alignment. Our approach has two novel components: 1) a set of local binary features and 2) a locality principle for learning those features. The locality principle guides us to learn a set of highly discriminative local binary features for each facial landmark independently. The obtained local binary features are used to jointly learn a linear regression for the final output. This approach achieves the state-of-the-art results when tested on the most challenging benchmarks to date. Furthermore, because extracting and regressing local binary features are computationally very cheap, our system is much faster than previous methods. It achieves over 3000 frames per second (FPS) on a desktop or 300 FPS on a mobile phone for locating a few dozens of landmarks. We also study a key issue that is important but has received little attention in the previous research, which is the face detector used to initialize alignment. We investigate several face detectors and perform quantitative evaluation on how they affect alignment accuracy. We find that an alignment friendly detector can further greatly boost the accuracy of our alignment method, reducing the error up to 16% relatively. To facilitate practical usage of face detection/alignment methods, we also propose a convenient metric to measure how good a detector is for alignment initialization.

Structure of a Thermobifida fusca lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase and mutagenesis of key residues

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

Kruer-Zerhusen, Nathan; Alahuhta, Markus; Lunin, Vladimir V.

Auxiliary activity (AA) enzymes are produced by numerous bacterial and fungal species to assist in the degradation of biomass. These enzymes are abundant but have yet to be fully characterized. Here, we report the X-ray structure of Thermobifida fusca AA10A (TfAA10A), investigate mutational characterization of key surface residues near its active site, and explore the importance of the various domains of Thermobifida fusca AA10B (TfAA10B). The structure of TfAA10A is similar to other bacterial LPMOs (lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases), including signs of photo-reduction and a distorted active site, with mixed features showing both type I and II copper coordination. The pointmore » mutation experiments of TfAA10A show that Trp82 and Asn83 are needed for binding, but only Trp82 affects activity. The TfAA10B domain truncation mutants reveal that CBM2 is crucial for the binding of substrate, but that the X1 module does not affect binding or activity. In TfAA10A, Trp82 and Asn83 are needed for binding, but only Trp82 affects activity. The TfAA10B domain truncation mutants reveal that CBM2 is crucial for substrate binding, but that the X1 module does not affect binding or activity. The structure of TfAA10A is similar to other bacterial lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases with mixed features showing both type I and II copper coordination. The role of LPMOs and the variability of abundance in genomes are not fully explored. LPMOs likely perform initial attacks into crystalline cellulose to allow larger processive cellulases to bind and attack, but the precise nature of their synergistic behavior remains to be definitively characterized.« less

Structure of a Thermobifida fusca lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase and mutagenesis of key residues

DOE PAGES

Kruer-Zerhusen, Nathan; Alahuhta, Markus; Lunin, Vladimir V.; ...

2017-11-30

Auxiliary activity (AA) enzymes are produced by numerous bacterial and fungal species to assist in the degradation of biomass. These enzymes are abundant but have yet to be fully characterized. Here, we report the X-ray structure of Thermobifida fusca AA10A (TfAA10A), investigate mutational characterization of key surface residues near its active site, and explore the importance of the various domains of Thermobifida fusca AA10B (TfAA10B). The structure of TfAA10A is similar to other bacterial LPMOs (lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases), including signs of photo-reduction and a distorted active site, with mixed features showing both type I and II copper coordination. The pointmore » mutation experiments of TfAA10A show that Trp82 and Asn83 are needed for binding, but only Trp82 affects activity. The TfAA10B domain truncation mutants reveal that CBM2 is crucial for the binding of substrate, but that the X1 module does not affect binding or activity. In TfAA10A, Trp82 and Asn83 are needed for binding, but only Trp82 affects activity. The TfAA10B domain truncation mutants reveal that CBM2 is crucial for substrate binding, but that the X1 module does not affect binding or activity. The structure of TfAA10A is similar to other bacterial lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases with mixed features showing both type I and II copper coordination. The role of LPMOs and the variability of abundance in genomes are not fully explored. LPMOs likely perform initial attacks into crystalline cellulose to allow larger processive cellulases to bind and attack, but the precise nature of their synergistic behavior remains to be definitively characterized.« less

Protecting Cryptographic Keys and Functions from Malware Attacks

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

registers. modifies RSA private key signing in OpenSSL to use the technique. The resulting system has the following features: 1. No special hardware is...the above method based on OpenSSL , by exploiting the Streaming SIMD Extension (SSE) XMM registers of modern Intel and AMD x86-compatible CPU’s [22...one can store a 2048-bit exponent.1 Our prototype is based on OpenSSL 0.9.8e, the Ubuntu 6.06 Linux distribution with a 2.6.15 kernel, and SSE2 which

E-referral Solutions: Successful Experiences, Key Features and Challenges- a Systematic Review.

PubMed

Naseriasl, Mansour; Adham, Davoud; Janati, Ali

2015-06-01

around the world health systems constantly face increasing pressures which arise from many factors, such as an ageing population, patients and providers demands for equipment's and services. In order to respond these challenges and reduction of health system's transactional costs, referral solutions are considered as a key factor. This study was carried out to identify referral solutions that have had successes. relevant studies identified using keywords of referrals, consultation, referral system, referral model, referral project, electronic referral, electronic booking, health system, healthcare, health service and medical care. These searches were conducted using PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar, Scopus, Emerald, Web of Knowledge, Springer, Science direct, Mosby's index, SID, Medlib and Iran Doc data bases. 4306 initial articles were obtained and refined step by step. Finally, 27 articles met the inclusion criteria. we identified seventeen e-referral systems developed in UK, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Scotland, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and U.S. Implemented solutions had variant degrees of successes such as improved access to specialist care, reduced wait times, timeliness and quality of referral communication, accurate health information transfer and integration of health centers and services. each one of referral solutions has both positive and changeable aspects that should be addressed according to sociotechnical conditions. These solutions are mainly formed in a small and localized manner.

The Role of Emotion in Musical Improvisation: An Analysis of Structural Features

PubMed Central

McPherson, Malinda J.; Lopez-Gonzalez, Monica; Rankin, Summer K.; Limb, Charles J.

2014-01-01

One of the primary functions of music is to convey emotion, yet how music accomplishes this task remains unclear. For example, simple correlations between mode (major vs. minor) and emotion (happy vs. sad) do not adequately explain the enormous range, subtlety or complexity of musically induced emotions. In this study, we examined the structural features of unconstrained musical improvisations generated by jazz pianists in response to emotional cues. We hypothesized that musicians would not utilize any universal rules to convey emotions, but would instead combine heterogeneous musical elements together in order to depict positive and negative emotions. Our findings demonstrate a lack of simple correspondence between emotions and musical features of spontaneous musical improvisation. While improvisations in response to positive emotional cues were more likely to be in major keys, have faster tempos, faster key press velocities and more staccato notes when compared to negative improvisations, there was a wide distribution for each emotion with components that directly violated these primary associations. The finding that musicians often combine disparate features together in order to convey emotion during improvisation suggests that structural diversity may be an essential feature of the ability of music to express a wide range of emotion. PMID:25144200

Movement of feeder-using songbirds: the influence of urban features.

PubMed

Cox, Daniel T C; Inger, Richard; Hancock, Steven; Anderson, Karen; Gaston, Kevin J

2016-11-23

Private gardens provide vital opportunities for people to interact with nature. The most popular form of interaction is through garden bird feeding. Understanding how landscape features and seasons determine patterns of movement of feeder-using songbirds is key to maximising the well-being benefits they provide. To determine these patterns we established three networks of automated data loggers along a gradient of greenspace fragmentation. Over a 12-month period we tracked 452 tagged blue tits Cyantistes caeruleus and great tits Parus major moving between feeder pairs 9,848 times, to address two questions: (i) Do urban features within different forms, and season, influence structural (presence-absence of connections between feeders by birds) and functional (frequency of these connections) connectivity? (ii) Are there general patterns of structural and functional connectivity across forms? Vegetation cover increased connectivity in all three networks, whereas the presence of road gaps negatively affected functional but not structural connectivity. Across networks structural connectivity was lowest in the summer when birds maintain breeding territories, however patterns of functional connectivity appeared to vary with habitat fragmentation. Using empirical data this study shows how key urban features and season influence movement of feeder-using songbirds, and we provide evidence that this is related to greenspace fragmentation.

Where Do Features Come From?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hinton, Geoffrey

2014-01-01

It is possible to learn multiple layers of non-linear features by backpropagating error derivatives through a feedforward neural network. This is a very effective learning procedure when there is a huge amount of labeled training data, but for many learning tasks very few labeled examples are available. In an effort to overcome the need for…

Efficient iris recognition by characterizing key local variations.

PubMed

Ma, Li; Tan, Tieniu; Wang, Yunhong; Zhang, Dexin

2004-06-01

Unlike other biometrics such as fingerprints and face, the distinct aspect of iris comes from randomly distributed features. This leads to its high reliability for personal identification, and at the same time, the difficulty in effectively representing such details in an image. This paper describes an efficient algorithm for iris recognition by characterizing key local variations. The basic idea is that local sharp variation points, denoting the appearing or vanishing of an important image structure, are utilized to represent the characteristics of the iris. The whole procedure of feature extraction includes two steps: 1) a set of one-dimensional intensity signals is constructed to effectively characterize the most important information of the original two-dimensional image; 2) using a particular class of wavelets, a position sequence of local sharp variation points in such signals is recorded as features. We also present a fast matching scheme based on exclusive OR operation to compute the similarity between a pair of position sequences. Experimental results on 2255 iris images show that the performance of the proposed method is encouraging and comparable to the best iris recognition algorithm found in the current literature.

Collaboration, integration and change in children's services: critical issues and key ingredients.

PubMed

Horwath, Jan; Morrison, Tony

2007-01-01

Government and state policy, irrespective of jurisdiction, increasingly require and indeed specify the nature of collaboration with regard to the delivery of child welfare services for maltreated children. The rationale for collaboration appears obvious in as much as it is aimed at promoting multidisciplinary practice in order to meet the needs of the vulnerable child. However, collaboration, whilst a useful and motivating concept, is in reality far from straightforward and contains complexities and ambiguities. The aim of this paper is to explore these complexities and ambiguities to provide an overview of key developmental frameworks relevant to the creation and maintenance of strategic high-level multiagency partnerships. The authors begin by exploring the characteristic features of different levels of multiagency collaboration that is communication, co-operation, co-ordination, coalition, and integration. As the emphasis in a variety of jurisdictions in the Western world is on the highest levels of collaboration namely coalition and service integration this is the focus of the paper. The authors synthesize the main literature in the field to consider the critical elements for effective collaborative endeavors at this level including predisposing factors, mandate, leadership, machinery, process, and outcomes. The paper concludes by recognizing that the drive towards integrated services is occurring in a climate of continuing change. The need to identify the impact of such an environment when managing multiagency partnerships is explored using five steps to change.

A broadcast-based key agreement scheme using set reconciliation for wireless body area networks.

PubMed

Ali, Aftab; Khan, Farrukh Aslam

2014-05-01

Information and communication technologies have thrived over the last few years. Healthcare systems have also benefited from this progression. A wireless body area network (WBAN) consists of small, low-power sensors used to monitor human physiological values remotely, which enables physicians to remotely monitor the health of patients. Communication security in WBANs is essential because it involves human physiological data. Key agreement and authentication are the primary issues in the security of WBANs. To agree upon a common key, the nodes exchange information with each other using wireless communication. This information exchange process must be secure enough or the information exchange should be minimized to a certain level so that if information leak occurs, it does not affect the overall system. Most of the existing solutions for this problem exchange too much information for the sake of key agreement; getting this information is sufficient for an attacker to reproduce the key. Set reconciliation is a technique used to reconcile two similar sets held by two different hosts with minimal communication complexity. This paper presents a broadcast-based key agreement scheme using set reconciliation for secure communication in WBANs. The proposed scheme allows the neighboring nodes to agree upon a common key with the personal server (PS), generated from the electrocardiogram (EKG) feature set of the host body. Minimal information is exchanged in a broadcast manner, and even if every node is missing a different subset, by reconciling these feature sets, the whole network will still agree upon a single common key. Because of the limited information exchange, if an attacker gets the information in any way, he/she will not be able to reproduce the key. The proposed scheme mitigates replay, selective forwarding, and denial of service attacks using a challenge-response authentication mechanism. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme has a great deal of

Seven Key Principles of Program and Project Success: A Best Practices Survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bilardo, Vincent J.; Korte, John J.; Dankhoff, Walter; Langan, Kevin; Branscome, Darrell R.; Fragola, Joseph R.; Dugal, Dale J.; Gormley, Thomas J.; Hammond, Walter E.; Hollopeter, James J.;

Fault-tolerant feature-based estimation of space debris rotational motion during active removal missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biondi, Gabriele; Mauro, Stefano; Pastorelli, Stefano; Sorli, Massimo

2018-05-01

One of the key functionalities required by an Active Debris Removal mission is the assessment of the target kinematics and inertial properties. Passive sensors, such as stereo cameras, are often included in the onboard instrumentation of a chaser spacecraft for capturing sequential photographs and for tracking features of the target surface. A plenty of methods, based on Kalman filtering, are available for the estimation of the target's state from feature positions; however, to guarantee the filter convergence, they typically require continuity of measurements and the capability of tracking a fixed set of pre-defined features of the object. These requirements clash with the actual tracking conditions: failures in feature detection often occur and the assumption of having some a-priori knowledge about the shape of the target could be restrictive in certain cases. The aim of the presented work is to propose a fault-tolerant alternative method for estimating the angular velocity and the relative magnitudes of the principal moments of inertia of the target. Raw data regarding the positions of the tracked features are processed to evaluate corrupted values of a 3-dimentional parameter which entirely describes the finite screw motion of the debris and which primarily is invariant on the particular set of considered features of the object. Missing values of the parameter are completely restored exploiting the typical periodicity of the rotational motion of an uncontrolled satellite: compressed sensing techniques, typically adopted for recovering images or for prognostic applications, are herein used in a completely original fashion for retrieving a kinematic signal that appears sparse in the frequency domain. Due to its invariance about the features, no assumptions are needed about the target's shape and continuity of the tracking. The obtained signal is useful for the indirect evaluation of an attitude signal that feeds an unscented Kalman filter for the estimation of

Detector-device-independent quantum key distribution

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

Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Korzh, Boris; Martin, Anthony

2014-12-01

Recently, a quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme based on entanglement swapping, called measurement-device-independent QKD (mdiQKD), was proposed to bypass all measurement side-channel attacks. While mdiQKD is conceptually elegant and offers a supreme level of security, the experimental complexity is challenging for practical systems. For instance, it requires interference between two widely separated independent single-photon sources, and the secret key rates are dependent on detecting two photons—one from each source. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-principle experiment of a QKD scheme that removes the need for a two-photon system and instead uses the idea of a two-qubit single-photon to significantly simplify themore » implementation and improve the efficiency of mdiQKD in several aspects.« less

Maximizing the benefits of antiretroviral therapy for key affected populations

PubMed Central

Grubb, Ian R; Beckham, Sarah W; Kazatchkine, Michel; Thomas, Ruth M; Albers, Eliot R; Cabral, Mauro; Lange, Joep; Vella, Stefano; Kurian, Manoj; Beyrer, Chris

2014-01-01

Introduction Scientific research has demonstrated the clinical benefits of earlier initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART), and that ART can markedly reduce HIV transmission to sexual partners. Ensuring universal access to ART for those who need it has long been a core principle of the HIV response, and extending the benefits of ART to key populations is critical to increasing the impact of ART and the overall effectiveness of the HIV response. However, this can only be achieved through coordinated efforts to address political, social, legal and economic barriers that key populations face in accessing HIV services. Discussion Recent analyses show that HIV prevalence levels among key populations are far higher than among the general population, and they experience a range of biological and behavioural factors, and social, legal and economic barriers that increase their vulnerability to HIV and have resulted in alarmingly low ART coverage. World Health Organization 2014 consolidated guidance on HIV among key populations offers the potential for increased access to ART by key populations, following the same principles as for the general adult population. However, it should not be assumed that key populations will achieve greater access to ART unless stigma, discrimination and punitive laws, policies and practices that limit access to ART and other HIV interventions in many countries are addressed. Conclusions Rights-based approaches and investments in critical enablers, such as supportive legal and policy environments, are essential to enable wider access to ART and other HIV interventions for key populations. The primary objective of ART should always be to treat the person living with HIV; prevention is an important, additional benefit. ART should be provided only with informed consent. The preventive benefits of treatment must not be used as a pretext for failure to provide other necessary HIV programming for key populations, including comprehensive harm

Feature learning and change feature classification based on deep learning for ternary change detection in SAR images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Maoguo; Yang, Hailun; Zhang, Puzhao

2017-07-01

Ternary change detection aims to detect changes and group the changes into positive change and negative change. It is of great significance in the joint interpretation of spatial-temporal synthetic aperture radar images. In this study, sparse autoencoder, convolutional neural networks (CNN) and unsupervised clustering are combined to solve ternary change detection problem without any supervison. Firstly, sparse autoencoder is used to transform log-ratio difference image into a suitable feature space for extracting key changes and suppressing outliers and noise. And then the learned features are clustered into three classes, which are taken as the pseudo labels for training a CNN model as change feature classifier. The reliable training samples for CNN are selected from the feature maps learned by sparse autoencoder with certain selection rules. Having training samples and the corresponding pseudo labels, the CNN model can be trained by using back propagation with stochastic gradient descent. During its training procedure, CNN is driven to learn the concept of change, and more powerful model is established to distinguish different types of changes. Unlike the traditional methods, the proposed framework integrates the merits of sparse autoencoder and CNN to learn more robust difference representations and the concept of change for ternary change detection. Experimental results on real datasets validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed framework.

Simple Web-based interactive key development software (WEBiKEY) and an example key for Kuruna (Poaceae: Bambusoideae).

PubMed

Attigala, Lakshmi; De Silva, Nuwan I; Clark, Lynn G

2016-04-01

Programs that are user-friendly and freely available for developing Web-based interactive keys are scarce and most of the well-structured applications are relatively expensive. WEBiKEY was developed to enable researchers to easily develop their own Web-based interactive keys with fewer resources. A Web-based multiaccess identification tool (WEBiKEY) was developed that uses freely available Microsoft ASP.NET technologies and an SQL Server database for Windows-based hosting environments. WEBiKEY was tested for its usability with a sample data set, the temperate woody bamboo genus Kuruna (Poaceae). WEBiKEY is freely available to the public and can be used to develop Web-based interactive keys for any group of species. The interactive key we developed for Kuruna using WEBiKEY enables users to visually inspect characteristics of Kuruna and identify an unknown specimen as one of seven possible species in the genus.

Biometrics based key management of double random phase encoding scheme using error control codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, Nirmala; Sinha, Aloka

2013-08-01

In this paper, an optical security system has been proposed in which key of the double random phase encoding technique is linked to the biometrics of the user to make it user specific. The error in recognition due to the biometric variation is corrected by encoding the key using the BCH code. A user specific shuffling key is used to increase the separation between genuine and impostor Hamming distance distribution. This shuffling key is then further secured using the RSA public key encryption to enhance the security of the system. XOR operation is performed between the encoded key and the feature vector obtained from the biometrics. The RSA encoded shuffling key and the data obtained from the XOR operation are stored into a token. The main advantage of the present technique is that the key retrieval is possible only in the simultaneous presence of the token and the biometrics of the user which not only authenticates the presence of the original input but also secures the key of the system. Computational experiments showed the effectiveness of the proposed technique for key retrieval in the decryption process by using the live biometrics of the user.

Chimeric Mice with Competent Hematopoietic Immunity Reproduce Key Features of Severe Lassa Fever.

PubMed

Oestereich, Lisa; Lüdtke, Anja; Ruibal, Paula; Pallasch, Elisa; Kerber, Romy; Rieger, Toni; Wurr, Stephanie; Bockholt, Sabrina; Pérez-Girón, José V; Krasemann, Susanne; Günther, Stephan; Muñoz-Fontela, César

2016-05-01

Lassa fever (LASF) is a highly severe viral syndrome endemic to West African countries. Despite the annual high morbidity and mortality caused by LASF, very little is known about the pathophysiology of the disease. Basic research on LASF has been precluded due to the lack of relevant small animal models that reproduce the human disease. Immunocompetent laboratory mice are resistant to infection with Lassa virus (LASV) and, to date, only immunodeficient mice, or mice expressing human HLA, have shown some degree of susceptibility to experimental infection. Here, transplantation of wild-type bone marrow cells into irradiated type I interferon receptor knockout mice (IFNAR-/-) was used to generate chimeric mice that reproduced important features of severe LASF in humans. This included high lethality, liver damage, vascular leakage and systemic virus dissemination. In addition, this model indicated that T cell-mediated immunopathology was an important component of LASF pathogenesis that was directly correlated with vascular leakage. Our strategy allows easy generation of a suitable small animal model to test new vaccines and antivirals and to dissect the basic components of LASF pathophysiology.

Security of quantum key distribution with iterative sifting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamaki, Kiyoshi; Lo, Hoi-Kwong; Mizutani, Akihiro; Kato, Go; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Azuma, Koji; Curty, Marcos

2018-01-01

Several quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols employ iterative sifting. After each quantum transmission round, Alice and Bob disclose part of their setting information (including their basis choices) for the detected signals. This quantum phase then ends when the basis dependent termination conditions are met, i.e., the numbers of detected signals per basis exceed certain pre-agreed threshold values. Recently, however, Pfister et al (2016 New J. Phys. 18 053001) showed that the basis dependent termination condition makes QKD insecure, especially in the finite key regime, and they suggested to disclose all the setting information after finishing the quantum phase. However, this protocol has two main drawbacks: it requires that Alice possesses a large memory, and she also needs to have some a priori knowledge about the transmission rate of the quantum channel. Here we solve these two problems by introducing a basis-independent termination condition to the iterative sifting in the finite key regime. The use of this condition, in combination with Azuma’s inequality, provides a precise estimation on the amount of privacy amplification that needs to be applied, thus leading to the security of QKD protocols, including the loss-tolerant protocol (Tamaki et al 2014 Phys. Rev. A 90 052314), with iterative sifting. Our analysis indicates that to announce the basis information after each quantum transmission round does not compromise the key generation rate of the loss-tolerant protocol. Our result allows the implementation of wider classes of classical post-processing techniques in QKD with quantified security.

Key Features of the Intragraft Microenvironment that Determine Long-Term Survival Following Transplantation

PubMed Central

Bruneau, Sarah; Woda, Craig Bryan; Daly, Kevin Patrick; Boneschansker, Leonard; Jain, Namrata Gargee; Kochupurakkal, Nora; Contreras, Alan Gabriel; Seto, Tatsuichiro; Briscoe, David Michael

2012-01-01

In this review, we discuss how changes in the intragraft microenvironment serve to promote or sustain the development of chronic allograft rejection. We propose two key elements within the microenvironment that contribute to the rejection process. The first is endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis that serve to create abnormal microvascular blood flow patterns as well as local tissue hypoxia, and precedes endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. The second is the overexpression of local cytokines and growth factors that serve to sustain inflammation and, in turn, function to promote a leukocyte-induced angiogenesis reaction. Central to both events is overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is both pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic, and thus drives progression of the chronic rejection microenvironment. In our discussion, we focus on how inflammation results in angiogenesis and how leukocyte-induced angiogenesis is pathological. We also discuss how VEGF is a master control factor that fosters the development of the chronic rejection microenvironment. Overall, this review provides insight into the intragraft microenvironment as an important paradigm for future direction in the field. PMID:22566935

Strong nonadditivity as a key structure-activity relationship feature: distinguishing structural changes from assay artifacts.

PubMed

Kramer, Christian; Fuchs, Julian E; Liedl, Klaus R

2015-03-23

Nonadditivity in protein-ligand affinity data represents highly instructive structure-activity relationship (SAR) features that indicate structural changes and have the potential to guide rational drug design. At the same time, nonadditivity is a challenge for both basic SAR analysis as well as many ligand-based data analysis techniques such as Free-Wilson Analysis and Matched Molecular Pair analysis, since linear substituent contribution models inherently assume additivity and thus do not work in such cases. While structural causes for nonadditivity have been analyzed anecdotally, no systematic approaches to interpret and use nonadditivity prospectively have been developed yet. In this contribution, we lay the statistical framework for systematic analysis of nonadditivity in a SAR series. First, we develop a general metric to quantify nonadditivity. Then, we demonstrate the non-negligible impact of experimental uncertainty that creates apparent nonadditivity, and we introduce techniques to handle experimental uncertainty. Finally, we analyze public SAR data sets for strong nonadditivity and use recourse to the original publications and available X-ray structures to find structural explanations for the nonadditivity observed. We find that all cases of strong nonadditivity (ΔΔpKi and ΔΔpIC50 > 2.0 log units) with sufficient structural information to generate reasonable hypothesis involve changes in binding mode. With the appropriate statistical basis, nonadditivity analysis offers a variety of new attempts for various areas in computer-aided drug design, including the validation of scoring functions and free energy perturbation approaches, binding pocket classification, and novel features in SAR analysis tools.

Feature engineering for drug name recognition in biomedical texts: feature conjunction and feature selection.

PubMed

Liu, Shengyu; Tang, Buzhou; Chen, Qingcai; Wang, Xiaolong; Fan, Xiaoming

2015-01-01

Drug name recognition (DNR) is a critical step for drug information extraction. Machine learning-based methods have been widely used for DNR with various types of features such as part-of-speech, word shape, and dictionary feature. Features used in current machine learning-based methods are usually singleton features which may be due to explosive features and a large number of noisy features when singleton features are combined into conjunction features. However, singleton features that can only capture one linguistic characteristic of a word are not sufficient to describe the information for DNR when multiple characteristics should be considered. In this study, we explore feature conjunction and feature selection for DNR, which have never been reported. We intuitively select 8 types of singleton features and combine them into conjunction features in two ways. Then, Chi-square, mutual information, and information gain are used to mine effective features. Experimental results show that feature conjunction and feature selection can improve the performance of the DNR system with a moderate number of features and our DNR system significantly outperforms the best system in the DDIExtraction 2013 challenge.

A new feature detection mechanism and its application in secured ECG transmission with noise masking.

PubMed

Sufi, Fahim; Khalil, Ibrahim

2009-04-01

With cardiovascular disease as the number one killer of modern era, Electrocardiogram (ECG) is collected, stored and transmitted in greater frequency than ever before. However, in reality, ECG is rarely transmitted and stored in a secured manner. Recent research shows that eavesdropper can reveal the identity and cardiovascular condition from an intercepted ECG. Therefore, ECG data must be anonymized before transmission over the network and also stored as such in medical repositories. To achieve this, first of all, this paper presents a new ECG feature detection mechanism, which was compared against existing cross correlation (CC) based template matching algorithms. Two types of CC methods were used for comparison. Compared to the CC based approaches, which had 40% and 53% misclassification rates, the proposed detection algorithm did not perform any single misclassification. Secondly, a new ECG obfuscation method was designed and implemented on 15 subjects using added noises corresponding to each of the ECG features. This obfuscated ECG can be freely distributed over the internet without the necessity of encryption, since the original features needed to identify personal information of the patient remain concealed. Only authorized personnel possessing a secret key will be able to reconstruct the original ECG from the obfuscated ECG. Distribution of the would appear as regular ECG without encryption. Therefore, traditional decryption techniques including powerful brute force attack are useless against this obfuscation.

Creating Concepts from Converging Features in Human Cortex

PubMed Central

Coutanche, Marc N.; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L.

2015-01-01

To make sense of the world around us, our brain must remember the overlapping features of millions of objects. Crucially, it must also represent each object's unique feature-convergence. Some theories propose that an integration area (or “convergence zone”) binds together separate features. We report an investigation of our knowledge of objects' features and identity, and the link between them. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to record neural activity, as humans attempted to detect a cued fruit or vegetable in visual noise. Crucially, we analyzed brain activity before a fruit or vegetable was present, allowing us to interrogate top-down activity. We found that pattern-classification algorithms could be used to decode the detection target's identity in the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL), its shape in lateral occipital cortex, and its color in right V4. A novel decoding-dependency analysis revealed that identity information in left ATL was specifically predicted by the temporal convergence of shape and color codes in early visual regions. People with stronger feature-and-identity dependencies had more similar top-down and bottom-up activity patterns. These results fulfill three key requirements for a neural convergence zone: a convergence result (object identity), ingredients (color and shape), and the link between them. PMID:24692512

node2vec: Scalable Feature Learning for Networks

PubMed Central

Grover, Aditya; Leskovec, Jure

2016-01-01

Prediction tasks over nodes and edges in networks require careful effort in engineering features used by learning algorithms. Recent research in the broader field of representation learning has led to significant progress in automating prediction by learning the features themselves. However, present feature learning approaches are not expressive enough to capture the diversity of connectivity patterns observed in networks. Here we propose node2vec, an algorithmic framework for learning continuous feature representations for nodes in networks. In node2vec, we learn a mapping of nodes to a low-dimensional space of features that maximizes the likelihood of preserving network neighborhoods of nodes. We define a flexible notion of a node’s network neighborhood and design a biased random walk procedure, which efficiently explores diverse neighborhoods. Our algorithm generalizes prior work which is based on rigid notions of network neighborhoods, and we argue that the added flexibility in exploring neighborhoods is the key to learning richer representations. We demonstrate the efficacy of node2vec over existing state-of-the-art techniques on multi-label classification and link prediction in several real-world networks from diverse domains. Taken together, our work represents a new way for efficiently learning state-of-the-art task-independent representations in complex networks. PMID:27853626

The Genus Cerion (Gastropoda: Cerionidae) in the Florida Keys

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

The systematic relationships and phylogeography of Cerion incanum, the only species of Cerion native to the Florida Keys, are reviewed based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial COI and 16S genes derived from 18 populations spanning the range of this species and including the type localities of all four described subspecies. Our samples included specimens of Cerion casablancae, a species introduced to Indian Key in 1912, and a population of C. incanum x C. casablancae hybrids descended from a population of C. casablancae introduced onto Bahia Honda Key in the same year. Molecular data did not support the partition of C. incanum into subspecies, nor could populations be apportioned reliably into subspecies based on morphological features used to define the subspecies. Phylogenetic analyses affirmed the derived relationship of C. incanum relative to other cerionids, and indicated a Bahamian origin for the Cerion fauna of southern Florida. Relationships among the populations throughout the Keys indicate that the northernmost populations, closest to the Tomeu paleoislands that had been inhabited by Cerion petuchi during the Calabrian Pleistocene, are the oldest. The range of Cerion incanum expanded as the archipelago that is the Florida Keys was formed since the lower Tarantian Pleistocene by extension from the northeast to the southwest, with new islands populated as they were formed. The faunas of the High Coral Keys in the northeast and the Oölite Keys in the southwest, both with large islands that host multiple discontinuous populations of Cerion, are each composed of well supported clades that are characterized by distinctive haplotypes. In contrast, the fauna of the intervening Low Coral Keys consist of a heterogeneous series of populations, some with haplotypes derived from the High Coral Keys, others from the Oölite Keys. Individuals from the C. incanum x C. casablancae hybrid population inhabiting the southeastern coast of Bahia Honda Key were readily

The Genus Cerion (Gastropoda: Cerionidae) in the Florida Keys.

PubMed

Shrestha, Yesha; Wirshing, Herman H; Harasewych, M G

2015-01-01

The systematic relationships and phylogeography of Cerion incanum, the only species of Cerion native to the Florida Keys, are reviewed based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial COI and 16S genes derived from 18 populations spanning the range of this species and including the type localities of all four described subspecies. Our samples included specimens of Cerion casablancae, a species introduced to Indian Key in 1912, and a population of C. incanum x C. casablancae hybrids descended from a population of C. casablancae introduced onto Bahia Honda Key in the same year. Molecular data did not support the partition of C. incanum into subspecies, nor could populations be apportioned reliably into subspecies based on morphological features used to define the subspecies. Phylogenetic analyses affirmed the derived relationship of C. incanum relative to other cerionids, and indicated a Bahamian origin for the Cerion fauna of southern Florida. Relationships among the populations throughout the Keys indicate that the northernmost populations, closest to the Tomeu paleoislands that had been inhabited by Cerion petuchi during the Calabrian Pleistocene, are the oldest. The range of Cerion incanum expanded as the archipelago that is the Florida Keys was formed since the lower Tarantian Pleistocene by extension from the northeast to the southwest, with new islands populated as they were formed. The faunas of the High Coral Keys in the northeast and the Oölite Keys in the southwest, both with large islands that host multiple discontinuous populations of Cerion, are each composed of well supported clades that are characterized by distinctive haplotypes. In contrast, the fauna of the intervening Low Coral Keys consist of a heterogeneous series of populations, some with haplotypes derived from the High Coral Keys, others from the Oölite Keys. Individuals from the C. incanum x C. casablancae hybrid population inhabiting the southeastern coast of Bahia Honda Key were readily

Key Problems in Science and Technology in Thailand.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuthavong, Yongyuth; And Others

1985-01-01

Cites the need for promoting science/technology management and policy formation in Thailand, viewing contributions of science/technology to the socioeconomic development of the country as high priorities. Criteria for selecting priority areas and key problems are noted; they include relevance to development, availability of human resources, and…

Unravelling Some of the Key Transformations in the Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Lignin.

PubMed

Lui, Matthew Y; Chan, Bun; Yuen, Alexander K L; Masters, Anthony F; Montoya, Alejandro; Maschmeyer, Thomas

2017-05-22

Using both experimental and computational methods, focusing on intermediates and model compounds, some of the main features of the reaction mechanisms that operate during the hydrothermal processing of lignin were elucidated. Key reaction pathways and their connection to different structural features of lignin were proposed. Under neutral conditions, subcritical water was demonstrated to act as a bifunctional acid/base catalyst for the dissection of lignin structures. In a complex web of mutually dependent interactions, guaiacyl units within lignin were shown to significantly affect overall lignin reactivity. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Recommended features of protocols for long-term ecological monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oakley, Karen L.; Boudreau, Susan L.; Humphrey, Sioux-Z

2001-01-01

In 1991, the National Park Service (NPS) selected seven parks to serve as prototypes for development of a long-term ecological monitoring program. Denali National Park and Preserve was one of the prototype parks selected. The principal focus of this national program was to detect and document resource changes and to understand the forces driving those changes. One of the major tasks of each prototype park was to develop monitoring protocols. In this paper, we discuss some lessons learned and what we believe to be the most important features of protocols.One of the many lessons we have learned is that monitoring protocols vary greatly in content and format. This variation leads to confusion about what information protocols should contain and how they should be formatted. Problems we have observed in existing protocols include (1) not providing enough detail, (2) omitting critical topics (such as data management), and (3) mixing explanation with instructions. Once written, protocols often sit on the shelf to collect dust, allowing methods changes to occur without being adequately considered, tested, or documented. Because a lengthy and costly research effort is often needed to develop protocols, a vision of what the final product should look like is helpful. Based on our involvement with the prototype monitoring program for Denali (Oakley and Boudreau 2000), we recommend key features of protocols, including a scheme for linking protocols to data in the data management system and for tracking protocol revisions. A protocol system is crucial for producing long-term data sets of known quality that meet program objectives.

Key Features of Intertidal Food Webs That Support Migratory Shorebirds

PubMed Central

Saint-Béat, Blanche; Dupuy, Christine; Bocher, Pierrick; Chalumeau, Julien; De Crignis, Margot; Fontaine, Camille; Guizien, Katell; Lavaud, Johann; Lefebvre, Sébastien; Montanié, Hélène; Mouget, Jean-Luc; Orvain, Francis; Pascal, Pierre-Yves; Quaintenne, Gwenaël; Radenac, Gilles; Richard, Pierre; Robin, Frédéric; Vézina, Alain F.; Niquil, Nathalie

2013-01-01

The migratory shorebirds of the East Atlantic flyway land in huge numbers during a migratory stopover or wintering on the French Atlantic coast. The Brouage bare mudflat (Marennes-Oléron Bay, NE Atlantic) is one of the major stopover sites in France. The particular structure and function of a food web affects the efficiency of carbon transfer. The structure and functioning of the Brouage food web is crucial for the conservation of species landing within this area because it provides sufficient food, which allows shorebirds to reach the north of Europe where they nest. The aim of this study was to describe and understand which food web characteristics support nutritional needs of birds. Two food-web models were constructed, based on in situ measurements that were made in February 2008 (the presence of birds) and July 2008 (absence of birds). To complete the models, allometric relationships and additional data from the literature were used. The missing flow values of the food web models were estimated by Monte Carlo Markov Chain – Linear Inverse Modelling. The flow solutions obtained were used to calculate the ecological network analysis indices, which estimate the emergent properties of the functioning of a food-web. The total activities of the Brouage ecosystem in February and July are significantly different. The specialisation of the trophic links within the ecosystem does not appear to differ between the two models. In spite of a large export of carbon from the primary producer and detritus in winter, the higher recycling leads to a similar retention of carbon for the two seasons. It can be concluded that in February, the higher activity of the ecosystem coupled with a higher cycling and a mean internal organization, ensure the sufficient feeding of the migratory shorebirds. PMID:24204666

Key features of intertidal food webs that support migratory shorebirds.

PubMed

Saint-Béat, Blanche; Dupuy, Christine; Bocher, Pierrick; Chalumeau, Julien; De Crignis, Margot; Fontaine, Camille; Guizien, Katell; Lavaud, Johann; Lefebvre, Sébastien; Montanié, Hélène; Mouget, Jean-Luc; Orvain, Francis; Pascal, Pierre-Yves; Quaintenne, Gwenaël; Radenac, Gilles; Richard, Pierre; Robin, Frédéric; Vézina, Alain F; Niquil, Nathalie

2013-01-01

The migratory shorebirds of the East Atlantic flyway land in huge numbers during a migratory stopover or wintering on the French Atlantic coast. The Brouage bare mudflat (Marennes-Oléron Bay, NE Atlantic) is one of the major stopover sites in France. The particular structure and function of a food web affects the efficiency of carbon transfer. The structure and functioning of the Brouage food web is crucial for the conservation of species landing within this area because it provides sufficient food, which allows shorebirds to reach the north of Europe where they nest. The aim of this study was to describe and understand which food web characteristics support nutritional needs of birds. Two food-web models were constructed, based on in situ measurements that were made in February 2008 (the presence of birds) and July 2008 (absence of birds). To complete the models, allometric relationships and additional data from the literature were used. The missing flow values of the food web models were estimated by Monte Carlo Markov Chain--Linear Inverse Modelling. The flow solutions obtained were used to calculate the ecological network analysis indices, which estimate the emergent properties of the functioning of a food-web. The total activities of the Brouage ecosystem in February and July are significantly different. The specialisation of the trophic links within the ecosystem does not appear to differ between the two models. In spite of a large export of carbon from the primary producer and detritus in winter, the higher recycling leads to a similar retention of carbon for the two seasons. It can be concluded that in February, the higher activity of the ecosystem coupled with a higher cycling and a mean internal organization, ensure the sufficient feeding of the migratory shorebirds.

Clinical features, proximate causes, and consequences of active convulsive epilepsy in Africa

PubMed Central

Kariuki, Symon M; Matuja, William; Akpalu, Albert; Kakooza-Mwesige, Angelina; Chabi, Martin; Wagner, Ryan G; Connor, Myles; Chengo, Eddie; Ngugi, Anthony K; Odhiambo, Rachael; Bottomley, Christian; White, Steven; Sander, Josemir W; Neville, Brian G R; Newton, Charles R J C

2014-01-01

Purpose Epilepsy is common in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but the clinical features and consequences are poorly characterized. Most studies are hospital-based, and few studies have compared different ecological sites in SSA. We described active convulsive epilepsy (ACE) identified in cross-sectional community-based surveys in SSA, to understand the proximate causes, features, and consequences. Methods We performed a detailed clinical and neurophysiologic description of ACE cases identified from a community survey of 584,586 people using medical history, neurologic examination, and electroencephalography (EEG) data from five sites in Africa: South Africa; Tanzania; Uganda; Kenya; and Ghana. The cases were examined by clinicians to discover risk factors, clinical features, and consequences of epilepsy. We used logistic regression to determine the epilepsy factors associated with medical comorbidities. Key Findings Half (51%) of the 2,170 people with ACE were children and 69% of seizures began in childhood. Focal features (EEG, seizure types, and neurologic deficits) were present in 58% of ACE cases, and these varied significantly with site. Status epilepticus occurred in 25% of people with ACE. Only 36% received antiepileptic drugs (phenobarbital was the most common drug [95%]), and the proportion varied significantly with the site. Proximate causes of ACE were adverse perinatal events (11%) for onset of seizures before 18 years; and acute encephalopathy (10%) and head injury prior to seizure onset (3%). Important comorbidities were malnutrition (15%), cognitive impairment (23%), and neurologic deficits (15%). The consequences of ACE were burns (16%), head injuries (postseizure) (1%), lack of education (43%), and being unmarried (67%) or unemployed (57%) in adults, all significantly more common than in those without epilepsy. Significance There were significant differences in the comorbidities across sites. Focal features are common in ACE, suggesting identifiable and

Seniors' perceptions of vehicle safety risks and needs.

PubMed

Shaw, Lynn; Polgar, Jan Miller; Vrkljan, Brenda; Jacobson, Jill

2010-01-01

The investigation of vehicle safety needs for older drivers and passengers is integral for their safe transportation. A program of research on safe transportation for seniors was launched through AUTO21, a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence. This national research network focuses on a wide range of automotive issues, from materials and design to safety and societal issues. An inductive qualitative inquiry of seniors' driving experiences, safety feature use, and strategies to prevent injury and manage risks was a first step in this program. We conducted interviews and focus groups with 58 seniors without disabilities and 9 seniors with disabilities. We identified a lack of congruity between the vehicle and safety feature design and seniors' needs. Seniors described strategies to manage their safety and that of others. Specific aspects of vehicle design, safety features, and action strategies that support safer use and operation of a vehicle by seniors are outlined.

Tier II Interventions within the Framework of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support: Essential Features for Design, Implementation, and Maintenance.

PubMed

Anderson, Cynthia M; Borgmeier, Chris

2010-01-01

To meet the complex social behavioral and academic needs of all students, schools benefit from having available multiple evidence-based interventions of varying intensity. School-wide positive behavior support provides a framework within which a continuum of evidence-based interventions can be implemented in a school. This framework includes three levels or tiers of intervention; Tier I (primary or universal), Tier II (secondary or targeted), and Tier III (tertiary or individualized) supports. In this paper we review the logic behind school-wide positive behavior support and then focus on Tier II interventions, as this level of support has received the least attention in the literature. We delineate the key features of Tier II interventions as implemented within school-wide positive behavior support, provide guidelines for matching Tier II interventions to school and student needs, and describe how schools plan for implementation and maintenance of selected interventions.

An examination of the needs of older patients with chronic mental illness in public mental health services.

PubMed

Futeran, Shuli; Draper, Brian M

2012-01-01

To describe the needs of patients aged 50 years and over with chronic mental illness being case managed within a public mental health service, and to determine factors that influence these needs. Patients were recruited from community-based Adult Mental Health (AMH) teams and Specialist Mental Health Services for Older People (SMHSOP) teams. Eligibility criteria included a diagnosis of schizophrenia or mood disorder. Patient, carer and key worker interviews were carried out using the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly (CANE). Of 183 eligible patients, 97 (mean age of 66.4 years) participated, of whom 63 were managed by AMH teams and 34 by SMHSOP teams. The majority (52%) had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, particularly those managed by AMH (71%). Patients self-rated fewer needs overall on the CANE than their key workers or the researcher, and also rated a higher proportion of their needs being met (83%) than the key worker (77%) or researcher (76%). From each perspective, over 80% of psychiatric and around 95% of identified medical needs were being met. The majority of social needs were unmet, with patients reporting only 42%, and key workers only 33%, met needs. The key unmet social needs were company, daily activities and having a close confidant. Key workers, patients and researchers rated SMHSOP service delivery to have significantly less unmet needs. The social needs of older patients with chronic mental illness require greater attention by public mental health services.

Dengue outbreak in Key West, Florida, USA, 2009.

PubMed

Radke, Elizabeth G; Gregory, Christopher J; Kintziger, Kristina W; Sauber-Schatz, Erin K; Hunsperger, Elizabeth A; Gallagher, Glen R; Barber, Jean M; Biggerstaff, Brad J; Stanek, Danielle R; Tomashek, Kay M; Blackmore, Carina G M

2012-01-01

After 3 dengue cases were acquired in Key West, Florida, we conducted a serosurvey to determine the scope of the outbreak. Thirteen residents showed recent infection (infection rate 5%; 90% CI 2%-8%), demonstrating the reemergence of dengue in Florida. Increased awareness of dengue among health care providers is needed.

Generic decoding of seen and imagined objects using hierarchical visual features.

PubMed

Horikawa, Tomoyasu; Kamitani, Yukiyasu

2017-05-22

Object recognition is a key function in both human and machine vision. While brain decoding of seen and imagined objects has been achieved, the prediction is limited to training examples. We present a decoding approach for arbitrary objects using the machine vision principle that an object category is represented by a set of features rendered invariant through hierarchical processing. We show that visual features, including those derived from a deep convolutional neural network, can be predicted from fMRI patterns, and that greater accuracy is achieved for low-/high-level features with lower-/higher-level visual areas, respectively. Predicted features are used to identify seen/imagined object categories (extending beyond decoder training) from a set of computed features for numerous object images. Furthermore, decoding of imagined objects reveals progressive recruitment of higher-to-lower visual representations. Our results demonstrate a homology between human and machine vision and its utility for brain-based information retrieval.

Secure password-based authenticated key exchange for web services

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

Liang, Fang; Meder, Samuel; Chevassut, Olivier

This paper discusses an implementation of an authenticated key-exchange method rendered on message primitives defined in the WS-Trust and WS-SecureConversation specifications. This IEEE-specified cryptographic method (AuthA) is proven-secure for password-based authentication and key exchange, while the WS-Trust and WS-Secure Conversation are emerging Web Services Security specifications that extend the WS-Security specification. A prototype of the presented protocol is integrated in the WSRF-compliant Globus Toolkit V4. Further hardening of the implementation is expected to result in a version that will be shipped with future Globus Toolkit releases. This could help to address the current unavailability of decent shared-secret-based authentication options inmore » the Web Services and Grid world. Future work will be to integrate One-Time-Password (OTP) features in the authentication protocol.« less

Feature highlighting enhances learning of a complex natural-science category.

PubMed

Miyatsu, Toshiya; Gouravajhala, Reshma; Nosofsky, Robert M; McDaniel, Mark A

2018-04-26

Learning naturalistic categories, which tend to have fuzzy boundaries and vary on many dimensions, can often be harder than learning well defined categories. One method for facilitating the category learning of naturalistic stimuli may be to provide explicit feature descriptions that highlight the characteristic features of each category. Although this method is commonly used in textbooks and classrooms, theoretically it remains uncertain whether feature descriptions should advantage learning complex natural-science categories. In three experiments, participants were trained on 12 categories of rocks, either without or with a brief description highlighting key features of each category. After training, they were tested on their ability to categorize both old and new rocks from each of the categories. Providing feature descriptions as a caption under a rock image failed to improve category learning relative to providing only the rock image with its category label (Experiment 1). However, when these same feature descriptions were presented such that they were explicitly linked to the relevant parts of the rock image (feature highlighting), participants showed significantly higher performance on both immediate generalization to new rocks (Experiment 2) and generalization after a 2-day delay (Experiment 3). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Vertical Feature Mask Feature Classification Flag Extraction

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-03-28

  Vertical Feature Mask Feature Classification Flag Extraction This routine demonstrates extraction of the ... in a CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 Vertical Feature Mask feature classification flag value. It is written in Interactive Data Language (IDL) ...

A New Three Dimensional Based Key Generation Technique in AVK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Subhasish; Dutta, Manash Pratim; Bhunia, Chandan Tilak

2017-08-01

In modern era, ensuring high order security becomes one and only objective of computer networks. From the last few decades, many researchers have given their contributions to achieve the secrecy over the communication channel. In achieving perfect security, Shannon had done the pioneer work on perfect secret theorem and illustrated that secrecy of the shared information can be maintained if the key becomes variable in nature instead of static one. In this regard, a key generation technique has been proposed where the key can be changed every time whenever a new block of data needs to be exchanged. In our scheme, the keys not only vary in bit sequences but also in size. The experimental study is also included in this article to prove the correctness and effectiveness of our proposed technique.

Key Working for Families with Young Disabled Children

PubMed Central

Carter, Bernie; Thomas, Megan

2011-01-01

For families with a disabled child, the usual challenges of family life can be further complicated by the need to access a wide range of services provided by a plethora of professionals and agencies. Key working aims to support children and their families in navigating these complexities ensuring easy access to relevant, high quality, and coordinated care. The aim of this paper is to explore the key worker role in relation to “being a key worker” and “having a key worker”. The data within this paper draw on a larger evaluation study of the Blackpool Early Support Pilot Programme. The qualitative study used an appreciative and narrative approach and utilised mixed methods (interviews, surveys and a nominal group workshop). Data were collected from 43 participants (parents, key workers, and other stakeholders). All stakeholders who had been involved with the service were invited to participate. In the paper we present and discuss the ways in which key working made a difference to the lives of children and their families. We also consider how key working transformed the perspectives of the key workers creating a deeper and richer understanding of family lives and the ways in which other disciplines and agencies worked. Key working contributed to the shift to a much more family-centred approach, and enhanced communication and information sharing between professionals and agencies improved. This resulted in families feeling more informed. Key workers acted in an entrepreneurial fashion, forging new relationships with families and between families and other stakeholders. Parents of young disabled children and their service providers benefited from key working. Much of the benefit accrued came from strong, relational, and social-professional networking which facilitated the embedding of new ways of working into everyday practice. Using an appreciative inquiry approach provided an effective and relevant way of engaging with parents, professionals, and other

Dengue Outbreak in Key West, Florida, USA, 2009

PubMed Central

Radke, Elizabeth G.; Gregory, Christopher J.; Kintziger, Kristina W.; Sauber-Schatz, Erin K.; Hunsperger, Elizabeth A.; Gallagher, Glen R.; Barber, Jean M.; Biggerstaff, Brad J.; Stanek, Danielle R.; Tomashek, Kay M.

2012-01-01

After 3 dengue cases were acquired in Key West, Florida, we conducted a serosurvey to determine the scope of the outbreak. Thirteen residents showed recent infection (infection rate 5%; 90% CI 2%–8%), demonstrating the reemergence of dengue in Florida. Increased awareness of dengue among health care providers is needed. PMID:22257471

Separable spectro-temporal Gabor filter bank features: Reducing the complexity of robust features for automatic speech recognition.

PubMed

Schädler, Marc René; Kollmeier, Birger

2015-04-01

To test if simultaneous spectral and temporal processing is required to extract robust features for automatic speech recognition (ASR), the robust spectro-temporal two-dimensional-Gabor filter bank (GBFB) front-end from Schädler, Meyer, and Kollmeier [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131, 4134-4151 (2012)] was de-composed into a spectral one-dimensional-Gabor filter bank and a temporal one-dimensional-Gabor filter bank. A feature set that is extracted with these separate spectral and temporal modulation filter banks was introduced, the separate Gabor filter bank (SGBFB) features, and evaluated on the CHiME (Computational Hearing in Multisource Environments) keywords-in-noise recognition task. From the perspective of robust ASR, the results showed that spectral and temporal processing can be performed independently and are not required to interact with each other. Using SGBFB features permitted the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to be lowered by 1.2 dB while still performing as well as the GBFB-based reference system, which corresponds to a relative improvement of the word error rate by 12.8%. Additionally, the real time factor of the spectro-temporal processing could be reduced by more than an order of magnitude. Compared to human listeners, the SNR needed to be 13 dB higher when using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient features, 11 dB higher when using GBFB features, and 9 dB higher when using SGBFB features to achieve the same recognition performance.

Aging and Developmental Disabilities. Feature Issue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Deborah, Ed.; And Others

1993-01-01

This feature issue of a bulletin on community integration points out the challenge of making service systems more familiar with and responsive to the needs of older adults with developmental disabilities and their families. It includes articles with the following titles and authors: "Living on the Edge" (Arthur Campbell, Jr.); "Aging and…

Simple Web-based interactive key development software (WEBiKEY) and an example key for Kuruna (Poaceae: Bambusoideae)1

PubMed Central

Attigala, Lakshmi; De Silva, Nuwan I.; Clark, Lynn G.

2016-01-01

Premise of the study: Programs that are user-friendly and freely available for developing Web-based interactive keys are scarce and most of the well-structured applications are relatively expensive. WEBiKEY was developed to enable researchers to easily develop their own Web-based interactive keys with fewer resources. Methods and Results: A Web-based multiaccess identification tool (WEBiKEY) was developed that uses freely available Microsoft ASP.NET technologies and an SQL Server database for Windows-based hosting environments. WEBiKEY was tested for its usability with a sample data set, the temperate woody bamboo genus Kuruna (Poaceae). Conclusions: WEBiKEY is freely available to the public and can be used to develop Web-based interactive keys for any group of species. The interactive key we developed for Kuruna using WEBiKEY enables users to visually inspect characteristics of Kuruna and identify an unknown specimen as one of seven possible species in the genus. PMID:27144109

Extraction and representation of common feature from uncertain facial expressions with cloud model.

PubMed

Wang, Shuliang; Chi, Hehua; Yuan, Hanning; Geng, Jing

2017-12-01

Human facial expressions are key ingredient to convert an individual's innate emotion in communication. However, the variation of facial expressions affects the reliable identification of human emotions. In this paper, we present a cloud model to extract facial features for representing human emotion. First, the uncertainties in facial expression are analyzed in the context of cloud model. The feature extraction and representation algorithm is established under cloud generators. With forward cloud generator, facial expression images can be re-generated as many as we like for visually representing the extracted three features, and each feature shows different roles. The effectiveness of the computing model is tested on Japanese Female Facial Expression database. Three common features are extracted from seven facial expression images. Finally, the paper is concluded and remarked.

A Dichotomous Key for the Identification of Common British Wild Flower Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Piers

2004-01-01

This article argues the need for, and provides, a dichotomous single access key for the identification of common British wild flower families. A minimum of technical vocabulary is used while at the same time retaining most of the recent botanical names of families. The key provides a user-friendly opportunity for school pupils to become familiar…

Identifying Key Features, Cutting Edge Cloud Resources, and Artificial Intelligence Tools to Achieve User-Friendly Water Science in the Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierce, S. A.

2017-12-01

Decision making for groundwater systems is becoming increasingly important, as shifting water demands increasingly impact aquifers. As buffer systems, aquifers provide room for resilient responses and augment the actual timeframe for hydrological response. Yet the pace impacts, climate shifts, and degradation of water resources is accelerating. To meet these new drivers, groundwater science is transitioning toward the emerging field of Integrated Water Resources Management, or IWRM. IWRM incorporates a broad array of dimensions, methods, and tools to address problems that tend to be complex. Computational tools and accessible cyberinfrastructure (CI) are needed to cross the chasm between science and society. Fortunately cloud computing environments, such as the new Jetstream system, are evolving rapidly. While still targeting scientific user groups systems such as, Jetstream, offer configurable cyberinfrastructure to enable interactive computing and data analysis resources on demand. The web-based interfaces allow researchers to rapidly customize virtual machines, modify computing architecture and increase the usability and access for broader audiences to advanced compute environments. The result enables dexterous configurations and opening up opportunities for IWRM modelers to expand the reach of analyses, number of case studies, and quality of engagement with stakeholders and decision makers. The acute need to identify improved IWRM solutions paired with advanced computational resources refocuses the attention of IWRM researchers on applications, workflows, and intelligent systems that are capable of accelerating progress. IWRM must address key drivers of community concern, implement transdisciplinary methodologies, adapt and apply decision support tools in order to effectively support decisions about groundwater resource management. This presentation will provide an overview of advanced computing services in the cloud using integrated groundwater management case

Testing of Haar-Like Feature in Region of Interest Detection for Automated Target Recognition (ATR) System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Yuhan; Lu, Dr. Thomas

2010-01-01

The objectives of this project were to develop a ROI (Region of Interest) detector using Haar-like feature similar to the face detection in Intel's OpenCV library, implement it in Matlab code, and test the performance of the new ROI detector against the existing ROI detector that uses Optimal Trade-off Maximum Average Correlation Height filter (OTMACH). The ROI detector included 3 parts: 1, Automated Haar-like feature selection in finding a small set of the most relevant Haar-like features for detecting ROIs that contained a target. 2, Having the small set of Haar-like features from the last step, a neural network needed to be trained to recognize ROIs with targets by taking the Haar-like features as inputs. 3, using the trained neural network from the last step, a filtering method needed to be developed to process the neural network responses into a small set of regions of interests. This needed to be coded in Matlab. All the 3 parts needed to be coded in Matlab. The parameters in the detector needed to be trained by machine learning and tested with specific datasets. Since OpenCV library and Haar-like feature were not available in Matlab, the Haar-like feature calculation needed to be implemented in Matlab. The codes for Adaptive Boosting and max/min filters in Matlab could to be found from the Internet but needed to be integrated to serve the purpose of this project. The performance of the new detector was tested by comparing the accuracy and the speed of the new detector against the existing OTMACH detector. The speed was referred as the average speed to find the regions of interests in an image. The accuracy was measured by the number of false positives (false alarms) at the same detection rate between the two detectors.

Knowing (and understanding) the key numbers for your practice.

PubMed

Schumann, Ted

2013-12-01

Most dentists see accounting and bookkeeping as a necessary evil instead of a helpful tool. Yet the most financially successful and happy dentists understand the need for good financial management. Here's an overview that will help you better-understand the key numbers in your practice.

Optimal attacks on qubit-based Quantum Key Recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leermakers, Daan; Škorić, Boris

2018-03-01

Quantum Key Recycling (QKR) is a quantum cryptographic primitive that allows one to reuse keys in an unconditionally secure way. By removing the need to repeatedly generate new keys, it improves communication efficiency. Škorić and de Vries recently proposed a QKR scheme based on 8-state encoding (four bases). It does not require quantum computers for encryption/decryption but only single-qubit operations. We provide a missing ingredient in the security analysis of this scheme in the case of noisy channels: accurate upper bounds on the required amount of privacy amplification. We determine optimal attacks against the message and against the key, for 8-state encoding as well as 4-state and 6-state conjugate coding. We provide results in terms of min-entropy loss as well as accessible (Shannon) information. We show that the Shannon entropy analysis for 8-state encoding reduces to the analysis of quantum key distribution, whereas 4-state and 6-state suffer from additional leaks that make them less effective. From the optimal attacks we compute the required amount of privacy amplification and hence the achievable communication rate (useful information per qubit) of qubit-based QKR. Overall, 8-state encoding yields the highest communication rates.

Prediction of interface residue based on the features of residue interaction network.

PubMed

Jiao, Xiong; Ranganathan, Shoba

2017-11-07

Protein-protein interaction plays a crucial role in the cellular biological processes. Interface prediction can improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the related processes and functions. In this work, we propose a classification method to recognize the interface residue based on the features of a weighted residue interaction network. The random forest algorithm is used for the prediction and 16 network parameters and the B-factor are acting as the element of the input feature vector. Compared with other similar work, the method is feasible and effective. The relative importance of these features also be analyzed to identify the key feature for the prediction. Some biological meaning of the important feature is explained. The results of this work can be used for the related work about the structure-function relationship analysis via a residue interaction network model. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fundamental rate-loss tradeoff for optical quantum key distribution.

PubMed

Takeoka, Masahiro; Guha, Saikat; Wilde, Mark M

2014-10-24

Since 1984, various optical quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols have been proposed and examined. In all of them, the rate of secret key generation decays exponentially with distance. A natural and fundamental question is then whether there are yet-to-be discovered optical QKD protocols (without quantum repeaters) that could circumvent this rate-distance tradeoff. This paper provides a major step towards answering this question. Here we show that the secret key agreement capacity of a lossy and noisy optical channel assisted by unlimited two-way public classical communication is limited by an upper bound that is solely a function of the channel loss, regardless of how much optical power the protocol may use. Our result has major implications for understanding the secret key agreement capacity of optical channels-a long-standing open problem in optical quantum information theory-and strongly suggests a real need for quantum repeaters to perform QKD at high rates over long distances.

FSR: feature set reduction for scalable and accurate multi-class cancer subtype classification based on copy number.

PubMed

Wong, Gerard; Leckie, Christopher; Kowalczyk, Adam

2012-01-15

Feature selection is a key concept in machine learning for microarray datasets, where features represented by probesets are typically several orders of magnitude larger than the available sample size. Computational tractability is a key challenge for feature selection algorithms in handling very high-dimensional datasets beyond a hundred thousand features, such as in datasets produced on single nucleotide polymorphism microarrays. In this article, we present a novel feature set reduction approach that enables scalable feature selection on datasets with hundreds of thousands of features and beyond. Our approach enables more efficient handling of higher resolution datasets to achieve better disease subtype classification of samples for potentially more accurate diagnosis and prognosis, which allows clinicians to make more informed decisions in regards to patient treatment options. We applied our feature set reduction approach to several publicly available cancer single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array datasets and evaluated its performance in terms of its multiclass predictive classification accuracy over different cancer subtypes, its speedup in execution as well as its scalability with respect to sample size and array resolution. Feature Set Reduction (FSR) was able to reduce the dimensions of an SNP array dataset by more than two orders of magnitude while achieving at least equal, and in most cases superior predictive classification performance over that achieved on features selected by existing feature selection methods alone. An examination of the biological relevance of frequently selected features from FSR-reduced feature sets revealed strong enrichment in association with cancer. FSR was implemented in MATLAB R2010b and is available at http://ww2.cs.mu.oz.au/~gwong/FSR.

Writing Feature Articles with Intermediate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Denise N.

2010-01-01

Students need regular opportunities to write expository text. However, focusing on report writing often leaves students without strong examples to study or analyze to guide and grow their own writing. Writing and studying feature articles, meant to inform and explain, can become an alternative to report writing, as they can easily be located in…

Robust photometric invariant features from the color tensor.

PubMed

van de Weijer, Joost; Gevers, Theo; Smeulders, Arnold W M

2006-01-01

Luminance-based features are widely used as low-level input for computer vision applications, even when color data is available. The extension of feature detection to the color domain prevents information loss due to isoluminance and allows us to exploit the photometric information. To fully exploit the extra information in the color data, the vector nature of color data has to be taken into account and a sound framework is needed to combine feature and photometric invariance theory. In this paper, we focus on the structure tensor, or color tensor, which adequately handles the vector nature of color images. Further, we combine the features based on the color tensor with photometric invariant derivatives to arrive at photometric invariant features. We circumvent the drawback of unstable photometric invariants by deriving an uncertainty measure to accompany the photometric invariant derivatives. The uncertainty is incorporated in the color tensor, hereby allowing the computation of robust photometric invariant features. The combination of the photometric invariance theory and tensor-based features allows for detection of a variety of features such as photometric invariant edges, corners, optical flow, and curvature. The proposed features are tested for noise characteristics and robustness to photometric changes. Experiments show that the proposed features are robust to scene incidental events and that the proposed uncertainty measure improves the applicability of full invariants.

Who Needs 3D When the Universe Is Flat?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eriksson, Urban; Linder, Cedric; Airey, John; Redfors, Andreas

2014-01-01

An overlooked feature in astronomy education is the need for students to learn to extrapolate three-dimensionality and the challenges that this may involve. Discerning critical features in the night sky that are embedded in dimensionality is a long-term learning process. Several articles have addressed the usefulness of three-dimensional (3D)…

An Analysis of the Contents and Pedagogy of Al-Kashi's 1427 "Key to Arithmetic" (Miftah Al-Hisab)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ta'ani, Osama Hekmat

2011-01-01

Al-Kashi's 1427 "Key to Arithmetic" had important use over several hundred years in mathematics teaching in Medieval Islam throughout the time of the Ottoman Empire. Its pedagogical features have never been studied before. In this dissertation I have made a close pedagogical analysis of these features and discovered several teaching…

Robust multiparty quantum secret key sharing over two collective-noise channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhan-jun

2006-02-01

Based on a polarization-based quantum key distribution protocol over a collective-noise channel [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (2004) 017901], a robust (n,n)-threshold scheme of multiparty quantum secret sharing of key over two collective-noise channels (i.e., the collective dephasing channel and the collective rotating channel) is proposed. In this scheme the sharer entirety can establish a joint key with the message sender only if all the sharers collaborate together. Since Bell singlets are enough for use and only single-photon polarization needs to be identified, this scheme is feasible according to the present-day technique.

Quantum key distribution protocol based on contextuality monogamy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Jaskaran; Bharti, Kishor; Arvind

2017-06-01

The security of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols hinges upon features of physical systems that are uniquely quantum in nature. We explore the role of quantumness, as qualified by quantum contextuality, in a QKD scheme. A QKD protocol based on the Klyachko-Can-Binicioğlu-Shumovsky (KCBS) contextuality scenario using a three-level quantum system is presented. We explicitly show the unconditional security of the protocol by a generalized contextuality monogamy relationship based on the no-disturbance principle. This protocol provides a new framework for QKD which has conceptual and practical advantages over other protocols.

Mining the key predictors for event outbreaks in social networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Chengqi; Bao, Yuanyuan; Xue, Yibo

2016-04-01

It will be beneficial to devise a method to predict a so-called event outbreak. Existing works mainly focus on exploring effective methods for improving the accuracy of predictions, while ignoring the underlying causes: What makes event go viral? What factors that significantly influence the prediction of an event outbreak in social networks? In this paper, we proposed a novel definition for an event outbreak, taking into account the structural changes to a network during the propagation of content. In addition, we investigated features that were sensitive to predicting an event outbreak. In order to investigate the universality of these features at different stages of an event, we split the entire lifecycle of an event into 20 equal segments according to the proportion of the propagation time. We extracted 44 features, including features related to content, users, structure, and time, from each segment of the event. Based on these features, we proposed a prediction method using supervised classification algorithms to predict event outbreaks. Experimental results indicate that, as time goes by, our method is highly accurate, with a precision rate ranging from 79% to 97% and a recall rate ranging from 74% to 97%. In addition, after applying a feature-selection algorithm, the top five selected features can considerably improve the accuracy of the prediction. Data-driven experimental results show that the entropy of the eigenvector centrality, the entropy of the PageRank, the standard deviation of the betweenness centrality, the proportion of re-shares without content, and the average path length are the key predictors for an event outbreak. Our findings are especially useful for further exploring the intrinsic characteristics of outbreak prediction.

HIV epidemic among key populations in west Africa.

PubMed

Djomand, Gaston; Quaye, Silas; Sullivan, Patrick S

2014-09-01

Globally, HIV infection remains a significant issue for key populations such as men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers. A review of recent articles was conducted for west African countries to assess the burden of disease among female sex workers and MSM, access to services and identify barriers to implementation of services for key populations. In west Africa, key populations engage in high-risk practices for the acquisition of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Available HIV prevalence data fluctuate across and within countries for both MSM and female sex workers and may be five to ten times as high as that of the general population. HIV prevalence varied from 15.9% in The Gambia to 68% in Benin among female sex workers, whereas it ranged from 9.8% in The Gambia to 34.9% in Nigeria for MSM. Yet, important data gaps exist, including key populations size estimations in several countries as well as HIV prevalence, incidence and other biomarkers of HIV risk. Because of sociocultural, legal, political and economic challenges, exacerbated by a poor health system infrastructure, the HIV response is not strategically directed toward programs for key populations in countries with concentrated epidemics. Noteworthy is the low coverage of prevention care and treatment interventions offered to key populations. Sufficient planning and political will with legal and structural frameworks that reconcile public health and human rights are needed to prioritize HIV prevention, care and treatment programming for key populations programs in west Africa.

Getting Ready for the "School of the Future": Key Questions and Tentative Answers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ott, Michela; Pozzi, Francesca

This paper explores some key aspects of "today's school", as opposed to those that have characterized "yesterday's school", with the final aim of shedding light on "tomorrow's school". In this direction, the paper puts forward tentative answers to some key questions related to the new characteristics and roles of teachers and students (main actors of the learning process) and the new features/ potentialities of contemporary educational tools which, in turn, require the enactment of innovative pedagogical approaches and educational methods. The emerging picture of the present learning landscape helps in figuring out a future situation where learning possibilities are substantially increased.

Facing Diabetes: What You Need to Know

MedlinePlus

... of this page please turn Javascript on. Feature: Diabetes Facing Diabetes: What You Need to Know Past Issues / Fall ... your loved ones. Photos: AP The Faces of Diabetes Diabetes strikes millions of Americans, young and old, ...

Data key to quest for quality.

PubMed

Chang, Florence S; Nielsen, Jon; Macias, Charles

2013-11-01

Late-binding data warehousing reduces the time it takes to obtain data needed to make crucial decisions. Late binding refers to when and how tightly data from the source applications are bound to the rules and vocabularies that make it useful. In some cases, data can be seen in real time. In historically paper-driven environments where data-driven decisions may be a new concept, buy-in from clinicians, physicians, and hospital leaders is key to success in using data to improve outcomes.

An Efficient Authenticated Key Transfer Scheme in Client-Server Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Runhua; Zhang, Shun

2017-10-01

In this paper, we presented a novel authenticated key transfer scheme in client-server networks, which can achieve two secure goals of remote user authentication and the session key establishment between the remote user and the server. Especially, the proposed scheme can subtly provide two fully different authentications: identity-base authentication and anonymous authentication, while the remote user only holds a private key. Furthermore, our scheme only needs to transmit 1-round messages from the remote user to the server, thus it is very efficient in communication complexity. In addition, the most time-consuming computation in our scheme is elliptic curve scalar point multiplication, so it is also feasible even for mobile devices.

The Mismatch between Children's Health Needs and School Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knauer, Heather; Baker, Dian L.; Hebbeler, Kathleen; Davis-Alldritt, Linda

2015-01-01

There are increasing numbers of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) who require various levels of care each school day. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of public schools in supporting CSHCN through in-depth key informant interviews. For this qualitative study, the authors interviewed 17 key informants to identify key…

Unconscious analyses of visual scenes based on feature conjunctions.

PubMed

Tachibana, Ryosuke; Noguchi, Yasuki

2015-06-01

To efficiently process a cluttered scene, the visual system analyzes statistical properties or regularities of visual elements embedded in the scene. It is controversial, however, whether those scene analyses could also work for stimuli unconsciously perceived. Here we show that our brain performs the unconscious scene analyses not only using a single featural cue (e.g., orientation) but also based on conjunctions of multiple visual features (e.g., combinations of color and orientation information). Subjects foveally viewed a stimulus array (duration: 50 ms) where 4 types of bars (red-horizontal, red-vertical, green-horizontal, and green-vertical) were intermixed. Although a conscious perception of those bars was inhibited by a subsequent mask stimulus, the brain correctly analyzed the information about color, orientation, and color-orientation conjunctions of those invisible bars. The information of those features was then used for the unconscious configuration analysis (statistical processing) of the central bars, which induced a perceptual bias and illusory feature binding in visible stimuli at peripheral locations. While statistical analyses and feature binding are normally 2 key functions of the visual system to construct coherent percepts of visual scenes, our results show that a high-level analysis combining those 2 functions is correctly performed by unconscious computations in the brain. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Featured Molecules: Ascorbic Acid and Methylene Blue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coleman, William F.; Wildman, Randall J.

2003-05-01

The WebWare molecules of the month for May are featured in several articles in this issue. "Arsenic: Not So Evil After All?" discusses the pharmaceutical uses of methylene blue and its development as the first synthetic drug used against a specific disease. The JCE Classroom Activity "Out of the Blue" and the article "Greening the Blue Bottle" feature methylene blue and ascorbic acid as two key ingredients in the formulation of the blue bottle. You can also see a colorful example of these two molecules in action on the cover. "Sailing on the 'C': A Vitamin Titration with a Twist" describes an experiment to determine the vitamin C (ascorbic acid) content of citrus fruits and challenges students, as eighteenth-century sea captains, to decide the best fruit to take on a long voyage. Fully manipulable (Chime) versions of these and other molecules are available at Only@JCE Online.

Resource allocation and organisational features in Swedish primary diabetes care: Changes from 2006 to 2013.

PubMed

Husdal, Rebecka; Rosenblad, Andreas; Leksell, Janeth; Eliasson, Björn; Jansson, Stefan; Jerdén, Lars; Stålhammar, Jan; Steen, Lars; Wallman, Thorne; Adolfsson, Eva Thors

2017-02-01

To compare the resource allocation and organisational features in Swedish primary diabetes care for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) between 2006 and 2013. Using a repeated cross-sectional study design, questionnaires covering personnel resources and organisational features for patients with T2DM in 2006 and 2013 were sent to all Swedish primary health care centres (PHCCs) during the following year. In total, 684 (74.3%) PHCCs responded in 2006 and 880 (76.4%) in 2013. Compared with 2006, the median list size had decreased in 2013 (p<0.001), whereas the median number of listed patients with T2DM had increased (p<0.001). Time devoted to patients with T2DM and diabetes-specific education levels for registered nurses (RNs) had increased, and more PHCCs had in-house psychologists (all p<0.001). The use of follow-up systems and medical check-ups had increased (all p<0.05). Individual counselling was more often based on patients' needs, while arrangement of group-based education remained low. Patient participation in setting treatment targets mainly remained low. Even though the diabetes-specific educational level among RNs increased, the arrangement of group-based education and patient participation in setting treatment targets remained low. These results are of concern and should be prioritised as key features in the care of patients with T2DM. Copyright © 2016 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Meeting the needs of parents around the time of diagnosis of disability among their children: evaluation of a novel program for information, support, and liaison by key workers.

PubMed

Rahi, Jugnoo S; Manaras, Irene; Tuomainen, Helena; Hundt, Gillian Lewando

2004-10-01

Key worker programs for families of children with disabilities, to promote information provision, emotional support, and liaisons among different agencies, have long been advocated but not extensively implemented. We report the impact on the experiences of parents and the practices of health care professionals of a novel, hospital-based, key worker service (Community Link Team [CLT]), implemented in the pediatric ophthalmology department of Great Ormond Street Hospital (London, United Kingdom). The CLT included 2 members, 1 of whom was present during the first outpatient assessment by the consultant ophthalmologist of any child newly diagnosed as visually impaired (corrected acuity of 6/18 or worse in the better eye) and accompanied the family during other assessments performed during that visit. A dedicated room was used by the CLT members to spend time with each family after completion of the clinical assessments. The CLT members reiterated and/or clarified clinical information already provided, specifically advised the families about visual stimulation programs and the benefits and purpose of visual impairment certification, and provided information about educational and social services. The same CLT member met the family at subsequent visits to the department and acted as the first point of contact for parents. Parents of children newly diagnosed with visual impairment and/or ophthalmic disorders at Great Ormond Street Hospital participated in a 2-stage study to assess their needs, their views about the processes of care, and their overall satisfaction. The study included a questionnaire survey with 2 standard instruments, ie, the Measure of Processes of Care, specifically developed and used to assess parents' views of the degree to which health services for a range of childhood disorders are family-centered, and the short form of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, used to assess overall parental satisfaction or dissatisfaction with services in the

A Simplified Approach to Encephalitis and Its Mimics: Key Clinical Decision Points in the Setting of Specific Imaging Abnormalities.

PubMed

McKnight, Colin D; Kelly, Aine M; Petrou, Myria; Nidecker, Anna E; Lorincz, Matthew T; Altaee, Duaa K; Gebarski, Stephen S; Foerster, Bradley

2017-06-01

Infectious encephalitis is a relatively common cause of morbidity and mortality. Treatment of infectious encephalitis with antiviral medication can be highly effective when administered promptly. Clinical mimics of encephalitis arise from a broad range of pathologic processes, including toxic, metabolic, neoplastic, autoimmune, and cardiovascular etiologies. These mimics need to be rapidly differentiated from infectious encephalitis to appropriately manage the correct etiology; however, the many overlapping signs of these various entities present a challenge to accurate diagnosis. A systematic approach that considers both the clinical manifestations and the imaging findings of infectious encephalitis and its mimics can contribute to more accurate and timely diagnosis. Following an institutional review board approval, a health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA)-compliant search of our institutional imaging database (teaching files) was conducted to generate a list of adult and pediatric patients who presented between January 1, 1995 and October 10, 2013 for imaging to evaluate possible cases of encephalitis. Pertinent medical records, including clinical notes as well as surgical and pathology reports, were reviewed and correlated with imaging findings. Clinical and imaging findings were combined to generate useful flowcharts designed to assist in distinguishing infectious encephalitis from its mimics. Key imaging features were reviewed and were placed in the context of the provided flowcharts. Four flowcharts were presented based on the primary anatomic site of imaging abnormality: group 1: temporal lobe; group 2: cerebral cortex; group 3: deep gray matter; and group 4: white matter. An approach that combines features on clinical presentation was then detailed. Imaging examples were used to demonstrate similarities and key differences. Early recognition of infectious encephalitis is critical, but can be quite complex due to diverse pathologies and

Fewer not more leaves - Key to obtaining the needed jump in crop yield potential and water use efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, V.; Kumar, P.; Long, S.

2013-12-01

Word food and feed supply needs to increase by 75% by 2050 to meet the increasing demands of our growing population. Soybean which is the world`s fourth most important crop in terms of total production at 250 million Mt/yr is a key protein source, and together with rice and wheat, are experiencing declining global yield increases year on year. At present rates of improvement, 2050 targets cannot be reached without new innovations. In this study we demonstrate an innovative approach that could provide a yield jump. While, natural selection favors individual plants to maximize leaf production to maximize light interception and shade competitors, the presence of this trait in domestic crops could be disadvantageous. In addition, rising CO2 causes increased leaf production further exacerbating the problem. Here, we show by mathematical model and field experiment that, a modern cultivar growing at the center of US soy cultivation produces too many leaves and reduction to an optimal level would increase yield. Our model results indicate that an LAI of 3.5 and 3.8 produces maximal rates of net canopy assimilation under ambient and elevated CO2 conditions respectively. However, observed peak LAI values are 6.9 and 7.5 under ambient and elevated CO2 conditions respectively. This results in a NPP loss of 30% and 20% under ambient and elevated CO2 conditions respectively. Furthermore, the optimal LAI results in a decreased transpiration of up to 30% thus increasing water use efficiency. We show that as LAI increases, the tradeoffs between diminishing day time gains in NPP, and increasing losses in respiration is responsible for this effect. By designing a more optimum canopy, we can increase NPP and this potentially translates to increased seed yield. To test this model result, we perform canopy manipulation experiments on soybean plants, where we artificially decrease LAI by periodically removing young and emerging leaves throughout the growing season (after pod onset), and

Orientation-sensitivity to facial features explains the Thatcher illusion.

PubMed

Psalta, Lilia; Young, Andrew W; Thompson, Peter; Andrews, Timothy J

2014-10-09

The Thatcher illusion provides a compelling example of the perceptual cost of face inversion. The Thatcher illusion is often thought to result from a disruption to the processing of spatial relations between face features. Here, we show the limitations of this account and instead demonstrate that the effect of inversion in the Thatcher illusion is better explained by a disruption to the processing of purely local facial features. Using a matching task, we found that participants were able to discriminate normal and Thatcherized versions of the same face when they were presented in an upright orientation, but not when the images were inverted. Next, we showed that the effect of inversion was also apparent when only the eye region or only the mouth region was visible. These results demonstrate that a key component of the Thatcher illusion is to be found in orientation-specific encoding of the expressive features (eyes and mouth) of the face. © 2014 ARVO.

Introduction strategies raise key questions.

PubMed

Finger, W R; Keller, S

1995-09-01

Key issues that must be considered before a new contraceptive is introduced center on the need for a trained provider to begin or terminate the method, its side effects, duration of use, method's ability to meet users' needs and preferences, and extra training or staff requirements. Logistics and economic issues to consider are identifying a dependable way of effectively supplying commodities, planning extra services needed for the method, and cost of providing the method. Each contraceptive method presents a different side effect pattern and burdens the service delivery setting differently. The strategy developed to introduce or expand the 3-month injectable Depo-Provera (DMPA) can be used for any method. It includes a needs assessment and addresses regulatory issues, service delivery policies and procedures, information and training, evaluation, and other concerns. Viet Nam's needs assessment showed that Norplant should not be introduced until the service delivery system becomes stronger. Any needs assessment for expansion of contraceptive services should cover sexually transmitted disease/HIV issues. A World Health Organization strategy helps officials identify the best method mix for local situations. Introductory strategies must aim to improve the quality of family planning programs and expand choices. Many begin by examining existing data and conducting interviews with policymakers, users, providers, and women's health advocates. Introductory programs for Norplant focus on provider training, adequate counseling and informed consent for users, and ready access to removal. They need a well-prepared service delivery infrastructure. The first phase of the DMPA introductory strategy for the Philippines comprised a social marketing campaign and DMPA introduction at public clinics in 10 pilot areas with strong service delivery. Successful AIDS prevention programs show that people tend to use barrier methods when they are available. USAID is currently studying

PCOS remains a diagnosis of exclusion: a concise review of key endocrinopathies to exclude.

PubMed

Kyritsi, Eleni Magdalini; Dimitriadis, George K; Kyrou, Ioannis; Kaltsas, Gregory; Randeva, Harpal S

2017-01-01

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogenous disorder associated with clinical, endocrine and ultrasonographic features that can also be encountered in a number of other diseases. It has traditionally been suggested that prolactin excess, enzymatic steroidogenic abnormalities and thyroid disorders need to be excluded before a diagnosis of PCOS is made. However, there is paucity of data regarding the prevalence of PCOS phenotype in some of these disorders, whereas other endocrine diseases that exhibit PCOS-like features may elude diagnosis and proper management if not considered. This article reviews the data of currently included entities that exhibit a PCOS phenotype and those that potentially need to be looked for, and attempts to identify specific features that distinguish them from idiopathic PCOS. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The need to disentangle key concepts from ecosystem-approach jargon.

PubMed

Waylen, K A; Hastings, E J; Banks, E A; Holstead, K L; Irvine, R J; Blackstock, K L

2014-10-01

The ecosystem approach--as endorsed by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) in 2000-is a strategy for holistic, sustainable, and equitable natural resource management, to be implemented via the 12 Malawi Principles. These principles describe the need to manage nature in terms of dynamic ecosystems, while fully engaging with local peoples. It is an ambitious concept. Today, the term is common throughout the research and policy literature on environmental management. However, multiple meanings have been attached to the term, resulting in confusion. We reviewed references to the ecosystem approach from 1957 to 2012 and identified 3 primary uses: as an alternative to ecosystem management or ecosystem-based management; in reference to an integrated and equitable approach to resource management as per the CBD; and as a term signifying a focus on understanding and valuing ecosystem services. Although uses of this term and its variants may overlap in meaning, typically, they do not entirely reflect the ethos of the ecosystem approach as defined by the CBD. For example, there is presently an increasing emphasis on ecosystem services, but focusing on these alone does not promote decentralization of management or use of all forms of knowledge, both of which are integral to the CBD's concept. We highlight that the Malawi Principles are at risk of being forgotten. To better understand these principles, more effort to implement them is required. Such efforts should be evaluated, ideally with comparative approaches, before allowing the CBD's concept of holistic and socially engaged management to be abandoned or superseded. It is possible that attempts to implement all 12 principles together will face many challenges, but they may also offer a unique way to promote holistic and equitable governance of natural resources. Therefore, we believe that the CBD's concept of the ecosystem approach demands more attention. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

An ignition key for atomic-scale engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dundas, Daniel; Cunningham, Brian; Buchanan, Claire; Terasawa, Asako; Paxton, Anthony T.; Todorov, Tchavdar N.

2012-10-01

A current-carrying resonant nanoscale device, simulated by non-adiabatic molecular dynamics, exhibits sharp activation of non-conservative current-induced forces with bias. The result, above the critical bias, is generalized rotational atomic motion with a large gain in kinetic energy. The activation exploits sharp features in the electronic structure, and constitutes, in effect, an ignition key for atomic-scale motors. A controlling factor for the effect is the non-equilibrium dynamical response matrix for small-amplitude atomic motion under current. This matrix can be found from the steady-state electronic structure by a simpler static calculation, providing a way to detect the likely appearance, or otherwise, of non-conservative dynamics, in advance of real-time modelling.

Institutional Data Management in Higher Education. ECAR Key Findings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanosky, Ronald

2009-01-01

This document presents the key findings from the 2009 ECAR (EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research) study of institutional data management, which examines the policies and practices by which higher education institutions effectively collect, protect, and use digital information assets to meet academic and business needs. Importantly, it also…

Endocardial left ventricle feature tracking and reconstruction from tri-plane trans-esophageal echocardiography data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dangi, Shusil; Ben-Zikri, Yehuda K.; Cahill, Nathan; Schwarz, Karl Q.; Linte, Cristian A.

2015-03-01

Two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound (US) has been the clinical standard for over two decades for monitoring and assessing cardiac function and providing support via intra-operative visualization and guidance for minimally invasive cardiac interventions. Developments in three-dimensional (3D) image acquisition and transducer design and technology have revolutionized echocardiography imaging enabling both real-time 3D trans-esophageal and intra-cardiac image acquisition. However, in most cases the clinicians do not access the entire 3D image volume when analyzing the data, rather they focus on several key views that render the cardiac anatomy of interest during the US imaging exam. This approach enables image acquisition at a much higher spatial and temporal resolution. Two such common approaches are the bi-plane and tri-plane data acquisition protocols; as their name states, the former comprises two orthogonal image views, while the latter depicts the cardiac anatomy based on three co-axially intersecting views spaced at 600 to one another. Since cardiac anatomy is continuously changing, the intra-operative anatomy depicted using real-time US imaging also needs to be updated by tracking the key features of interest and endocardial left ventricle (LV) boundaries. Therefore, rapid automatic feature tracking in US images is critical for three reasons: 1) to perform cardiac function assessment; 2) to identify location of surgical targets for accurate tool to target navigation and on-target instrument positioning; and 3) to enable pre- to intra-op image registration as a means to fuse pre-op CT or MR images used during planning with intra-operative images for enhanced guidance. In this paper we utilize monogenic filtering, graph-cut based segmentation and robust spline smoothing in a combined work flow to process the acquired tri-plane TEE time series US images and demonstrate robust and accurate tracking of the LV endocardial features. We reconstruct the endocardial LV

World Key Information Service System Designed For EPCOT Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelsey, J. A.

1984-03-01

An advanced Bell Laboratories and Western Electric designed electronic information retrieval system utilizing the latest Information Age technologies, and a fiber optic transmission system is featured at the Walt Disney World Resort's newest theme park - The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT Center). The project is an interactive audio, video and text information system that is deployed at key locations within the park. The touch sensitive terminals utilizing the ARIEL (Automatic Retrieval of Information Electronically) System is interconnected by a Western Electric designed and manufactured lightwave transmission system.

Assessing and managing breast cancer risk: clinicians' current practice and future needs.

PubMed

Collins, Ian M; Steel, Emma; Mann, G Bruce; Emery, Jon D; Bickerstaffe, Adrian; Trainer, Alison; Butow, Phyllis; Pirotta, Marie; Antoniou, Antonis C; Cuzick, Jack; Hopper, John; Phillips, Kelly-Anne; Keogh, Louise A

2014-10-01

Decision support tools for the assessment and management of breast cancer risk may improve uptake of prevention strategies. End-user input in the design of such tools is critical to increase clinical use. Before developing such a computerized tool, we examined clinicians' practice and future needs. Twelve breast surgeons, 12 primary care physicians and 5 practice nurses participated in 4 focus groups. These were recorded, coded, and analyzed to identify key themes. Participants identified difficulties assessing risk, including a lack of available tools to standardize practice. Most expressed confidence identifying women at potentially high risk, but not moderate risk. Participants felt a tool could especially reassure young women at average risk. Desirable features included: evidence-based, accessible (e.g. web-based), and displaying absolute (not relative) risks in multiple formats. The potential to create anxiety was a concern. Development of future tools should address these issues to optimize translation of knowledge into clinical practice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exciting Action Photos, Feature Articles, Spread Designs Equal Exciting Sports Coverage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konkle, Bruce E.

1996-01-01

Discusses what a high school yearbook sports staff should deliver to their peers in overall sports coverage. Suggests that keys to good sports coverage are quality action photos that entice readers, "featurized" sports articles, attention to the overall design of the spreads, team photos that which show faces clearly, and a scoreboard on…

a Performance Comparison of Feature Detectors for Planetary Rover Mapping and Localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, W.; Peng, M.; Xing, Y.; Wang, Y.; Liu, Z.; Di, K.; Teng, B.; Mao, X.; Zhao, Q.; Xin, X.; Jia, M.

2017-07-01

Feature detection and matching are key techniques in computer vision and robotics, and have been successfully implemented in many fields. So far there is no performance comparison of feature detectors and matching methods for planetary mapping and rover localization using rover stereo images. In this research, we present a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of six feature detectors, including Moravec, Förstner, Harris, FAST, SIFT and SURF, aiming for optimal implementation of feature-based matching in planetary surface environment. To facilitate quantitative analysis, a series of evaluation criteria, including distribution evenness of matched points, coverage of detected points, and feature matching accuracy, are developed in the research. In order to perform exhaustive evaluation, stereo images, simulated under different baseline, pitch angle, and interval of adjacent rover locations, are taken as experimental data source. The comparison results show that SIFT offers the best overall performance, especially it is less sensitive to changes of image taken at adjacent locations.

NASA Astrophysics Technology Needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stahl, H. Philip

2012-01-01

July 2010, NASA Office of Chief Technologist (OCT) initiated an activity to create and maintain a NASA integrated roadmap for 15 key technology areas which recommend an overall technology investment strategy and prioritize NASA?s technology programs to meet NASA?s strategic goals. Science Instruments, Observatories and Sensor Systems(SIOSS) roadmap addresses technology needs to achieve NASA?s highest priority objectives -- not only for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), but for all of NASA.

Towards communication-efficient quantum oblivious key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panduranga Rao, M. V.; Jakobi, M.

2013-01-01

Symmetrically private information retrieval, a fundamental problem in the field of secure multiparty computation, is defined as follows: A database D of N bits held by Bob is queried by a user Alice who is interested in the bit Db in such a way that (1) Alice learns Db and only Db and (2) Bob does not learn anything about Alice's choice b. While solutions to this problem in the classical domain rely largely on unproven computational complexity theoretic assumptions, it is also known that perfect solutions that guarantee both database and user privacy are impossible in the quantum domain. Jakobi [Phys. Rev. APLRAAN1050-294710.1103/PhysRevA.83.022301 83, 022301 (2011)] proposed a protocol for oblivious transfer using well-known quantum key device (QKD) techniques to establish an oblivious key to solve this problem. Their solution provided a good degree of database and user privacy (using physical principles like the impossibility of perfectly distinguishing nonorthogonal quantum states and the impossibility of superluminal communication) while being loss-resistant and implementable with commercial QKD devices (due to the use of the Scarani-Acin-Ribordy-Gisin 2004 protocol). However, their quantum oblivious key distribution (QOKD) protocol requires a communication complexity of O(NlogN). Since modern databases can be extremely large, it is important to reduce this communication as much as possible. In this paper, we first suggest a modification of their protocol wherein the number of qubits that need to be exchanged is reduced to O(N). A subsequent generalization reduces the quantum communication complexity even further in such a way that only a few hundred qubits are needed to be transferred even for very large databases.

Research Needs for Rural Public Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stocker, Frederick D.

The report proposes a conceptual framework for researching key issues relating to rural public facility policy affecting such services as fire protection, water systems, roads, wastewater treatment, hospitals, and others, and identifies important research needs in this area. Major components of the framework are sources of financing (private and…

Automatic Feature Extraction from Planetary Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Troglio, Giulia; Le Moigne, Jacqueline; Benediktsson, Jon A.; Moser, Gabriele; Serpico, Sebastiano B.

2010-01-01

With the launch of several planetary missions in the last decade, a large amount of planetary images has already been acquired and much more will be available for analysis in the coming years. The image data need to be analyzed, preferably by automatic processing techniques because of the huge amount of data. Although many automatic feature extraction methods have been proposed and utilized for Earth remote sensing images, these methods are not always applicable to planetary data that often present low contrast and uneven illumination characteristics. Different methods have already been presented for crater extraction from planetary images, but the detection of other types of planetary features has not been addressed yet. Here, we propose a new unsupervised method for the extraction of different features from the surface of the analyzed planet, based on the combination of several image processing techniques, including a watershed segmentation and the generalized Hough Transform. The method has many applications, among which image registration and can be applied to arbitrary planetary images.

Feature hashing for fast image retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Lingyu; Fu, Jiarun; Zhang, Hongxin; Yuan, Lu; Xu, Hui

2018-03-01

Currently, researches on content based image retrieval mainly focus on robust feature extraction. However, due to the exponential growth of online images, it is necessary to consider searching among large scale images, which is very timeconsuming and unscalable. Hence, we need to pay much attention to the efficiency of image retrieval. In this paper, we propose a feature hashing method for image retrieval which not only generates compact fingerprint for image representation, but also prevents huge semantic loss during the process of hashing. To generate the fingerprint, an objective function of semantic loss is constructed and minimized, which combine the influence of both the neighborhood structure of feature data and mapping error. Since the machine learning based hashing effectively preserves neighborhood structure of data, it yields visual words with strong discriminability. Furthermore, the generated binary codes leads image representation building to be of low-complexity, making it efficient and scalable to large scale databases. Experimental results show good performance of our approach.

Heat, Human Performance, and Occupational Health: A Key Issue for the Assessment of Global Climate Change Impacts.

PubMed

Kjellstrom, Tord; Briggs, David; Freyberg, Chris; Lemke, Bruno; Otto, Matthias; Hyatt, Olivia

2016-01-01

Ambient heat exposure is a well-known health hazard, which reduces human performance and work capacity at heat levels already common in tropical and subtropical areas. Various health problems have been reported. Increasing heat exposure during the hottest seasons of each year is a key feature of global climate change. Heat exhaustion and reduced human performance are often overlooked in climate change health impact analysis. Later this century, many among the four billion people who live in hot areas worldwide will experience significantly reduced work capacity owing to climate change. In some areas, 30-40% of annual daylight hours will become too hot for work to be carried out. The social and economic impacts will be considerable, with global gross domestic product (GDP) losses greater than 20% by 2100. The analysis to date is piecemeal. More analysis of climate change-related occupational health impact assessments is greatly needed.

Parents of Children with Severe Special Needs Survey. Survey Summary Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberta Education, 2008

2008-01-01

The 2007/2008 Parents of Children with Severe Special Needs Survey is conducted to obtain opinions from parents of children with severe special needs to assess their satisfaction with key areas of the education system. A random sample of 816 parents of children with severe special needs completed the survey. Severe special needs descriptions…

A Positive Deviance Approach to Understanding Key Features to Improving Diabetes Care in the Medical Home

PubMed Central

Gabbay, Robert A.; Friedberg, Mark W.; Miller-Day, Michelle; Cronholm, Peter F.; Adelman, Alan; Schneider, Eric C.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE The medical home has gained national attention as a model to reorganize primary care to improve health outcomes. Pennsylvania has undertaken one of the largest state-based, multipayer medical home pilot projects. We used a positive deviance approach to identify and compare factors driving the care models of practices showing the greatest and least improvement in diabetes care in a sample of 25 primary care practices in southeast Pennsylvania. METHODS We ranked practices into improvement quintiles on the basis of the average absolute percentage point improvement from baseline to 18 months in 3 registry-based measures of performance related to diabetes care: glycated hemoglobin concentration, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. We then conducted surveys and key informant interviews with leaders and staff in the 5 most and least improved practices, and compared their responses. RESULTS The most improved/higher-performing practices tended to have greater structural capabilities (eg, electronic health records) than the least improved/lower-performing practices at baseline. Interviews revealed striking differences between the groups in terms of leadership styles and shared vision; sense, use, and development of teams; processes for monitoring progress and obtaining feedback; and presence of technologic and financial distractions. CONCLUSIONS Positive deviance analysis suggests that primary care practices’ baseline structural capabilities and abilities to buffer the stresses of change may be key facilitators of performance improvement in medical home transformations. Attention to the practices’ structural capabilities and factors shaping successful change, especially early in the process, will be necessary to improve the likelihood of successful medical home transformation and better care. PMID:23690393

Combining Feature Selection and Integration—A Neural Model for MT Motion Selectivity

PubMed Central

Beck, Cornelia; Neumann, Heiko

2011-01-01

Background The computation of pattern motion in visual area MT based on motion input from area V1 has been investigated in many experiments and models attempting to replicate the main mechanisms. Two different core conceptual approaches were developed to explain the findings. In integrationist models the key mechanism to achieve pattern selectivity is the nonlinear integration of V1 motion activity. In contrast, selectionist models focus on the motion computation at positions with 2D features. Methodology/Principal Findings Recent experiments revealed that neither of the two concepts alone is sufficient to explain all experimental data and that most of the existing models cannot account for the complex behaviour found. MT pattern selectivity changes over time for stimuli like type II plaids from vector average to the direction computed with an intersection of constraint rule or by feature tracking. Also, the spatial arrangement of the stimulus within the receptive field of a MT cell plays a crucial role. We propose a recurrent neural model showing how feature integration and selection can be combined into one common architecture to explain these findings. The key features of the model are the computation of 1D and 2D motion in model area V1 subpopulations that are integrated in model MT cells using feedforward and feedback processing. Our results are also in line with findings concerning the solution of the aperture problem. Conclusions/Significance We propose a new neural model for MT pattern computation and motion disambiguation that is based on a combination of feature selection and integration. The model can explain a range of recent neurophysiological findings including temporally dynamic behaviour. PMID:21814543

Do Intelligent Robots Need Emotion?

PubMed

Pessoa, Luiz

2017-11-01

What is the place of emotion in intelligent robots? Researchers have advocated the inclusion of some emotion-related components in the information-processing architecture of autonomous agents. It is argued here that emotion needs to be merged with all aspects of the architecture: cognitive-emotional integration should be a key design principle. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A computational analysis of the three isoforms of glutamate dehydrogenase reveals structural features of the isoform EC 1.4.1.4 supporting a key role in ammonium assimilation by plants

PubMed Central

Jaspard, Emmanuel

2006-01-01

Background There are three isoforms of glutamate dehydrogenase. The isoform EC 1.4.1.4 (GDH4) catalyses glutamate synthesis from 2-oxoglutarate and ammonium, using NAD(P)H. Ammonium assimilation is critical for plant growth. Although GDH4 from animals and prokaryotes are well characterized, there are few data concerning plant GDH4, even from those whose genomes are well annotated. Results A large set of the three GDH isoforms was built resulting in 116 non-redundant full polypeptide sequences. A computational analysis was made to gain more information concerning the structure – function relationship of GDH4 from plants (Eukaryota, Viridiplantae). The tested plant GDH4 sequences were the two ones known to date, those of Chlorella sorokiniana. This analysis revealed several structural features specific of plant GDH4: (i) the lack of a structure called "antenna"; (ii) the NAD(P)-binding motif GAGNVA; and (iii) a second putative coenzyme-binding motif GVLTGKG together with four residues involved in the binding of the reduced form of NADP. Conclusion A number of structural features specific of plant GDH4 have been found. The results reinforce the probable key role of GDH4 in ammonium assimilation by plants. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Tina Bakolitsa (nominated by Eugene Koonin), Martin Jambon (nominated by Laura Landweber), Sandor Pangor and Franck Eisenhaber. PMID:17173671

A Scenario-Based Protocol Checker for Public-Key Authentication Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Takamichi

Security protocol provides communication security for the internet. One of the important features of it is authentication with key exchange. Its correctness is a requirement of the whole of the communication security. In this paper, we introduce three attack models realized as their attack scenarios, and provide an authentication-protocol checker for applying three attack-scenarios based on the models. We also utilize it to check two popular security protocols: Secure SHell (SSH) and Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS).

Research on Radar Micro-Doppler Feature Parameter Estimation of Propeller Aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Zhihua; Tao, Feixiang; Duan, Jia; Luo, Jingsheng

2018-01-01

The micro-motion modulation effect of the rotated propellers to radar echo can be a steady feature for aircraft target recognition. Thus, micro-Doppler feature parameter estimation is a key to accurate target recognition. In this paper, the radar echo of rotated propellers is modelled and simulated. Based on which, the distribution characteristics of the micro-motion modulation energy in time, frequency and time-frequency domain are analyzed. The micro-motion modulation energy produced by the scattering points of rotating propellers is accumulated using the Inverse-Radon (I-Radon) transform, which can be used to accomplish the estimation of micro-modulation parameter. Finally, it is proved that the proposed parameter estimation method is effective with measured data. The micro-motion parameters of aircraft can be used as the features of radar target recognition.

Terrain feature recognition for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery employing spatial attributes of targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iisaka, Joji; Sakurai-Amano, Takako

1994-08-01

This paper describes an integrated approach to terrain feature detection and several methods to estimate spatial information from SAR (synthetic aperture radar) imagery. Spatial information of image features as well as spatial association are key elements in terrain feature detection. After applying a small feature preserving despeckling operation, spatial information such as edginess, texture (smoothness), region-likeliness and line-likeness of objects, target sizes, and target shapes were estimated. Then a trapezoid shape fuzzy membership function was assigned to each spatial feature attribute. Fuzzy classification logic was employed to detect terrain features. Terrain features such as urban areas, mountain ridges, lakes and other water bodies as well as vegetated areas were successfully identified from a sub-image of a JERS-1 SAR image. In the course of shape analysis, a quantitative method was developed to classify spatial patterns by expanding a spatial pattern through the use of a series of pattern primitives.

Economic Facts of Life Needed by Entrepreneurs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clow, John E.

1984-01-01

Discusses the need for entrepreneurs to understand basic economics principles. Indicates that business education has a role in preparing entrepreneurs in marketing, management, and accounting. Lists key economic generalizations that individuals should understand before assuming the role of entrepreneur. (JOW)

Setting objectives for managing Key deer

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diefenbach, Duane R.; Wagner, Tyler; Stauffer, Glenn E.

2014-01-01

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is responsible for the protection and management of Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) because the species is listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. There are a host of actions that could possibly be undertaken to recover the Key deer population, but without a clearly defined problem and stated objectives it can be difficult to compare and evaluate alternative actions. In addition, management goals and the acceptability of alternative management actions are inherently linked to stakeholders, who should be engaged throughout the process of developing a decision framework. The purpose of this project was to engage a representative group of stakeholders to develop a problem statement that captured the management problem the FWS must address with Key deer and identify objectives that, if met, would help solve the problem. In addition, the objectives were organized in a hierarchical manner (i.e., an objectives network) to show how they are linked, and measurable attributes were identified for each objective. We organized a group of people who represented stakeholders interested in and potentially affected by the management of Key deer. These stakeholders included individuals who represented local, state, and federal governments, non-governmental organizations, the general public, and local businesses. This stakeholder group met five full days over the course of an eight-week period to identify objectives that would address the following problem:“As recovery and removal from the Endangered Species list is the purpose of the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs a management approach that will ensure a sustainable, viable, and healthy Key deer population. Urbanization has affected the behavior and population dynamics of the Key deer and the amount and characteristics

Intelligent Fault Diagnosis of HVCB with Feature Space Optimization-Based Random Forest

PubMed Central

Ma, Suliang; Wu, Jianwen; Wang, Yuhao; Jia, Bowen; Jiang, Yuan

2018-01-01

Mechanical faults of high-voltage circuit breakers (HVCBs) always happen over long-term operation, so extracting the fault features and identifying the fault type have become a key issue for ensuring the security and reliability of power supply. Based on wavelet packet decomposition technology and random forest algorithm, an effective identification system was developed in this paper. First, compared with the incomplete description of Shannon entropy, the wavelet packet time-frequency energy rate (WTFER) was adopted as the input vector for the classifier model in the feature selection procedure. Then, a random forest classifier was used to diagnose the HVCB fault, assess the importance of the feature variable and optimize the feature space. Finally, the approach was verified based on actual HVCB vibration signals by considering six typical fault classes. The comparative experiment results show that the classification accuracy of the proposed method with the origin feature space reached 93.33% and reached up to 95.56% with optimized input feature vector of classifier. This indicates that feature optimization procedure is successful, and the proposed diagnosis algorithm has higher efficiency and robustness than traditional methods. PMID:29659548

The Introduction of Key Skills in Schools: Core or Casualty?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glover, Derek; Gleeson, Denis; Johnson, Mike; Spencer, Pat; Watson, Ray

2000-01-01

Study of the introduction of generic Key Skills in two local education authorities in Britain found limited implementation. Results suggested the need for strategic district- and school-level management, clear aims and objectives, ownership by school staff, and cross-curricular application. (SK)

Tensor-driven extraction of developmental features from varying paediatric EEG datasets.

PubMed

Kinney-Lang, Eli; Spyrou, Loukianos; Ebied, Ahmed; Chin, Richard Fm; Escudero, Javier

2018-05-21

Constant changes in developing children's brains can pose a challenge in EEG dependant technologies. Advancing signal processing methods to identify developmental differences in paediatric populations could help improve function and usability of such technologies. Taking advantage of the multi-dimensional structure of EEG data through tensor analysis may offer a framework for extracting relevant developmental features of paediatric datasets. A proof of concept is demonstrated through identifying latent developmental features in resting-state EEG. Approach. Three paediatric datasets (n = 50, 17, 44) were analyzed using a two-step constrained parallel factor (PARAFAC) tensor decomposition. Subject age was used as a proxy measure of development. Classification used support vector machines (SVM) to test if PARAFAC identified features could predict subject age. The results were cross-validated within each dataset. Classification analysis was complemented by visualization of the high-dimensional feature structures using t-distributed Stochastic Neighbour Embedding (t-SNE) maps. Main Results. Development-related features were successfully identified for the developmental conditions of each dataset. SVM classification showed the identified features could accurately predict subject at a significant level above chance for both healthy and impaired populations. t-SNE maps revealed suitable tensor factorization was key in extracting the developmental features. Significance. The described methods are a promising tool for identifying latent developmental features occurring throughout childhood EEG. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Key components of financial-analysis education for clinical nurses.

PubMed

Lim, Ji Young; Noh, Wonjung

2015-09-01

In this study, we identified key components of financial-analysis education for clinical nurses. We used a literature review, focus group discussions, and a content validity index survey to develop key components of financial-analysis education. First, a wide range of references were reviewed, and 55 financial-analysis education components were gathered. Second, two focus group discussions were performed; the participants were 11 nurses who had worked for more than 3 years in a hospital, and nine components were agreed upon. Third, 12 professionals, including professors, nurse executive, nurse managers, and an accountant, participated in the content validity index. Finally, six key components of financial-analysis education were selected. These key components were as follows: understanding the need for financial analysis, introduction to financial analysis, reading and implementing balance sheets, reading and implementing income statements, understanding the concepts of financial ratios, and interpretation and practice of financial ratio analysis. The results of this study will be used to develop an education program to increase financial-management competency among clinical nurses. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Expanding syphilis testing: a scoping review of syphilis testing interventions among key populations.

PubMed

Ong, Jason J; Fu, Hongyun; Smith, M Kumi; Tucker, Joseph D

2018-05-01

Syphilis is an important sexually transmitted infection (STI). Despite inexpensive and effective treatment, few key populations receive syphilis testing. Innovative strategies are needed to increase syphilis testing among key populations. Areas covered: This scoping review focused on strategies to increase syphilis testing in key populations (men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers, people who use drugs, transgender people, and incarcerated individuals). Expert commentary: We identified many promising syphilis testing strategies, particularly among MSM. These innovations are separated into diagnostic, clinic-based, and non-clinic based strategies. In terms of diagnostics, self-testing, dried blood spots, and point-of-care testing can decentralize syphilis testing. Effective syphilis self-testing pilots suggest the need for further attention and research. In terms of clinic-based strategies, modifying default clinical procedures can nudge physicians to more frequently recommend syphilis testing. In terms of non-clinic based strategies, venue-based screening (e.g. in correctional facilities, drug rehabilitation centres) and mobile testing units have been successfully implemented in a variety of settings. Integration of syphilis with HIV testing may facilitate implementation in settings where individuals have increased sexual risk. There is a strong need for further syphilis testing research and programs.

Nephrology key information for internists

PubMed Central

Salim, Sohail Abdul; Medaura, Juan A.; Malhotra, Bharat; Garla, Vishnu; Ahuja, Shradha; Lawson, Nicki; Pamarthy, Amaleswari; Sonani, Hardik; Kovvuru, Karthik; Palabindala, Venkataraman

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Hospitalists and primary care physicians encounter renal disease daily. Although most cases of acute kidney injury (AKI) are secondary to dehydration and resolve by giving fluids, many cases of AKI are due to not uncommon but unfamiliar causes needing nephrology evaluation. Common indications to consult a nephrologist on an emergency basis include hyperkalemia or volume overload in end stage renal disease patients (ESRD). Other causes of immediate consultation are cresenteric glomerulonephritis / rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in which renal prognosis of the patient depends on timely intervention. The following evidence-based key information could improve patient care and outcomes. Abbreviations: AKI: Acute kidney injury ESRD: End stage renal disease patients PMID:28638567

The Power of Proofs-of-Possession: Securing Multiparty Signatures against Rogue-Key Attacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ristenpart, Thomas; Yilek, Scott

Multiparty signature protocols need protection against rogue-key attacks, made possible whenever an adversary can choose its public key(s) arbitrarily. For many schemes, provable security has only been established under the knowledge of secret key (KOSK) assumption where the adversary is required to reveal the secret keys it utilizes. In practice, certifying authorities rarely require the strong proofs of knowledge of secret keys required to substantiate the KOSK assumption. Instead, proofs of possession (POPs) are required and can be as simple as just a signature over the certificate request message. We propose a general registered key model, within which we can model both the KOSK assumption and in-use POP protocols. We show that simple POP protocols yield provable security of Boldyreva's multisignature scheme [11], the LOSSW multisignature scheme [28], and a 2-user ring signature scheme due to Bender, Katz, and Morselli [10]. Our results are the first to provide formal evidence that POPs can stop rogue-key attacks.

Watching what widlife want and need

Treesearch

Natasha Vizcarra; Mary Rowland; Christina Vojta

2016-01-01

National forests and grasslands are home to a diverse array of wildlife. To keep tabs on the general viability and wellbeing of these inhabitants, land managers need practical, defensible monitoring protocols. Population monitoring is one method. Another is habitat monitoring, which provides critical information about the quantity and quality of key habitat attributes...

Optical detection of random features for high security applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haist, T.; Tiziani, H. J.

1998-02-01

Optical detection of random features in combination with digital signatures based on public key codes in order to recognize counterfeit objects will be discussed. Without applying expensive production techniques objects are protected against counterfeiting. Verification is done off-line by optical means without a central authority. The method is applied for protecting banknotes. Experimental results for this application are presented. The method is also applicable for identity verification of a credit- or chip-card holder.

Design of virtual simulation experiment based on key events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Zheng; Zhou, Dongbo; Song, Lingxiu

2018-06-01

Considering complex content and lacking of guidance in virtual simulation experiments, the key event technology in VR narrative theory was introduced for virtual simulation experiment to enhance fidelity and vividness process. Based on the VR narrative technology, an event transition structure was designed to meet the need of experimental operation process, and an interactive event processing model was used to generate key events in interactive scene. The experiment of" margin value of bees foraging" based on Biologic morphology was taken as an example, many objects, behaviors and other contents were reorganized. The result shows that this method can enhance the user's experience and ensure experimental process complete and effectively.

Feature Selection in Classification of Eye Movements Using Electrooculography for Activity Recognition

PubMed Central

Mala, S.; Latha, K.

2014-01-01

Activity recognition is needed in different requisition, for example, reconnaissance system, patient monitoring, and human-computer interfaces. Feature selection plays an important role in activity recognition, data mining, and machine learning. In selecting subset of features, an efficient evolutionary algorithm Differential Evolution (DE), a very efficient optimizer, is used for finding informative features from eye movements using electrooculography (EOG). Many researchers use EOG signals in human-computer interactions with various computational intelligence methods to analyze eye movements. The proposed system involves analysis of EOG signals using clearness based features, minimum redundancy maximum relevance features, and Differential Evolution based features. This work concentrates more on the feature selection algorithm based on DE in order to improve the classification for faultless activity recognition. PMID:25574185

Feature selection in classification of eye movements using electrooculography for activity recognition.

PubMed

Mala, S; Latha, K

2014-01-01

Activity recognition is needed in different requisition, for example, reconnaissance system, patient monitoring, and human-computer interfaces. Feature selection plays an important role in activity recognition, data mining, and machine learning. In selecting subset of features, an efficient evolutionary algorithm Differential Evolution (DE), a very efficient optimizer, is used for finding informative features from eye movements using electrooculography (EOG). Many researchers use EOG signals in human-computer interactions with various computational intelligence methods to analyze eye movements. The proposed system involves analysis of EOG signals using clearness based features, minimum redundancy maximum relevance features, and Differential Evolution based features. This work concentrates more on the feature selection algorithm based on DE in order to improve the classification for faultless activity recognition.

Key lessons for designing health literacy professional development courses.

PubMed

Naccarella, Lucio; Murphy, Bernice

2018-02-01

Health literacy courses for health professionals have emerged in response to health professionals' perceived lack of understanding of health literacy issues, and their failure to routinely adopt health literacy practices. Since 2013 in Victoria, Australia, the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health has delivered an annual health literacy demonstration training course that it developed. Course development and delivery partners included HealthWest Partnership and cohealth. The courses are designed to develop the health literacy knowledge, skills and organisational capacity of the health and community services sector in the western metropolitan region of Melbourne. This study presents key learnings from evaluation data from three health literacy courses using Wenger's professional educational learning design framework. The framework has three educational learning architecture components (engagement, imagination and alignment) and four educational learning architecture dimensions (participation, emergent, local/global, identification). Participatory realist evaluation approaches and qualitative methods were used. The evaluations revealed that the health literacy courses are developing leadership in health literacy, building partnerships among course participants, developing health literacy workforce knowledge and skills, developing ways to use and apply health literacy resources and are serving as a catalyst for building organisational infrastructure. Although the courses were not explicitly developed or implemented using Wenger's educational learning design pedagogic features, the course structure (i.e. facilitation role of course coordinators, providing safe learning environments, encouraging small group work amongst participants, requiring participants to conduct mini-projects and sponsor organisation buy-in) provided opportunities for engagement, imagination and alignment. Wenger's educational learning design framework can inform the design of future key

Single swim sessions in C. elegans induce key features of mammalian exercise.

PubMed

Laranjeiro, Ricardo; Harinath, Girish; Burke, Daniel; Braeckman, Bart P; Driscoll, Monica

2017-04-10

Exercise exerts remarkably powerful effects on metabolism and health, with anti-disease and anti-aging outcomes. Pharmacological manipulation of exercise benefit circuits might improve the health of the sedentary and the aging populations. Still, how exercised muscle signals to induce system-wide health improvement remains poorly understood. With a long-term interest in interventions that promote animal-wide health improvement, we sought to define exercise options for Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, we report on the impact of single swim sessions on C. elegans physiology. We used microcalorimetry to show that C. elegans swimming has a greater energy cost than crawling. Animals that swam continuously for 90 min specifically consumed muscle fat supplies and exhibited post-swim locomotory fatigue, with both muscle fat depletion and fatigue indicators recovering within 1 hour of exercise cessation. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) transcript analyses also suggested an increase in fat metabolism during the swim, followed by the downregulation of specific carbohydrate metabolism transcripts in the hours post-exercise. During a 90 min swim, muscle mitochondria matrix environments became more oxidized, as visualized by a localized mitochondrial reduction-oxidation-sensitive green fluorescent protein reporter. qPCR data supported specific transcriptional changes in oxidative stress defense genes during and immediately after a swim. Consistent with potential antioxidant defense induction, we found that a single swim session sufficed to confer protection against juglone-induced oxidative stress inflicted 4 hours post-exercise. In addition to showing that even a single swim exercise bout confers physiological changes that increase robustness, our data reveal that acute swimming-induced changes share common features with some acute exercise responses reported in humans. Overall, our data validate an easily implemented swim experience as C. elegans exercise

Careful assessment key in managing prostatitis.

PubMed

Gujadhur, Rahul; Aning, Jonathan

2015-04-01

Prostatitis is a common condition estimated to affect up to 30% of men in their lifetime, it is most prevalent in men aged between 35 and 50. Prostatitis is subclassified into: acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis, chronic pelvic pain and asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis. Acute bacterial prostatitis presents with acute onset pelvic pain which may or may not be related to voiding, lower urinary tract symptoms, sometimes haematuria or haematospermia and systemic symptoms such as fever and rigors. A documented history of recurrent urinary tract infections is the key feature of chronic bacterial prostatitis. Duration of symptoms > 3 months defines chronicity. The key symptom of chronic pelvic pain syndrome is pain. Patients may describe pain during or after ejaculation as their predominant symptom. Clinical assessment includes a thorough history and examination. A digital rectal examination should be performed after a midstream urine (MSU) sample has been collected for urine dipstick, microscopy and culture. The prostate should be checked for nodules. In acute bacterial prostatitis the MSU is the only laboratory investigation required. Chronic pelvic pain syndrome may be multifactorial and part of a more generalised pain disorder. Pelvic floor muscle abnormalities, altered neuroendocrine pathways, chemically induced inflammation, bacterial infection, autoimmune processes, dysfunctional voiding as well intraprostatic ductal reflux mechanisms have all been identified in men with chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Risk factors and clinical features of text message injuries.

PubMed

Sharan, Deepak; Ajeesh, P S

2012-01-01

Use of mobile phone and sending text message is a very common in today's life. While sending a text message the users need to use their thumb and other palm muscles extensively. The thumb most of the time adducted on the key pad of the mobile and use high force to type the letters. Studies in literature showed that text messaging has an adverse effect on musculoskeletal system of hand. But the extensive study on the type of disorders set in among the users who extensively use mobile phone for texting. This study aims at to evaluate risk factor and clinical feature of the MSD due to hand held devices. Twenty seven subjects participated in this study. Predefined protocols were used to evaluate type of MSD occurred among the subjects. The study revealed that development of tendinitis in extensor pollicis longus, myofascial pain syndrome (70.37%) of adductor pollicis, 1st interossei and extensor digitorum communis . Other associated problems diagnosed were thoracic outlet syndrome (51.85%), fibromyalgia syndrome (25.93%), hypothyroidism (7.41%), wrist tendinitis (14.81%) and De Quervain's syndrome (7.41%). It has been observed that the pathology were tendinitis of extensor pollicis longus, myofascial pain syndrome of thenar muscles and 1st interossei, extensor digitorum communis.

Calcein+/PI- as an early apoptotic feature in Leishmania.

PubMed

Basmaciyan, Louise; Azas, Nadine; Casanova, Magali

2017-01-01

Although leishmaniases are responsible for high morbidity and mortality all over the world, no really satisfying treatment exists. Furthermore, the corresponding parasite Leishmania undergoes a very characteristic form of programmed cell death. Indeed, different stimuli can induce morphological and biochemical apoptotic-like features. However, the key proteins involved in mammal apoptosis, such as caspases and death receptors, are not encoded in the genome of this parasite. Currently, little is known about Leishmania apoptosis, notably owing to the lack of specific tools for programmed cell death analysis in these parasites. Furthermore, there is a need for a better understanding of Leishmania programmed cell death in order (i) to better understand the role of apoptosis in unicellular organisms, (ii) to better understand apoptosis in general through the study of an ancestral eukaryote, and (iii) to identify new therapeutic targets against leishmaniases. To advance understanding of apoptosis in Leishmania, in this study we developed a new tool based on the quantification of calcein and propidium iodide by flow cytometry. This double labeling can be employed to distinguish early apoptosis, late apoptosis and necrosis in Leishmania live cells with a very simple and rapid assay. This paper should, therefore, be of interest for people working on Leishmania and related parasites.

Measuring Sexual Behavior Stigma to Inform Effective HIV Prevention and Treatment Programs for Key Populations

PubMed Central

Hargreaves, James R; Sprague, Laurel; Stangl, Anne L; Baral, Stefan D

2017-01-01

Background The levels of coverage of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment and prevention services needed to change the trajectory of the HIV epidemic among key populations, including gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) and sex workers, have consistently been shown to be limited by stigma. Objective The aim of this study was to propose an agenda for the goals and approaches of a sexual behavior stigma surveillance effort for key populations, with a focus on collecting surveillance data from 4 groups: (1) members of key population groups themselves (regardless of HIV status), (2) people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are also members of key populations, (3) members of nonkey populations, and (4) health workers. Methods We discuss strengths and weaknesses of measuring multiple different types of stigma including perceived, anticipated, experienced, perpetrated, internalized, and intersecting stigma as measured among key populations themselves, as well as attitudes or beliefs about key populations as measured among other groups. Results With the increasing recognition of the importance of stigma, consistent and validated stigma metrics for key populations are needed to monitor trends and guide immediate action. Evidence-based stigma interventions may ultimately be the key to overcoming the barriers to coverage and retention in life-saving antiretroviral-based HIV prevention and treatment programs for key populations. Conclusions Moving forward necessitates the integration of validated stigma scales in routine HIV surveillance efforts, as well as HIV epidemiologic and intervention studies focused on key populations, as a means of tracking progress toward a more efficient and impactful HIV response. PMID:28446420

Losing history: how extinctions prune features from the tree of life.

PubMed

Davies, T Jonathan

2015-02-19

Biodiversity provides many valuable services to humanity; however, rapid expansion of the human population has placed increasing pressure on natural systems, and it has been suggested that we may be entering a sixth mass extinction. There is an urgent need, therefore, to prioritize conservation efforts if we are to maintain the provisioning of such service in the future. Phylogenetic diversity (PD), the summed branch lengths that connect species on the tree-of-life, might provide a valuable metric for conservation prioritization because it has been argued to capture feature diversity. Frequently, PD is estimated in millions of years, and therefore implicitly assumes an evolutionary model in which features diverge gradually over time. Here, I explore the expected loss of feature diversity when this assumption is violated. If evolution tends to slow down over time, as might be the case following adaptive radiations, losses of feature diversity might be relatively small. However, if evolution occurs in rapid bursts, following a punctuated model, impacts of extinctions might be much greater. PD captures many important properties, but if we use it as a proxy for feature diversity, we first need to ensure that we have the correct evolutionary model. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Research of image retrieval technology based on color feature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Yanjun; Jiang, Guangyu; Chen, Fengying

2009-10-01

Recently, with the development of the communication and the computer technology and the improvement of the storage technology and the capability of the digital image equipment, more and more image resources are given to us than ever. And thus the solution of how to locate the proper image quickly and accurately is wanted.The early method is to set up a key word for searching in the database, but now the method has become very difficult when we search much more picture that we need. In order to overcome the limitation of the traditional searching method, content based image retrieval technology was aroused. Now, it is a hot research subject.Color image retrieval is the important part of it. Color is the most important feature for color image retrieval. Three key questions on how to make use of the color characteristic are discussed in the paper: the expression of color, the abstraction of color characteristic and the measurement of likeness based on color. On the basis, the extraction technology of the color histogram characteristic is especially discussed. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of the overall histogram and the partition histogram, a new method based the partition-overall histogram is proposed. The basic thought of it is to divide the image space according to a certain strategy, and then calculate color histogram of each block as the color feature of this block. Users choose the blocks that contain important space information, confirming the right value. The system calculates the distance between the corresponding blocks that users choosed. Other blocks merge into part overall histograms again, and the distance should be calculated. Then accumulate all the distance as the real distance between two pictures. The partition-overall histogram comprehensive utilizes advantages of two methods above, by choosing blocks makes the feature contain more spatial information which can improve performance; the distances between partition-overall histogram

Zeroing in on Number and Operations, Grades 7-8: Key Ideas and Common Misconceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, Anne; Dacey, Linda

2010-01-01

"The Zeroing in on Number and Operations" series, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards and the NCTM Standards and Focal Points, features easy-to-use tools for teaching key concepts in number and operations and for addressing common misconceptions. Sharing the insights they've gained in decades of mathematics teaching and research,…

Zeroing in on Number and Operations, Grades 3-4: Key Ideas and Common Misconceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dacey, Linda; Collins, Anne

2010-01-01

"The Zeroing in on Number and Operations" series, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards and the NCTM Standards and Focal Points, features easy-to-use tools for teaching key concepts in number and operations and for addressing common misconceptions. Sharing the insights they've gained in decades of mathematics teaching and research,…

Zeroing in on Number and Operations, Grades 5-6: Key Ideas and Common Misconceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, Anne; Dacey, Linda

2010-01-01

"The Zeroing in on Number and Operations" series, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards and the NCTM Sandards and Focal Points, features easy-to-use tools for teaching key concepts in number and operations and for addressing common misconceptions. Sharing the insights they've gained through decades of mathematics teaching and research,…

Implementation of assist features in EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Fan; Burkhardt, Martin; Raghunathan, Ananthan; Torres, Andres; Gupta, Rachit; Word, James

2015-03-01

The introduction of EUV lithography will happen at a critical feature pitch which corresponds to a k1 factor of roughly 0.45. While this number seems not very aggressive compared to recent ArF lithography nodes, the number is sufficiently low that the introduction of assist features has to be considered. While the small NA makes the k1 factor larger, the depth of focus still needs to be scaled down with wavelength. However the exposure tool's focus control is not greatly improved over the ArF tools, so other solutions to improve the depth of focus, e.g. SRAFs, are needed. On the other hand, sub-resolution assist features (SRAFs) require very small mask dimensions, which make masks more costly to write and inspect. Another disadvantage of SRAFs is the fact that they may cause pattern-dependent best focus shift due to thick mask effects. Those effects can be predicted, but the shift of best focus and the associated tilt of Bossung curves make the process more difficult to control. We investigate the impact of SRAFs on printing in EUV lithography and evaluate advantages and disadvantages. By using image quality parameters such as best focus (BF), and depth of focus (DOF), respectively with and without SRAFs, we will answer the question if we can gain a net benefit for 1D and 2D patterns by adding SRAFs. SRAFs will only be introduced if any net improvement in process variation (PV) outweighs the additional expense of assist patterning on the mask. In this paper, we investigate the difference in printing behavior of symmetric and asymmetric SRAF placement and whether through slit effect needs to be considered in SRAF placement for EUV lithography.

A prototype feature system for feature retrieval using relationships

USGS Publications Warehouse

Choi, J.; Usery, E.L.

2009-01-01

Using a feature data model, geographic phenomena can be represented effectively by integrating space, theme, and time. This paper extends and implements a feature data model that supports query and visualization of geographic features using their non-spatial and temporal relationships. A prototype feature-oriented geographic information system (FOGIS) is then developed and storage of features named Feature Database is designed. Buildings from the U.S. Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and subways in Chicago, Illinois are used to test the developed system. The results of the applications show the strength of the feature data model and the developed system 'FOGIS' when they utilize non-spatial and temporal relationships in order to retrieve and visualize individual features.

Regression-Based Approach For Feature Selection In Classification Issues. Application To Breast Cancer Detection And Recurrence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belciug, Smaranda; Serbanescu, Mircea-Sebastian

2015-09-01

Feature selection is considered a key factor in classifications/decision problems. It is currently used in designing intelligent decision systems to choose the best features which allow the best performance. This paper proposes a regression-based approach to select the most important predictors to significantly increase the classification performance. Application to breast cancer detection and recurrence using publically available datasets proved the efficiency of this technique.

Fast WEP-Key Recovery Attack Using Only Encrypted IP Packets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teramura, Ryoichi; Asakura, Yasuo; Ohigashi, Toshihiro; Kuwakado, Hidenori; Morii, Masakatu

Conventional efficient key recovery attacks against Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) require specific initialization vectors or specific packets. Since it takes much time to collect the packets sufficiently, any active attack should be performed. An Intrusion Detection System (IDS), however, will be able to prevent the attack. Since the attack logs are stored at the servers, it is possible to prevent such an attack. This paper proposes an algorithm for recovering a 104-bit WEP key from any IP packets in a realistic environment. This attack needs about 36, 500 packets with a success probability 0.5, and the complexity of our attack is equivalent to about 220 computations of the RC4 key setups. Since our attack is passive, it is difficult for both WEP users and administrators to detect our attack.

PSSP-RFE: accurate prediction of protein structural class by recursive feature extraction from PSI-BLAST profile, physical-chemical property and functional annotations.

PubMed

Li, Liqi; Cui, Xiang; Yu, Sanjiu; Zhang, Yuan; Luo, Zhong; Yang, Hua; Zhou, Yue; Zheng, Xiaoqi

2014-01-01

Protein structure prediction is critical to functional annotation of the massively accumulated biological sequences, which prompts an imperative need for the development of high-throughput technologies. As a first and key step in protein structure prediction, protein structural class prediction becomes an increasingly challenging task. Amongst most homological-based approaches, the accuracies of protein structural class prediction are sufficiently high for high similarity datasets, but still far from being satisfactory for low similarity datasets, i.e., below 40% in pairwise sequence similarity. Therefore, we present a novel method for accurate and reliable protein structural class prediction for both high and low similarity datasets. This method is based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) in conjunction with integrated features from position-specific score matrix (PSSM), PROFEAT and Gene Ontology (GO). A feature selection approach, SVM-RFE, is also used to rank the integrated feature vectors through recursively removing the feature with the lowest ranking score. The definitive top features selected by SVM-RFE are input into the SVM engines to predict the structural class of a query protein. To validate our method, jackknife tests were applied to seven widely used benchmark datasets, reaching overall accuracies between 84.61% and 99.79%, which are significantly higher than those achieved by state-of-the-art tools. These results suggest that our method could serve as an accurate and cost-effective alternative to existing methods in protein structural classification, especially for low similarity datasets.

Key Assets for a Sustainable Low Carbon Energy Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carre, Frank

2011-10-01

opposition specific to sodium. In conclusion, research and technology breakthroughs in nuclear power are needed for shaping a sustainable low carbon future. International cooperation is key for sharing costs of research and development of the required novel technologies and cost of first experimental reactors needed to demonstrate enabling technologies. At the same time technology breakthroughs are developed, pre-normative research is required to support codification work and harmonized regulations that will ultimately apply to safety and security features of resulting innovative reactor types and fuel cycles.

Classification of epileptic EEG signals based on simple random sampling and sequential feature selection.

PubMed

Ghayab, Hadi Ratham Al; Li, Yan; Abdulla, Shahab; Diykh, Mohammed; Wan, Xiangkui

2016-06-01

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are used broadly in the medical fields. The main applications of EEG signals are the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as epilepsy, Alzheimer, sleep problems and so on. This paper presents a new method which extracts and selects features from multi-channel EEG signals. This research focuses on three main points. Firstly, simple random sampling (SRS) technique is used to extract features from the time domain of EEG signals. Secondly, the sequential feature selection (SFS) algorithm is applied to select the key features and to reduce the dimensionality of the data. Finally, the selected features are forwarded to a least square support vector machine (LS_SVM) classifier to classify the EEG signals. The LS_SVM classifier classified the features which are extracted and selected from the SRS and the SFS. The experimental results show that the method achieves 99.90, 99.80 and 100 % for classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity, respectively.

Spatial and Time Domain Feature of ERP Speller System Extracted via Convolutional Neural Network.

PubMed

Yoon, Jaehong; Lee, Jungnyun; Whang, Mincheol

2018-01-01

Feature of event-related potential (ERP) has not been completely understood and illiteracy problem remains unsolved. To this end, P300 peak has been used as the feature of ERP in most brain-computer interface applications, but subjects who do not show such peak are common. Recent development of convolutional neural network provides a way to analyze spatial and temporal features of ERP. Here, we train the convolutional neural network with 2 convolutional layers whose feature maps represented spatial and temporal features of event-related potential. We have found that nonilliterate subjects' ERP show high correlation between occipital lobe and parietal lobe, whereas illiterate subjects only show correlation between neural activities from frontal lobe and central lobe. The nonilliterates showed peaks in P300, P500, and P700, whereas illiterates mostly showed peaks in around P700. P700 was strong in both subjects. We found that P700 peak may be the key feature of ERP as it appears in both illiterate and nonilliterate subjects.

Spatial and Time Domain Feature of ERP Speller System Extracted via Convolutional Neural Network

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Feature of event-related potential (ERP) has not been completely understood and illiteracy problem remains unsolved. To this end, P300 peak has been used as the feature of ERP in most brain–computer interface applications, but subjects who do not show such peak are common. Recent development of convolutional neural network provides a way to analyze spatial and temporal features of ERP. Here, we train the convolutional neural network with 2 convolutional layers whose feature maps represented spatial and temporal features of event-related potential. We have found that nonilliterate subjects' ERP show high correlation between occipital lobe and parietal lobe, whereas illiterate subjects only show correlation between neural activities from frontal lobe and central lobe. The nonilliterates showed peaks in P300, P500, and P700, whereas illiterates mostly showed peaks in around P700. P700 was strong in both subjects. We found that P700 peak may be the key feature of ERP as it appears in both illiterate and nonilliterate subjects.

Low complexity feature extraction for classification of harmonic signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

William, Peter E.

In this dissertation, feature extraction algorithms have been developed for extraction of characteristic features from harmonic signals. The common theme for all developed algorithms is the simplicity in generating a significant set of features directly from the time domain harmonic signal. The features are a time domain representation of the composite, yet sparse, harmonic signature in the spectral domain. The algorithms are adequate for low-power unattended sensors which perform sensing, feature extraction, and classification in a standalone scenario. The first algorithm generates the characteristic features using only the duration between successive zero-crossing intervals. The second algorithm estimates the harmonics' amplitudes of the harmonic structure employing a simplified least squares method without the need to estimate the true harmonic parameters of the source signal. The third algorithm, resulting from a collaborative effort with Daniel White at the DSP Lab, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, presents an analog front end approach that utilizes a multichannel analog projection and integration to extract the sparse spectral features from the analog time domain signal. Classification is performed using a multilayer feedforward neural network. Evaluation of the proposed feature extraction algorithms for classification through the processing of several acoustic and vibration data sets (including military vehicles and rotating electric machines) with comparison to spectral features shows that, for harmonic signals, time domain features are simpler to extract and provide equivalent or improved reliability over the spectral features in both the detection probabilities and false alarm rate.

Feature selection in feature network models: finding predictive subsets of features with the Positive Lasso.

PubMed

Frank, Laurence E; Heiser, Willem J

2008-05-01

A set of features is the basis for the network representation of proximity data achieved by feature network models (FNMs). Features are binary variables that characterize the objects in an experiment, with some measure of proximity as response variable. Sometimes features are provided by theory and play an important role in the construction of the experimental conditions. In some research settings, the features are not known a priori. This paper shows how to generate features in this situation and how to select an adequate subset of features that takes into account a good compromise between model fit and model complexity, using a new version of least angle regression that restricts coefficients to be non-negative, called the Positive Lasso. It will be shown that features can be generated efficiently with Gray codes that are naturally linked to the FNMs. The model selection strategy makes use of the fact that FNM can be considered as univariate multiple regression model. A simulation study shows that the proposed strategy leads to satisfactory results if the number of objects is less than or equal to 22. If the number of objects is larger than 22, the number of features selected by our method exceeds the true number of features in some conditions.

Decisional needs assessment of patients with complex care needs in primary care: a participatory systematic mixed studies review protocol

PubMed Central

Pluye, Pierre; Légaré, France; Haggerty, Jeannie; Gore, Genevieve C; Sherif, Reem El; Poitras, Marie-Ève; Beaulieu, Marie-Claude; Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Bush, Paula L; Couturier, Yves; Débarges, Béatrice; Gagnon, Justin; Giguère, Anik; Grad, Roland; Granikov, Vera; Goulet, Serge; Hudon, Catherine; Kremer, Bernardo; Kröger, Edeltraut; Kudrina, Irina; Lebouché, Bertrand; Loignon, Christine; Lussier, Marie-Thérèse; Martello, Cristiano; Nguyen, Quynh; Pratt, Rebekah; Rihoux, Benoit; Rosenberg, Ellen; Samson, Isabelle; Senn, Nicolas; Li Tang, David; Tsujimoto, Masashi; Vedel, Isabelle; Ventelou, Bruno; Wensing, Michel; Bigras, Magali

2017-01-01

Introduction Patients with complex care needs (PCCNs) often suffer from combinations of multiple chronic conditions, mental health problems, drug interactions and social vulnerability, which can lead to healthcare services overuse, underuse or misuse. Typically, PCCNs face interactional issues and unmet decisional needs regarding possible options in a cascade of interrelated decisions involving different stakeholders (themselves, their families, their caregivers, their healthcare practitioners). Gaps in knowledge, values clarification and social support in situations where options need to be deliberated hamper effective decision support interventions. This review aims to (1) assess decisional needs of PCCNs from the perspective of stakeholders, (2) build a taxonomy of these decisional needs and (3) prioritise decisional needs with knowledge users (clinicians, patients and managers). Methods and analysis This review will be based on the interprofessional shared decision making (IP-SDM) model and the Ottawa Decision Support Framework. Applying a participatory research approach, we will identify potentially relevant studies through a comprehensive literature search; select relevant ones using eligibility criteria inspired from our previous scoping review on PCCNs; appraise quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool; conduct a three-step synthesis (sequential exploratory mixed methods design) to build taxonomy of key decisional needs; and integrate these results with those of a parallel PCCNs’ qualitative decisional need assessment (semistructured interviews and focus group with stakeholders). Ethics and dissemination This systematic review, together with the qualitative study (approved by the Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et Service Sociaux du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean ethical committee), will produce a working taxonomy of key decisional needs (ontological contribution), to inform the subsequent user-centred design of a support tool for addressing

Decisional needs assessment of patients with complex care needs in primary care: a participatory systematic mixed studies review protocol.

PubMed

Bujold, Mathieu; Pluye, Pierre; Légaré, France; Haggerty, Jeannie; Gore, Genevieve C; Sherif, Reem El; Poitras, Marie-Eve; Beaulieu, Marie-Claude; Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Bush, Paula L; Couturier, Yves; Débarges, Beatrice; Gagnon, Justin; Giguère, Anik; Grad, Roland; Granikov, Vera; Goulet, Serge; Hudon, Catherine; Kremer, Bernardo; Kröger, Edeltraut; Kudrina, Irina; Lebouché, Bertrand; Loignon, Christine; Lussier, Marie-Therese; Martello, Cristiano; Nguyen, Quynh; Pratt, Rebekah; Rihoux, Benoit; Rosenberg, Ellen; Samson, Isabelle; Senn, Nicolas; Li Tang, David; Tsujimoto, Masashi; Vedel, Isabelle; Ventelou, Bruno; Wensing, Michel

2017-11-12

Patients with complex care needs (PCCNs) often suffer from combinations of multiple chronic conditions, mental health problems, drug interactions and social vulnerability, which can lead to healthcare services overuse, underuse or misuse. Typically, PCCNs face interactional issues and unmet decisional needs regarding possible options in a cascade of interrelated decisions involving different stakeholders (themselves, their families, their caregivers, their healthcare practitioners). Gaps in knowledge, values clarification and social support in situations where options need to be deliberated hamper effective decision support interventions. This review aims to (1) assess decisional needs of PCCNs from the perspective of stakeholders, (2) build a taxonomy of these decisional needs and (3) prioritise decisional needs with knowledge users (clinicians, patients and managers). This review will be based on the interprofessional shared decision making (IP-SDM) model and the Ottawa Decision Support Framework. Applying a participatory research approach, we will identify potentially relevant studies through a comprehensive literature search; select relevant ones using eligibility criteria inspired from our previous scoping review on PCCNs; appraise quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool; conduct a three-step synthesis (sequential exploratory mixed methods design) to build taxonomy of key decisional needs; and integrate these results with those of a parallel PCCNs' qualitative decisional need assessment (semistructured interviews and focus group with stakeholders). This systematic review, together with the qualitative study (approved by the Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et Service Sociaux du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean ethical committee), will produce a working taxonomy of key decisional needs (ontological contribution), to inform the subsequent user-centred design of a support tool for addressing PCCNs' decisional needs (practical contribution). We will adapt

A feature selection approach towards progressive vector transmission over the Internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miao, Ru; Song, Jia; Feng, Min

2017-09-01

WebGIS has been applied for visualizing and sharing geospatial information popularly over the Internet. In order to improve the efficiency of the client applications, the web-based progressive vector transmission approach is proposed. Important features should be selected and transferred firstly, and the methods for measuring the importance of features should be further considered in the progressive transmission. However, studies on progressive transmission for large-volume vector data have mostly focused on map generalization in the field of cartography, but rarely discussed on the selection of geographic features quantitatively. This paper applies information theory for measuring the feature importance of vector maps. A measurement model for the amount of information of vector features is defined based upon the amount of information for dealing with feature selection issues. The measurement model involves geometry factor, spatial distribution factor and thematic attribute factor. Moreover, a real-time transport protocol (RTP)-based progressive transmission method is then presented to improve the transmission of vector data. To clearly demonstrate the essential methodology and key techniques, a prototype for web-based progressive vector transmission is presented, and an experiment of progressive selection and transmission for vector features is conducted. The experimental results indicate that our approach clearly improves the performance and end-user experience of delivering and manipulating large vector data over the Internet.

Cross-Domain Semi-Supervised Learning Using Feature Formulation.

PubMed

Xingquan Zhu

2011-12-01

Semi-Supervised Learning (SSL) traditionally makes use of unlabeled samples by including them into the training set through an automated labeling process. Such a primitive Semi-Supervised Learning (pSSL) approach suffers from a number of disadvantages including false labeling and incapable of utilizing out-of-domain samples. In this paper, we propose a formative Semi-Supervised Learning (fSSL) framework which explores hidden features between labeled and unlabeled samples to achieve semi-supervised learning. fSSL regards that both labeled and unlabeled samples are generated from some hidden concepts with labeling information partially observable for some samples. The key of the fSSL is to recover the hidden concepts, and take them as new features to link labeled and unlabeled samples for semi-supervised learning. Because unlabeled samples are only used to generate new features, but not to be explicitly included in the training set like pSSL does, fSSL overcomes the inherent disadvantages of the traditional pSSL methods, especially for samples not within the same domain as the labeled instances. Experimental results and comparisons demonstrate that fSSL significantly outperforms pSSL-based methods for both within-domain and cross-domain semi-supervised learning.

Need low-cost networking? Consider DeviceNet

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

Moss, W.H.

1996-11-01

The drive to reduce production costs and optimize system performance in manufacturing facilities causes many end users to invest in network solutions. Because of distinct differences between the way tasks are performed and the way data are handled for various applications, it is clear than more than one network will be needed in most facilities. What is not clear is which network is most appropriate for a given application. The information layer is the link between automation and information environments via management information systems (MISs) and manufacturing execution systems (MESs) and manufacturing execution systems (MESs). Here the market has chosenmore » a de facto standard in Ethernet, primarily transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) and secondarily manufacturing messaging system (MMS). There is no single standard at the device layer. However, the DeviceNet communication standard has made strides to reach this goal. This protocol eliminates expensive hardwiring and provides improved communication between devices and important device-level diagnostics not easily accessible or available through hardwired I/O interfaces. DeviceNet is a low-cost communications link connecting industrial devices to a network. Many original equipment manufacturers and end users have chosen the DeviceNet platform for several reasons, but most frequently because of four key features: interchangeability; low cost; advanced diagnostics; insert devices under power.« less

A harmonic linear dynamical system for prominent ECG feature extraction.

PubMed

Thi, Ngoc Anh Nguyen; Yang, Hyung-Jeong; Kim, SunHee; Do, Luu Ngoc

2014-01-01

Unsupervised mining of electrocardiography (ECG) time series is a crucial task in biomedical applications. To have efficiency of the clustering results, the prominent features extracted from preprocessing analysis on multiple ECG time series need to be investigated. In this paper, a Harmonic Linear Dynamical System is applied to discover vital prominent features via mining the evolving hidden dynamics and correlations in ECG time series. The discovery of the comprehensible and interpretable features of the proposed feature extraction methodology effectively represents the accuracy and the reliability of clustering results. Particularly, the empirical evaluation results of the proposed method demonstrate the improved performance of clustering compared to the previous main stream feature extraction approaches for ECG time series clustering tasks. Furthermore, the experimental results on real-world datasets show scalability with linear computation time to the duration of the time series.

How Are You Doing? Key Performance Indicators and Benchmarking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fahey, John P.

2011-01-01

School business officials need to "know and show" that their operations are well managed. To do so, they ask themselves questions, such as "How are they doing? How do they compare with others? Are they making progress fast enough? Are they using the best practices?" Using key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarking as regular parts of their…

Northern goshawk ecology: An assessment of current knowledge and information needs for conservation and management

Treesearch

John R. Squires; Patricia L. Kennedy

2006-01-01

The contentious and litigious history associated with managing Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) has focused much research attention toward understanding this species’ life history. Results from these studies address many key information needs that are useful to managers and decision makers, but many pressing information needs exist to address key...

Establishing Chinese medicine characteristic tumor response evaluation system is the key to promote internationalization of Chinese medicine oncology.

PubMed

Li, Jie; Li, Lei; Liu, Rui; Lin, Hong-sheng

2012-10-01

The features and advantages of Chinese medicine (CM) in cancer comprehensive treatment have been in the spotlight of experts both at home and abroad. However, how to evaluate the effect of CM more objectively, scientifically and systematically is still the key problem of clinical trial, and also a limitation to the development and internationalization of CM oncology. The change of tumor response evaluation system in conventional medicine is gradually consistent with the features of CM clinical effect, such as they both focus on a combination of soft endpoints (i.e. quality of life, clinical benefit, etc.) and hard endpoints (i.e. tumor remission rate, time to progress, etc.). Although experts have proposed protocols of CM tumor response evaluation criteria and come to an agreement in general, divergences still exist in the importance, quantification and CM feature of the potential endpoints. Thus, establishing a CM characteristic and wildly accepted tumor response evaluation system is the key to promote internationalization of CM oncology, and also provides a more convenient and scientific platform for CM international cooperation and communication.

Label-free visualization of ultrastructural features of artificial synapses via cryo-EM.

PubMed

Gopalakrishnan, Gopakumar; Yam, Patricia T; Madwar, Carolin; Bostina, Mihnea; Rouiller, Isabelle; Colman, David R; Lennox, R Bruce

2011-12-21

The ultrastructural details of presynapses formed between artificial substrates of submicrometer silica beads and hippocampal neurons are visualized via cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The silica beads are derivatized by poly-d-lysine or lipid bilayers. Molecular features known to exist at presynapses are clearly present at these artificial synapses, as visualized by cryo-EM. Key synaptic features such as the membrane contact area at synaptic junctions, the presynaptic bouton containing presynaptic vesicles, as well as microtubular structures can be identified. This is the first report of the direct, label-free observation of ultrastructural details of artificial synapses.

Robust Feature Selection Technique using Rank Aggregation.

PubMed

Sarkar, Chandrima; Cooley, Sarah; Srivastava, Jaideep

2014-01-01

Although feature selection is a well-developed research area, there is an ongoing need to develop methods to make classifiers more efficient. One important challenge is the lack of a universal feature selection technique which produces similar outcomes with all types of classifiers. This is because all feature selection techniques have individual statistical biases while classifiers exploit different statistical properties of data for evaluation. In numerous situations this can put researchers into dilemma as to which feature selection method and a classifiers to choose from a vast range of choices. In this paper, we propose a technique that aggregates the consensus properties of various feature selection methods to develop a more optimal solution. The ensemble nature of our technique makes it more robust across various classifiers. In other words, it is stable towards achieving similar and ideally higher classification accuracy across a wide variety of classifiers. We quantify this concept of robustness with a measure known as the Robustness Index (RI). We perform an extensive empirical evaluation of our technique on eight data sets with different dimensions including Arrythmia, Lung Cancer, Madelon, mfeat-fourier, internet-ads, Leukemia-3c and Embryonal Tumor and a real world data set namely Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). We demonstrate not only that our algorithm is more robust, but also that compared to other techniques our algorithm improves the classification accuracy by approximately 3-4% (in data set with less than 500 features) and by more than 5% (in data set with more than 500 features), across a wide range of classifiers.

Hierarchical Feature Extraction With Local Neural Response for Image Recognition.

PubMed

Li, Hong; Wei, Yantao; Li, Luoqing; Chen, C L P

2013-04-01

In this paper, a hierarchical feature extraction method is proposed for image recognition. The key idea of the proposed method is to extract an effective feature, called local neural response (LNR), of the input image with nontrivial discrimination and invariance properties by alternating between local coding and maximum pooling operation. The local coding, which is carried out on the locally linear manifold, can extract the salient feature of image patches and leads to a sparse measure matrix on which maximum pooling is carried out. The maximum pooling operation builds the translation invariance into the model. We also show that other invariant properties, such as rotation and scaling, can be induced by the proposed model. In addition, a template selection algorithm is presented to reduce computational complexity and to improve the discrimination ability of the LNR. Experimental results show that our method is robust to local distortion and clutter compared with state-of-the-art algorithms.

Concurrent evolution of feature extractors and modular artificial neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hannak, Victor; Savakis, Andreas; Yang, Shanchieh Jay; Anderson, Peter

2009-05-01

This paper presents a new approach for the design of feature-extracting recognition networks that do not require expert knowledge in the application domain. Feature-Extracting Recognition Networks (FERNs) are composed of interconnected functional nodes (feurons), which serve as feature extractors, and are followed by a subnetwork of traditional neural nodes (neurons) that act as classifiers. A concurrent evolutionary process (CEP) is used to search the space of feature extractors and neural networks in order to obtain an optimal recognition network that simultaneously performs feature extraction and recognition. By constraining the hill-climbing search functionality of the CEP on specific parts of the solution space, i.e., individually limiting the evolution of feature extractors and neural networks, it was demonstrated that concurrent evolution is a necessary component of the system. Application of this approach to a handwritten digit recognition task illustrates that the proposed methodology is capable of producing recognition networks that perform in-line with other methods without the need for expert knowledge in image processing.

Continuing Medical Education, Needs Assessment, and Program Development: Theoretical Constructs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aherne, Michael; Lamble, Wayne; Davis, Paul

2001-01-01

Continuing medical education needs assessment should be reconceived for a changing health-care environment. The physician-patient relationship is being changed by empowerment of health consumers and public policy concerns regarding the health care system. Needs assessment should focus on environmental scanning, identification of key forces, use of…

A Co-modeling Method Based on Component Features for Mechatronic Devices in Aero-engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Bin; Zhao, Haocen; Ye, Zhifeng

2017-08-01

Data-fused and user-friendly design of aero-engine accessories is required because of their structural complexity and stringent reliability. This paper gives an overview of a typical aero-engine control system and the development process of key mechatronic devices used. Several essential aspects of modeling and simulation in the process are investigated. Considering the limitations of a single theoretic model, feature-based co-modeling methodology is suggested to satisfy the design requirements and compensate for diversity of component sub-models for these devices. As an example, a stepper motor controlled Fuel Metering Unit (FMU) is modeled in view of the component physical features using two different software tools. An interface is suggested to integrate the single discipline models into the synthesized one. Performance simulation of this device using the co-model and parameter optimization for its key components are discussed. Comparison between delivery testing and the simulation shows that the co-model for the FMU has a high accuracy and the absolute superiority over a single model. Together with its compatible interface with the engine mathematical model, the feature-based co-modeling methodology is proven to be an effective technical measure in the development process of the device.

Space technology to meet future needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

Key technologies were identified where contemporary investments might have large payoffs in technological options for the future. The future needs were considered for space transportation, space science, national security, and manned missions. Eight areas were selected as being vital for the national future in space. Findings regarding representative mission and the recommendations concerning high priority technologies are summarized.

Key management of the double random-phase-encoding method using public-key encryption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, Nirmala; Sinha, Aloka

2010-03-01

Public-key encryption has been used to encode the key of the encryption process. In the proposed technique, an input image has been encrypted by using the double random-phase-encoding method using extended fractional Fourier transform. The key of the encryption process have been encoded by using the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman (RSA) public-key encryption algorithm. The encoded key has then been transmitted to the receiver side along with the encrypted image. In the decryption process, first the encoded key has been decrypted using the secret key and then the encrypted image has been decrypted by using the retrieved key parameters. The proposed technique has advantage over double random-phase-encoding method because the problem associated with the transmission of the key has been eliminated by using public-key encryption. Computer simulation has been carried out to validate the proposed technique.

Optical key system

DOEpatents

Hagans, Karla G.; Clough, Robert E.

2000-01-01

An optical key system comprises a battery-operated optical key and an isolated lock that derives both its operating power and unlock signals from the correct optical key. A light emitting diode or laser diode is included within the optical key and is connected to transmit a bit-serial password. The key user physically enters either the code-to-transmit directly, or an index to a pseudorandom number code, in the key. Such person identification numbers can be retained permanently, or ephemeral. When a send button is pressed, the key transmits a beam of light modulated with the password information. The modulated beam of light is received by a corresponding optical lock with a photovoltaic cell that produces enough power from the beam of light to operate a password-screen digital logic. In one application, an acceptable password allows a two watt power laser diode to pump ignition and timing information over a fiberoptic cable into a sealed engine compartment. The receipt of a good password allows the fuel pump, spark, and starter systems to each operate. Therefore, bypassing the lock mechanism as is now routine with automobile thieves is pointless because the engine is so thoroughly disabled.

The Development of Differential Use of Inner and Outer Face Features in Familiar Face Identification.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Ruth; And Others

1995-01-01

Studied 4- to 10-year-olds' familiarity judgments of peers. Found that, contrary to adults, external facial features were key. Also found that the switch to adult recognition pattern takes place after the ninth year. (ETB)

Topology reduction in deep convolutional feature extraction networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiatowski, Thomas; Grohs, Philipp; Bölcskei, Helmut

2017-08-01

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) used in practice employ potentially hundreds of layers and 10,000s of nodes. Such network sizes entail significant computational complexity due to the large number of convolutions that need to be carried out; in addition, a large number of parameters needs to be learned and stored. Very deep and wide CNNs may therefore not be well suited to applications operating under severe resource constraints as is the case, e.g., in low-power embedded and mobile platforms. This paper aims at understanding the impact of CNN topology, specifically depth and width, on the network's feature extraction capabilities. We address this question for the class of scattering networks that employ either Weyl-Heisenberg filters or wavelets, the modulus non-linearity, and no pooling. The exponential feature map energy decay results in Wiatowski et al., 2017, are generalized to O(a-N), where an arbitrary decay factor a > 1 can be realized through suitable choice of the Weyl-Heisenberg prototype function or the mother wavelet. We then show how networks of fixed (possibly small) depth N can be designed to guarantee that ((1 - ɛ) · 100)% of the input signal's energy are contained in the feature vector. Based on the notion of operationally significant nodes, we characterize, partly rigorously and partly heuristically, the topology-reducing effects of (effectively) band-limited input signals, band-limited filters, and feature map symmetries. Finally, for networks based on Weyl-Heisenberg filters, we determine the prototype function bandwidth that minimizes - for fixed network depth N - the average number of operationally significant nodes per layer.

Public-key quantum digital signature scheme with one-time pad private-key

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Feng-Lin; Liu, Wan-Fang; Chen, Su-Gen; Wang, Zhi-Hua

2018-01-01

A quantum digital signature scheme is firstly proposed based on public-key quantum cryptosystem. In the scheme, the verification public-key is derived from the signer's identity information (such as e-mail) on the foundation of identity-based encryption, and the signature private-key is generated by one-time pad (OTP) protocol. The public-key and private-key pair belongs to classical bits, but the signature cipher belongs to quantum qubits. After the signer announces the public-key and generates the final quantum signature, each verifier can verify publicly whether the signature is valid or not with the public-key and quantum digital digest. Analysis results show that the proposed scheme satisfies non-repudiation and unforgeability. Information-theoretic security of the scheme is ensured by quantum indistinguishability mechanics and OTP protocol. Based on the public-key cryptosystem, the proposed scheme is easier to be realized compared with other quantum signature schemes under current technical conditions.

High-level intuitive features (HLIFs) for intuitive skin lesion description.

PubMed

Amelard, Robert; Glaister, Jeffrey; Wong, Alexander; Clausi, David A

2015-03-01

A set of high-level intuitive features (HLIFs) is proposed to quantitatively describe melanoma in standard camera images. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. With rising incidence rates and subjectivity in current clinical detection methods, there is a need for melanoma decision support systems. Feature extraction is a critical step in melanoma decision support systems. Existing feature sets for analyzing standard camera images are comprised of low-level features, which exist in high-dimensional feature spaces and limit the system's ability to convey intuitive diagnostic rationale. The proposed HLIFs were designed to model the ABCD criteria commonly used by dermatologists such that each HLIF represents a human-observable characteristic. As such, intuitive diagnostic rationale can be conveyed to the user. Experimental results show that concatenating the proposed HLIFs with a full low-level feature set increased classification accuracy, and that HLIFs were able to separate the data better than low-level features with statistical significance. An example of a graphical interface for providing intuitive rationale is given.

Key Nutritional Strategies to Optimize Performance in Para Athletes.

PubMed

Scaramella, Jacque; Kirihennedige, Nuwanee; Broad, Elizabeth

2018-05-01

Para athletes are a high-risk population for inadequate dietary intake leading to insufficiencies in nutrients important to athletic performance. This is partly due to minimal support and resources, especially in sport nutrition education, combined with limited prior nutrition knowledge and risks associated with different impairment types. Inadequate energy, carbohydrate, protein, iron, and vitamin D status are of particular concern in Para athletes. Assessment of these key nutrients, along with sport nutrition education, is needed to empower Para athletes with the knowledge to understand their individual nutrition needs and maximize athletic performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Remote health monitoring: predicting outcome success based on contextual features for cardiovascular disease.

PubMed

Alshurafa, Nabil; Eastwood, Jo-Ann; Pourhomayoun, Mohammad; Liu, Jason J; Sarrafzadeh, Majid

2014-01-01

Current studies have produced a plethora of remote health monitoring (RHM) systems designed to enhance the care of patients with chronic diseases. Many RHM systems are designed to improve patient risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including physiological parameters such as body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, and lipid profiles such as low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). There are several patient characteristics that could be determining factors for a patient's RHM outcome success, but these characteristics have been largely unidentified. In this paper, we analyze results from an RHM system deployed in a six month Women's Heart Health study of 90 patients, and apply advanced feature selection and machine learning algorithms to identify patients' key baseline contextual features and build effective prediction models that help determine RHM outcome success. We introduce Wanda-CVD, a smartphone-based RHM system designed to help participants with cardiovascular disease risk factors by motivating participants through wireless coaching using feedback and prompts as social support. We analyze key contextual features that secure positive patient outcomes in both physiological parameters and lipid profiles. Results from the Women's Heart Health study show that health threat of heart disease, quality of life, family history, stress factors, social support, and anxiety at baseline all help predict patient RHM outcome success.

Accelerating Biomedical Signal Processing Using GPU: A Case Study of Snore Sound Feature Extraction.

PubMed

Guo, Jian; Qian, Kun; Zhang, Gongxuan; Xu, Huijie; Schuller, Björn

2017-12-01

The advent of 'Big Data' and 'Deep Learning' offers both, a great challenge and a huge opportunity for personalised health-care. In machine learning-based biomedical data analysis, feature extraction is a key step for 'feeding' the subsequent classifiers. With increasing numbers of biomedical data, extracting features from these 'big' data is an intensive and time-consuming task. In this case study, we employ a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) via Python to extract features from a large corpus of snore sound data. Those features can subsequently be imported into many well-known deep learning training frameworks without any format processing. The snore sound data were collected from several hospitals (20 subjects, with 770-990 MB per subject - in total 17.20 GB). Experimental results show that our GPU-based processing significantly speeds up the feature extraction phase, by up to seven times, as compared to the previous CPU system.

Systematic review of mobile health behavioural interventions to improve uptake of HIV testing for vulnerable and key populations.

PubMed

Conserve, Donaldson F; Jennings, Larissa; Aguiar, Carolina; Shin, Grace; Handler, Lara; Maman, Suzanne

2017-02-01

Introduction This systematic narrative review examined the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of mobile health (mHealth) behavioural interventions designed to increase the uptake of HIV testing among vulnerable and key populations. Methods MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Global Health electronic databases were searched. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were published between 2005 and 2015, evaluated an mHealth intervention, and reported an outcome relating to HIV testing. We also reviewed the bibliographies of retrieved studies for other relevant citations. The methodological rigor of selected articles was assessed, and narrative analyses were used to synthesize findings from mixed methodologies. Results A total of seven articles met the inclusion criteria. Most mHealth interventions employed a text-messaging feature and were conducted in middle- and high-income countries. The methodological rigor was moderate among studies. The current literature suggests that mHealth interventions can have significant positive effects on HIV testing initiation among vulnerable and key populations, as well as the general public. In some cases, null results were observed. Qualitative themes relating to the use of mobile technologies to increase HIV testing included the benefits of having low-cost, confidential, and motivational communication. Reported barriers included cellular network restrictions, poor linkages with physical testing services, and limited knowledge of appropriate text-messaging dose. Discussion MHealth interventions may prove beneficial in reducing the proportion of undiagnosed persons living with HIV, particularly among vulnerable and key populations. However, more rigorous and tailored interventions are needed to assess the effectiveness of widespread use.

Systematic review of mobile-health behavioral interventions to improve uptake of HIV testing for vulnerable and key populations

PubMed Central

Conserve, Donaldson F.; Jennings, Larissa; Aguiar, Carolina; Shin, Grace; Handler, Lara; Maman, Suzanne

2016-01-01

Objective This systematic narrative review examined the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of mobile health (mHealth) behavioral interventions designed to increase uptake of HIV testing among vulnerable and key populations. Methods MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Global Health electronic databases were searched. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were published between 2005 and 2015, evaluated an mHealth intervention, and reported an outcome relating to HIV testing. We also reviewed the bibliographies of retrieved studies for other relevant citations. The methodological rigor of selected articles was assessed, and narrative analyses were used to synthesize findings from mixed methodologies. Results A total of seven articles met the inclusion criteria. Most mHealth interventions employed a text-messaging feature and were conducted in middle- and high-income countries. The methodological rigor was moderate among studies. The current literature suggests that mHealth interventions can have significant positive effects on HIV testing initiation among vulnerable and key populations, as well as the general public. In some cases, null results were observed. Qualitative themes relating to use of mobile technologies to increase HIV testing included the benefits of having low-cost, confidential, and motivational communication. Reported barriers included cellular network restrictions, poor linkages with physical testing services, and limited knowledge of appropriate text-messaging dose. Conclusions MHealth interventions may prove beneficial in reducing the proportion of undiagnosed persons living with HIV, particularly among vulnerable and key populations. However, more rigorous and tailored intervention trials are needed to assess the effectiveness of widespread use. PMID:27056905

Finite-key analysis for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution.

PubMed

Curty, Marcos; Xu, Feihu; Cui, Wei; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Tamaki, Kiyoshi; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2014-04-29

Quantum key distribution promises unconditionally secure communications. However, as practical devices tend to deviate from their specifications, the security of some practical systems is no longer valid. In particular, an adversary can exploit imperfect detectors to learn a large part of the secret key, even though the security proof claims otherwise. Recently, a practical approach--measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution--has been proposed to solve this problem. However, so far its security has only been fully proven under the assumption that the legitimate users of the system have unlimited resources. Here we fill this gap and provide a rigorous security proof against general attacks in the finite-key regime. This is obtained by applying large deviation theory, specifically the Chernoff bound, to perform parameter estimation. For the first time we demonstrate the feasibility of long-distance implementations of measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution within a reasonable time frame of signal transmission.

A Needs Assessment of International Students' Wives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martens, Vonda Plett; Grant, Peter R.

2008-01-01

Despite the unique adjustment challenges facing international students' spouses, little research has focused on their adjustment experiences or their programming needs. Understanding the adjustment of these individuals is important both in itself and because spouses play a key role in the adjustment and academic success of international students.…

Good practice in social care: the views of people with severe and complex needs and those who support them.

PubMed

Gridley, Kate; Brooks, Jenni; Glendinning, Caroline

2014-11-01

This paper reports findings drawn from a study of good practice in English social care for adults with disability and older people with severe and complex needs. People with severe and complex needs are a relatively small proportion of adult social care service users, but they are growing in numbers and have resource-intensive needs. The study involved qualitative research with adults with disability and older people with severe and complex needs, family carers and members of specialist organisations (n = 67), focusing on the features of social care services they considered to be good practice. Data were collected between August 2010 and June 2011. The approach to data collection was flexible, to accommodate participants' communication needs and preferences, including face-to-face and telephone interviews, Talking Mats(©) sessions and a focus group. Data were managed using Framework and analysed thematically. Features of good practice were considered at three levels: (i) everyday support; (ii) service organisation; and (iii) commissioning. Findings relating to the first two of these are presented here. Participants emphasised the importance of person-centred ways of working at all levels. Personalisation, as currently implemented in English social care, aims to shift power from professionals to service users through the allocation of personal budgets. This approach focuses very much on the role of the individual in directing his/her own support arrangements. However, participants in this study also stressed the importance of ongoing professional support, for example, from a specialist key worker or case manager to co-ordinate diverse services and ensure good practice at an organisational level. The paper argues that, despite the recent move to shift power from professionals to service users, people with the most complex needs still value support from professionals and appropriate organisational support. Without these, they risk being excluded from the benefits

Visual Prediction Error Spreads Across Object Features in Human Visual Cortex

PubMed Central

Summerfield, Christopher; Egner, Tobias

2016-01-01

Visual cognition is thought to rely heavily on contextual expectations. Accordingly, previous studies have revealed distinct neural signatures for expected versus unexpected stimuli in visual cortex. However, it is presently unknown how the brain combines multiple concurrent stimulus expectations such as those we have for different features of a familiar object. To understand how an unexpected object feature affects the simultaneous processing of other expected feature(s), we combined human fMRI with a task that independently manipulated expectations for color and motion features of moving-dot stimuli. Behavioral data and neural signals from visual cortex were then interrogated to adjudicate between three possible ways in which prediction error (surprise) in the processing of one feature might affect the concurrent processing of another, expected feature: (1) feature processing may be independent; (2) surprise might “spread” from the unexpected to the expected feature, rendering the entire object unexpected; or (3) pairing a surprising feature with an expected feature might promote the inference that the two features are not in fact part of the same object. To formalize these rival hypotheses, we implemented them in a simple computational model of multifeature expectations. Across a range of analyses, behavior and visual neural signals consistently supported a model that assumes a mixing of prediction error signals across features: surprise in one object feature spreads to its other feature(s), thus rendering the entire object unexpected. These results reveal neurocomputational principles of multifeature expectations and indicate that objects are the unit of selection for predictive vision. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We address a key question in predictive visual cognition: how does the brain combine multiple concurrent expectations for different features of a single object such as its color and motion trajectory? By combining a behavioral protocol that

Enhancing facial features by using clear facial features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rofoo, Fanar Fareed Hanna

2017-09-01

The similarity of features between individuals of same ethnicity motivated the idea of this project. The idea of this project is to extract features of clear facial image and impose them on blurred facial image of same ethnic origin as an approach to enhance a blurred facial image. A database of clear images containing 30 individuals equally divided to five different ethnicities which were Arab, African, Chines, European and Indian. Software was built to perform pre-processing on images in order to align the features of clear and blurred images. And the idea was to extract features of clear facial image or template built from clear facial images using wavelet transformation to impose them on blurred image by using reverse wavelet. The results of this approach did not come well as all the features did not align together as in most cases the eyes were aligned but the nose or mouth were not aligned. Then we decided in the next approach to deal with features separately but in the result in some cases a blocky effect was present on features due to not having close matching features. In general the available small database did not help to achieve the goal results, because of the number of available individuals. The color information and features similarity could be more investigated to achieve better results by having larger database as well as improving the process of enhancement by the availability of closer matches in each ethnicity.

Citing geospatial feature inventories with XML manifests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bose, R.; McGarva, G.

2006-12-01

Today published scientific papers include a growing number of citations for online information sources that either complement or replace printed journals and books. We anticipate this same trend for cartographic citations used in the geosciences, following advances in web mapping and geographic feature-based services. Instead of using traditional libraries to resolve citations for print material, the geospatial citation life cycle will include requesting inventories of objects or geographic features from distributed geospatial data repositories. Using a case study from the UK Ordnance Survey MasterMap database, which is illustrative of geographic object-based products in general, we propose citing inventories of geographic objects using XML feature manifests. These manifests: (1) serve as a portable listing of sets of versioned features; (2) could be used as citations within the identification portion of an international geospatial metadata standard; (3) could be incorporated into geospatial data transfer formats such as GML; but (4) can be resolved only with comprehensive, curated repositories of current and historic data. This work has implications for any researcher who foresees the need to make or resolve references to online geospatial databases.

Optical key system

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

Hagans, K.G.; Clough, R.E.

2000-04-25

An optical key system comprises a battery-operated optical key and an isolated lock that derives both its operating power and unlock signals from the correct optical key. A light emitting diode or laser diode is included within the optical key and is connected to transmit a bit-serial password. The key user physically enters either the code-to-transmit directly, or an index to a pseudorandom number code, in the key. Such person identification numbers can be retained permanently, or ephemeral. When a send button is pressed, the key transmits a beam of light modulated with the password information. The modulated beam ofmore » light is received by a corresponding optical lock with a photovoltaic cell that produces enough power from the beam of light to operate a password-screen digital logic. In one application, an acceptable password allows a two watt power laser diode to pump ignition and timing information over a fiberoptic cable into a sealed engine compartment. The receipt of a good password allows the fuel pump, spark, and starter systems to each operate. Therefore, bypassing the lock mechanism as is now routine with automobile thieves is pointless because the engine is so thoroughly disabled.« less

Features and selection of vascular access devices.

PubMed

Sansivero, Gail Egan

2010-05-01

To review venous anatomy and physiology, discuss assessment parameters before vascular access device (VAD) placement, and review VAD options. Journal articles, personal experience. A number of VAD options are available in clinical practice. Access planning should include comprehensive assessment, with attention to patient participation in the planning and selection process. Careful consideration should be given to long-term access needs and preservation of access sites. Oncology nurses are uniquely suited to perform a key role in VAD planning and placement. With knowledge of infusion therapy, anatomy and physiology, device options, and community resources, nurses can be key leaders in preserving vascular access and improving the safety and comfort of infusion therapy. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental Demonstration of Polarization Encoding Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Zhiyuan; Liao, Zhongfa; Xu, Feihu; Qi, Bing; Qian, Li; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2014-05-01

We demonstrate the first implementation of polarization encoding measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD), which is immune to all detector side-channel attacks. Active phase randomization of each individual pulse is implemented to protect against attacks on imperfect sources. By optimizing the parameters in the decoy state protocol, we show that it is feasible to implement polarization encoding MDI-QKD with commercial off-the-shelf devices. A rigorous finite key analysis is applied to estimate the secure key rate. Our work paves the way for the realization of a MDI-QKD network, in which the users only need compact and low-cost state-preparation devices and can share complicated and expensive detectors provided by an untrusted network server.

Experimental demonstration of polarization encoding measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution.

PubMed

Tang, Zhiyuan; Liao, Zhongfa; Xu, Feihu; Qi, Bing; Qian, Li; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2014-05-16

We demonstrate the first implementation of polarization encoding measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD), which is immune to all detector side-channel attacks. Active phase randomization of each individual pulse is implemented to protect against attacks on imperfect sources. By optimizing the parameters in the decoy state protocol, we show that it is feasible to implement polarization encoding MDI-QKD with commercial off-the-shelf devices. A rigorous finite key analysis is applied to estimate the secure key rate. Our work paves the way for the realization of a MDI-QKD network, in which the users only need compact and low-cost state-preparation devices and can share complicated and expensive detectors provided by an untrusted network server.

Charge Segregation and Low Hydrophobicity Are Key Features of Ribosomal Proteins from Different Organisms*

PubMed Central

Fedyukina, Daria V.; Jennaro, Theodore S.; Cavagnero, Silvia

2014-01-01

Ribosomes are large and highly charged macromolecular complexes consisting of RNA and proteins. Here, we address the electrostatic and nonpolar properties of ribosomal proteins that are important for ribosome assembly and interaction with other cellular components and may influence protein folding on the ribosome. We examined 50 S ribosomal subunits from 10 species and found a clear distinction between the net charge of ribosomal proteins from halophilic and non-halophilic organisms. We found that ∼67% ribosomal proteins from halophiles are negatively charged, whereas only up to ∼15% of ribosomal proteins from non-halophiles share this property. Conversely, hydrophobicity tends to be lower for ribosomal proteins from halophiles than for the corresponding proteins from non-halophiles. Importantly, the surface electrostatic potential of ribosomal proteins from all organisms, especially halophiles, has distinct positive and negative regions across all the examined species. Positively and negatively charged residues of ribosomal proteins tend to be clustered in buried and solvent-exposed regions, respectively. Hence, the majority of ribosomal proteins is characterized by a significant degree of intramolecular charge segregation, regardless of the organism of origin. This key property enables the ribosome to accommodate proteins within its complex scaffold regardless of their overall net charge. PMID:24398678

Which ante mortem clinical features predict progressive supranuclear palsy pathology?

PubMed

Respondek, Gesine; Kurz, Carolin; Arzberger, Thomas; Compta, Yaroslau; Englund, Elisabet; Ferguson, Leslie W; Gelpi, Ellen; Giese, Armin; Irwin, David J; Meissner, Wassilios G; Nilsson, Christer; Pantelyat, Alexander; Rajput, Alex; van Swieten, John C; Troakes, Claire; Josephs, Keith A; Lang, Anthony E; Mollenhauer, Brit; Müller, Ulrich; Whitwell, Jennifer L; Antonini, Angelo; Bhatia, Kailash P; Bordelon, Yvette; Corvol, Jean-Christophe; Colosimo, Carlo; Dodel, Richard; Grossman, Murray; Kassubek, Jan; Krismer, Florian; Levin, Johannes; Lorenzl, Stefan; Morris, Huw; Nestor, Peter; Oertel, Wolfgang H; Rabinovici, Gil D; Rowe, James B; van Eimeren, Thilo; Wenning, Gregor K; Boxer, Adam; Golbe, Lawrence I; Litvan, Irene; Stamelou, Maria; Höglinger, Günter U

2017-07-01

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neuropathologically defined disease presenting with a broad spectrum of clinical phenotypes. To identify clinical features and investigations that predict or exclude PSP pathology during life, aiming at an optimization of the clinical diagnostic criteria for PSP. We performed a systematic review of the literature published since 1996 to identify clinical features and investigations that may predict or exclude PSP pathology. We then extracted standardized data from clinical charts of patients with pathologically diagnosed PSP and relevant disease controls and calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of key clinical features for PSP in this cohort. Of 4166 articles identified by the database inquiry, 269 met predefined standards. The literature review identified clinical features predictive of PSP, including features of the following 4 functional domains: ocular motor dysfunction, postural instability, akinesia, and cognitive dysfunction. No biomarker or genetic feature was found reliably validated to predict definite PSP. High-quality original natural history data were available from 206 patients with pathologically diagnosed PSP and from 231 pathologically diagnosed disease controls (54 corticobasal degeneration, 51 multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism, 53 Parkinson's disease, 73 behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia). We identified clinical features that predicted PSP pathology, including phenotypes other than Richardson's syndrome, with varying sensitivity and specificity. Our results highlight the clinical variability of PSP and the high prevalence of phenotypes other than Richardson's syndrome. The features of variant phenotypes with high specificity and sensitivity should serve to optimize clinical diagnosis of PSP. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Secret Key Generation via a Modified Quantum Secret Sharing Protocol

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

Smith IV, Amos M; Evans, Philip G; Lawrie, Benjamin J

We present and experimentally show a novel protocol for distributing secret information between two and only two parties in a N-party single-qubit Quantum Secret Sharing (QSS) system. We demonstrate this new algorithm with N = 3 active parties over 6km of telecom. ber. Our experimental device is based on the Clavis2 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system built by ID Quantique but is generalizable to any implementation. We show that any two out of the N parties can build secret keys based on partial information from each other and with collaboration from the remaining N > 2 parties. This algorithm allowsmore » for the creation of two-party secret keys were standard QSS does not and signicantly reduces the number of resources needed to implement QKD on a highly connected network such as the electrical grid.« less

Key challenges in the development and implementation of telehealth projects.

PubMed

Joseph, Victor; West, Robert M; Shickle, Darren; Keen, Justin; Clamp, Susan

2011-01-01

A literature review was carried out to identify the key challenges in the implementation of telehealth. This was followed by a survey of organisations in England involved in telehealth projects in order to understand the challenges they faced. Ten of the 13 health or local authority organisations surveyed had telehealth projects and three were at the planning stage. The analysis revealed seven key challenges facing implementers of telehealth in England. Based on the findings from the literature review and the survey, a model was constructed and a checklist drawn up. The model contained the following elements: identifying issues, needs and partners; producing a strategy; securing funding; implementing changes; and monitoring and evaluating a telehealth project. The checklist was validated by using key informants from the organisations originally surveyed. The checklist may be useful to guide telehealth development and implementation in the future.

Tailored combination prevention packages and PrEP for young key populations

PubMed Central

Pettifor, Audrey; Nguyen, Nadia L; Celum, Connie; Cowan, Frances M; Go, Vivian; Hightow-Weidman, Lisa

2015-01-01

Introduction Young key populations, defined in this article as men who have sex with men, transgender persons, people who sell sex and people who inject drugs, are at particularly high risk for HIV. Due to the often marginalized and sometimes criminalized status of young people who identify as members of key populations, there is a need for HIV prevention packages that account for the unique and challenging circumstances they face. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is likely to become an important element of combination prevention for many young key populations. Objective In this paper, we discuss important challenges to HIV prevention among young key populations, identify key components of a tailored combination prevention package for this population and examine the role of PrEP in these prevention packages. Methods We conducted a comprehensive review of the evidence to date on prevention strategies, challenges to prevention and combination prevention packages for young key populations. We focused specifically on the role of PrEP in these prevention packages and on young people under the age of 24, and 18 in particular. Results and discussion Combination prevention packages that include effective, acceptable and scalable behavioural, structural and biologic interventions are needed for all key populations to prevent new HIV infections. Interventions in these packages should meaningfully involve beneficiaries in the design and implementation of the intervention, and take into account the context in which the intervention is being delivered to thoughtfully address issues of stigma and discrimination. These interventions will likely be most effective if implemented in conjunction with strategies to facilitate an enabling environment, including increasing access to HIV testing and health services for PrEP and other prevention strategies, decriminalizing key populations’ practices, increasing access to prevention and care, reducing stigma and discrimination, and

Five Essential Relationships Every New Teacher Needs to Build

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Steven L.; Morelli, Christopher A.

2017-01-01

The authors identify five key relationships beginning teachers need to build within their first year and offer ideas and practical strategies to help them establish relationships that are essential to their work.

A Need for a Framework for Curriculum Evaluation in Oman

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Jardani, Khalid Salim; Siraj, Saedah; Abedalaziz, Nabeel

2012-01-01

The field of curriculum evaluation is a key part of the educational process. This means that this area needs to be developed continuously and requires ongoing research. This paper highlights curriculum evaluation in Oman, different evaluation procedures and methods and instruments used. The need for a framework for curriculum evaluation is a vital…

Feature inference with uncertain categorization: Re-assessing Anderson's rational model.

PubMed

Konovalova, Elizaveta; Le Mens, Gaël

2017-09-18

A key function of categories is to help predictions about unobserved features of objects. At the same time, humans are often in situations where the categories of the objects they perceive are uncertain. In an influential paper, Anderson (Psychological Review, 98(3), 409-429, 1991) proposed a rational model for feature inferences with uncertain categorization. A crucial feature of this model is the conditional independence assumption-it assumes that the within category feature correlation is zero. In prior research, this model has been found to provide a poor fit to participants' inferences. This evidence is restricted to task environments inconsistent with the conditional independence assumption. Currently available evidence thus provides little information about how this model would fit participants' inferences in a setting with conditional independence. In four experiments based on a novel paradigm and one experiment based on an existing paradigm, we assess the performance of Anderson's model under conditional independence. We find that this model predicts participants' inferences better than competing models. One model assumes that inferences are based on just the most likely category. The second model is insensitive to categories but sensitive to overall feature correlation. The performance of Anderson's model is evidence that inferences were influenced not only by the more likely category but also by the other candidate category. Our findings suggest that a version of Anderson's model which relaxes the conditional independence assumption will likely perform well in environments characterized by within-category feature correlation.

The health status of adolescents in Ecuador and the country's response to the need for differentiated healthcare for adolescents.