Density estimation in tiger populations: combining information for strong inference

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gopalaswamy, Arjun M.; Royle, J. Andrew; Delampady, Mohan; Nichols, James D.; Karanth, K. Ullas; Macdonald, David W.

2012-01-01

A productive way forward in studies of animal populations is to efficiently make use of all the information available, either as raw data or as published sources, on critical parameters of interest. In this study, we demonstrate two approaches to the use of multiple sources of information on a parameter of fundamental interest to ecologists: animal density. The first approach produces estimates simultaneously from two different sources of data. The second approach was developed for situations in which initial data collection and analysis are followed up by subsequent data collection and prior knowledge is updated with new data using a stepwise process. Both approaches are used to estimate density of a rare and elusive predator, the tiger, by combining photographic and fecal DNA spatial capture–recapture data. The model, which combined information, provided the most precise estimate of density (8.5 ± 1.95 tigers/100 km2 [posterior mean ± SD]) relative to a model that utilized only one data source (photographic, 12.02 ± 3.02 tigers/100 km2 and fecal DNA, 6.65 ± 2.37 tigers/100 km2). Our study demonstrates that, by accounting for multiple sources of available information, estimates of animal density can be significantly improved.

Density estimation in tiger populations: combining information for strong inference.

PubMed

Gopalaswamy, Arjun M; Royle, J Andrew; Delampady, Mohan; Nichols, James D; Karanth, K Ullas; Macdonald, David W

2012-07-01

A productive way forward in studies of animal populations is to efficiently make use of all the information available, either as raw data or as published sources, on critical parameters of interest. In this study, we demonstrate two approaches to the use of multiple sources of information on a parameter of fundamental interest to ecologists: animal density. The first approach produces estimates simultaneously from two different sources of data. The second approach was developed for situations in which initial data collection and analysis are followed up by subsequent data collection and prior knowledge is updated with new data using a stepwise process. Both approaches are used to estimate density of a rare and elusive predator, the tiger, by combining photographic and fecal DNA spatial capture-recapture data. The model, which combined information, provided the most precise estimate of density (8.5 +/- 1.95 tigers/100 km2 [posterior mean +/- SD]) relative to a model that utilized only one data source (photographic, 12.02 +/- 3.02 tigers/100 km2 and fecal DNA, 6.65 +/- 2.37 tigers/100 km2). Our study demonstrates that, by accounting for multiple sources of available information, estimates of animal density can be significantly improved.

Eyetracking Reveals Multiple-Category Use in Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Stephanie Y.; Ross, Brian H.; Murphy, Gregory L.

2016-01-01

Category information is used to predict properties of new category members. When categorization is uncertain, people often rely on only one, most likely category to make predictions. Yet studies of perception and action often conclude that people combine multiple sources of information near-optimally. We present a perception-action analog of…

Navigating the cancer information environment: The reciprocal relationship between patient-clinician information engagement and information seeking from nonmedical sources.

PubMed

Moldovan-Johnson, Mihaela; Tan, Andy S L; Hornik, Robert C

2014-01-01

Prior theory has argued and empirical studies have shown that cancer patients rely on information from their health care providers as well as lay sources to understand and make decisions about their disease. However, research on the dynamic and interdependent nature of cancer patients' engagement with different information sources is lacking. This study tested the hypotheses that patient-clinician information engagement and information seeking from nonmedical sources influence one another longitudinally among a representative cohort of 1,293 cancer survivors in Pennsylvania. The study hypotheses were supported in a series of lagged multiple regression analyses. Baseline seeking information from nonmedical sources positively predicted subsequent patient-clinician information engagement at 1-year follow-up. The reverse relationship was also statistically significant; baseline patient-clinician information engagement positively predicted information seeking from nonmedical sources at follow-up. These findings suggest that cancer survivors move between nonmedical and clinician sources in a dynamic way to learn about their disease.

Navigating the cancer information environment: The reciprocal relationship between patient-clinician information engagement and information seeking from nonmedical sources

PubMed Central

Moldovan-Johnson, Mihaela; Tan, Andy SL; Hornik, Robert C

2014-01-01

Prior theory has argued and empirical studies have shown that cancer patients rely on information from their health care providers as well as lay sources to understand and make decisions about their disease. However, research on the dynamic and interdependent nature of cancer patients’ engagement with different information sources is lacking. This study tested the hypotheses that patient-clinician information engagement and information seeking from nonmedical sources influence one another longitudinally among a representative cohort of 1,293 cancer survivors in Pennsylvania. The study hypotheses were supported in a series of lagged multiple regression analyses. Baseline seeking information from nonmedical sources positively predicted subsequent patient-clinician information engagement at one-year follow-up. The reverse relationship was also statistically significant; baseline patient-clinician information engagement positively predicted information seeking from nonmedical sources at follow-up. These findings suggest that cancer survivors move between nonmedical to clinician sources in a dynamic way to learn about their disease. PMID:24359259

Validation and calibration of structural models that combine information from multiple sources.

PubMed

Dahabreh, Issa J; Wong, John B; Trikalinos, Thomas A

2017-02-01

Mathematical models that attempt to capture structural relationships between their components and combine information from multiple sources are increasingly used in medicine. Areas covered: We provide an overview of methods for model validation and calibration and survey studies comparing alternative approaches. Expert commentary: Model validation entails a confrontation of models with data, background knowledge, and other models, and can inform judgments about model credibility. Calibration involves selecting parameter values to improve the agreement of model outputs with data. When the goal of modeling is quantitative inference on the effects of interventions or forecasting, calibration can be viewed as estimation. This view clarifies issues related to parameter identifiability and facilitates formal model validation and the examination of consistency among different sources of information. In contrast, when the goal of modeling is the generation of qualitative insights about the modeled phenomenon, calibration is a rather informal process for selecting inputs that result in model behavior that roughly reproduces select aspects of the modeled phenomenon and cannot be equated to an estimation procedure. Current empirical research on validation and calibration methods consists primarily of methodological appraisals or case-studies of alternative techniques and cannot address the numerous complex and multifaceted methodological decisions that modelers must make. Further research is needed on different approaches for developing and validating complex models that combine evidence from multiple sources.

Time-correlated neutron analysis of a multiplying HEU source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, E. C.; Kalter, J. M.; Lavelle, C. M.; Watson, S. M.; Kinlaw, M. T.; Chichester, D. L.; Noonan, W. A.

2015-06-01

The ability to quickly identify and characterize special nuclear material remains a national security challenge. In counter-proliferation applications, identifying the neutron multiplication of a sample can be a good indication of the level of threat. Currently neutron multiplicity measurements are performed with moderated 3He proportional counters. These systems rely on the detection of thermalized neutrons, a process which obscures both energy and time information from the source. Fast neutron detectors, such as liquid scintillators, have the ability to detect events on nanosecond time scales, providing more information on the temporal structure of the arriving signal, and provide an alternative method for extracting information from the source. To explore this possibility, a series of measurements were performed on the Idaho National Laboratory's MARVEL assembly, a configurable HEU source. The source assembly was measured in a variety of different HEU configurations and with different reflectors, covering a range of neutron multiplications from 2 to 8. The data was collected with liquid scintillator detectors and digitized for offline analysis. A gap based approach for identifying the bursts of detected neutrons associated with the same fission chain was used. Using this approach, we are able to study various statistical properties of individual fission chains. One of these properties is the distribution of neutron arrival times within a given burst. We have observed two interesting empirical trends. First, this distribution exhibits a weak, but definite, dependence on source multiplication. Second, there are distinctive differences in the distribution depending on the presence and type of reflector. Both of these phenomena might prove to be useful when assessing an unknown source. The physical origins of these phenomena can be illuminated with help of MCNPX-PoliMi simulations.

Combined mining: discovering informative knowledge in complex data.

PubMed

Cao, Longbing; Zhang, Huaifeng; Zhao, Yanchang; Luo, Dan; Zhang, Chengqi

2011-06-01

Enterprise data mining applications often involve complex data such as multiple large heterogeneous data sources, user preferences, and business impact. In such situations, a single method or one-step mining is often limited in discovering informative knowledge. It would also be very time and space consuming, if not impossible, to join relevant large data sources for mining patterns consisting of multiple aspects of information. It is crucial to develop effective approaches for mining patterns combining necessary information from multiple relevant business lines, catering for real business settings and decision-making actions rather than just providing a single line of patterns. The recent years have seen increasing efforts on mining more informative patterns, e.g., integrating frequent pattern mining with classifications to generate frequent pattern-based classifiers. Rather than presenting a specific algorithm, this paper builds on our existing works and proposes combined mining as a general approach to mining for informative patterns combining components from either multiple data sets or multiple features or by multiple methods on demand. We summarize general frameworks, paradigms, and basic processes for multifeature combined mining, multisource combined mining, and multimethod combined mining. Novel types of combined patterns, such as incremental cluster patterns, can result from such frameworks, which cannot be directly produced by the existing methods. A set of real-world case studies has been conducted to test the frameworks, with some of them briefed in this paper. They identify combined patterns for informing government debt prevention and improving government service objectives, which show the flexibility and instantiation capability of combined mining in discovering informative knowledge in complex data.

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Adoption of Modern Information and Communication Technology by Farmers in India: Analysis Using Multivariate Probit Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mittal, Surabhi; Mehar, Mamta

2016-01-01

Purpose: The paper analyzes factors that affect the likelihood of adoption of different agriculture-related information sources by farmers. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper links the theoretical understanding of the existing multiple sources of information that farmers use, with the empirical model to analyze the factors that affect the…

HRATIS first year evaluation report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-09-01

The ITS integration project, the Hampton Roads Advanced Traveler Information System (HRATIS), is a public-private partnership. The service collects information from multiple sources, fuses the data elements, and distributes the information through va...

Extracting Behaviorally Relevant Traits from Natural Stimuli: Benefits of Combinatorial Representations at the Accessory Olfactory Bulb

PubMed Central

Kahan, Anat; Ben-Shaul, Yoram

2016-01-01

For many animals, chemosensation is essential for guiding social behavior. However, because multiple factors can modulate levels of individual chemical cues, deriving information about other individuals via natural chemical stimuli involves considerable challenges. How social information is extracted despite these sources of variability is poorly understood. The vomeronasal system provides an excellent opportunity to study this topic due to its role in detecting socially relevant traits. Here, we focus on two such traits: a female mouse’s strain and reproductive state. In particular, we measure stimulus-induced neuronal activity in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) in response to various dilutions of urine, vaginal secretions, and saliva, from estrus and non-estrus female mice from two different strains. We first show that all tested secretions provide information about a female’s receptivity and genotype. Next, we investigate how these traits can be decoded from neuronal activity despite multiple sources of variability. We show that individual neurons are limited in their capacity to allow trait classification across multiple sources of variability. However, simple linear classifiers sampling neuronal activity from small neuronal ensembles can provide a substantial improvement over that attained with individual units. Furthermore, we show that some traits are more efficiently detected than others, and that particular secretions may be optimized for conveying information about specific traits. Across all tested stimulus sources, discrimination between strains is more accurate than discrimination of receptivity, and detection of receptivity is more accurate with vaginal secretions than with urine. Our findings highlight the challenges of chemosensory processing of natural stimuli, and suggest that downstream readout stages decode multiple behaviorally relevant traits by sampling information from distinct but overlapping populations of AOB neurons. PMID:26938460

Extracting Behaviorally Relevant Traits from Natural Stimuli: Benefits of Combinatorial Representations at the Accessory Olfactory Bulb.

PubMed

Kahan, Anat; Ben-Shaul, Yoram

2016-03-01

For many animals, chemosensation is essential for guiding social behavior. However, because multiple factors can modulate levels of individual chemical cues, deriving information about other individuals via natural chemical stimuli involves considerable challenges. How social information is extracted despite these sources of variability is poorly understood. The vomeronasal system provides an excellent opportunity to study this topic due to its role in detecting socially relevant traits. Here, we focus on two such traits: a female mouse's strain and reproductive state. In particular, we measure stimulus-induced neuronal activity in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) in response to various dilutions of urine, vaginal secretions, and saliva, from estrus and non-estrus female mice from two different strains. We first show that all tested secretions provide information about a female's receptivity and genotype. Next, we investigate how these traits can be decoded from neuronal activity despite multiple sources of variability. We show that individual neurons are limited in their capacity to allow trait classification across multiple sources of variability. However, simple linear classifiers sampling neuronal activity from small neuronal ensembles can provide a substantial improvement over that attained with individual units. Furthermore, we show that some traits are more efficiently detected than others, and that particular secretions may be optimized for conveying information about specific traits. Across all tested stimulus sources, discrimination between strains is more accurate than discrimination of receptivity, and detection of receptivity is more accurate with vaginal secretions than with urine. Our findings highlight the challenges of chemosensory processing of natural stimuli, and suggest that downstream readout stages decode multiple behaviorally relevant traits by sampling information from distinct but overlapping populations of AOB neurons.

Multiple description distributed image coding with side information for mobile wireless transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Min; Song, Daewon; Chen, Chang Wen

2005-03-01

Multiple description coding (MDC) is a source coding technique that involves coding the source information into multiple descriptions, and then transmitting them over different channels in packet network or error-prone wireless environment to achieve graceful degradation if parts of descriptions are lost at the receiver. In this paper, we proposed a multiple description distributed wavelet zero tree image coding system for mobile wireless transmission. We provide two innovations to achieve an excellent error resilient capability. First, when MDC is applied to wavelet subband based image coding, it is possible to introduce correlation between the descriptions in each subband. We consider using such a correlation as well as potentially error corrupted description as side information in the decoding to formulate the MDC decoding as a Wyner Ziv decoding problem. If only part of descriptions is lost, however, their correlation information is still available, the proposed Wyner Ziv decoder can recover the description by using the correlation information and the error corrupted description as side information. Secondly, in each description, single bitstream wavelet zero tree coding is very vulnerable to the channel errors. The first bit error may cause the decoder to discard all subsequent bits whether or not the subsequent bits are correctly received. Therefore, we integrate the multiple description scalar quantization (MDSQ) with the multiple wavelet tree image coding method to reduce error propagation. We first group wavelet coefficients into multiple trees according to parent-child relationship and then code them separately by SPIHT algorithm to form multiple bitstreams. Such decomposition is able to reduce error propagation and therefore improve the error correcting capability of Wyner Ziv decoder. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme not only exhibits an excellent error resilient performance but also demonstrates graceful degradation over the packet loss rate.

Text-Based Argumentation with Multiple Sources: A Descriptive Study of Opportunity to Learn in Secondary English Language Arts, History, and Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Litman, Cindy; Marple, Stacy; Greenleaf, Cynthia; Charney-Sirott, Irisa; Bolz, Michael J.; Richardson, Lisa K.; Hall, Allison H.; George, MariAnne; Goldman, Susan R.

2017-01-01

This study presents a descriptive analysis of 71 videotaped lessons taught by 34 highly regarded secondary English language arts, history, and science teachers, collected to inform an intervention focused on evidence-based argumentation from multiple text sources. Studying the practices of highly regarded teachers is valuable for identifying…

Organizational Communication in Emergencies: Using Multiple Channels and Sources to Combat Noise and Capture Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Keri K.; Barrett, Ashley K.; Mahometa, Michael J.

2013-01-01

This study relies on information theory, social presence, and source credibility to uncover what best helps people grasp the urgency of an emergency. We surveyed a random sample of 1,318 organizational members who received multiple notifications about a large-scale emergency. We found that people who received 3 redundant messages coming through at…

Learning to Integrate Divergent Information Sources: The Interplay of Epistemic Cognition and Epistemic Metacognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barzilai, Sarit; Ka'adan, Ibtisam

2017-01-01

Learning to integrate multiple information sources is vital for advancing learners' digital literacy. Previous studies have found that learners' epistemic metacognitive knowledge about the nature of knowledge and knowing is related to their strategic integration performance. The purpose of this study was to understand how these relations come into…

Incomplete Multisource Transfer Learning.

PubMed

Ding, Zhengming; Shao, Ming; Fu, Yun

2018-02-01

Transfer learning is generally exploited to adapt well-established source knowledge for learning tasks in weakly labeled or unlabeled target domain. Nowadays, it is common to see multiple sources available for knowledge transfer, each of which, however, may not include complete classes information of the target domain. Naively merging multiple sources together would lead to inferior results due to the large divergence among multiple sources. In this paper, we attempt to utilize incomplete multiple sources for effective knowledge transfer to facilitate the learning task in target domain. To this end, we propose an incomplete multisource transfer learning through two directional knowledge transfer, i.e., cross-domain transfer from each source to target, and cross-source transfer. In particular, in cross-domain direction, we deploy latent low-rank transfer learning guided by iterative structure learning to transfer knowledge from each single source to target domain. This practice reinforces to compensate for any missing data in each source by the complete target data. While in cross-source direction, unsupervised manifold regularizer and effective multisource alignment are explored to jointly compensate for missing data from one portion of source to another. In this way, both marginal and conditional distribution discrepancy in two directions would be mitigated. Experimental results on standard cross-domain benchmarks and synthetic data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model in knowledge transfer from incomplete multiple sources.

IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT ORD PROJECTS

EPA Science Inventory

ORD project information is maintained in, and retrieved from, multiple systems and home pages. Not all sources of project information are Intranet accessible. Descriptive information may be abbreviated and not useful in conveying a comprehensive understanding of a project. The m...

Freshwater Biological Traits Database (Traits)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The traits database was compiled for a project on climate change effects on river and stream ecosystems. The traits data, gathered from multiple sources, focused on information published or otherwise well-documented by trustworthy sources.

A Tracking Analyst for large 3D spatiotemporal data from multiple sources (case study: Tracking volcanic eruptions in the atmosphere)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gad, Mohamed A.; Elshehaly, Mai H.; Gračanin, Denis; Elmongui, Hicham G.

2018-02-01

This research presents a novel Trajectory-based Tracking Analyst (TTA) that can track and link spatiotemporally variable data from multiple sources. The proposed technique uses trajectory information to determine the positions of time-enabled and spatially variable scatter data at any given time through a combination of along trajectory adjustment and spatial interpolation. The TTA is applied in this research to track large spatiotemporal data of volcanic eruptions (acquired using multi-sensors) in the unsteady flow field of the atmosphere. The TTA enables tracking injections into the atmospheric flow field, the reconstruction of the spatiotemporally variable data at any desired time, and the spatiotemporal join of attribute data from multiple sources. In addition, we were able to create a smooth animation of the volcanic ash plume at interactive rates. The initial results indicate that the TTA can be applied to a wide range of multiple-source data.

Chemical Safety Alert: Use Multiple Data Sources for Safer Emergency Response

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Increases awareness of Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) limitations so that first responders to accidental releases can take proper precautions and identify additional sources of chemical information, such as reactivity and incompatibility.

Bayesian rationality in evaluating multiple testimonies: incorporating the role of coherence.

PubMed

Harris, Adam J L; Hahn, Ulrike

2009-09-01

Routinely in day-to-day life, as well as in formal settings such as the courtroom, people must aggregate information they receive from different sources. One intuitively important but underresearched factor in this context is the degree to which the reports from different sources fit together, that is, their coherence. The authors examine a version of Bayes' theorem that not only includes factors such as prior beliefs and witness reliability, as do other models of information aggregation, but also makes transparent the effect of the coherence of multiple testimonies on the believability of the information. The results suggest that participants are sensitive to all the normatively relevant factors when assessing the believability of a set of witness testimonies. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Trust index based fault tolerant multiple event localization algorithm for WSNs.

PubMed

Xu, Xianghua; Gao, Xueyong; Wan, Jian; Xiong, Naixue

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the use of wireless sensor networks for multiple event source localization using binary information from the sensor nodes. The events could continually emit signals whose strength is attenuated inversely proportional to the distance from the source. In this context, faults occur due to various reasons and are manifested when a node reports a wrong decision. In order to reduce the impact of node faults on the accuracy of multiple event localization, we introduce a trust index model to evaluate the fidelity of information which the nodes report and use in the event detection process, and propose the Trust Index based Subtract on Negative Add on Positive (TISNAP) localization algorithm, which reduces the impact of faulty nodes on the event localization by decreasing their trust index, to improve the accuracy of event localization and performance of fault tolerance for multiple event source localization. The algorithm includes three phases: first, the sink identifies the cluster nodes to determine the number of events occurred in the entire region by analyzing the binary data reported by all nodes; then, it constructs the likelihood matrix related to the cluster nodes and estimates the location of all events according to the alarmed status and trust index of the nodes around the cluster nodes. Finally, the sink updates the trust index of all nodes according to the fidelity of their information in the previous reporting cycle. The algorithm improves the accuracy of localization and performance of fault tolerance in multiple event source localization. The experiment results show that when the probability of node fault is close to 50%, the algorithm can still accurately determine the number of the events and have better accuracy of localization compared with other algorithms.

Trust Index Based Fault Tolerant Multiple Event Localization Algorithm for WSNs

PubMed Central

Xu, Xianghua; Gao, Xueyong; Wan, Jian; Xiong, Naixue

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the use of wireless sensor networks for multiple event source localization using binary information from the sensor nodes. The events could continually emit signals whose strength is attenuated inversely proportional to the distance from the source. In this context, faults occur due to various reasons and are manifested when a node reports a wrong decision. In order to reduce the impact of node faults on the accuracy of multiple event localization, we introduce a trust index model to evaluate the fidelity of information which the nodes report and use in the event detection process, and propose the Trust Index based Subtract on Negative Add on Positive (TISNAP) localization algorithm, which reduces the impact of faulty nodes on the event localization by decreasing their trust index, to improve the accuracy of event localization and performance of fault tolerance for multiple event source localization. The algorithm includes three phases: first, the sink identifies the cluster nodes to determine the number of events occurred in the entire region by analyzing the binary data reported by all nodes; then, it constructs the likelihood matrix related to the cluster nodes and estimates the location of all events according to the alarmed status and trust index of the nodes around the cluster nodes. Finally, the sink updates the trust index of all nodes according to the fidelity of their information in the previous reporting cycle. The algorithm improves the accuracy of localization and performance of fault tolerance in multiple event source localization. The experiment results show that when the probability of node fault is close to 50%, the algorithm can still accurately determine the number of the events and have better accuracy of localization compared with other algorithms. PMID:22163972

Detecting misinformation and knowledge conflicts in relational data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levchuk, Georgiy; Jackobsen, Matthew; Riordan, Brian

2014-06-01

Information fusion is required for many mission-critical intelligence analysis tasks. Using knowledge extracted from various sources, including entities, relations, and events, intelligence analysts respond to commander's information requests, integrate facts into summaries about current situations, augment existing knowledge with inferred information, make predictions about the future, and develop action plans. However, information fusion solutions often fail because of conflicting and redundant knowledge contained in multiple sources. Most knowledge conflicts in the past were due to translation errors and reporter bias, and thus could be managed. Current and future intelligence analysis, especially in denied areas, must deal with open source data processing, where there is much greater presence of intentional misinformation. In this paper, we describe a model for detecting conflicts in multi-source textual knowledge. Our model is based on constructing semantic graphs representing patterns of multi-source knowledge conflicts and anomalies, and detecting these conflicts by matching pattern graphs against the data graph constructed using soft co-reference between entities and events in multiple sources. The conflict detection process maintains the uncertainty throughout all phases, providing full traceability and enabling incremental updates of the detection results as new knowledge or modification to previously analyzed information are obtained. Detected conflicts are presented to analysts for further investigation. In the experimental study with SYNCOIN dataset, our algorithms achieved perfect conflict detection in ideal situation (no missing data) while producing 82% recall and 90% precision in realistic noise situation (15% of missing attributes).

Mass media in health promotion: an analysis using an extended information-processing model.

PubMed

Flay, B R; DiTecco, D; Schlegel, R P

1980-01-01

The information-processing model of the attitude and behavior change process was critically examined and extended from six to 12 levels for a better analysis of change due to mass media campaigns. Findings from social psychology and communications research, and from evaluations of mass media health promotion programs, were reviewed to determine how source, message, channel, receiver, and destination variables affect each of the levels of change of major interest (knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behavior). Factors found to most likely induce permanent attitude and behavior change (most important in health promotion) were: presentation and repetition over long time periods, via multiple sources, at different times (including "prime" or high-exposure times), by multiple sources, in novel and involving ways, with appeals to multiple motives, development of social support, and provisions of appropriate behavioral skills, alternatives, and reinforcement (preferably in ways that get the active participation of the audience). Suggestions for evaluation of mass media programs that take account of this complexity were advanced.

Spontaneous Sourcing among Students Reading Multiple Documents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stromso, Helge I.; Braten, Ivar; Britt, M. Anne; Ferguson, Leila E.

2013-01-01

This study used think-aloud methodology to explore undergraduates' spontaneous attention to and use of source information while reading six documents that presented conflicting views on a controversial social scientific issue in a Google-like environment. Results showed that students explicitly and implicitly paid attention to sources of documents…

Bayesian source tracking via focalization and marginalization in an uncertain Mediterranean Sea environment.

PubMed

Dosso, Stan E; Wilmut, Michael J; Nielsen, Peter L

2010-07-01

This paper applies Bayesian source tracking in an uncertain environment to Mediterranean Sea data, and investigates the resulting tracks and track uncertainties as a function of data information content (number of data time-segments, number of frequencies, and signal-to-noise ratio) and of prior information (environmental uncertainties and source-velocity constraints). To track low-level sources, acoustic data recorded for multiple time segments (corresponding to multiple source positions along the track) are inverted simultaneously. Environmental uncertainty is addressed by including unknown water-column and seabed properties as nuisance parameters in an augmented inversion. Two approaches are considered: Focalization-tracking maximizes the posterior probability density (PPD) over the unknown source and environmental parameters. Marginalization-tracking integrates the PPD over environmental parameters to obtain a sequence of joint marginal probability distributions over source coordinates, from which the most-probable track and track uncertainties can be extracted. Both approaches apply track constraints on the maximum allowable vertical and radial source velocity. The two approaches are applied for towed-source acoustic data recorded at a vertical line array at a shallow-water test site in the Mediterranean Sea where previous geoacoustic studies have been carried out.

Transfer in Artificial Grammar Learning: The Role of Repetition Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lotz, Anja; Kinder, Annette

2006-01-01

In this article, the authors report 2 experiments that investigated the sources of information used in transfer and nontransfer tasks in artificial grammar learning. Multiple regression analyses indicated that 2 types of information about repeating elements were crucial for performance in both tasks: information about the repetition of adjacent…

The role of health information sources in decision-making among Hispanic mothers during their children’s first 1000 days of life

PubMed Central

Criss, Shaniece; Woo Baidal, Jennifer A.; Goldman, Roberta E.; Perkins, Meghan; Cunningham, Courtney; Taveras, Elsie M.

2015-01-01

Objective This qualitative research aimed to explore how health information sources inform decision-making among Hispanic mothers during their children’s first 1000 days of life (conception-age 24 months), and to generate appropriate health information sources and communication strategies for future interventions. Methods We conducted 7 focus groups with 49 Hispanic women who were pregnant or had children < 2 years old. Domains included interpersonal and media sources, source trustworthiness, dealing with contradictory information, and how information affects decision-making. We used immersion/crystallization process for analysis. Results Trusted health information sources included health care providers, female and male family members, BabyCenter.com and other Internet sources, selected social media, and television. Some immigrant women reported preferring the Internet citing less established local support networks. Women highlighted the importance of validating health information through checking multiple sources for consistency and resolving contradictory information. Mothers expressed interest in receiving reliable website links from healthcare professionals and outreach to extended family. Conclusion Cultural factors, including immigration status, are important in understanding the use of health information sources and their role in decision-making about pregnancy and child health among Hispanic mothers. Healthcare providers and public health professionals should consider Hispanic mothers health information environment and provide culturally-relevant communication strategies and interventions during this high information-seeking time period. PMID:26122256

Bi-level Multi-Source Learning for Heterogeneous Block-wise Missing Data

PubMed Central

Xiang, Shuo; Yuan, Lei; Fan, Wei; Wang, Yalin; Thompson, Paul M.; Ye, Jieping

2013-01-01

Bio-imaging technologies allow scientists to collect large amounts of high-dimensional data from multiple heterogeneous sources for many biomedical applications. In the study of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), neuroimaging data, gene/protein expression data, etc., are often analyzed together to improve predictive power. Joint learning from multiple complementary data sources is advantageous, but feature-pruning and data source selection are critical to learn interpretable models from high-dimensional data. Often, the data collected has block-wise missing entries. In the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), most subjects have MRI and genetic information, but only half have cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures, a different half has FDG-PET; only some have proteomic data. Here we propose how to effectively integrate information from multiple heterogeneous data sources when data is block-wise missing. We present a unified “bi-level” learning model for complete multi-source data, and extend it to incomplete data. Our major contributions are: (1) our proposed models unify feature-level and source-level analysis, including several existing feature learning approaches as special cases; (2) the model for incomplete data avoids imputing missing data and offers superior performance; it generalizes to other applications with block-wise missing data sources; (3) we present efficient optimization algorithms for modeling complete and incomplete data. We comprehensively evaluate the proposed models including all ADNI subjects with at least one of four data types at baseline: MRI, FDG-PET, CSF and proteomics. Our proposed models compare favorably with existing approaches. PMID:23988272

Bi-level multi-source learning for heterogeneous block-wise missing data.

PubMed

Xiang, Shuo; Yuan, Lei; Fan, Wei; Wang, Yalin; Thompson, Paul M; Ye, Jieping

2014-11-15

Bio-imaging technologies allow scientists to collect large amounts of high-dimensional data from multiple heterogeneous sources for many biomedical applications. In the study of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), neuroimaging data, gene/protein expression data, etc., are often analyzed together to improve predictive power. Joint learning from multiple complementary data sources is advantageous, but feature-pruning and data source selection are critical to learn interpretable models from high-dimensional data. Often, the data collected has block-wise missing entries. In the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), most subjects have MRI and genetic information, but only half have cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures, a different half has FDG-PET; only some have proteomic data. Here we propose how to effectively integrate information from multiple heterogeneous data sources when data is block-wise missing. We present a unified "bi-level" learning model for complete multi-source data, and extend it to incomplete data. Our major contributions are: (1) our proposed models unify feature-level and source-level analysis, including several existing feature learning approaches as special cases; (2) the model for incomplete data avoids imputing missing data and offers superior performance; it generalizes to other applications with block-wise missing data sources; (3) we present efficient optimization algorithms for modeling complete and incomplete data. We comprehensively evaluate the proposed models including all ADNI subjects with at least one of four data types at baseline: MRI, FDG-PET, CSF and proteomics. Our proposed models compare favorably with existing approaches. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bayesian multiple-source localization in an uncertain ocean environment.

PubMed

Dosso, Stan E; Wilmut, Michael J

2011-06-01

This paper considers simultaneous localization of multiple acoustic sources when properties of the ocean environment (water column and seabed) are poorly known. A Bayesian formulation is developed in which the environmental parameters, noise statistics, and locations and complex strengths (amplitudes and phases) of multiple sources are considered to be unknown random variables constrained by acoustic data and prior information. Two approaches are considered for estimating source parameters. Focalization maximizes the posterior probability density (PPD) over all parameters using adaptive hybrid optimization. Marginalization integrates the PPD using efficient Markov-chain Monte Carlo methods to produce joint marginal probability distributions for source ranges and depths, from which source locations are obtained. This approach also provides quantitative uncertainty analysis for all parameters, which can aid in understanding of the inverse problem and may be of practical interest (e.g., source-strength probability distributions). In both approaches, closed-form maximum-likelihood expressions for source strengths and noise variance at each frequency allow these parameters to be sampled implicitly, substantially reducing the dimensionality and difficulty of the inversion. Examples are presented of both approaches applied to single- and multi-frequency localization of multiple sources in an uncertain shallow-water environment, and a Monte Carlo performance evaluation study is carried out. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

Health Literacy and Sources of Health Information for Caregivers of Urban Children with Asthma

PubMed Central

Fagnano, Maria; Halterman, Jill S.; Conn, Kelly M.; Shone, Laura P.

2012-01-01

Little is known about the resources urban caregivers of children with asthma use to obtain health information. We analyzed data for 304 families of children with persistent asthma to describe: 1) sources of health information, 2) access and use of Internet resources, and 3) the association between caregiver’s health literacy (HL) and use of health information sources. Overall, 37% of caregivers had Limited HL. Most families received health information from: a health care professional (94%); written sources (51%); family/friends (42%); non-print media (34%); and Internet (30%). Less than ½ of caregivers had access to Internet at home, but 73% reported Internet use in the past year. Caregivers with Adequate HL were more likely to obtain information from multiple sources, and to use and have access to the Internet. Our results suggest that HL is associated with where caregivers obtain health information for their children and their use of the Internet. PMID:21911409

Multiple Sclerosis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plummer, Nancy; Michael, Nancy, Ed.

This module on multiple sclerosis is intended for use in inservice or continuing education programs for persons who administer medications in long-term care facilities. Instructor information, including teaching suggestions, and a listing of recommended audiovisual materials and their sources appear first. The module goal and objectives are then…

Frequency Interference in Children' Recognition of Sentence Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Joel R.; And Others

1978-01-01

Children listened to sentences under two instructional sets (imagery or repetition) and answered multiple choice alternatives--either identical or similar in meaning to correct information in the sentences; and including or not including previously presented irrelevant information. The sources of interference predicted from recognition memory…

Development and Validation of a Standardized Tool for Prioritization of Information Sources.

PubMed

Akwar, Holy; Kloeze, Harold; Mukhi, Shamir

2016-01-01

To validate the utility and effectiveness of a standardized tool for prioritization of information sources for early detection of diseases. The tool was developed with input from diverse public health experts garnered through survey. Ten raters used the tool to evaluate ten information sources and reliability among raters was computed. The Proc mixed procedure with random effect statement and SAS Macros were used to compute multiple raters' Fleiss Kappa agreement and Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance. Ten disparate information sources evaluated obtained the following composite scores: ProMed 91%; WAHID 90%; Eurosurv 87%; MediSys 85%; SciDaily 84%; EurekAl 83%; CSHB 78%; GermTrax 75%; Google 74%; and CBC 70%. A Fleiss Kappa agreement of 50.7% was obtained for ten information sources and 72.5% for a sub-set of five sources rated, which is substantial agreement validating the utility and effectiveness of the tool. This study validated the utility and effectiveness of a standardized criteria tool developed to prioritize information sources. The new tool was used to identify five information sources suited for use by the KIWI system in the CEZD-IIR project to improve surveillance of infectious diseases. The tool can be generalized to situations when prioritization of numerous information sources is necessary.

Visualizing Host-Nation Sentiment at the Tactical Edge

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

HUMINT) and open source intelligence ( OSINT ) become prioritized above more traditional intelligence based on signals (SIGINT) and electronic sources...reliance on HUMINT and OSINT . Soldiers as peacekeepers must manage multiple information assets and resources, often relying on local and international

VizieR Online Data Catalog: GUViCS. Ultraviolet Source Catalogs (Voyer+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voyer, E. N.; Boselli, A.; Boissier, S.; Heinis, S.; Cortese, L.; Ferrarese, L.; Cote, P.; Cuillandre, J.-C.; Gwyn, S. D. J.; Peng, E. W.; Zhang, H.; Liu, C.

2014-07-01

These catalogs are based on GALEX NUV and FUV source detections in and behind the Virgo Cluster. The detections are split into catalogs of extended sources and point-like sources. The UV Virgo Cluster Extended Source catalog (UV_VES.fit) provides the deepest and most extensive UV photometric data of extended galaxies in Virgo to date. If certain data is not available for a given source then a null value is entered (e.g. -999, -99). UV point-like sources are matched with SDSS, NGVS, and NED and the relevant photometry and further data from these databases/catalogs are provided in this compilation of catalogs. The primary GUViCS UV Virgo Cluster Point-Like Source catalog is UV_VPS.fit. This catalog provides the most useful GALEX pipeline NUV and FUV photometric parameters, and categorizes sources as stars, Virgo members, and background sources, when possible. It also provides identifiers for optical matches in the SDSS and NED, and indicates if a match exists in the NGVS, only if GUViCS-optical matches are one-to-one. NED spectroscopic redshifts are also listed for GUViCS-NED one-to-one matches. If certain data is not available for a given source a null value is entered. Additionally, the catalog is useful for quick access to optical data on one-to-one GUViCS-SDSS matches.The only parameter available in the catalog for UV sources that have multiple SDSS matches is the total number of multiple matches, i.e. SDSSNUMMTCHS. Multiple GUViCS sources matched to the same SDSS source are also flagged given a total number of matches, SDSSNUMMTCHS, of one. All other fields for multiple matches are set to a null value of -99. In order to obtain full optical SDSS data for multiply matched UV sources in both scenarios, the user can cross-correlate the GUViCS ID of the sources of interest with the full GUViCS-SDSS matched catalog in GUV_SDSS.fit. The GUViCS-SDSS matched catalog, GUV_SDSS.fit, provides the most relevant SDSS data on all GUViCS-SDSS matches, including one-to-one matches and multiply matched sources. The catalog gives full SDSS identification information, complete SDSS photometric measurements in multiple aperture types, and complete redshift information (photometric and spectroscopic). It is ideal for large statistical studies of galaxy populations at multiple wavelengths in the background of the Virgo Cluster. The catalog can also be used as a starting point to study and search for previously unknown UV-bright point-like objects within the Virgo Cluster. If certain data is not available for a given source that field is given a null value. (6 data files).

Volcano warning systems: Chapter 67

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gregg, Chris E.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Ewert, John W.

2015-01-01

Messages conveying volcano alert level such as Watches and Warnings are designed to provide people with risk information before, during, and after eruptions. Information is communicated to people from volcano observatories and emergency management agencies and from informal sources and social and environmental cues. Any individual or agency can be both a message sender and a recipient and multiple messages received from multiple sources is the norm in a volcanic crisis. Significant challenges to developing effective warning systems for volcanic hazards stem from the great diversity in unrest, eruption, and post-eruption processes and the rapidly advancing digital technologies that people use to seek real-time risk information. Challenges also involve the need to invest resources before unrest to help people develop shared mental models of important risk factors. Two populations of people are the target of volcano notifications–ground- and aviation-based populations, and volcano warning systems must address both distinctly different populations.

Evaluating IAIMS at Yale: information access.

PubMed

Grajek, S E; Calarco, P; Frawley, S J; McKay, J; Miller, P L; Paton, J A; Roderer, N K; Sullivan, J E

1997-01-01

To evaluate use of information resources during the first year of IAIMS implementation at the Yale-New Haven Medical Center. The evaluation asked: (1) Which information resources are being used? (2) Who uses information resources? (3) Where are information resources used? (4) Are multiple sources of information being integrated? Measures included monthly usage data for resources delivered network-wide, in the Medical Library, and in the Hospital; online surveys of library workstation users; an annual survey of a random, stratified sample of Medical Center faculty, postdoctoral trainees, students, nurses, residents, and managerial and professional staff; and user comments. Eighty-three percent of the Medical Center community use networked information resources, and use of resources is increasing. Both status (faculty, student, nurse, etc.) and mission (teaching, research, patient care) affect use of individual resources. Eighty-eight percent of people use computers in more than one location, and increases in usage of traditional library resources such as MEDLINE are due to increased access from outside the Library. Both survey and usage data suggest that people are using multiple resources during the same information seeking session. Almost all of the Medical Center community is using networked information resources in more settings. It is necessary to support increased demand for information access from remote locations and to specific populations, such as nurses. People are integrating information from multiple sources, but true integration within information systems is just beginning. Other institutions are advised to incorporate pragmatic evaluation into their IAIMS activities and to share evaluation results with decision-makers.

Perfect quantum multiple-unicast network coding protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dan-Dan; Gao, Fei; Qin, Su-Juan; Wen, Qiao-Yan

2018-01-01

In order to realize long-distance and large-scale quantum communication, it is natural to utilize quantum repeater. For a general quantum multiple-unicast network, it is still puzzling how to complete communication tasks perfectly with less resources such as registers. In this paper, we solve this problem. By applying quantum repeaters to multiple-unicast communication problem, we give encoding-decoding schemes for source nodes, internal ones and target ones, respectively. Source-target nodes share EPR pairs by using our encoding-decoding schemes over quantum multiple-unicast network. Furthermore, quantum communication can be accomplished perfectly via teleportation. Compared with existed schemes, our schemes can reduce resource consumption and realize long-distance transmission of quantum information.

Multiple Intelligences and Business Diversity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Joyce

2003-01-01

Results from 97 business students with substantial work histories indicate that the Multiple Intelligence Preference Inventory gives a valid and reliable indication of their preferred intelligences. Awareness of these results is associated with assessments of self and others as knowledge sources. This information can help in recognizing,…

Sound source tracking device for telematic spatial sound field reproduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardenas, Bruno

This research describes an algorithm that localizes sound sources for use in telematic applications. The localization algorithm is based on amplitude differences between various channels of a microphone array of directional shotgun microphones. The amplitude differences will be used to locate multiple performers and reproduce their voices, which were recorded at close distance with lavalier microphones, spatially corrected using a loudspeaker rendering system. In order to track multiple sound sources in parallel the information gained from the lavalier microphones will be utilized to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio between each performer and the concurrent performers.

The association between multiple sources of information and risk perceptions of tuberculosis, Ntcheu district, Malawi.

PubMed

Chizimba, Robert; Christofides, Nicola; Chirwa, Tobias; Singini, Isaac; Ozumba, Chineme; Sikwese, Simon; Banda, Hastings T; Banda, Rhoda; Chimbali, Henry; Ngwira, Bagrey; Munthali, Alister; Nyasulu, Peter

2015-01-01

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the main causes of death in developing countries. Awareness and perception of risk of TB could influence early detection, diagnosis and care seeking at treatment centers. However, perceptions about TB are influenced by sources of information. This study aimed to determine the association between multiple sources of information, and perceptions of risk of TB among adults aged 18-49 years. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Ntcheu district in Malawi. A total of 121 adults were sampled in a three-stage simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Perceptions of risk were measured using specific statements that reflected common myths and misconceptions. Low risk perception implied a person having strong belief in myths and misconceptions about TB and high risk perception meant a person having no belief in myths or misconceptions and demonstrated understanding of the disease. Females were more likely to have low risk perceptions about TB compared to males (67.7% vs. 32.5%, p = 0.01). The higher the household asset index the more likely an individual had higher risk perceptions about TB (p = 0.006). The perception of risk of TB was associated with sources of information (p = 0.03). Use of both interpersonal communication and mass media was 2.8 times more likely to be associated with increased perception of risk of TB (Odds Ratio [OR] = 2.8; 95% Confidence interva1[CI]: 3.1-15. 6; p = 0.01). After adjusting for sex and asset ownership, use of interpersonal communication and mass media were more likely to be associated with higher perception of risk of TB (OR, 2.0; 95% CI: 1.65-10.72; p = 0.003) compared with interpersonal communication only (OR 1.6, 95%; CI: 1.13-8.98, p = 0.027). The study found that there was association between multiple sources of information, and higher perceptions of risk of TB among adults aged 18-49 years.

Hypermedia (Multimedia).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrom, Elizabeth

1990-01-01

Hypermedia allows students to follow associative links among elements of nonsequential information, by combining information from multiple sources into one microcomputer-controlled system. Hypermedia products help teachers create lessons integrating text, motion film, color graphics, speech, and music, by linking such electronic devices as…

Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) weather responsive traveler information (Wx-TINFO) system.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-01-01

FHWAs Road Weather Management Program partnered with MDOT to develop a weather responsive traveler information system called Wx-TINFO. The system, shown below, integrates multiple weather data sources into one program, enabling Transportation Oper...

Trust but Verify: Examining the Association between Students' Sourcing Behaviors and Ratings of Text Trustworthiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

List, Alexandra; Alexander, Patricia A.; Stephens, Lori A.

2017-01-01

Three indicators of undergraduate students' (n = 197) source evaluation were investigated as students completed an academic task requiring the use of multiple texts. The source evaluation metrics examined were students' (1) accessing of document information, (2) trustworthiness ratings, and (3) citation in written responses. All three indicators…

Private E-Mail Requests and the Diffusion of Responsibility.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barron, Greg; Yechiam, Eldad

2002-01-01

Discussion of e-mail technology and requesting information from multiple sources simultaneously focuses on an experiment demonstrating that addressing e-mails simultaneously to multiple recipients may actually reduce the number of helpful responses. Discusses diffusion of responsibility and implications for the application of social cueing theory…

Distributed Coding of Compressively Sensed Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goukhshtein, Maxim

In this work we propose a new method for compressing multiple correlated sources with a very low-complexity encoder in the presence of side information. Our approach uses ideas from compressed sensing and distributed source coding. At the encoder, syndromes of the quantized compressively sensed sources are generated and transmitted. The decoder uses side information to predict the compressed sources. The predictions are then used to recover the quantized measurements via a two-stage decoding process consisting of bitplane prediction and syndrome decoding. Finally, guided by the structure of the sources and the side information, the sources are reconstructed from the recovered measurements. As a motivating example, we consider the compression of multispectral images acquired on board satellites, where resources, such as computational power and memory, are scarce. Our experimental results exhibit a significant improvement in the rate-distortion trade-off when compared against approaches with similar encoder complexity.

Privacy preserving integration of health care data.

PubMed

Adam, Nabil; White, Tom; Shafiq, Basit; Vaidya, Jaideep; He, Xiaoyun

2007-10-11

For health care related research studies the medical records of patients may need to be retrieved from multiple sites with different regulations on the disclosure of health information. Given the sensitive nature of health care information, privacy is a major concern when patients' health care data is used for research purposes. In this paper, we propose an approach for integration and querying of health care data from multiple sources in a secure and privacy preserving manner.

Combining data from multiple sources using the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarboton, D. G.; Ames, D. P.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Goodall, J. L.

2012-12-01

The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) has developed a Hydrologic Information System (HIS) to provide better access to data by enabling the publication, cataloging, discovery, retrieval, and analysis of hydrologic data using web services. The CUAHSI HIS is an Internet based system comprised of hydrologic databases and servers connected through web services as well as software for data publication, discovery and access. The HIS metadata catalog lists close to 100 web services registered to provide data through this system, ranging from large federal agency data sets to experimental watersheds managed by University investigators. The system's flexibility in storing and enabling public access to similarly formatted data and metadata has created a community data resource from governmental and academic data that might otherwise remain private or analyzed only in isolation. Comprehensive understanding of hydrology requires integration of this information from multiple sources. HydroDesktop is the client application developed as part of HIS to support data discovery and access through this system. HydroDesktop is founded on an open source GIS client and has a plug-in architecture that has enabled the integration of modeling and analysis capability with the functionality for data discovery and access. Model integration is possible through a plug-in built on the OpenMI standard and data visualization and analysis is supported by an R plug-in. This presentation will demonstrate HydroDesktop, showing how it provides an analysis environment within which data from multiple sources can be discovered, accessed and integrated.

System and method for integrating and accessing multiple data sources within a data warehouse architecture

DOEpatents

Musick, Charles R [Castro Valley, CA; Critchlow, Terence [Livermore, CA; Ganesh, Madhaven [San Jose, CA; Slezak, Tom [Livermore, CA; Fidelis, Krzysztof [Brentwood, CA

2006-12-19

A system and method is disclosed for integrating and accessing multiple data sources within a data warehouse architecture. The metadata formed by the present method provide a way to declaratively present domain specific knowledge, obtained by analyzing data sources, in a consistent and useable way. Four types of information are represented by the metadata: abstract concepts, databases, transformations and mappings. A mediator generator automatically generates data management computer code based on the metadata. The resulting code defines a translation library and a mediator class. The translation library provides a data representation for domain specific knowledge represented in a data warehouse, including "get" and "set" methods for attributes that call transformation methods and derive a value of an attribute if it is missing. The mediator class defines methods that take "distinguished" high-level objects as input and traverse their data structures and enter information into the data warehouse.

Managing Multiple Sources of Information in an Independent K-12 Private School: A Case Study in a Student Information Systems Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yares, Ali Chava Kaufman

2010-01-01

Information is everywhere and finding the best method to manage it is a problem that all types of organizations have to deal with. Schools use Student Information Systems (SIS) to manage Student Data, Financial Information, Development, Human Resources, Admission, Financial Aid, Enrollment, Scheduling, and Health Information. A survey of 107…

The Chandra Source Catalog : Automated Source Correlation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hain, Roger; Evans, I. N.; Evans, J. D.; Glotfelty, K. J.; Anderson, C. S.; Bonaventura, N. R.; Chen, J. C.; Davis, J. E.; Doe, S. M.; Fabbiano, G.; Galle, E.; Gibbs, D. G.; Grier, J. D.; Hall, D. M.; Harbo, P. N.; He, X.; Houck, J. C.; Karovska, M.; Lauer, J.; McCollough, M. L.; McDowell, J. C.; Miller, J. B.; Mitschang, A. W.; Morgan, D. L.; Nichols, J. S.; Nowak, M. A.; Plummer, D. A.; Primini, F. A.; Refsdal, B. L.; Rots, A. H.; Siemiginowska, A. L.; Sundheim, B. A.; Tibbetts, M. S.; Van Stone, D. W.; Winkelman, S. L.; Zografou, P.

2009-01-01

Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) master source pipeline processing seeks to automatically detect sources and compute their properties. Since Chandra is a pointed mission and not a sky survey, different sky regions are observed for a different number of times at varying orientations, resolutions, and other heterogeneous conditions. While this provides an opportunity to collect data from a potentially large number of observing passes, it also creates challenges in determining the best way to combine different detection results for the most accurate characterization of the detected sources. The CSC master source pipeline correlates data from multiple observations by updating existing cataloged source information with new data from the same sky region as they become available. This process sometimes leads to relatively straightforward conclusions, such as when single sources from two observations are similar in size and position. Other observation results require more logic to combine, such as one observation finding a single, large source and another identifying multiple, smaller sources at the same position. We present examples of different overlapping source detections processed in the current version of the CSC master source pipeline. We explain how they are resolved into entries in the master source database, and examine the challenges of computing source properties for the same source detected multiple times. Future enhancements are also discussed. This work is supported by NASA contract NAS8-03060 (CXC).

Temporal information partitioning: Characterizing synergy, uniqueness, and redundancy in interacting environmental variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodwell, Allison E.; Kumar, Praveen

2017-07-01

Information theoretic measures can be used to identify nonlinear interactions between source and target variables through reductions in uncertainty. In information partitioning, multivariate mutual information is decomposed into synergistic, unique, and redundant components. Synergy is information shared only when sources influence a target together, uniqueness is information only provided by one source, and redundancy is overlapping shared information from multiple sources. While this partitioning has been applied to provide insights into complex dependencies, several proposed partitioning methods overestimate redundant information and omit a component of unique information because they do not account for source dependencies. Additionally, information partitioning has only been applied to time-series data in a limited context, using basic pdf estimation techniques or a Gaussian assumption. We develop a Rescaled Redundancy measure (Rs) to solve the source dependency issue, and present Gaussian, autoregressive, and chaotic test cases to demonstrate its advantages over existing techniques in the presence of noise, various source correlations, and different types of interactions. This study constitutes the first rigorous application of information partitioning to environmental time-series data, and addresses how noise, pdf estimation technique, or source dependencies can influence detected measures. We illustrate how our techniques can unravel the complex nature of forcing and feedback within an ecohydrologic system with an application to 1 min environmental signals of air temperature, relative humidity, and windspeed. The methods presented here are applicable to the study of a broad range of complex systems composed of interacting variables.

Assessment and recommendations for using high-resolution weather information to improve winter maintenance operations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-11-01

A variety of methods for obtaining detailed analyses regarding the timing and duration of winter weather across the state of Indiana for : multiple seasons were compared and evaluated during this project. Meteorological information from sources such ...

Investigation of automated feature extraction using multiple data sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harvey, Neal R.; Perkins, Simon J.; Pope, Paul A.; Theiler, James P.; David, Nancy A.; Porter, Reid B.

2003-04-01

An increasing number and variety of platforms are now capable of collecting remote sensing data over a particular scene. For many applications, the information available from any individual sensor may be incomplete, inconsistent or imprecise. However, other sources may provide complementary and/or additional data. Thus, for an application such as image feature extraction or classification, it may be that fusing the mulitple data sources can lead to more consistent and reliable results. Unfortunately, with the increased complexity of the fused data, the search space of feature-extraction or classification algorithms also greatly increases. With a single data source, the determination of a suitable algorithm may be a significant challenge for an image analyst. With the fused data, the search for suitable algorithms can go far beyond the capabilities of a human in a realistic time frame, and becomes the realm of machine learning, where the computational power of modern computers can be harnessed to the task at hand. We describe experiments in which we investigate the ability of a suite of automated feature extraction tools developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory to make use of multiple data sources for various feature extraction tasks. We compare and contrast this software's capabilities on 1) individual data sets from different data sources 2) fused data sets from multiple data sources and 3) fusion of results from multiple individual data sources.

Information Foraging for Perceptual Decisions

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

We tested an information foraging framework to characterize the mechanisms that drive active (visual) sampling behavior in decision problems that involve multiple sources of information. Experiments 1 through 3 involved participants making an absolute judgment about the direction of motion of a single random dot motion pattern. In Experiment 4, participants made a relative comparison between 2 motion patterns that could only be sampled sequentially. Our results show that: (a) Information (about noisy motion information) grows to an asymptotic level that depends on the quality of the information source; (b) The limited growth is attributable to unequal weighting of the incoming sensory evidence, with early samples being weighted more heavily; (c) Little information is lost once a new source of information is being sampled; and (d) The point at which the observer switches from 1 source to another is governed by online monitoring of his or her degree of (un)certainty about the sampled source. These findings demonstrate that the sampling strategy in perceptual decision-making is under some direct control by ongoing cognitive processing. More specifically, participants are able to track a measure of (un)certainty and use this information to guide their sampling behavior. PMID:27819455

Making sense of information in noisy networks: human communication, gossip, and distortion.

PubMed

Laidre, Mark E; Lamb, Alex; Shultz, Susanne; Olsen, Megan

2013-01-21

Information from others can be unreliable. Humans nevertheless act on such information, including gossip, to make various social calculations, thus raising the question of whether individuals can sort through social information to identify what is, in fact, true. Inspired by empirical literature on people's decision-making when considering gossip, we built an agent-based simulation model to examine how well simple decision rules could make sense of information as it propagated through a network. Our simulations revealed that a minimalistic decision-rule 'Bit-wise mode' - which compared information from multiple sources and then sought a consensus majority for each component bit within the message - was consistently the most successful at converging upon the truth. This decision rule attained high relative fitness even in maximally noisy networks, composed entirely of nodes that distorted the message. The rule was also superior to other decision rules regardless of its frequency in the population. Simulations carried out with variable agent memory constraints, different numbers of observers who initiated information propagation, and a variety of network types suggested that the single most important factor in making sense of information was the number of independent sources that agents could consult. Broadly, our model suggests that despite the distortion information is subject to in the real world, it is nevertheless possible to make sense of it based on simple Darwinian computations that integrate multiple sources. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Flow Analysis Tool White Paper

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boscia, Nichole K.

2012-01-01

Faster networks are continually being built to accommodate larger data transfers. While it is intuitive to think that implementing faster networks will result in higher throughput rates, this is often not the case. There are many elements involved in data transfer, many of which are beyond the scope of the network itself. Although networks may get bigger and support faster technologies, the presence of other legacy components, such as older application software or kernel parameters, can often cause bottlenecks. Engineers must be able to identify when data flows are reaching a bottleneck that is not imposed by the network and then troubleshoot it using the tools available to them. The current best practice is to collect as much information as possible on the network traffic flows so that analysis is quick and easy. Unfortunately, no single method of collecting this information can sufficiently capture the whole endto- end picture. This becomes even more of a hurdle when large, multi-user systems are involved. In order to capture all the necessary information, multiple data sources are required. This paper presents a method for developing a flow analysis tool to effectively collect network flow data from multiple sources and provide that information to engineers in a clear, concise way for analysis. The purpose of this method is to collect enough information to quickly (and automatically) identify poorly performing flows along with the cause of the problem. The method involves the development of a set of database tables that can be populated with flow data from multiple sources, along with an easyto- use, web-based front-end interface to help network engineers access, organize, analyze, and manage all the information.

ToxPi GUI: An interactive visualization tool for transparent integration of data from diverse sources of evidence

EPA Science Inventory

Motivation: Scientists and regulators are often faced with complex decisions, where use of scarce resources must be prioritized using collections of diverse information. The Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi™) was developed to enable integration of multiple sources of evi...

Quantifying sediment provenance using multiple composite fingerprints in a small watershed in Oklahoma

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Quantitative information on sediment provenance is badly needed for calibration and validation of process-based soil erosion models. However, sediment source data are rather limited due to difficulties in direct measurement of various source contributions at a watershed scale. The objectives are t...

Open source tools for the information theoretic analysis of neural data.

PubMed

Ince, Robin A A; Mazzoni, Alberto; Petersen, Rasmus S; Panzeri, Stefano

2010-01-01

The recent and rapid development of open source software tools for the analysis of neurophysiological datasets consisting of simultaneous multiple recordings of spikes, field potentials and other neural signals holds the promise for a significant advance in the standardization, transparency, quality, reproducibility and variety of techniques used to analyze neurophysiological data and for the integration of information obtained at different spatial and temporal scales. In this review we focus on recent advances in open source toolboxes for the information theoretic analysis of neural responses. We also present examples of their use to investigate the role of spike timing precision, correlations across neurons, and field potential fluctuations in the encoding of sensory information. These information toolboxes, available both in MATLAB and Python programming environments, hold the potential to enlarge the domain of application of information theory to neuroscience and to lead to new discoveries about how neurons encode and transmit information.

Tracing catchment fine sediment sources using the new SIFT (SedIment Fingerprinting Tool) open source software.

PubMed

Pulley, S; Collins, A L

2018-09-01

The mitigation of diffuse sediment pollution requires reliable provenance information so that measures can be targeted. Sediment source fingerprinting represents one approach for supporting these needs, but recent methodological developments have resulted in an increasing complexity of data processing methods rendering the approach less accessible to non-specialists. A comprehensive new software programme (SIFT; SedIment Fingerprinting Tool) has therefore been developed which guides the user through critical data analysis decisions and automates all calculations. Multiple source group configurations and composite fingerprints are identified and tested using multiple methods of uncertainty analysis. This aims to explore the sediment provenance information provided by the tracers more comprehensively than a single model, and allows for model configurations with high uncertainties to be rejected. This paper provides an overview of its application to an agricultural catchment in the UK to determine if the approach used can provide a reduction in uncertainty and increase in precision. Five source group classifications were used; three formed using a k-means cluster analysis containing 2, 3 and 4 clusters, and two a-priori groups based upon catchment geology. Three different composite fingerprints were used for each classification and bi-plots, range tests, tracer variability ratios and virtual mixtures tested the reliability of each model configuration. Some model configurations performed poorly when apportioning the composition of virtual mixtures, and different model configurations could produce different sediment provenance results despite using composite fingerprints able to discriminate robustly between the source groups. Despite this uncertainty, dominant sediment sources were identified, and those in close proximity to each sediment sampling location were found to be of greatest importance. This new software, by integrating recent methodological developments in tracer data processing, guides users through key steps. Critically, by applying multiple model configurations and uncertainty assessment, it delivers more robust solutions for informing catchment management of the sediment problem than many previously used approaches. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adaptive sampling of information in perceptual decision-making.

PubMed

Cassey, Thomas C; Evens, David R; Bogacz, Rafal; Marshall, James A R; Ludwig, Casimir J H

2013-01-01

In many perceptual and cognitive decision-making problems, humans sample multiple noisy information sources serially, and integrate the sampled information to make an overall decision. We derive the optimal decision procedure for two-alternative choice tasks in which the different options are sampled one at a time, sources vary in the quality of the information they provide, and the available time is fixed. To maximize accuracy, the optimal observer allocates time to sampling different information sources in proportion to their noise levels. We tested human observers in a corresponding perceptual decision-making task. Observers compared the direction of two random dot motion patterns that were triggered only when fixated. Observers allocated more time to the noisier pattern, in a manner that correlated with their sensory uncertainty about the direction of the patterns. There were several differences between the optimal observer predictions and human behaviour. These differences point to a number of other factors, beyond the quality of the currently available sources of information, that influences the sampling strategy.

ImTK: an open source multi-center information management toolkit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaoui, Adil; Ingeholm, Mary Lou; Padh, Shilpa; Dorobantu, Mihai; Desai, Mihir; Cleary, Kevin; Mun, Seong K.

2008-03-01

The Information Management Toolkit (ImTK) Consortium is an open source initiative to develop robust, freely available tools related to the information management needs of basic, clinical, and translational research. An open source framework and agile programming methodology can enable distributed software development while an open architecture will encourage interoperability across different environments. The ISIS Center has conceptualized a prototype data sharing network that simulates a multi-center environment based on a federated data access model. This model includes the development of software tools to enable efficient exchange, sharing, management, and analysis of multimedia medical information such as clinical information, images, and bioinformatics data from multiple data sources. The envisioned ImTK data environment will include an open architecture and data model implementation that complies with existing standards such as Digital Imaging and Communications (DICOM), Health Level 7 (HL7), and the technical framework and workflow defined by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Information Technology Infrastructure initiative, mainly the Cross Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) specifications.

Level of concern and sources of information of a group of Brisbane hostelers for personal safety and terrorism when traveling abroad.

PubMed

Leggat, Peter A; Mills, Deborah; Speare, Richard

2007-01-01

Little is known about the level of concern and sources of information of hostelers concerning personal safety and terrorism. This study was designed to investigate these in the Australian context. In 2006, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to hostelers attending a travelers' information evening in Brisbane. Forty questionnaires (60.8%) were returned. Over two thirds of attendees were women (71.4%). About two thirds of the hostelers attending the travelers' information evening reported being aged 29 years or younger (64.2%). Anticipated main destinations were Europe (68.3%), Asia (14.3%), and North America (11.9%). Nearly two thirds (63.4%) intended to travel in more than 8 weeks time or were not sure. Of those departing within 8 weeks, only 40% had sought travel health advice from their general practitioner and/or travel clinic. Nonmedical sources of information on travel health included travel books and guides (40.5%), Internet (35.7%), and travel agents (19.0%). On a five-point rating scale (1 being not concerned to 5 being extremely concerned), median ratings of hostelers' concern for personal safety (4.0) was significantly higher than for terrorism (2.5), with the range being 1 to 5 in each case (p < 0.001). Nearly three quarters (73.8%) of hostelers would seek personal safety advice from multiple sources, and sources of information included the Internet (69.0%, 29), travel books and guides (59.5%), physicians (57.1%), and travel agents (45.2%). Only three (7.1%) nominated the physician as their only source of personal safety advice. Hostelers attending a travelers' information night in Australia expressed more concern for their personal safety when traveling than for terrorism. Since this group of travelers uses multiple sources of information with the Internet most commonly used, Web sites that provide accurate and relevant information in an acceptable format could play an important role in supporting this group. It is important that policies being promoted by travel health advocacy groups in Australia continue to advocate that travelers seek travel health advice from a qualified source early, preferably around 6 to 8 weeks before travel, and that personal safety be discussed as part of the travel health consultation.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Mid-infrared study of RR Lyrae stars (Gavrilchenko+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gavrilchenko, T.; Klein, C. R.; Bloom, J. S.; Richards, J. W.

2015-02-01

The first goal was to find a large sample of WISE-observed RR Lyrae stars. A data base of previously identified RR Lyrae stars was created, combining information from General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS), All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS), SIMBAD, VizieR, and individual papers. For many of the sources in this data base the only available data were the coordinates and RR Lyrae classification. When provided, information about the period, distance, subclass, and magnitude for several different wavebands was also stored. If a single source appeared in multiple surveys or papers, information from all relevant surveys was included, with markers indicating contradicting measurements between surveys. The resulting data base contains about 17000 sources, of which about 5000 sources have documented V-band periods. (3 data files).

A method for classification of multisource data using interval-valued probabilities and its application to HIRIS data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, H.; Swain, P. H.

1991-01-01

A method of classifying multisource data in remote sensing is presented. The proposed method considers each data source as an information source providing a body of evidence, represents statistical evidence by interval-valued probabilities, and uses Dempster's rule to integrate information based on multiple data source. The method is applied to the problems of ground-cover classification of multispectral data combined with digital terrain data such as elevation, slope, and aspect. Then this method is applied to simulated 201-band High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS) data by dividing the dimensionally huge data source into smaller and more manageable pieces based on the global statistical correlation information. It produces higher classification accuracy than the Maximum Likelihood (ML) classification method when the Hughes phenomenon is apparent.

Construction of a virtual EPR and automated contextual linkage to multiple sources of support information on the Oxford Clinical Intranet.

PubMed

Kay, J D; Nurse, D

1999-01-01

We have used internet-standard tools to provide access for clinicians to the components of the electronic patient record held on multiple remote disparate systems. Through the same interface we have provided access to multiple knowledgebases, some written locally and others published elsewhere. We have developed linkage between these two types of information which removes the need for the user to drill down into each knowledgebase to search for relevant information. This approach may help in the implementation of evidence-based practice. The major problems appear to be semantic rather than technological. The intranet was developed at low cost and is now in routine use. This approach appears to be transferable across systems and organisations.

Efficient quantum transmission in multiple-source networks.

PubMed

Luo, Ming-Xing; Xu, Gang; Chen, Xiu-Bo; Yang, Yi-Xian; Wang, Xiaojun

2014-04-02

A difficult problem in quantum network communications is how to efficiently transmit quantum information over large-scale networks with common channels. We propose a solution by developing a quantum encoding approach. Different quantum states are encoded into a coherent superposition state using quantum linear optics. The transmission congestion in the common channel may be avoided by transmitting the superposition state. For further decoding and continued transmission, special phase transformations are applied to incoming quantum states using phase shifters such that decoders can distinguish outgoing quantum states. These phase shifters may be precisely controlled using classical chaos synchronization via additional classical channels. Based on this design and the reduction of multiple-source network under the assumption of restricted maximum-flow, the optimal scheme is proposed for specially quantized multiple-source network. In comparison with previous schemes, our scheme can greatly increase the transmission efficiency.

Premarital sexual experience and preferred sources of reproductive health information among young men in Kumbotso, northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Z; Zubairu, I; Abubakar, I S; Isa, S A; Galadanci, H S; Hadiza, S G; Babam Maryam, A; Babam-Maryam, A; Aliyu, M H; Muktar, H A

2012-01-01

Despite well known risks associated with unprotected premarital sex, this phenomenon has not been well explored among young men in rural northern Nigeria. We studied the predictors of premarital sex and preferred sources of sexual and reproductive health information among young unmarried men in Kumbotso, northern Nigeria. A cross section of 400 young men were interviewed using structured questionnaires with mostly closed ended questions. Of the 385 respondents, 39 (10.1%) were sexually experienced. Less than half of respondents (48.7%) used a condom at sexual debut, and an equal proportion reported having multiple sex partners. Only 41.0% of sexually experienced respondents reported subsequent consistent condom use Age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.24-5.20 and educational attainment [AOR = 3.57; 95% CI (1.49-9.10)] were significant predictors of sexual experience. The current versus preferred sources of sexual and reproductive health information included friends (51.3% vs. 93.3%), Islamic school teachers (41.0% vs. 72.7%) and school teachers (8.8% vs. 15.1%). Although the prevalence of premarital sex among young men in this community in northern Nigeria as low, those that did engage in such activity were likely to not use condoms and to have multiple partners. Preferred and trusted sources of information included peers and religious leaders. The findings in this study could be used to develop innovative strategies for reaching young men with accurate sexual and reproductive health information.

Effectiveness of source documents for identifying fatal occupational injuries: a synthesis of studies.

PubMed

Stout, N; Bell, C

1991-06-01

The complete and accurate identification of fatal occupational injuries among the US work force is an important first step in developing work injury prevention efforts. Numerous sources of information, such as death certificates, Workers' Compensation files, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) files, medical examiner records, state health and labor department reports, and various combinations of these, have been used to identify cases of work-related fatal injuries. Recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of these sources for identifying such cases. At least 10 studies have used multiple sources to define the universe of fatal work injuries within a state and to determine the capture rates, or proportion of the universe identified, by each source. Results of these studies, which are not all available in published literature, are summarized here in a format that allows researchers to readily compare the ascertainment capabilities of the sources. The overall average capture rates of sources were as follows: death certificates, 81%; medical examiner records, 61%; Workers' Compensation reports, 57%; and OSHA reports 32%. Variations by state and value added through the use of multiple sources are presented and discussed. This meta-analysis of 10 state-based studies summarizes the effectiveness of various source documents for capturing cases of fatal occupational injuries to help researchers make informed decisions when designing occupational injury surveillance systems.

Effectiveness of source documents for identifying fatal occupational injuries: a synthesis of studies.

PubMed Central

Stout, N; Bell, C

1991-01-01

BACKGROUND: The complete and accurate identification of fatal occupational injuries among the US work force is an important first step in developing work injury prevention efforts. Numerous sources of information, such as death certificates, Workers' Compensation files, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) files, medical examiner records, state health and labor department reports, and various combinations of these, have been used to identify cases of work-related fatal injuries. Recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of these sources for identifying such cases. METHODS: At least 10 studies have used multiple sources to define the universe of fatal work injuries within a state and to determine the capture rates, or proportion of the universe identified, by each source. Results of these studies, which are not all available in published literature, are summarized here in a format that allows researchers to readily compare the ascertainment capabilities of the sources. RESULTS: The overall average capture rates of sources were as follows: death certificates, 81%; medical examiner records, 61%; Workers' Compensation reports, 57%; and OSHA reports 32%. Variations by state and value added through the use of multiple sources are presented and discussed. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis of 10 state-based studies summarizes the effectiveness of various source documents for capturing cases of fatal occupational injuries to help researchers make informed decisions when designing occupational injury surveillance systems. PMID:1827569

Factors Associated With Exposure to Antismoking Information Among Adults in Vietnam, Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 2010

PubMed Central

Giang, Kim Bao; Nga, Pham Quynh; Hai, Phan Thi; Quan, Nguyen The; Tong, Van T.; Xuan, Le Thi Thanh; Hsia, Jason

2013-01-01

Introduction The media play a critical role in tobacco control. Knowledge about the exposure of a population to antismoking information can provide information for planning communication activities in tobacco control. We examined exposure to antismoking information associated with socioeconomic and demographic factors among adults (≥15 years) in Vietnam. Methods The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) is a nationally representative household survey of noninstitutionalized men and women aged 15 years or older and was conducted in Vietnam in 2010 (N = 9,925). We used GATS data on exposure to sources of antismoking information and analyzed associations among socioeconomic and demographic groups. Results An estimated 91.6% of the adult population was exposed to at least 1 source of antismoking information, and the mean number of sources of exposure was 3.7. Compared with their counterparts, respondents who were older, had higher education levels, higher economic status, and higher knowledge levels about the health consequences of smoking were more likely to be exposed to any source of antismoking information and to more informational sources. The most common source of exposure was television (85.9%). Respondents of higher social class (education, occupation, wealth) had more exposure through modern media sources (television), and respondents of lower social class were exposed to more traditional sources such as radio or loudspeakers. Conclusion Exposure to at least 1 source of antismoking information is high in Vietnam, and the number and type of source varied by sociodemographic group. Use of multiple communication channels is recommended to reinforce antismoking messages and to reach different groups in the population. PMID:24028833

New threats to health data privacy.

PubMed

Li, Fengjun; Zou, Xukai; Liu, Peng; Chen, Jake Y

2011-11-24

Along with the rapid digitalization of health data (e.g. Electronic Health Records), there is an increasing concern on maintaining data privacy while garnering the benefits, especially when the data are required to be published for secondary use. Most of the current research on protecting health data privacy is centered around data de-identification and data anonymization, which removes the identifiable information from the published health data to prevent an adversary from reasoning about the privacy of the patients. However, published health data is not the only source that the adversaries can count on: with a large amount of information that people voluntarily share on the Web, sophisticated attacks that join disparate information pieces from multiple sources against health data privacy become practical. Limited efforts have been devoted to studying these attacks yet. We study how patient privacy could be compromised with the help of today's information technologies. In particular, we show that private healthcare information could be collected by aggregating and associating disparate pieces of information from multiple online data sources including online social networks, public records and search engine results. We demonstrate a real-world case study to show user identity and privacy are highly vulnerable to the attribution, inference and aggregation attacks. We also show that people are highly identifiable to adversaries even with inaccurate information pieces about the target, with real data analysis. We claim that too much information has been made available electronic and available online that people are very vulnerable without effective privacy protection.

New threats to health data privacy

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Along with the rapid digitalization of health data (e.g. Electronic Health Records), there is an increasing concern on maintaining data privacy while garnering the benefits, especially when the data are required to be published for secondary use. Most of the current research on protecting health data privacy is centered around data de-identification and data anonymization, which removes the identifiable information from the published health data to prevent an adversary from reasoning about the privacy of the patients. However, published health data is not the only source that the adversaries can count on: with a large amount of information that people voluntarily share on the Web, sophisticated attacks that join disparate information pieces from multiple sources against health data privacy become practical. Limited efforts have been devoted to studying these attacks yet. Results We study how patient privacy could be compromised with the help of today’s information technologies. In particular, we show that private healthcare information could be collected by aggregating and associating disparate pieces of information from multiple online data sources including online social networks, public records and search engine results. We demonstrate a real-world case study to show user identity and privacy are highly vulnerable to the attribution, inference and aggregation attacks. We also show that people are highly identifiable to adversaries even with inaccurate information pieces about the target, with real data analysis. Conclusion We claim that too much information has been made available electronic and available online that people are very vulnerable without effective privacy protection. PMID:22168526

Cognitively Based Assessment of Research and Inquiry Skills: Defining a Key Practice in the English Language Arts. Research Report. ETS RR-15-35

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparks, Jesse R.; Deane, Paul

2015-01-01

Current educational standards call for students to engage in the skills of research and inquiry, with a focus on gathering evidence from multiple information sources, evaluating the credibility of those sources, and writing an integrated synthesis that cites evidence from those sources. Opportunities to build strong research skills are critical,…

The virtual library: Coming of age

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, Judy F.; Cotter, Gladys A.

1994-01-01

With the high speed networking capabilities, multiple media options, and massive amounts of information that exist in electronic format today, the concept of a 'virtual' library or 'library without walls' is becoming viable. In virtual library environment, the information processed goes beyond the traditional definition of documents to include the results of scientific and technical research and development (reports, software, data) recorded in any format or media: electronic, audio, video, or scanned images. Network access to information must include tools to help locate information sources and navigate the networks to connect to the sources, as well as methods to extract the relevant information. Graphical User Interfaces (GUI's) that are intuitive and navigational tools such as Intelligent Gateway Processors (IGP) will provide users with seamless and transparent use of high speed networks to access, organize, and manage information. Traditional libraries will become points of electronic access to information on multiple medias. The emphasis will be towards unique collections of information at each library rather than entire collections at every library. It is no longer a question of whether there is enough information available; it is more a question of how to manage the vast volumes of information. The future equation will involve being able to organize knowledge, manage information, and provide access at the point of origin.

Visualization-based analysis of multiple response survey data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timofeeva, Anastasiia

2017-11-01

During the survey, the respondents are often allowed to tick more than one answer option for a question. Analysis and visualization of such data have difficulties because of the need for processing multiple response variables. With standard representation such as pie and bar charts, information about the association between different answer options is lost. The author proposes a visualization approach for multiple response variables based on Venn diagrams. For a more informative representation with a large number of overlapping groups it is suggested to use similarity and association matrices. Some aggregate indicators of dissimilarity (similarity) are proposed based on the determinant of the similarity matrix and the maximum eigenvalue of association matrix. The application of the proposed approaches is well illustrated by the example of the analysis of advertising sources. Intersection of sets indicates that the same consumer audience is covered by several advertising sources. This information is very important for the allocation of the advertising budget. The differences between target groups in advertising sources are of interest. To identify such differences the hypothesis of homogeneity and independence are tested. Recent approach to the problem are briefly reviewed and compared. An alternative procedure is suggested. It is based on partition of a consumer audience into pairwise disjoint subsets and includes hypothesis testing of the difference between the population proportions. It turned out to be more suitable for the real problem being solved.

Locating multiple diffusion sources in time varying networks from sparse observations.

PubMed

Hu, Zhao-Long; Shen, Zhesi; Cao, Shinan; Podobnik, Boris; Yang, Huijie; Wang, Wen-Xu; Lai, Ying-Cheng

2018-02-08

Data based source localization in complex networks has a broad range of applications. Despite recent progress, locating multiple diffusion sources in time varying networks remains to be an outstanding problem. Bridging structural observability and sparse signal reconstruction theories, we develop a general framework to locate diffusion sources in time varying networks based solely on sparse data from a small set of messenger nodes. A general finding is that large degree nodes produce more valuable information than small degree nodes, a result that contrasts that for static networks. Choosing large degree nodes as the messengers, we find that sparse observations from a few such nodes are often sufficient for any number of diffusion sources to be located for a variety of model and empirical networks. Counterintuitively, sources in more rapidly varying networks can be identified more readily with fewer required messenger nodes.

Consumer Product Category Database

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Chemical and Product Categories database (CPCat) catalogs the use of over 40,000 chemicals and their presence in different consumer products. The chemical use information is compiled from multiple sources while product information is gathered from publicly available Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). EPA researchers are evaluating the possibility of expanding the database with additional product and use information.

Development of a Biomass Burning Emissions Inventory by Combining Satellite and Ground-based Information

EPA Science Inventory

A 2005 biomass burning (wildfire, prescribed, and agricultural) emission inventory has been developed for the contiguous United States using a newly developed simplified method of combining information from multiple sources for use in the US EPA’s national Emission Inventory (NEI...

Taxonaut: an application software for comparative display of multiple taxonomies with a use case of GBIF Species API

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Abstract Background The Species API of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) provides public access to taxonomic data aggregated from multiple data sources. Each data source follows its own classification which can be inconsistent with classifications from other sources. Even with a reference classification e.g. the GBIF Backbone taxonomy, a comprehensive method to compare classifications in the data aggregation is essential, especially for non-expert users. New information A Java application was developed to compare multiple taxonomies graphically using classification data acquired from GBIF’s ChecklistBank via the GBIF Species API. It uses a table to display taxonomies where each column represents a taxonomy under comparison, with an aligner column to organise taxa by name. Each cell contains the name of a taxon if the classification in that column contains the name. Each column also has a cell showing the hierarchy of the taxonomy by a folder metaphor where taxa are aligned and synchronised in the aligner column. A set of those comparative tables shows taxa categorised by relationship between taxonomies. The result set is also available as tables in an Excel format file. PMID:27932916

Boosting probabilistic graphical model inference by incorporating prior knowledge from multiple sources.

PubMed

Praveen, Paurush; Fröhlich, Holger

2013-01-01

Inferring regulatory networks from experimental data via probabilistic graphical models is a popular framework to gain insights into biological systems. However, the inherent noise in experimental data coupled with a limited sample size reduces the performance of network reverse engineering. Prior knowledge from existing sources of biological information can address this low signal to noise problem by biasing the network inference towards biologically plausible network structures. Although integrating various sources of information is desirable, their heterogeneous nature makes this task challenging. We propose two computational methods to incorporate various information sources into a probabilistic consensus structure prior to be used in graphical model inference. Our first model, called Latent Factor Model (LFM), assumes a high degree of correlation among external information sources and reconstructs a hidden variable as a common source in a Bayesian manner. The second model, a Noisy-OR, picks up the strongest support for an interaction among information sources in a probabilistic fashion. Our extensive computational studies on KEGG signaling pathways as well as on gene expression data from breast cancer and yeast heat shock response reveal that both approaches can significantly enhance the reconstruction accuracy of Bayesian Networks compared to other competing methods as well as to the situation without any prior. Our framework allows for using diverse information sources, like pathway databases, GO terms and protein domain data, etc. and is flexible enough to integrate new sources, if available.

Production and use of estimates for monitoring progress in the health sector: the case of Bangladesh

PubMed Central

Ahsan, Karar Zunaid; Tahsina, Tazeen; Iqbal, Afrin; Ali, Nazia Binte; Chowdhury, Suman Kanti; Huda, Tanvir M.; Arifeen, Shams El

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: In order to support the progress towards the post-2015 development agenda for the health sector, the importance of high-quality and timely estimates has become evident both globally and at the country level. Objective and Methods: Based on desk review, key informant interviews and expert panel discussions, the paper critically reviews health estimates from both the local (i.e. nationally generated information by the government and other agencies) and the global sources (which are mostly modeled or interpolated estimates developed by international organizations based on different sources of information), and assesses the country capacity and monitoring strategies to meet the increasing data demand in the coming years. Primarily, this paper provides a situation analysis of Bangladesh in terms of production and use of health estimates for monitoring progress towards the post-2015 development goals for the health sector. Results: The analysis reveals that Bangladesh is data rich, particularly from household surveys and health facility assessments. Practices of data utilization also exist, with wide acceptability of survey results for informing policy, programme review and course corrections. Despite high data availability from multiple sources, the country capacity for providing regular updates of major global health estimates/indicators remains low. Major challenges also include limited human resources, capacity to generate quality data and multiplicity of data sources, where discrepancy and lack of linkages among different data sources (local sources and between local and global estimates) present emerging challenges for interpretation of the resulting estimates. Conclusion: To fulfill the increased data requirement for the post-2015 era, Bangladesh needs to invest more in electronic data capture and routine health information systems. Streamlining of data sources, integration of parallel information systems into a common platform, and capacity building for data generation and analysis are recommended as priority actions for Bangladesh in the coming years. In addition to automation of routine health information systems, establishing an Indicator Reference Group for Bangladesh to analyze data; building country capacity in data quality assessment and triangulation; and feeding into global, inter-agency estimates for better reporting would address a number of mentioned challenges in the short- and long-run. PMID:28532305

Stable Isotope Mixing Models as a Tool for Tracking Sources of Water and Water Pollutants

EPA Science Inventory

One goal of monitoring pollutants is to be able to trace the pollutant to its source. Here we review how mixing models using stable isotope information on water and water pollutants can help accomplish this goal. A number of elements exist in multiple stable (non-radioactive) i...

Memory for Textual Conflicts Predicts Sourcing When Adolescents Read Multiple Expository Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stang Lund, Elisabeth; Bråten, Ivar; Brante, Eva W.; Strømsø, Helge I.

2017-01-01

This study investigated whether memory for conflicting information predicted mental representation of source-content links (i.e., who said what) in a sample of 86 Norwegian adolescent readers. Participants read four texts presenting conflicting claims about sun exposure and health. With differences in gender, prior knowledge, and interest…

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

Patton, Robert M; Potok, Thomas E

Assessing the potential property and social impacts of an event, such as tornado or wildfire, continues to be a challenging research area. From financial markets to disaster management to epidemiology, the importance of understanding the impacts that events create cannot be understated. Our work describes an approach to fuse information from multiple sources, then to analyze the information cycles to identify prior temporal patterns related to the impact of an event. This approach is then applied to the analysis of news reports from multiple news sources pertaining to several different natural disasters. Results show that our approach can project themore » severity of the impacts of certain natural disasters, such as heat waves on droughts and wild fires. In addition, results show that specific types of disaster consistently produce similar impacts when each time they occur.« less

Neutron crosstalk between liquid scintillators

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

Verbeke, J. M.; Prasad, M. K.; Snyderman, N. J.

2015-05-01

We propose a method to quantify the fractions of neutrons scattering between liquid scintillators. Using a spontaneous fission source, this method can be utilized to quickly characterize an array of liquid scintillators in terms of crosstalk. The point model theory due to Feynman is corrected to account for these multiple scatterings. Using spectral information measured by the liquid scintillators, fractions of multiple scattering can be estimated, and mass reconstruction of fissile materials under investigation can be improved. Monte Carlo simulations of mono-energetic neutron sources were performed to estimate neutron crosstalk. A californium source in an array of liquid scintillators wasmore » modeled to illustrate the improvement of the mass reconstruction.« less

Multi-pixel high-resolution three-dimensional imaging radar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, Ken B. (Inventor); Dengler, Robert J. (Inventor); Siegel, Peter H. (Inventor); Chattopadhyay, Goutam (Inventor); Ward, John S. (Inventor); Juan, Nuria Llombart (Inventor); Bryllert, Tomas E. (Inventor); Mehdi, Imran (Inventor); Tarsala, Jan A. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A three-dimensional imaging radar operating at high frequency e.g., 670 GHz radar using low phase-noise synthesizers and a fast chirper to generate a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) waveform, is disclosed that operates with a multiplexed beam to obtain range information simultaneously on multiple pixels of a target. A source transmit beam may be divided by a hybrid coupler into multiple transmit beams multiplexed together and directed to be reflected off a target and return as a single receive beam which is demultiplexed and processed to reveal range information of separate pixels of the target associated with each transmit beam simultaneously. The multiple transmit beams may be developed with appropriate optics to be temporally and spatially differentiated before being directed to the target. Temporal differentiation corresponds to a different intermediate frequencies separating the range information of the multiple pixels. Collinear transmit beams having differentiated polarizations may also be implemented.

Combining Multiple Rupture Models in Real-Time for Earthquake Early Warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minson, S. E.; Wu, S.; Beck, J. L.; Heaton, T. H.

2015-12-01

The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system for the west coast of the United States is designed to combine information from multiple independent earthquake analysis algorithms in order to provide the public with robust predictions of shaking intensity at each user's location before they are affected by strong shaking. The current contributing analyses come from algorithms that determine the origin time, epicenter, and magnitude of an earthquake (On-site, ElarmS, and Virtual Seismologist). A second generation of algorithms will provide seismic line source information (FinDer), as well as geodetically-constrained slip models (BEFORES, GPSlip, G-larmS, G-FAST). These new algorithms will provide more information about the spatial extent of the earthquake rupture and thus improve the quality of the resulting shaking forecasts.Each of the contributing algorithms exploits different features of the observed seismic and geodetic data, and thus each algorithm may perform differently for different data availability and earthquake source characteristics. Thus the ShakeAlert system requires a central mediator, called the Central Decision Module (CDM). The CDM acts to combine disparate earthquake source information into one unified shaking forecast. Here we will present a new design for the CDM that uses a Bayesian framework to combine earthquake reports from multiple analysis algorithms and compares them to observed shaking information in order to both assess the relative plausibility of each earthquake report and to create an improved unified shaking forecast complete with appropriate uncertainties. We will describe how these probabilistic shaking forecasts can be used to provide each user with a personalized decision-making tool that can help decide whether or not to take a protective action (such as opening fire house doors or stopping trains) based on that user's distance to the earthquake, vulnerability to shaking, false alarm tolerance, and time required to act.

Understanding and Integrating Multiple Science Texts: Summary Tasks Are Sometimes Better than Argument Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gil, Laura; Braten, Ivar; Vidal-Abarca, Eduardo; Stromso, Helge I.

2010-01-01

One of the major challenges of a knowledge society is that students as well as other citizens must learn to understand and integrate information from multiple textual sources. Still, task and reader characteristics that may facilitate or constrain such intertextual processes are not well understood by researchers. In this study, we compare the…

Graph-Based Weakly-Supervised Methods for Information Extraction & Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talukdar, Partha Pratim

2010-01-01

The variety and complexity of potentially-related data resources available for querying--webpages, databases, data warehouses--has been growing ever more rapidly. There is a growing need to pose integrative queries "across" multiple such sources, exploiting foreign keys and other means of interlinking data to merge information from diverse…

19 CFR 159.36 - Multiple certified rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Federal Reserve Bank of New York certifies two or more rates of exchange for the currency of any country, those rates will be published in the Customs Bulletin. (b) Laws of country of exportation followed. When..., information obtained and presented to him by the importer, or information obtained from other sources, is...

Multiple-source spatial data fusion and integration research in the region unified planning management information system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhijun; Zhang, Liangpei; Liu, Zhenmin; Jiao, Hongbo; Chen, Liqun

2008-12-01

In order to manage the internal resources of Gulf of Tonkin and integrate multiple-source spatial data, the establishment of region unified plan management system is needed. The data fusion and the integrated research should be carried on because there are some difficulties in the course of the system's establishment. For example, kinds of planning and the project data format are different, and data criterion is not unified. Besides, the time state property is strong, and spatial reference is inconsistent, etc. In this article the ARCGIS ENGINE is introduced as the developing platform, key technologies are researched, such as multiple-source data transformation and fusion, remote sensing data and DEM fusion and integrated, plan and project data integration, and so on. Practice shows that the system improves the working efficiency of Guangxi Gulf of Tonkin Economic Zone Management Committee significantly and promotes planning construction work of the economic zone remarkably.

Efficient Quantum Transmission in Multiple-Source Networks

PubMed Central

Luo, Ming-Xing; Xu, Gang; Chen, Xiu-Bo; Yang, Yi-Xian; Wang, Xiaojun

2014-01-01

A difficult problem in quantum network communications is how to efficiently transmit quantum information over large-scale networks with common channels. We propose a solution by developing a quantum encoding approach. Different quantum states are encoded into a coherent superposition state using quantum linear optics. The transmission congestion in the common channel may be avoided by transmitting the superposition state. For further decoding and continued transmission, special phase transformations are applied to incoming quantum states using phase shifters such that decoders can distinguish outgoing quantum states. These phase shifters may be precisely controlled using classical chaos synchronization via additional classical channels. Based on this design and the reduction of multiple-source network under the assumption of restricted maximum-flow, the optimal scheme is proposed for specially quantized multiple-source network. In comparison with previous schemes, our scheme can greatly increase the transmission efficiency. PMID:24691590

Sources and types of online information that breast cancer patients read and discuss with their doctors.

PubMed

Maloney, Erin K; D'Agostino, Thomas A; Heerdt, Alexandra; Dickler, Maura; Li, Yuelin; Ostroff, Jamie S; Bylund, Carma L

2015-04-01

Most research examining the impact of patients seeking online health information treats internet information homogenously, rather than recognizing that there are multiple types and sources of available information. The present research was conducted to differentiate among sources and types of internet information that patients search for, intend to discuss with their doctors, and recall discussing with their doctors, and to determine how accurate and hopeful patients rate this information. We surveyed 70 breast cancer patients recruited from the waiting rooms of breast medical oncology and surgery clinics. The main variables in the study were as follows: (1) the sources and types of online information patients have read, intended to discuss, and actually discussed with their doctors, and (2) how accurately and hopefully they rated this information to be. Patients read information most frequently from the websites of cancer organizations, and most often about side effects. Patients planned to discuss fewer types of information with their doctors than they had read about. They most often intended to discuss information from cancer organization websites or WebMD, and the material was most often about alternative therapies, side effects, and proven or traditional treatments. Some 76.8% of total participants rated the information they had read as very or somewhat accurate, and 61% rated the information they had read as very or somewhat hopeful. Internet information varies widely by source and type. Differentiating among sources and types of information is essential to explore the ways in which online health information impacts patients' experiences.

Compiling a national register of babies born with anophthalmia/microphthalmia in England 1988-94

PubMed Central

Busby, A.; Dolk, H.; Collin, R.; Jones, R; Winter, R.

1998-01-01

AIM—To describe the prevalence of anophthalmia/microphthalmia in babies born in England 1988-94, as well as their overall survival, and the incidence of associated eye and non-eye malformations; to determine the usefulness of different sources of medical and health service information for establishing a retrospective register of anophthalmia/microphthalmia.
METHODS—Multiple sources for initial (retrospective) case ascertainment were surveyed, followed by questionnaires to clinicians to establish severity, associated malformations, and aetiology for England, 1988-94. The population surveyed was all births in England for this time period (4 570 350 births). Cases included live births, stillbirths, or terminations after prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomaly, with anophthalmia/microphthalmia, with or without other malformations and syndromes. Trisomy 13 was subsequently excluded.
RESULTS—The proportion of cases notified by any one information source was not more than 26% (Office for National Statistics Register 22%, paediatricians 26%, district sources 25%). Sixty nine per cent of cases (51% of severe cases) were notified by only one source. A total of 449 cases were reported, prevalence 1.0 per 10 000 births. The prevalence was stable over time, although the proportion notified by clinicians rose in more recent years. Thirty four per cent of affected babies had mild microphthalmia. Of those with severe anophthalmia/microphthalmia, 51% were bilateral, other eye malformations were present in 72%, non-eye malformations in 65%, and a "known aetiology" was attributed in 22%. Three quarters of those severely affected survived infancy.
CONCLUSIONS—Despite high response rates from the sources of information contacted, the lack of duplication between sources indicates the difficulties of retrospective ascertainment and the need for multiple sources when establishing a register. Anophthalmos/microphthalmos is usually associated with other malformations. Most cases are of unknown aetiology.

 PMID:10194985

Multiple point statistical simulation using uncertain (soft) conditional data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, Thomas Mejer; Vu, Le Thanh; Mosegaard, Klaus; Cordua, Knud Skou

2018-05-01

Geostatistical simulation methods have been used to quantify spatial variability of reservoir models since the 80s. In the last two decades, state of the art simulation methods have changed from being based on covariance-based 2-point statistics to multiple-point statistics (MPS), that allow simulation of more realistic Earth-structures. In addition, increasing amounts of geo-information (geophysical, geological, etc.) from multiple sources are being collected. This pose the problem of integration of these different sources of information, such that decisions related to reservoir models can be taken on an as informed base as possible. In principle, though difficult in practice, this can be achieved using computationally expensive Monte Carlo methods. Here we investigate the use of sequential simulation based MPS simulation methods conditional to uncertain (soft) data, as a computational efficient alternative. First, it is demonstrated that current implementations of sequential simulation based on MPS (e.g. SNESIM, ENESIM and Direct Sampling) do not account properly for uncertain conditional information, due to a combination of using only co-located information, and a random simulation path. Then, we suggest two approaches that better account for the available uncertain information. The first make use of a preferential simulation path, where more informed model parameters are visited preferentially to less informed ones. The second approach involves using non co-located uncertain information. For different types of available data, these approaches are demonstrated to produce simulation results similar to those obtained by the general Monte Carlo based approach. These methods allow MPS simulation to condition properly to uncertain (soft) data, and hence provides a computationally attractive approach for integration of information about a reservoir model.

Would a madman have been so wise as this?" The effects of source credibility and message credibility on validation.

PubMed

Foy, Jeffrey E; LoCasto, Paul C; Briner, Stephen W; Dyar, Samantha

2017-02-01

Readers rapidly check new information against prior knowledge during validation, but research is inconsistent as to whether source credibility affects validation. We argue that readers are likely to accept highly plausible assertions regardless of source, but that high source credibility may boost acceptance of claims that are less plausible based on general world knowledge. In Experiment 1, participants read narratives with assertions for which the plausibility varied depending on the source. For high credibility sources, we found that readers were faster to read information confirming these assertions relative to contradictory information. We found the opposite patterns for low credibility characters. In Experiment 2, readers read claims from the same high or low credibility sources, but the claims were always plausible based on general world knowledge. Readers consistently took longer to read contradictory information, regardless of source. In Experiment 3, participants read modified versions of "The Tell-Tale Heart," which was narrated entirely by an unreliable source. We manipulated the plausibility of a target event, as well as whether high credibility characters within the story provided confirmatory or contradictory information about the narrator's description of the target event. Though readers rated the narrator as being insane, they were more likely to believe the narrator's assertions about the target event when it was plausible and corroborated by other characters. We argue that sourcing research would benefit from focusing on the relationship between source credibility, message credibility, and multiple sources within a text.

Managing data from multiple disciplines, scales, and sites to support synthesis and modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olson, R. J.; Briggs, J. M.; Porter, J.H.; Mah, Grant R.; Stafford, S.G.

1999-01-01

The synthesis and modeling of ecological processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales involves bringing together and sharing data from numerous sources. This article describes a data and information system model that facilitates assembling, managing, and sharing diverse data from multiple disciplines, scales, and sites to support integrated ecological studies. Cross-site scientific-domain working groups coordinate the development of data associated with their particular scientific working group, including decisions about data requirements, data to be compiled, data formats, derived data products, and schedules across the sites. The Web-based data and information system consists of nodes for each working group plus a central node that provides data access, project information, data query, and other functionality. The approach incorporates scientists and computer experts in the working groups and provides incentives for individuals to submit documented data to the data and information system.

Do patient preferences for health information vary by health literacy or numeracy? A qualitative assessment.

PubMed

Gaglio, Bridget; Glasgow, Russell E; Bull, Sheana S

2012-01-01

Seeking health information can be a complicated process for a patient. Patients must know the topic of interest, where to look or ask, how to assess and comprehend, and how to evaluate the credibility and trustworthiness of the sources. In this study, the authors describe preferences of patients with multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease with varying health literacy and numeracy abilities for receiving health information. Participants were recruited from 2 health care systems. Health literacy and numeracy were assessed and participants completed an orally administered survey consisting of open-ended questions about obtaining health information and preferences for health information. In-depth interviews were conducted with a subset of participants. A diverse sample of 150 individuals (11.3% Latino, 37.3% African American, 44.7% with income less than $15,000/year) participated. Most participants had adequate functional health literacy, while 65% had low numeracy skills. Regardless of health literacy or numeracy ability, participants overwhelmingly preferred to receive health information during a face-to-face conversation with their health care provider. While individuals with adequate functional health literacy identified a variety of health information sources, actions are needed to ensure multiple modalities are available and are in plain, clear language that reinforces patients' understanding and application of information to health behavior.

Meta-Sticks: Having Children Consider the Source of Knowledge Promotes Scientific Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhn, Mason

2016-01-01

Many elementary science teachers understand that the best way to enhance reasoning and thinking skills in their students is to have them engage in scientific negotiation. They know that teaching is not the simple transmission of information but a complex act that requires teachers to apply knowledge from multiple sources, including student…

Bayesian Rationality in Evaluating Multiple Testimonies: Incorporating the Role of Coherence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Adam J. L.; Hahn, Ulrike

2009-01-01

Routinely in day-to-day life, as well as in formal settings such as the courtroom, people must aggregate information they receive from different sources. One intuitively important but underresearched factor in this context is the degree to which the reports from different sources fit together, that is, their coherence. The authors examine a…

Gaussian random bridges and a geometric model for information equilibrium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mengütürk, Levent Ali

2018-03-01

The paper introduces a class of conditioned stochastic processes that we call Gaussian random bridges (GRBs) and proves some of their properties. Due to the anticipative representation of any GRB as the sum of a random variable and a Gaussian (T , 0) -bridge, GRBs can model noisy information processes in partially observed systems. In this spirit, we propose an asset pricing model with respect to what we call information equilibrium in a market with multiple sources of information. The idea is to work on a topological manifold endowed with a metric that enables us to systematically determine an equilibrium point of a stochastic system that can be represented by multiple points on that manifold at each fixed time. In doing so, we formulate GRB-based information diversity over a Riemannian manifold and show that it is pinned to zero over the boundary determined by Dirac measures. We then define an influence factor that controls the dominance of an information source in determining the best estimate of a signal in the L2-sense. When there are two sources, this allows us to construct information equilibrium as a functional of a geodesic-valued stochastic process, which is driven by an equilibrium convergence rate representing the signal-to-noise ratio. This leads us to derive price dynamics under what can be considered as an equilibrium probability measure. We also provide a semimartingale representation of Markovian GRBs associated with Gaussian martingales and a non-anticipative representation of fractional Brownian random bridges that can incorporate degrees of information coupling in a given system via the Hurst exponent.

Dempster-Shafer theory applied to regulatory decision process for selecting safer alternatives to toxic chemicals in consumer products.

PubMed

Park, Sung Jin; Ogunseitan, Oladele A; Lejano, Raul P

2014-01-01

Regulatory agencies often face a dilemma when regulating chemicals in consumer products-namely, that of making decisions in the face of multiple, and sometimes conflicting, lines of evidence. We present an integrative approach for dealing with uncertainty and multiple pieces of evidence in toxics regulation. The integrative risk analytic framework is grounded in the Dempster-Shafer (D-S) theory that allows the analyst to combine multiple pieces of evidence and judgments from independent sources of information. We apply the integrative approach to the comparative risk assessment of bisphenol-A (BPA)-based polycarbonate and the functionally equivalent alternative, Eastman Tritan copolyester (ETC). Our results show that according to cumulative empirical evidence, the estimated probability of toxicity of BPA is 0.034, whereas the toxicity probability for ETC is 0.097. However, when we combine extant evidence with strength of confidence in the source (or expert judgment), we are guided by a richer interval measure, (Bel(t), Pl(t)). With the D-S derived measure, we arrive at various intervals for BPA, with the low-range estimate at (0.034, 0.250), and (0.097,0.688) for ETC. These new measures allow a reasonable basis for comparison and a justifiable procedure for decision making that takes advantage of multiple sources of evidence. Through the application of D-S theory to toxicity risk assessment, we show how a multiplicity of scientific evidence can be converted into a unified risk estimate, and how this information can be effectively used for comparative assessments to select potentially less toxic alternative chemicals. © 2013 SETAC.

Text mining electronic hospital records to automatically classify admissions against disease: Measuring the impact of linking data sources.

PubMed

Kocbek, Simon; Cavedon, Lawrence; Martinez, David; Bain, Christopher; Manus, Chris Mac; Haffari, Gholamreza; Zukerman, Ingrid; Verspoor, Karin

2016-12-01

Text and data mining play an important role in obtaining insights from Health and Hospital Information Systems. This paper presents a text mining system for detecting admissions marked as positive for several diseases: Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Colon Cancer, Secondary Malignant Neoplasm of Respiratory and Digestive Organs, Multiple Myeloma and Malignant Plasma Cell Neoplasms, Pneumonia, and Pulmonary Embolism. We specifically examine the effect of linking multiple data sources on text classification performance. Support Vector Machine classifiers are built for eight data source combinations, and evaluated using the metrics of Precision, Recall and F-Score. Sub-sampling techniques are used to address unbalanced datasets of medical records. We use radiology reports as an initial data source and add other sources, such as pathology reports and patient and hospital admission data, in order to assess the research question regarding the impact of the value of multiple data sources. Statistical significance is measured using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. A second set of experiments explores aspects of the system in greater depth, focusing on Lung Cancer. We explore the impact of feature selection; analyse the learning curve; examine the effect of restricting admissions to only those containing reports from all data sources; and examine the impact of reducing the sub-sampling. These experiments provide better understanding of how to best apply text classification in the context of imbalanced data of variable completeness. Radiology questions plus patient and hospital admission data contribute valuable information for detecting most of the diseases, significantly improving performance when added to radiology reports alone or to the combination of radiology and pathology reports. Overall, linking data sources significantly improved classification performance for all the diseases examined. However, there is no single approach that suits all scenarios; the choice of the most effective combination of data sources depends on the specific disease to be classified. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Boosting Probabilistic Graphical Model Inference by Incorporating Prior Knowledge from Multiple Sources

PubMed Central

Praveen, Paurush; Fröhlich, Holger

2013-01-01

Inferring regulatory networks from experimental data via probabilistic graphical models is a popular framework to gain insights into biological systems. However, the inherent noise in experimental data coupled with a limited sample size reduces the performance of network reverse engineering. Prior knowledge from existing sources of biological information can address this low signal to noise problem by biasing the network inference towards biologically plausible network structures. Although integrating various sources of information is desirable, their heterogeneous nature makes this task challenging. We propose two computational methods to incorporate various information sources into a probabilistic consensus structure prior to be used in graphical model inference. Our first model, called Latent Factor Model (LFM), assumes a high degree of correlation among external information sources and reconstructs a hidden variable as a common source in a Bayesian manner. The second model, a Noisy-OR, picks up the strongest support for an interaction among information sources in a probabilistic fashion. Our extensive computational studies on KEGG signaling pathways as well as on gene expression data from breast cancer and yeast heat shock response reveal that both approaches can significantly enhance the reconstruction accuracy of Bayesian Networks compared to other competing methods as well as to the situation without any prior. Our framework allows for using diverse information sources, like pathway databases, GO terms and protein domain data, etc. and is flexible enough to integrate new sources, if available. PMID:23826291

Using Multiple Sources of Information in Establishing Text Complexity. Reading Research Report. #11.03

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hiebert, Elfrieda H.

2011-01-01

A focus of the Common Core State Standards/English Language Arts (CCSS/ELA) is that students become increasingly more capable with complex text over their school careers. This focus has redirected attention to the measurement of text complexity. Although CCSS/ELA suggests multiple criteria for this task, the standards offer a single measure of…

Cross-beam coherence of infrasonic signals at local and regional ranges.

PubMed

Alberts, W C Kirkpatrick; Tenney, Stephen M

2017-11-01

Signals collected by infrasound arrays require continuous analysis by skilled personnel or by automatic algorithms in order to extract useable information. Typical pieces of information gained by analysis of infrasonic signals collected by multiple sensor arrays are arrival time, line of bearing, amplitude, and duration. These can all be used, often with significant accuracy, to locate sources. A very important part of this chain is associating collected signals across multiple arrays. Here, a pairwise, cross-beam coherence method of signal association is described that allows rapid signal association for high signal-to-noise ratio events captured by multiple infrasound arrays at ranges exceeding 150 km. Methods, test cases, and results are described.

Building Guided Inquiry Teams for 21st-Century Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhlthau, Carol C.; Maniotes, Leslie K.

2010-01-01

How can students learn to think for themselves, make good decisions, develop expertise, and become lifelong learners in a rapidly changing information environment? How can students learn, create, and find meaning from multiple sources of information? These are fundamental questions facing educators in designing schools for 21st-century learners.…

Brief Report: Agreement between Parents and Day-Care Professionals on Early Symptoms Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen, Kenneth; Aasland, Astrid; Diseth, Trond H.

2018-01-01

Early identification of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has the potential to elicit effective early intervention, improving children's level of functioning and developmental trajectories as well as reducing parental stress. Multiple sources of information, including several informants may facilitate early identification. This study examined the…

Evidence-Based Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Using Multiple Sources of Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frazier, Thomas W.; Youngstrom, Eric A.

2006-01-01

In this article, the authors illustrate a step-by-step process of acquiring and integrating information according to the recommendations of evidence-based practices. A case example models the process, leading to specific recommendations regarding instruments and strategies for evidence-based assessment (EBA) of attention-deficit/hyperactivity…

Fusion or confusion: knowledge or nonsense?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothman, Peter L.; Denton, Richard V.

1991-08-01

The terms 'data fusion,' 'sensor fusion,' multi-sensor integration,' and 'multi-source integration' have been used widely in the technical literature to refer to a variety of techniques, technologies, systems, and applications which employ and/or combine data derived from multiple information sources. Applications of data fusion range from real-time fusion of sensor information for the navigation of mobile robots to the off-line fusion of both human and technical strategic intelligence data. The Department of Defense Critical Technologies Plan lists data fusion in the highest priority group of critical technologies, but just what is data fusion? The DoD Critical Technologies Plan states that data fusion involves 'the acquisition, integration, filtering, correlation, and synthesis of useful data from diverse sources for the purposes of situation/environment assessment, planning, detecting, verifying, diagnosing problems, aiding tactical and strategic decisions, and improving system performance and utility.' More simply states, sensor fusion refers to the combination of data from multiple sources to provide enhanced information quality and availability over that which is available from any individual source alone. This paper presents a survey of the state-of-the- art in data fusion technologies, system components, and applications. A set of characteristics which can be utilized to classify data fusion systems is presented. Additionally, a unifying mathematical and conceptual framework within which to understand and organize fusion technologies is described. A discussion of often overlooked issues in the development of sensor fusion systems is also presented.

Dealing with Uncertainty: Readers' Memory for and Use of Conflicting Information from Science Texts as Function of Presentation Format and Source Expertise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stadtler, Marc; Scharrer, Lisa; Brummernhenrich, Benjamin; Bromme, Rainer

2013-01-01

Past research has shown that readers often fail to notice conflicts in text. In our present study we investigated whether accessing information from multiple documents instead of a single document might alleviate this problem by motivating readers to integrate information. We further tested whether this effect would be moderated by source…

Determining Object Orientation from a Single Image Using Multiple Information Sources.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-06-01

object surface. Location of the image ellipse is accomplished by exploiting knowledge about object boundaries and image intensity gradients . -. The...Using Intensity Gradient Information for Ellipse fitting ........ .51 4.3.7 Orientation From Ellipses .............................. 53 4.3.8 Application...object boundaries and image intensity gradients . The orientation information from each of these three methods is combined using a "plausibility" function

Influence of information sources on hepatitis B screening behavior and relevant psychosocial factors among Asian immigrants.

PubMed

Tanaka, Miho; Strong, Carol; Lee, Sunmin; Juon, Hee-Soon

2013-08-01

This study examines how different information sources relate to Health Belief Model constructs, hepatitis B virus (HBV) knowledge, and HBV screening. The Maryland Asian American Liver Cancer Education Program administered a survey of 877 Asian immigrants. The most common sources of information identified by the multiple-answer questions were newspapers (39.8 %), physicians (39.3 %), friends (33.8 %), TV (31.7 %), and the Internet (29.5 %). Path analyses-controlling for age, sex, educational level, English proficiency, proportion of life in U.S., health insurance coverage, and family history of HBV infection-showed that learning about HBV from physicians had the strongest direct effect; friends had a marginal indirect effect. Perceived risk, benefits, and severity played limited roles in mediation effects. Path analysis results differed by ethnicity. Physician-based HBV screening intervention would be effective, but should be complemented with community health campaigns through popular information sources for the uninsured.

Objective consensus from decision trees.

PubMed

Putora, Paul Martin; Panje, Cedric M; Papachristofilou, Alexandros; Dal Pra, Alan; Hundsberger, Thomas; Plasswilm, Ludwig

2014-12-05

Consensus-based approaches provide an alternative to evidence-based decision making, especially in situations where high-level evidence is limited. Our aim was to demonstrate a novel source of information, objective consensus based on recommendations in decision tree format from multiple sources. Based on nine sample recommendations in decision tree format a representative analysis was performed. The most common (mode) recommendations for each eventuality (each permutation of parameters) were determined. The same procedure was applied to real clinical recommendations for primary radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Data was collected from 16 radiation oncology centres, converted into decision tree format and analyzed in order to determine the objective consensus. Based on information from multiple sources in decision tree format, treatment recommendations can be assessed for every parameter combination. An objective consensus can be determined by means of mode recommendations without compromise or confrontation among the parties. In the clinical example involving prostate cancer therapy, three parameters were used with two cut-off values each (Gleason score, PSA, T-stage) resulting in a total of 27 possible combinations per decision tree. Despite significant variations among the recommendations, a mode recommendation could be found for specific combinations of parameters. Recommendations represented as decision trees can serve as a basis for objective consensus among multiple parties.

Multivariate EMD and full spectrum based condition monitoring for rotating machinery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xiaomin; Patel, Tejas H.; Zuo, Ming J.

2012-02-01

Early assessment of machinery health condition is of paramount importance today. A sensor network with sensors in multiple directions and locations is usually employed for monitoring the condition of rotating machinery. Extraction of health condition information from these sensors for effective fault detection and fault tracking is always challenging. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is an advanced signal processing technology that has been widely used for this purpose. Standard EMD has the limitation in that it works only for a single real-valued signal. When dealing with data from multiple sensors and multiple health conditions, standard EMD faces two problems. First, because of the local and self-adaptive nature of standard EMD, the decomposition of signals from different sources may not match in either number or frequency content. Second, it may not be possible to express the joint information between different sensors. The present study proposes a method of extracting fault information by employing multivariate EMD and full spectrum. Multivariate EMD can overcome the limitations of standard EMD when dealing with data from multiple sources. It is used to extract the intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) embedded in raw multivariate signals. A criterion based on mutual information is proposed for selecting a sensitive IMF. A full spectral feature is then extracted from the selected fault-sensitive IMF to capture the joint information between signals measured from two orthogonal directions. The proposed method is first explained using simple simulated data, and then is tested for the condition monitoring of rotating machinery applications. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through monitoring damage on the vane trailing edge of an impeller and rotor-stator rub in an experimental rotor rig.

The application of foraging theory to the information searching behaviour of general practitioners.

PubMed

Dwairy, Mai; Dowell, Anthony C; Stahl, Jean-Claude

2011-08-23

General Practitioners (GPs) employ strategies to identify and retrieve medical evidence for clinical decision making which take workload and time constraints into account. Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) initially developed to study animal foraging for food is used to explore the information searching behaviour of General Practitioners. This study is the first to apply foraging theory within this context.Study objectives were: 1. To identify the sequence and steps deployed in identifiying and retrieving evidence for clinical decision making. 2. To utilise Optimal Foraging Theory to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of General Practitioner information searching. GPs from the Wellington region of New Zealand were asked to document in a pre-formatted logbook the steps and outcomes of an information search linked to their clinical decision making, and fill in a questionnaire about their personal, practice and information-searching backgrounds. A total of 115/155 eligible GPs returned a background questionnaire, and 71 completed their information search logbook. GPs spent an average of 17.7 minutes addressing their search for clinical information. Their preferred information sources were discussions with colleagues (38% of sources) and books (22%). These were the two most profitable information foraging sources (15.9 min and 9.5 min search time per answer, compared to 34.3 minutes in databases). GPs nearly always accessed another source when unsuccessful (95% after 1st source), and frequently when successful (43% after 2nd source). Use of multiple sources accounted for 41% of searches, and increased search success from 70% to 89%. By consulting in foraging terms the most 'profitable' sources of information (colleagues, books), rapidly switching sources when unsuccessful, and frequently double checking, GPs achieve an efficient trade-off between maximizing search success and information reliability, and minimizing searching time. As predicted by foraging theory, GPs trade time-consuming evidence-based (electronic) information sources for sources with a higher information reward per unit time searched. Evidence-based practice must accommodate these 'real world' foraging pressures, and Internet resources should evolve to deliver information as effectively as traditional methods of information gathering.

Beyond seismic interferometry: imaging the earth's interior with virtual sources and receivers inside the earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wapenaar, C. P. A.; Van der Neut, J.; Thorbecke, J.; Broggini, F.; Slob, E. C.; Snieder, R.

2015-12-01

Imagine one could place seismic sources and receivers at any desired position inside the earth. Since the receivers would record the full wave field (direct waves, up- and downward reflections, multiples, etc.), this would give a wealth of information about the local structures, material properties and processes in the earth's interior. Although in reality one cannot place sources and receivers anywhere inside the earth, it appears to be possible to create virtual sources and receivers at any desired position, which accurately mimics the desired situation. The underlying method involves some major steps beyond standard seismic interferometry. With seismic interferometry, virtual sources can be created at the positions of physical receivers, assuming these receivers are illuminated isotropically. Our proposed method does not need physical receivers at the positions of the virtual sources; moreover, it does not require isotropic illumination. To create virtual sources and receivers anywhere inside the earth, it suffices to record the reflection response with physical sources and receivers at the earth's surface. We do not need detailed information about the medium parameters; it suffices to have an estimate of the direct waves between the virtual-source positions and the acquisition surface. With these prerequisites, our method can create virtual sources and receivers, anywhere inside the earth, which record the full wave field. The up- and downward reflections, multiples, etc. in the virtual responses are extracted directly from the reflection response at the surface. The retrieved virtual responses form an ideal starting point for accurate seismic imaging, characterization and monitoring.

Plasticity and Awareness of Bodily Distortion

PubMed Central

Zantedeschi, Marta

2016-01-01

Knowledge of the body is filtered by perceptual information, recalibrated through predominantly innate stored information, and neurally mediated by direct sensory motor information. Despite multiple sources, the immediate prediction, construction, and evaluation of one's body are distorted. The origins of such distortions are unclear. In this review, we consider three possible sources of awareness that inform body distortion. First, the precision in the body metric may be based on the sight and positioning sense of a particular body segment. This view provides information on the dual nature of body representation, the reliability of a conscious body image, and implicit alterations in the metrics and positional correspondence of body parts. Second, body awareness may reflect an innate organizational experience of unity and continuity in the brain, with no strong isomorphism to body morphology. Third, body awareness may be based on efferent/afferent neural signals, suggesting that major body distortions may result from changes in neural sensorimotor experiences. All these views can be supported empirically, suggesting that body awareness is synthesized from multimodal integration and the temporal constancy of multiple body representations. For each of these views, we briefly discuss abnormalities and therapeutic strategies for correcting the bodily distortions in various clinical disorders. PMID:27630779

Subjective workload and individual differences in information processing abilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Damos, D. L.

1984-01-01

This paper describes several experiments examining the source of individual differences in the experience of mental workload. Three sources of such differences were examined: information processing abilities, timesharing abilities, and personality traits/behavior patterns. On the whole, there was little evidence that individual differences in information processing abilities or timesharing abilities are related to perceived differences in mental workload. However, individuals with strong Type A coronary prone behavior patterns differed in both single- and multiple-task performance from individuals who showed little evidence of such a pattern. Additionally, individuals with a strong Type A pattern showed some dissociation between objective performance and the experience of mental workload.

Use of sonification in the detection of anomalous events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballora, Mark; Cole, Robert J.; Kruesi, Heidi; Greene, Herbert; Monahan, Ganesh; Hall, David L.

2012-06-01

In this paper, we describe the construction of a soundtrack that fuses stock market data with information taken from tweets. This soundtrack, or auditory display, presents the numerical and text data in such a way that anomalous events may be readily detected, even by untrained listeners. The soundtrack generation is flexible, allowing an individual listener to create a unique audio mix from the available information sources. Properly constructed, the display exploits the auditory system's sensitivities to periodicities, to dynamic changes, and to patterns. This type of display could be valuable in environments that demand high levels of situational awareness based on multiple sources of incoming information.

“ADHD Knowledge, Perceptions and Information Sources: Perspectives from a Community Sample of Adolescents and their Parents”

PubMed Central

Bussing, Regina; Zima, Bonnie T.; Mason, Dana M.; Meyer, Johanna.M.; White, Kimberly; Garvan, Cynthia W.

2012-01-01

PURPOSE The chronic illness model advocates for psychoeducation within a collaborative care model to enhance outcomes. To inform psychoeducational approaches for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), this study describes parent and adolescent knowledge, perceptions and information sources and explores how these vary by sociodemographic characteristics, ADHD risk, and past child mental health service use. METHODS Parents and adolescents were assessed 7.7 years after initial school district screening for ADHD risk. The study sample included 374 adolescents (56% high and 44% low ADHD risk), on average 15.4 (SD 1.8) years old, and 36% were African American. Survey questions assessed ADHD knowledge, perceptions, and cues to action, and elicited utilized and preferred information sources. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine potential independent predictors of ADHD knowledge. McNemar's tests compared information source utilization against preference. RESULTS Despite relatively high self-rated ADHD familiarity, misperceptions among parents and adolescents were common, including a sugar etiology (25% and 27%, respectively) and medication overuse (85% and 67%). African American respondents expressed lower ADHD awareness and greater belief in sugar etiology than Caucasians. Parents used a wide range of ADHD information sources while adolescents relied on social network members and teachers/school. However, parents and adolescents expressed similar strong preferences for the Internet (49% and 51%) and doctor (40% and 27%) as ADHD information sources. CONCLUSION Culturally appropriate psychoeducational strategies are needed that combine doctor-provided ADHD information with reputable Internet sources. Despite time limitations during patient visits, both parents and teens place high priority on receiving information from their doctor. PMID:23174470

Experiential knowledge of expert coaches can help identify informational constraints on performance of dynamic interceptive actions.

PubMed

Greenwood, Daniel; Davids, Keith; Renshaw, Ian

2014-01-01

Coordination of dynamic interceptive movements is predicated on cyclical relations between an individual's actions and information sources from the performance environment. To identify dynamic informational constraints, which are interwoven with individual and task constraints, coaches' experiential knowledge provides a complementary source to support empirical understanding of performance in sport. In this study, 15 expert coaches from 3 sports (track and field, gymnastics and cricket) participated in a semi-structured interview process to identify potential informational constraints which they perceived to regulate action during run-up performance. Expert coaches' experiential knowledge revealed multiple information sources which may constrain performance adaptations in such locomotor pointing tasks. In addition to the locomotor pointing target, coaches' knowledge highlighted two other key informational constraints: vertical reference points located near the locomotor pointing target and a check mark located prior to the locomotor pointing target. This study highlights opportunities for broadening the understanding of perception and action coupling processes, and the identified information sources warrant further empirical investigation as potential constraints on athletic performance. Integration of experiential knowledge of expert coaches with theoretically driven empirical knowledge represents a promising avenue to drive future applied science research and pedagogical practice.

Lessons learned from a pilot implementation of the UMLS information sources map.

PubMed

Miller, P L; Frawley, S J; Wright, L; Roderer, N K; Powsner, S M

1995-01-01

To explore the software design issues involved in implementing an operational information sources map (ISM) knowledge base (KB) and system of navigational tools that can help medical users access network-based information sources relevant to a biomedical question. A pilot biomedical ISM KB and associated client-server software (ISM/Explorer) have been developed to help students, clinicians, researchers, and staff access network-based information sources, as part of the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) multi-institutional Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) project. The system allows the user to specify and constrain a search for a biomedical question of interest. The system then returns a list of sources matching the search. At this point the user may request 1) further information about a source, 2) that the list of sources be regrouped by different criteria to allow the user to get a better overall appreciation of the set of retrieved sources as a whole, or 3) automatic connection to a source. The pilot system operates in client-server mode and currently contains coded information for 121 sources. It is in routine use from approximately 40 workstations at the Yale School of Medicine. The lessons that have been learned are that: 1) it is important to make access to different versions of a source as seamless as possible, 2) achieving seamless, cross-platform access to heterogeneous sources is difficult, 3) significant differences exist between coding the subject content of an electronic information resource versus that of an article or a book, 4) customizing the ISM to multiple institutions entails significant complexities, and 5) there are many design trade-offs between specifying searches and viewing sets of retrieved sources that must be taken into consideration. An ISM KB and navigational tools have been constructed. In the process, much has been learned about the complexities of development and evaluation in this new environment, which are different from those for Gopher, wide area information servers (WAIS), World-Wide-Web (WWW), and MOSAIC resources.

Adapting Word Embeddings from Multiple Domains to Symptom Recognition from Psychiatric Notes

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yaoyun; Li, Hee-Jin; Wang, Jingqi; Cohen, Trevor; Roberts, Kirk; Xu, Hua

2018-01-01

Mental health is increasingly recognized an important topic in healthcare. Information concerning psychiatric symptoms is critical for the timely diagnosis of mental disorders, as well as for the personalization of interventions. However, the diversity and sparsity of psychiatric symptoms make it challenging for conventional natural language processing techniques to automatically extract such information from clinical text. To address this problem, this study takes the initiative to use and adapt word embeddings from four source domains – intensive care, biomedical literature, Wikipedia and Psychiatric Forum – to recognize symptoms in the target domain of psychiatry. We investigated four different approaches including 1) only using word embeddings of the source domain, 2) directly combining data of the source and target to generate word embeddings, 3) assigning different weights to word embeddings, and 4) retraining the word embedding model of the source domain using a corpus of the target domain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work of adapting multiple word embeddings of external domains to improve psychiatric symptom recognition in clinical text. Experimental results showed that the last two approaches outperformed the baseline methods, indicating the effectiveness of our new strategies to leverage embeddings from other domains. PMID:29888086

Contraceptive counselling for women with multiple unintended pregnancies: the abortion client's perspective.

PubMed

Loeber, Olga E; Muntinga, Maaike E

2017-04-01

Some women have multiple unintended pregnancies. Appropriate interventions could prevent some of the abortions that follow. This article presents the opinions of some abortion clients about their contraception and the counselling they received. It also formulates suggestions for counselling strategies of health care providers (HCPs) and other interventions that can support effective contraceptive behaviour. A mixed method approach was used. A quantitative survey was carried out in one clinic in the Netherlands (N = 201), assessing topics related to contraceptive use and counselling. Semi-structured interviews (n = 11) were conducted with women who had had at least three unintended pregnancies. Interview topics included the type of contraceptive counselling, experience with contraceptive counselling and preferences regarding access to contraceptive information. Women who had had multiple abortions were more likely to express a need for contraceptive counselling and more often discussed contraception with their HCP compared with women who had had one abortion. Several themes emerged from the semi-structured interviews that had partially contributed to further unplanned pregnancies: experience with counselling, acceptability of the contraceptive method, sources of information and cultural influences. Many women with multiple unintended pregnancies could not find suitable advice and stated preferences for future decision making. This study offers insight into the motives for contraceptive use of women with multiple unintended pregnancies. Contraceptive efficacy could be improved by implementing counselling that is adapted to individual needs. The respondents stated that they would appreciate other sources of information, such as support through other forms of communication. The formation of a working group would be helpful in developing these services.

Integration and Beyond

PubMed Central

Stead, William W.; Miller, Randolph A.; Musen, Mark A.; Hersh, William R.

2000-01-01

The vision of integrating information—from a variety of sources, into the way people work, to improve decisions and process—is one of the cornerstones of biomedical informatics. Thoughts on how this vision might be realized have evolved as improvements in information and communication technologies, together with discoveries in biomedical informatics, and have changed the art of the possible. This review identified three distinct generations of “integration” projects. First-generation projects create a database and use it for multiple purposes. Second-generation projects integrate by bringing information from various sources together through enterprise information architecture. Third-generation projects inter-relate disparate but accessible information sources to provide the appearance of integration. The review suggests that the ideas developed in the earlier generations have not been supplanted by ideas from subsequent generations. Instead, the ideas represent a continuum of progress along the three dimensions of workflow, structure, and extraction. PMID:10730596

Intelligent Information Fusion in the Aviation Domain: A Semantic-Web based Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ashish, Naveen; Goforth, Andre

2005-01-01

Information fusion from multiple sources is a critical requirement for System Wide Information Management in the National Airspace (NAS). NASA and the FAA envision creating an "integrated pool" of information originally coming from different sources, which users, intelligent agents and NAS decision support tools can tap into. In this paper we present the results of our initial investigations into the requirements and prototype development of such an integrated information pool for the NAS. We have attempted to ascertain key requirements for such an integrated pool based on a survey of DSS tools that will benefit from this integrated pool. We then advocate key technologies from computer science research areas such as the semantic web, information integration, and intelligent agents that we believe are well suited to achieving the envisioned system wide information management capabilities.

Modal Analysis Using the Singular Value Decomposition and Rational Fraction Polynomials

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-06

information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and...results. The programs are designed for experimental datasets with multiple drive and response points and have proven effective even for systems with... designed for experimental datasets with multiple drive and response points and have proven effective even for systems with numerous closely-spaced

Representation and Integration of Scientific Information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

The objective of this Joint Research Interchange with NASA-Ames was to investigate how the Tsimmis technology could be used to represent and integrate scientific information. The funding allowed us to work with researchers within NAS at the NASA Ames Research Center, to understand their information needs, and to work with them on integration strategies. Most organizations have a need to access and integrate information from multiple, disparate information sources that may include both structured as well as semi-structured information. At Stanford we have been working on an information integration project called Tsimmis, supported by DARPA. The main goal of the Tsimmis project is to allow a decision maker to find information of interest from such sources, fuse it, and process it (e.g., summarize it, visualize it, discover trends). Another important goal is the easy incorporation of new sources, as well the ability of deal with sources whose structure or services evolve. During the Interchange we had research meetings approximately every month or two. The participants from NASA included Michael Cox and Peter Vanderbilt. The Stanford PI, and various students and Stanford staff members also participated. NASA researchers also participated in some of our regular Tsimmis meetings. As planned, our meetings discussed problems and solutions to various information integration problems.

21 CFR 516.20 - Content and format of a request for MUMS-drug designation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... information required in paragraph (b) of this section. While a request for designation may involve multiple... a completed, dated, and signed request for designation that contains the following information: (1... and trade name, if any, of the drug; and the name and address of the source of the drug. (3) A...

21 CFR 516.20 - Content and format of a request for MUMS-drug designation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... information required in paragraph (b) of this section. While a request for designation may involve multiple... a completed, dated, and signed request for designation that contains the following information: (1... and trade name, if any, of the drug; and the name and address of the source of the drug. (3) A...

When Neurons Meet Electrons: Three Trends That Are Sparking Change in Computer Publishing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cranney, Charles

1992-01-01

Three important trends in desktop publishing include (1) use of multiple media in presentation of information; (2) networking; and (3) "hot links" (integrated file-exchange formats). It is also important for college publications professionals to be familiar with sources of information about technological change and to be able to sort out the…

Identifying preferred format and source of exercise information in persons with multiple sclerosis that can be delivered by health-care providers.

PubMed

Learmonth, Yvonne C; Adamson, Brynn C; Balto, Julia M; Chiu, Chung-Yi; Molina-Guzman, Isabel M; Finlayson, Marcia; Riskin, Barry J; Motl, Robert W

2017-10-01

There is increasing recognition of the benefits of exercise in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), yet the MS population does not engage in sufficient amounts of exercise to accrue health benefits. There has been little qualitative inquiry to establish the preferred format and source for receiving exercise information from health-care providers among persons with MS. We sought to identify the desired and preferred format and source of exercise information for persons with MS that can be delivered through health-care providers. Participants were adults with MS who had mild or moderate disability and participated in a range of exercise levels. All participants lived in the Midwest of the United States. Fifty semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Two themes emerged, (i) approach for receiving exercise promotion and (ii) ideal person for promoting exercise. Persons with MS want to receive exercise information through in-person consultations with health-care providers, print media and electronic media. Persons with MS want to receive exercise promotion from health-care providers with expertise in MS (ie neurologists) and with expertise in exercise (eg physical therapists). These data support the importance of understanding how to provide exercise information to persons with MS and identifying that health-care providers including neurologists and physical therapists should be involved in exercise promotion. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Discovery in a World of Mashups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, T. A.; Ritschel, B.; Hourcle, J. A.; Moon, I. S.

2014-12-01

When the first digital information was stored electronically, discovery of what existed was through file names and the organization of the file system. With the advent of networks, digital information was shared on a wider scale, but discovery remained based on file and folder names. With a growing number of information sources, named based discovery quickly became ineffective. The keyword based search engine was one of the first types of a mashup in the world of Web 1.0. Embedded links from one document to another with prescribed relationships between files and the world of Web 2.0 was formed. Search engines like Google used the links to improve search results and a worldwide mashup was formed. While a vast improvement, the need for semantic (meaning rich) discovery was clear, especially for the discovery of scientific data. In response, every science discipline defined schemas to describe their type of data. Some core schemas where shared, but most schemas are custom tailored even though they share many common concepts. As with the networking of information sources, science increasingly relies on data from multiple disciplines. So there is a need to bring together multiple sources of semantically rich information. We explore how harvesting, conceptual mapping, facet based search engines, search term promotion, and style sheets can be combined to create the next generation of mashups in the emerging world of Web 3.0. We use NASA's Planetary Data System and NASA's Heliophysics Data Environment to illustrate how to create a multi-discipline mash-up.

Discovering perturbation of modular structure in HIV progression by integrating multiple data sources through non-negative matrix factorization.

PubMed

Ray, Sumanta; Maulik, Ujjwal

2016-12-20

Detecting perturbation in modular structure during HIV-1 disease progression is an important step to understand stage specific infection pattern of HIV-1 virus in human cell. In this article, we proposed a novel methodology on integration of multiple biological information to identify such disruption in human gene module during different stages of HIV-1 infection. We integrate three different biological information: gene expression information, protein-protein interaction information and gene ontology information in single gene meta-module, through non negative matrix factorization (NMF). As the identified metamodules inherit those information so, detecting perturbation of these, reflects the changes in expression pattern, in PPI structure and in functional similarity of genes during the infection progression. To integrate modules of different data sources into strong meta-modules, NMF based clustering is utilized here. Perturbation in meta-modular structure is identified by investigating the topological and intramodular properties and putting rank to those meta-modules using a rank aggregation algorithm. We have also analyzed the preservation structure of significant GO terms in which the human proteins of the meta-modules participate. Moreover, we have performed an analysis to show the change of coregulation pattern of identified transcription factors (TFs) over the HIV progression stages.

THE AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT TOOL

EPA Science Inventory

A toolkit for distributed hydrologic modeling at multiple scales using a geographic information system is presented. This open-source, freely available software was developed through a collaborative endeavor involving two Universities and two government agencies. Called the Auto...

Real-time strategy game training: emergence of a cognitive flexibility trait.

PubMed

Glass, Brian D; Maddox, W Todd; Love, Bradley C

2013-01-01

Training in action video games can increase the speed of perceptual processing. However, it is unknown whether video-game training can lead to broad-based changes in higher-level competencies such as cognitive flexibility, a core and neurally distributed component of cognition. To determine whether video gaming can enhance cognitive flexibility and, if so, why these changes occur, the current study compares two versions of a real-time strategy (RTS) game. Using a meta-analytic Bayes factor approach, we found that the gaming condition that emphasized maintenance and rapid switching between multiple information and action sources led to a large increase in cognitive flexibility as measured by a wide array of non-video gaming tasks. Theoretically, the results suggest that the distributed brain networks supporting cognitive flexibility can be tuned by engrossing video game experience that stresses maintenance and rapid manipulation of multiple information sources. Practically, these results suggest avenues for increasing cognitive function.

Real-Time Strategy Game Training: Emergence of a Cognitive Flexibility Trait

PubMed Central

Glass, Brian D.; Maddox, W. Todd; Love, Bradley C.

2013-01-01

Training in action video games can increase the speed of perceptual processing. However, it is unknown whether video-game training can lead to broad-based changes in higher-level competencies such as cognitive flexibility, a core and neurally distributed component of cognition. To determine whether video gaming can enhance cognitive flexibility and, if so, why these changes occur, the current study compares two versions of a real-time strategy (RTS) game. Using a meta-analytic Bayes factor approach, we found that the gaming condition that emphasized maintenance and rapid switching between multiple information and action sources led to a large increase in cognitive flexibility as measured by a wide array of non-video gaming tasks. Theoretically, the results suggest that the distributed brain networks supporting cognitive flexibility can be tuned by engrossing video game experience that stresses maintenance and rapid manipulation of multiple information sources. Practically, these results suggest avenues for increasing cognitive function. PMID:23950921

Linearized inversion of multiple scattering seismic energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldawood, Ali; Hoteit, Ibrahim; Zuberi, Mohammad

2014-05-01

Internal multiples deteriorate the quality of the migrated image obtained conventionally by imaging single scattering energy. So, imaging seismic data with the single-scattering assumption does not locate multiple bounces events in their actual subsurface positions. However, imaging internal multiples properly has the potential to enhance the migrated image because they illuminate zones in the subsurface that are poorly illuminated by single scattering energy such as nearly vertical faults. Standard migration of these multiples provides subsurface reflectivity distributions with low spatial resolution and migration artifacts due to the limited recording aperture, coarse sources and receivers sampling, and the band-limited nature of the source wavelet. The resultant image obtained by the adjoint operator is a smoothed depiction of the true subsurface reflectivity model and is heavily masked by migration artifacts and the source wavelet fingerprint that needs to be properly deconvolved. Hence, we proposed a linearized least-square inversion scheme to mitigate the effect of the migration artifacts, enhance the spatial resolution, and provide more accurate amplitude information when imaging internal multiples. The proposed algorithm uses the least-square image based on single-scattering assumption as a constraint to invert for the part of the image that is illuminated by internal scattering energy. Then, we posed the problem of imaging double-scattering energy as a least-square minimization problem that requires solving the normal equation of the following form: GTGv = GTd, (1) where G is a linearized forward modeling operator that predicts double-scattered seismic data. Also, GT is a linearized adjoint operator that image double-scattered seismic data. Gradient-based optimization algorithms solve this linear system. Hence, we used a quasi-Newton optimization technique to find the least-square minimizer. In this approach, an estimate of the Hessian matrix that contains curvature information is modified at every iteration by a low-rank update based on gradient changes at every step. At each iteration, the data residual is imaged using GT to determine the model update. Application of the linearized inversion to synthetic data to image a vertical fault plane demonstrate the effectiveness of this methodology to properly delineate the vertical fault plane and give better amplitude information than the standard migrated image using the adjoint operator that takes into account internal multiples. Thus, least-square imaging of multiple scattering enhances the spatial resolution of the events illuminated by internal scattering energy. It also deconvolves the source signature and helps remove the fingerprint of the acquisition geometry. The final image is obtained by the superposition of the least-square solution based on single scattering assumption and the least-square solution based on double scattering assumption.

Assessing the Representation of Occupation Information in Free-Text Clinical Documents Across Multiple Sources

PubMed Central

Lindemann, Elizabeth A.; Chen, Elizabeth S.; Rajamani, Sripriya; Manohar, Nivedha; Wang, Yan; Melton, Genevieve B.

2017-01-01

There has been increasing recognition of the key role of social determinants like occupation on health. Given the relatively poor understanding of occupation information in electronic health records (EHRs), we sought to characterize occupation information within free-text clinical document sources. From six distinct clinical sources, 868 total occupation-related sentences were identified for the study corpus. Building off approaches from previous studies, refined annotation guidelines were created using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Data for Health data model with elements added to increase granularity. Our corpus generated 2,005 total annotations representing 39 of 41 entity types from the enhanced data model. Highest frequency entities were: Occupation Description (17.7%); Employment Status – Not Specified (12.5%); Employer Name (11.0%); Subject (9.8%); Industry Description (6.2%). Our findings support the value for standardizing entry of EHR occupation information to improve data quality for improved patient care and secondary uses of this information. PMID:29295142

Region 9 Tribal Lands

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Dataset of all Indian Reservations in US EPA Region 9 (California, Arizona and Nevada) with some reservation border areas of adjacent states included (adjacent areas of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah). Reservation boundaries are compiled from multiple sources and are derived from several different source scales. Information such as reservation type, primary tribe name are included with the feature dataset. Public Domain Allotments are not included in this data set.

Tracking Vessels to Illegal Pollutant Discharges Using Multisource Vessel Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Busler, J.; Wehn, H.; Woodhouse, L.

2015-04-01

Illegal discharge of bilge waters is a significant source of oil and other environmental pollutants in Canadian and international waters. Imaging satellites are commonly used to monitor large areas to detect oily discharges from vessels, off-shore platforms and other sources. While remotely sensed imagery provides a snap-shot picture useful for detecting a spill or the presence of vessels in the vicinity, it is difficult to directly associate a vessel to an observed spill unless the vessel is observed while the discharge is occurring. The situation then becomes more challenging with increased vessel traffic as multiple vessels may be associated with a spill event. By combining multiple sources of vessel location data, such as Automated Information Systems (AIS), Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) and SAR-based ship detection, with spill detections and drift models we have created a system that associates detected spill events with vessels in the area using a probabilistic model that intersects vessel tracks and spill drift trajectories in both time and space. Working with the Canadian Space Agency and the Canadian Ice Service's Integrated Satellite Tracking of Pollution (ISTOP) program, we use spills observed in Canadian waters to demonstrate the investigative value of augmenting spill detections with temporally sequenced vessel and spill tracking information.

Counteracting estimation bias and social influence to improve the wisdom of crowds.

PubMed

Kao, Albert B; Berdahl, Andrew M; Hartnett, Andrew T; Lutz, Matthew J; Bak-Coleman, Joseph B; Ioannou, Christos C; Giam, Xingli; Couzin, Iain D

2018-04-01

Aggregating multiple non-expert opinions into a collective estimate can improve accuracy across many contexts. However, two sources of error can diminish collective wisdom: individual estimation biases and information sharing between individuals. Here, we measure individual biases and social influence rules in multiple experiments involving hundreds of individuals performing a classic numerosity estimation task. We first investigate how existing aggregation methods, such as calculating the arithmetic mean or the median, are influenced by these sources of error. We show that the mean tends to overestimate, and the median underestimate, the true value for a wide range of numerosities. Quantifying estimation bias, and mapping individual bias to collective bias, allows us to develop and validate three new aggregation measures that effectively counter sources of collective estimation error. In addition, we present results from a further experiment that quantifies the social influence rules that individuals employ when incorporating personal estimates with social information. We show that the corrected mean is remarkably robust to social influence, retaining high accuracy in the presence or absence of social influence, across numerosities and across different methods for averaging social information. Using knowledge of estimation biases and social influence rules may therefore be an inexpensive and general strategy to improve the wisdom of crowds. © 2018 The Author(s).

ADHD knowledge, perceptions, and information sources: perspectives from a community sample of adolescents and their parents.

PubMed

Bussing, Regina; Zima, Bonnie T; Mason, Dana M; Meyer, Johanna M; White, Kimberly; Garvan, Cynthia W

2012-12-01

The chronic illness model advocates for psychoeducation within a collaborative care model to enhance outcomes. To inform psychoeducational approaches for ADHD, this study describes parent and adolescent knowledge, perceptions, and information sources and explores how these vary by sociodemographic characteristics, ADHD risk, and past child mental health service use. Parents and adolescents were assessed 7.7 years after initial school district screening for ADHD risk. The study sample included 374 adolescents (56% high and 44% low ADHD risk) aged, on average, 15.4 (standard deviation = 1.8) years, and 36% were African American. Survey questions assessed ADHD knowledge, perceptions, and cues to action and elicited used and preferred information sources. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine potential independent predictors of ADHD knowledge. McNemar tests compared information source utilization against preference. Despite relatively high self-rated ADHD familiarity, misperceptions among parents and adolescents were common, including a sugar etiology (25% and 27%, respectively) and medication overuse (85% and 67%, respectively). African American respondents expressed less ADHD awareness and greater belief in sugar etiology than Caucasians. Parents used a wide range of ADHD information sources, whereas adolescents relied on social network members and teachers/school. However, parents and adolescents expressed similar strong preferences for the Internet (49% and 51%, respectively) and doctor (40% and 27%, respectively) as ADHD information sources. Culturally appropriate psychoeducational strategies are needed that combine doctor-provided ADHD information with reputable Internet sources. Despite time limitations during patient visits, both parents and teens place high priority on receiving information from their doctor. Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing health information system adoption in American hospitals.

PubMed

Wang, Bill B; Wan, Thomas T H; Burke, Darrell E; Bazzoli, Gloria J; Lin, Blossom Y J

2005-01-01

To study the number of health information systems (HISs), applicable to administrative, clinical, and executive decision support functionalities, adopted by acute care hospitals and to examine how hospital market, organizational, and financial factors influence HIS adoption. A cross-sectional analysis was performed with 1441 hospitals selected from metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. Multiple data sources were merged. Six hypotheses were empirically tested by multiple regression analysis. HIS adoption was influenced by the hospital market, organizational, and financial factors. Larger, system-affiliated, and for-profit hospitals with more preferred provider organization contracts are more likely to adopt managerial information systems than their counterparts. Operating revenue is positively associated with HIS adoption. The study concludes that hospital organizational and financial factors influence on hospitals' strategic adoption of clinical, administrative, and managerial information systems.

A hierarchical modeling approach to estimate regional acute health effects of particulate matter sources

PubMed Central

Krall, J. R.; Hackstadt, A. J.; Peng, R. D.

2017-01-01

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution has been associated with a range of adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalizations and other clinical parameters. Determining which sources of PM, such as traffic or industry, are most associated with adverse health outcomes could help guide future recommendations aimed at reducing harmful pollution exposure for susceptible individuals. Information obtained from multisite studies, which is generally more precise than information from a single location, is critical to understanding how PM impacts health and to informing local strategies for reducing individual-level PM exposure. However, few methods exist to perform multisite studies of PM sources, which are not generally directly observed, and adverse health outcomes. We developed SHARE, a hierarchical modeling approach that facilitates reproducible, multisite epidemiologic studies of PM sources. SHARE is a two-stage approach that first summarizes information about PM sources across multiple sites. Then, this information is used to determine how community-level (i.e. county- or city-level) health effects of PM sources should be pooled to estimate regional-level health effects. SHARE is a type of population value decomposition that aims to separate out regional-level features from site-level data. Unlike previous approaches for multisite epidemiologic studies of PM sources, the SHARE approach allows the specific PM sources identified to vary by site. Using data from 2000–2010 for 63 northeastern US counties, we estimated regional-level health effects associated with short-term exposure to major types of PM sources. We found PM from secondary sulfate, traffic, and metals sources was most associated with CVD hospitalizations. PMID:28098412

The ADAM project: a generic web interface for retrieval and display of ATLAS TDAQ information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harwood, A.; Lehmann Miotto, G.; Magnoni, L.; Vandelli, W.; Savu, D.

2012-06-01

This paper describes a new approach to the visualization of information about the operation of the ATLAS Trigger and Data Acquisition system. ATLAS is one of the two general purpose detectors positioned along the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Its data acquisition system consists of several thousand computers interconnected via multiple gigabit Ethernet networks, that are constantly monitored via different tools. Operational parameters ranging from the temperature of the computers to the network utilization are stored in several databases for later analysis. Although the ability to view these data-sets individually is already in place, currently there is no way to view this data together, in a uniform format, from one location. The ADAM project has been launched in order to overcome this limitation. It defines a uniform web interface to collect data from multiple providers that have different structures. It is capable of aggregating and correlating the data according to user defined criteria. Finally, it visualizes the collected data using a flexible and interactive front-end web system. Structurally, the project comprises of 3 main levels of the data collection cycle: The Level 0 represents the information sources within ATLAS. These providers do not store information in a uniform fashion. The first step of the project was to define a common interface with which to expose stored data. The interface designed for the project originates from the Google Data Protocol API. The idea is to allow read-only access to data providers, through HTTP requests similar in format to the SQL query structure. This provides a standardized way to access this different information sources within ATLAS. The Level 1 can be considered the engine of the system. The primary task of the Level 1 is to gather data from multiple data sources via the common interface, to correlate this data together, or over a defined time series, and expose the combined data as a whole to the Level 2 web interface. The Level 2 is designed to present the data in a similar style and aesthetic, despite the different data sources. Pages can be constructed, edited and personalized by users to suit the specific data being shown. Pages can show a collection of graphs displaying data potentially coming from multiple sources. The project as a whole has a great amount of scope thanks to the uniform approach chosen for exposing data, and the flexibility of the Level 2 in presenting results. The paper will describe in detail the design and implementation of this new tool. In particular we will go through the project architecture, the implementation choices and the examples of usage of the system in place within the ATLAS TDAQ infrastructure.

Localizing the sources of two independent noises: Role of time varying amplitude differences

PubMed Central

Yost, William A.; Brown, Christopher A.

2013-01-01

Listeners localized the free-field sources of either one or two simultaneous and independently generated noise bursts. Listeners' localization performance was better when localizing one rather than two sound sources. With two sound sources, localization performance was better when the listener was provided prior information about the location of one of them. Listeners also localized two simultaneous noise bursts that had sinusoidal amplitude modulation (AM) applied, in which the modulation envelope was in-phase across the two source locations or was 180° out-of-phase. The AM was employed to investigate a hypothesis as to what process listeners might use to localize multiple sound sources. The results supported the hypothesis that localization of two sound sources might be based on temporal-spectral regions of the combined waveform in which the sound from one source was more intense than that from the other source. The interaural information extracted from such temporal-spectral regions might provide reliable estimates of the sound source location that produced the more intense sound in that temporal-spectral region. PMID:23556597

Localizing the sources of two independent noises: role of time varying amplitude differences.

PubMed

Yost, William A; Brown, Christopher A

2013-04-01

Listeners localized the free-field sources of either one or two simultaneous and independently generated noise bursts. Listeners' localization performance was better when localizing one rather than two sound sources. With two sound sources, localization performance was better when the listener was provided prior information about the location of one of them. Listeners also localized two simultaneous noise bursts that had sinusoidal amplitude modulation (AM) applied, in which the modulation envelope was in-phase across the two source locations or was 180° out-of-phase. The AM was employed to investigate a hypothesis as to what process listeners might use to localize multiple sound sources. The results supported the hypothesis that localization of two sound sources might be based on temporal-spectral regions of the combined waveform in which the sound from one source was more intense than that from the other source. The interaural information extracted from such temporal-spectral regions might provide reliable estimates of the sound source location that produced the more intense sound in that temporal-spectral region.

"These issues aren't talked about at home": a qualitative study of the sexual and reproductive health information preferences of adolescents in Vanuatu.

PubMed

Kennedy, Elissa C; Bulu, Siula; Harris, Jennifer; Humphreys, David; Malverus, Jayline; Gray, Natalie J

2014-07-30

Onset of sexual activity during adolescence is common in Vanuatu, however access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information is limited. Improving adolescents' knowledge about SRH is necessary to improve health outcomes, however little is known about the information needs and preferences of adolescents in the Pacific to inform policy and programs in this region. Sixty-six focus group discussions were conducted with 341 male and female adolescents aged 15-19 years from rural and urban communities on two islands of Vanuatu. Twelve key-informant interviews were also conducted with policymakers and health service providers. Data were analysed thematically using an inductive approach. Much of the SRH information targeting adolescents focused on sexually transmitted infections and HIV. While this information was valued, important gaps were identified including prevention of pregnancy, condom use, puberty, sexuality and relationships. Peer educators and health workers were adolescents' preferred sources of information because they were considered knowledgeable and trustworthy. Parents were not a common source but were preferred, particularly by girls, despite considerable socio-cultural barriers. Schools were an important but underutilised source of information, as were a range of media sources. Providing adolescents with comprehensive SRH information can have life-long protective benefits, however there are important content gaps in information currently provided in Vanuatu. The broad range of sources preferred by adolescents highlights the need to strengthen information provision through multiple channels to reach in and out-of-school youth and respond to individual needs and contexts.

The Role of Gaze and Road Edge Information during High-Speed Locomotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kountouriotis, Georgios K.; Floyd, Rosalind C.; Gardner, Peter H.; Merat, Natasha; Wilkie, Richard M.

2012-01-01

Robust control of skilled actions requires the flexible combination of multiple sources of information. Here we examined the role of gaze during high-speed locomotor steering and in particular the role of feedback from the visible road edges. Participants were required to maintain one of three lateral positions on the road when one or both edges…

History Writing that's "Good to Think with": "The Great Fire," "Blizzard!" and "An American Plague"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zarnowski, Myra

2009-01-01

In this article I argue that history books that are "good to think with" narrate history and, at the same time, provide insight into how it is constructed. These books are much more than collections of facts. Specifically, they provide information about historical context, multiple perspectives, sources of information, and original interpretation.…

An Applied Framework for Incorporating Multiple Sources of Uncertainty in Fisheries Stock Assessments.

PubMed

Scott, Finlay; Jardim, Ernesto; Millar, Colin P; Cerviño, Santiago

2016-01-01

Estimating fish stock status is very challenging given the many sources and high levels of uncertainty surrounding the biological processes (e.g. natural variability in the demographic rates), model selection (e.g. choosing growth or stock assessment models) and parameter estimation. Incorporating multiple sources of uncertainty in a stock assessment allows advice to better account for the risks associated with proposed management options, promoting decisions that are more robust to such uncertainty. However, a typical assessment only reports the model fit and variance of estimated parameters, thereby underreporting the overall uncertainty. Additionally, although multiple candidate models may be considered, only one is selected as the 'best' result, effectively rejecting the plausible assumptions behind the other models. We present an applied framework to integrate multiple sources of uncertainty in the stock assessment process. The first step is the generation and conditioning of a suite of stock assessment models that contain different assumptions about the stock and the fishery. The second step is the estimation of parameters, including fitting of the stock assessment models. The final step integrates across all of the results to reconcile the multi-model outcome. The framework is flexible enough to be tailored to particular stocks and fisheries and can draw on information from multiple sources to implement a broad variety of assumptions, making it applicable to stocks with varying levels of data availability The Iberian hake stock in International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Divisions VIIIc and IXa is used to demonstrate the framework, starting from length-based stock and indices data. Process and model uncertainty are considered through the growth, natural mortality, fishing mortality, survey catchability and stock-recruitment relationship. Estimation uncertainty is included as part of the fitting process. Simple model averaging is used to integrate across the results and produce a single assessment that considers the multiple sources of uncertainty.

Important ingredients for health adaptive information systems.

PubMed

Senathirajah, Yalini; Bakken, Suzanne

2011-01-01

Healthcare information systems frequently do not truly meet clinician needs, due to the complexity, variability, and rapid change in medical contexts. Recently the internet world has been transformed by approaches commonly termed 'Web 2.0'. This paper proposes a Web 2.0 model for a healthcare adaptive architecture. The vision includes creating modular, user-composable systems which aim to make all necessary information from multiple internal and external sources available via a platform, for the user to use, arrange, recombine, author, and share at will, using rich interfaces where advisable. Clinicians can create a set of 'widgets' and 'views' which can transform data, reflect their domain knowledge and cater to their needs, using simple drag and drop interfaces without the intervention of programmers. We have built an example system, MedWISE, embodying the user-facing parts of the model. This approach to HIS is expected to have several advantages, including greater suitability to user needs (reflecting clinician rather than programmer concepts and priorities), incorporation of multiple information sources, agile reconfiguration to meet emerging situations and new treatment deployment, capture of user domain expertise and tacit knowledge, efficiencies due to workflow and human-computer interaction improvements, and greater user acceptance.

An Integrated Nursing Management Information System: From Concept to Reality

PubMed Central

Pinkley, Connie L.; Sommer, Patricia K.

1988-01-01

This paper addresses the transition from the conceptualization of a Nursing Management Information System (NMIS) integrated and interdependent with the Hospital Information System (HIS) to its realization. Concepts of input, throughout, and output are presented to illustrate developmental strategies used to achieve nursing information products. Essential processing capabilities include: 1) ability to interact with multiple data sources; 2) database management, statistical, and graphics software packages; 3) online, batch and reporting; and 4) interactive data analysis. Challenges encountered in system construction are examined.

Method for measuring multiple scattering corrections between liquid scintillators

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

Verbeke, J. M.; Glenn, A. M.; Keefer, G. J.

2016-04-11

In this study, a time-of-flight method is proposed to experimentally quantify the fractions of neutrons scattering between scintillators. An array of scintillators is characterized in terms of crosstalk with this method by measuring a californium source, for different neutron energy thresholds. The spectral information recorded by the scintillators can be used to estimate the fractions of neutrons multiple scattering. With the help of a correction to Feynman's point model theory to account for multiple scattering, these fractions can in turn improve the mass reconstruction of fissile materials under investigation.

Intuitive theories of information: beliefs about the value of redundancy.

PubMed

Soll, J B

1999-03-01

In many situations, quantity estimates from multiple experts or diagnostic instruments must be collected and combined. Normatively, and all else equal, one should value information sources that are nonredundant, in the sense that correlation in forecast errors should be minimized. Past research on the preference for redundancy has been inconclusive. While some studies have suggested that people correctly place higher value on uncorrelated inputs when collecting estimates, others have shown that people either ignore correlation or, in some cases, even prefer it. The present experiments show that the preference for redundancy depends on one's intuitive theory of information. The most common intuitive theory identified is the Error Tradeoff Model (ETM), which explicitly distinguishes between measurement error and bias. According to ETM, measurement error can only be averaged out by consulting the same source multiple times (normatively false), and bias can only be averaged out by consulting different sources (normatively true). As a result, ETM leads people to prefer redundant estimates when the ratio of measurement error to bias is relatively high. Other participants favored different theories. Some adopted the normative model, while others were reluctant to mathematically average estimates from different sources in any circumstance. In a post hoc analysis, science majors were more likely than others to subscribe to the normative model. While tentative, this result lends insight into how intuitive theories might develop and also has potential ramifications for how statistical concepts such as correlation might best be learned and internalized. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Online health information seeking: how people with multiple sclerosis find, assess and integrate treatment information to manage their health.

PubMed

Synnot, Anneliese J; Hill, Sophie J; Garner, Kerryn A; Summers, Michael P; Filippini, Graziella; Osborne, Richard H; Shapland, Sue D P; Colombo, Cinzia; Mosconi, Paola

2016-06-01

The Internet is increasingly prominent as a source of health information for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). But there has been little exploration of the needs, experiences and preferences of people with MS for integrating treatment information into decision making, in the context of searching on the Internet. This was the aim of our study. Sixty participants (51 people with MS; nine family members) took part in a focus group or online forum. They were asked to describe how they find and assess reliable treatment information (particularly online) and how this changes over time. Thematic analysis was underpinned by a coding frame. Participants described that there was both too much information online and too little that applied to them. They spoke of wariness and scepticism but also empowerment. The availability of up-to-date and unbiased treatment information, including practical and lifestyle-related information, was important to many. Many participants were keen to engage in a 'research partnership' with health professionals and developed a range of strategies to enhance the trustworthiness of online information. We use the term 'self-regulation' to capture the variations in information seeking behaviour that participants described over time, as they responded to their changing information needs, their emotional state and growing expertise about MS. People with MS have developed a number of strategies to both find and integrate treatment information from a range of sources. Their reflections informed the development of an evidence-based consumer web site based on summaries of MS Cochrane reviews. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Flood extent and water level estimation from SAR using data-model integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajadi, O. A.; Meyer, F. J.

2017-12-01

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images have long been recognized as a valuable data source for flood mapping. Compared to other sources, SAR's weather and illumination independence and large area coverage at high spatial resolution supports reliable, frequent, and detailed observations of developing flood events. Accordingly, SAR has the potential to greatly aid in the near real-time monitoring of natural hazards, such as flood detection, if combined with automated image processing. This research works towards increasing the reliability and temporal sampling of SAR-derived flood hazard information by integrating information from multiple SAR sensors and SAR modalities (images and Interferometric SAR (InSAR) coherence) and by combining SAR-derived change detection information with hydrologic and hydraulic flood forecast models. First, the combination of multi-temporal SAR intensity images and coherence information for generating flood extent maps is introduced. The application of least-squares estimation integrates flood information from multiple SAR sensors, thus increasing the temporal sampling. SAR-based flood extent information will be combined with a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to reduce false alarms and to estimate water depth and flood volume. The SAR-based flood extent map is assimilated into the Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (Hec-RAS) model to aid in hydraulic model calibration. The developed technology is improving the accuracy of flood information by exploiting information from data and models. It also provides enhanced flood information to decision-makers supporting the response to flood extent and improving emergency relief efforts.

Analysis of Ribosome Inactivating Protein (RIP): A Bioinformatics Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jothi, G. Edward Gnana; Majilla, G. Sahaya Jose; Subhashini, D.; Deivasigamani, B.

2012-10-01

In spite of the medical advances in recent years, the world is in need of different sources to encounter certain health issues.Ribosome Inactivating Proteins (RIPs) were found to be one among them. In order to get easy access about RIPs, there is a need to analyse RIPs towards constructing a database on RIPs. Also, multiple sequence alignment was done towards screening for homologues of significant RIPs from rare sources against RIPs from easily available sources in terms of similarity. Protein sequences were retrieved from SWISS-PROT and are further analysed using pair wise and multiple sequence alignment.Analysis shows that, 151 RIPs have been characterized to date. Amongst them, there are 87 type I, 37 type II, 1 type III and 25 unknown RIPs. The sequence length information of various RIPs about the availability of full or partial sequence was also found. The multiple sequence alignment of 37 type I RIP using the online server Multalin, indicates the presence of 20 conserved residues. Pairwise alignment and multiple sequence alignment of certain selected RIPs in two groups namely Group I and Group II were carried out and the consensus level was found to be 98%, 98% and 90% respectively.

IT/IS plus E: exploring the need for e-integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miele, Renato; Gunasekaran, Angappa; Yusuf, Yahaya Y.

2000-10-01

The change in IT/IS strategy is about the Internet becoming a major part of the corporate environment and driving decisions more and more. Companies of all sizes and industries can fully engage employees, customers and partners to capitalize upon the new Internet economy. They can optimize supply chains, managing strategic relationships, reducing time to market, sharing vital information, and increasing productivity and shareholder value. Remaining competitive in today's rapidly changing global marketplace requires fast action. The problem is now how much, how soon, and what kind of Internet based components are essential for companies to be successful, and how the adoption of E-Integration can become a critical component of company's survival in an increasingly competitive environment. How information, knowledge and innovation processes can drive business success are fundamental notions for the information- based economy, which have been extensively researched and confirmed throughout the IT revolution. The new capabilities to use the Internet to supply large amounts of relevant information from multiple internal and external sources give the possibility to move from isolate Information Systems toward an integrated environment in every business organization. The article addresses how E-Integration must link together data from multiple sources, providing a seamless system, fully interoperable with pre-existing IT environment, totally scalable and upgradeable.

Implementation of Single Source Based Hospital Information System for the Catholic Medical Center Affiliated Hospitals

PubMed Central

Choi, Inyoung; Choi, Ran; Lee, Jonghyun

2010-01-01

Objectives The objective of this research is to introduce the unique approach of the Catholic Medical Center (CMC) integrate network hospitals with organizational and technical methodologies adopted for seamless implementation. Methods The Catholic Medical Center has developed a new hospital information system to connect network hospitals and adopted new information technology architecture which uses single source for multiple distributed hospital systems. Results The hospital information system of the CMC was developed to integrate network hospitals adopting new system development principles; one source, one route and one management. This information architecture has reduced the cost for system development and operation, and has enhanced the efficiency of the management process. Conclusions Integrating network hospital through information system was not simple; it was much more complicated than single organization implementation. We are still looking for more efficient communication channel and decision making process, and also believe that our new system architecture will be able to improve CMC health care system and provide much better quality of health care service to patients and customers. PMID:21818432

48 CFR 2910.002 - Procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Section 2910.002 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ACQUISITION PLANNING MARKET RESEARCH 2910.002 Procedures. (a) In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(c), purchase descriptions must not specify... Contracts, should include product information concerning multiple sources based on research from www...

48 CFR 2910.002 - Procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Section 2910.002 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ACQUISITION PLANNING MARKET RESEARCH 2910.002 Procedures. (a) In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(c), purchase descriptions must not specify... Contracts, should include product information concerning multiple sources based on research from www...

Dealing with the Data Deluge: Handling the Multitude Of Chemical Biology Data Sources

PubMed Central

Guha, Rajarshi; Nguyen, Dac-Trung; Southall, Noel; Jadhav, Ajit

2012-01-01

Over the last 20 years, there has been an explosion in the amount and type of biological and chemical data that has been made publicly available in a variety of online databases. While this means that vast amounts of information can be found online, there is no guarantee that it can be found easily (or at all). A scientist searching for a specific piece of information is faced with a daunting task - many databases have overlapping content, use their own identifiers and, in some cases, have arcane and unintuitive user interfaces. In this overview, a variety of well known data sources for chemical and biological information are highlighted, focusing on those most useful for chemical biology research. The issue of using multiple data sources together and the associated problems such as identifier disambiguation are highlighted. A brief discussion is then provided on Tripod, a recently developed platform that supports the integration of arbitrary data sources, providing users a simple interface to search across a federated collection of resources. PMID:26609498

Two Wrongs Make a Right: Addressing Underreporting in Binary Data from Multiple Sources.

PubMed

Cook, Scott J; Blas, Betsabe; Carroll, Raymond J; Sinha, Samiran

2017-04-01

Media-based event data-i.e., data comprised from reporting by media outlets-are widely used in political science research. However, events of interest (e.g., strikes, protests, conflict) are often underreported by these primary and secondary sources, producing incomplete data that risks inconsistency and bias in subsequent analysis. While general strategies exist to help ameliorate this bias, these methods do not make full use of the information often available to researchers. Specifically, much of the event data used in the social sciences is drawn from multiple, overlapping news sources (e.g., Agence France-Presse, Reuters). Therefore, we propose a novel maximum likelihood estimator that corrects for misclassification in data arising from multiple sources. In the most general formulation of our estimator, researchers can specify separate sets of predictors for the true-event model and each of the misclassification models characterizing whether a source fails to report on an event. As such, researchers are able to accurately test theories on both the causes of and reporting on an event of interest. Simulations evidence that our technique regularly out performs current strategies that either neglect misclassification, the unique features of the data-generating process, or both. We also illustrate the utility of this method with a model of repression using the Social Conflict in Africa Database.

The role of source memory in older adults' recollective experience.

PubMed

Boywitt, C Dennis; Kuhlmann, Beatrice G; Meiser, Thorsten

2012-06-01

Younger adults' "remember" judgments are accompanied by better memory for the source of an item than "know" judgments. Furthermore, remember judgments are not merely associated with better memory for individual source features but also with bound memory for multiple source features. However, older adults, independent of their subjective memory experience, are generally less likely to "bind" source features to an item and to each other in memory (i.e., the associative deficit). In two experiments, we tested whether memory for perceptual source features, independently or bound, is also the basis for older adults' remember responses or if their associative deficit leads them to base their responses on other types of information. The results suggest that retrieval of perceptual source features, individually or bound, forms the basis for younger but not for older adults' remember judgments even when the overall level of memory for perceptual sources is closely equated (Experiment 1) and when attention is explicitly directed to the source information at encoding (Experiment 2). PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Multisource Data Integration in Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C. (Editor)

1991-01-01

Papers presented at the workshop on Multisource Data Integration in Remote Sensing are compiled. The full text of these papers is included. New instruments and new sensors are discussed that can provide us with a large variety of new views of the real world. This huge amount of data has to be combined and integrated in a (computer-) model of this world. Multiple sources may give complimentary views of the world - consistent observations from different (and independent) data sources support each other and increase their credibility, while contradictions may be caused by noise, errors during processing, or misinterpretations, and can be identified as such. As a consequence, integration results are very reliable and represent a valid source of information for any geographical information system.

Hand Gesture Data Collection Procedure Using a Myo Armband for Machine Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

instructions, searching existing data sources , gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection information...data using a Myo armband. The source code for this work is included as an Appendix. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Myo, Machine Learning, Classifier, Data...development in multiple platfonns (e.g., Windows, iOS, Android , etc.) and many languages (e.g. , Java, C++, C#, Lua, etc.). For the data collection

Validation of a Sensor-Driven Modeling Paradigm for Multiple Source Reconstruction with FFT-07 Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

operational warning and reporting (information) systems that combine automated data acquisition, analysis , source reconstruction, display and distribution of...report and to incorporate this operational ca- pability into the integrative multiscale urban modeling system implemented in the com- putational...Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 180, 529–556. [27] Flesch, T., Wilson, J. D., and Yee, E. (1995), Backward- time Lagrangian stochastic dispersion models

Mining large heterogeneous data sets in drug discovery.

PubMed

Wild, David J

2009-10-01

Increasingly, effective drug discovery involves the searching and data mining of large volumes of information from many sources covering the domains of chemistry, biology and pharmacology amongst others. This has led to a proliferation of databases and data sources relevant to drug discovery. This paper provides a review of the publicly-available large-scale databases relevant to drug discovery, describes the kinds of data mining approaches that can be applied to them and discusses recent work in integrative data mining that looks for associations that pan multiple sources, including the use of Semantic Web techniques. The future of mining large data sets for drug discovery requires intelligent, semantic aggregation of information from all of the data sources described in this review, along with the application of advanced methods such as intelligent agents and inference engines in client applications.

Parietal neurons encode expected gains in instrumental information

PubMed Central

Foley, Nicholas C.; Kelly, Simon P.; Mhatre, Himanshu; Gottlieb, Jacqueline

2017-01-01

In natural behavior, animals have access to multiple sources of information, but only a few of these sources are relevant for learning and actions. Beyond choosing an appropriate action, making good decisions entails the ability to choose the relevant information, but fundamental questions remain about the brain’s information sampling policies. Recent studies described the neural correlates of seeking information about a reward, but it remains unknown whether, and how, neurons encode choices of instrumental information, in contexts in which the information guides subsequent actions. Here we show that parietal cortical neurons involved in oculomotor decisions encode, before an information sampling saccade, the reduction in uncertainty that the saccade is expected to bring for a subsequent action. These responses were distinct from the neurons’ visual and saccadic modulations and from signals of expected reward or reward prediction errors. Therefore, even in an instrumental context when information and reward gains are closely correlated, individual cells encode decision variables that are based on informational factors and can guide the active sampling of action-relevant cues. PMID:28373569

Assessing the influence of health literacy on health information behaviors: A multi-domain skills-based approach.

PubMed

Suri, Venkata Ratnadeep; Majid, Shaheen; Chang, Yun-Ke; Foo, Schubert

2016-06-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between five domain-specific skills of health literacy: Find Health Information (FHI), Appraise Health Information (AHI), Understand Health Information to act (UHI), Actively Manage One's Health (AMH), and E-health literacy (e-Heals), and health information seeking behaviors and three categories of health outcomes. A survey was implemented and data was collected from 1062 college going adults and analyzed using bivariate tests and multiple regression analysis. Among the five domain-specific Health Literacy skills, AHI and e-Heals were significantly associated with the use of traditional sources and the Internet for healthcare information respectively. Similarly and AMH and e-Heals were significantly associated with the use of traditional sources and the Internet for health lifestyle information respectively. Lastly AHI, AMH and e-Heals were significantly associated with the three categories of outcomes, and AFH was significantly associated with cognitive and instrumental outcomes, but not doctor-patient communication outcomes. Consumers' ability to use different health sources for both healthcare and health lifestyle information, and the three categories of health outcomes are associated with different domain-specific health literacy skills. Health literacy initiatives may be improved by focusing on clients to develop domain-specific skills that increase the likelihood of using health information sources and accrue benefits. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient Education Corner. Accessing and evaluating the Internet for patient and family education.

PubMed

Cutilli, Carolyn Crane

2006-01-01

In the last decade, the Internet has become a vast resource for healthcare information. Multiple Web sites, produced by the federal government, healthcare institutions, and individual healthcare providers, give Americans a wealth of useful information sources. Nurses recognize that more Americans than ever before are using the Internet and that nurses are in an excellent position to help patients learn how to search for healthcare topics and evaluate the information found. This article will focus on seeking information, judging the quality of the information, and listing specific Web sites.

Source memory in the absence of successful cued recall.

PubMed

Cook, Gabriel I; Marsh, Richard L; Hicks, Jason L

2006-07-01

Five experiments were conducted to address the question of whether source information could be accessed in the absence of being able to recall an item. The authors used a paired-associate learning paradigm in which cue-target word pairs were studied, and target recall was requested in the presence of the cue. When target recall failed, participants were asked to make a source judgment of whether a man or woman spoke the unrecalled item. In 3 of the 5 experiments, source accuracy was at or very close to chance. By contrast, if cue-target pairs were studied multiple times or participants knew in advance of learning that a predictive judgment would be required, then predictive source accuracy was well above chance. These data are suggestive that context information may not play a very large role in metacognitive judgments such as feeling-of-knowing ratings or putting one into a tip-of-the-tongue state without strong and specific encoding procedures. These same results also highlight the important role that item memory plays in retrieving information about the context in which an item was experienced. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

Joint source based analysis of multiple brain structures in studying major depressive disorder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramezani, Mahdi; Rasoulian, Abtin; Hollenstein, Tom; Harkness, Kate; Johnsrude, Ingrid; Abolmaesumi, Purang

2014-03-01

We propose a joint Source-Based Analysis (jSBA) framework to identify brain structural variations in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). In this framework, features representing position, orientation and size (i.e. pose), shape, and local tissue composition are extracted. Subsequently, simultaneous analysis of these features within a joint analysis method is performed to generate the basis sources that show signi cant di erences between subjects with MDD and those in healthy control. Moreover, in a cross-validation leave- one-out experiment, we use a Fisher Linear Discriminant (FLD) classi er to identify individuals within the MDD group. Results show that we can classify the MDD subjects with an accuracy of 76% solely based on the information gathered from the joint analysis of pose, shape, and tissue composition in multiple brain structures.

Assimilation of concentration measurements for retrieving multiple point releases in atmosphere: A least-squares approach to inverse modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Sarvesh Kumar; Rani, Raj

2015-10-01

The study addresses the identification of multiple point sources, emitting the same tracer, from their limited set of merged concentration measurements. The identification, here, refers to the estimation of locations and strengths of a known number of simultaneous point releases. The source-receptor relationship is described in the framework of adjoint modelling by using an analytical Gaussian dispersion model. A least-squares minimization framework, free from an initialization of the release parameters (locations and strengths), is presented to estimate the release parameters. This utilizes the distributed source information observable from the given monitoring design and number of measurements. The technique leads to an exact retrieval of the true release parameters when measurements are noise free and exactly described by the dispersion model. The inversion algorithm is evaluated using the real data from multiple (two, three and four) releases conducted during Fusion Field Trials in September 2007 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The release locations are retrieved, on average, within 25-45 m of the true sources with the distance from retrieved to true source ranging from 0 to 130 m. The release strengths are also estimated within a factor of three to the true release rates. The average deviations in retrieval of source locations are observed relatively large in two release trials in comparison to three and four release trials.

Intelligent multi-sensor integrations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volz, Richard A.; Jain, Ramesh; Weymouth, Terry

1989-01-01

Growth in the intelligence of space systems requires the use and integration of data from multiple sensors. Generic tools are being developed for extracting and integrating information obtained from multiple sources. The full spectrum is addressed for issues ranging from data acquisition, to characterization of sensor data, to adaptive systems for utilizing the data. In particular, there are three major aspects to the project, multisensor processing, an adaptive approach to object recognition, and distributed sensor system integration.

Dynamic Dependence Analysis : Modeling and Inference of Changing Dependence Among Multiple Time-Series

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

isolation. In addition to being inherently multi-modal, human perception takes advantages of multiple sources of information within a single modality...restric- tion was reasonable for the applications we looked at. However, consider using a TIM to model a teacher student relationship among moving objects...That is, imagine one teacher object demonstrating a behavior for a student object. The student can observe the teacher and then recreate the behavior

Where Non-Science Majors Get Information about Science and How They Rate that Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Impey, Chris; Nieberding, Megan; Romine, James

2014-11-01

College non-science major courses represent one of the last science courses many students will ever take. We report on a study of 400 undergraduate non-majors students enrolled in introductory astronomy courses at the University of Arizona to gain insight into where they get their information about science and their perception of that information. Students completed an online survey during the 2013-2014 school year. In addition to demographic information, students reported where they obtained information about science when they want to know something both for their own knowledge as well as information for a course assignment. They reported their interest in different science topics, rated the reliability of different sources of information, and reported how important science was to their life, including their future career choice.Overall, students reported getting information from a variety of online sources when looking up a topic for their own knowledge, including internet searches (71%), Wikipedia (46%), and online science sites (e.g. NASA) (45%). When asked where they got information for course assignments, most reported from assigned readings (82%) but a large percentage still reported getting information from online sources such as internet searches (60%), Wikipedia (30%) and online science sites (e.g. NASA) (20%). Overall, students rated professors/teachers and textbooks at the most reliable sources of scientific information and rated social media sites, blogs and Wikipedia as the least reliable sources of scientific information. Additionally, friends and family members were rated as less reliable sources of scientific information than similar information found on multiple websites. Students’ interest in science and self-reported knowledge in science was positively correlated. There was a significant positive correlation between those who reported that they liked science and felt that science was important to their future career. Overall, our results are giving us insights into how our non-science majors get and evaluate scientific information.

Intervention decision-making processes and information preferences of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Grant, N; Rodger, S; Hoffmann, T

2016-01-01

When a child is diagnosed with autism, parents are faced with the task of choosing from many different intervention options. To find information about the options available, parents turn to a number of different sources. This study explores parents' (n = 23) intervention decision-making processes and information preferences following the diagnosis of ASD for their child. Qualitative thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts from interviews and focus groups involving parents of children with an autism diagnosis was undertaken. Analysis of the results revealed that there are concurrent emotional and pragmatic intervention 'journeys' undertaken by parents post diagnosis, which encompass the primary themes of: (1) information sources used, (2) parents' information preferences and (3) factors influencing intervention decision making. Parents described a journey from the point of diagnosis that involved seeking information on ASD interventions from multiple sources, with the Internet being the primary source. They were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available, and their preferences for information varied according to their stage in the journey post diagnosis. Parents had a 'trial and error' approach to choosing ASD interventions, with confidence increasing as they became more familiar with their child's condition, and had opportunities to explore numerous information sources about their child's diagnosis. While confidence increased over time, consideration of the effectiveness or evidence supporting interventions remained largely absent throughout the journey. This study highlights the need for parents of children with ASD to be supported to make informed intervention decisions, particularly with consideration for research evidence. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Boosting healthy heart employer-sponsored health dissemination efforts: identification and information-sharing intentions.

PubMed

Stephens, Keri K; Pastorek, Angie; Crook, Brittani; Mackert, Michael; Donovan, Erin E; Shalev, Heidi

2015-01-01

Health information dissemination options have expanded to include workplaces and employer-sponsored efforts. This study focuses on a core relational concept found in workplaces, organizational identification-the feeling of belongingness-and the impact of partnering with employers and health clinics in health information dissemination. We use social-identity theory and multiple identification to test our predictions from a sample of working adults representing more than 100 different employers. We found that when people strongly identify with their employer, they have increased health behavioral intentions and they intend to talk about the health information with coworkers. The significant models explain more than 50% and 30% of the variance in these two outcomes. The experimental results examining single and multiple organizational sources revealed no differences on any outcomes. These findings offer a contribution to health information dissemination research by articulating how identification with an employer functions to affect behavioral intentions.

The Relationship of Health Beliefs with Information Sources and HPV Vaccine Acceptance among Young Adults in Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Jarim

2018-04-04

Despite the HPV vaccine’s efficacy in preventing cervical cancer, its coverage rates among Asians are very low. To increase immunization coverage among these populations, understanding the psychological factors that affect HPV acceptability is critical. To this end, this study examined the relationships between multidimensional health beliefs and HPV vaccine acceptance, and what information sources effectively foster HPV vaccination-related health beliefs. Data were collected using a survey of 323 undergraduate students in Korea. Results showed that perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived vaccine safety concerns predicted vaccine acceptance. Multiple dimensions of perceived barriers showed differing impacts on vaccine acceptance. In addition, interpersonal information sources were effective in boosting various health beliefs for HPV vaccination. The Internet also was effective in reducing social barriers, but the effects were opposite to those of social media. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Relationship of Health Beliefs with Information Sources and HPV Vaccine Acceptance among Young Adults in Korea

PubMed Central

Kim, Jarim

2018-01-01

Despite the HPV vaccine’s efficacy in preventing cervical cancer, its coverage rates among Asians are very low. To increase immunization coverage among these populations, understanding the psychological factors that affect HPV acceptability is critical. To this end, this study examined the relationships between multidimensional health beliefs and HPV vaccine acceptance, and what information sources effectively foster HPV vaccination-related health beliefs. Data were collected using a survey of 323 undergraduate students in Korea. Results showed that perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived vaccine safety concerns predicted vaccine acceptance. Multiple dimensions of perceived barriers showed differing impacts on vaccine acceptance. In addition, interpersonal information sources were effective in boosting various health beliefs for HPV vaccination. The Internet also was effective in reducing social barriers, but the effects were opposite to those of social media. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:29617313

Feature level fusion of hand and face biometrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, Arun A.; Govindarajan, Rohin

2005-03-01

Multibiometric systems utilize the evidence presented by multiple biometric sources (e.g., face and fingerprint, multiple fingers of a user, multiple matchers, etc.) in order to determine or verify the identity of an individual. Information from multiple sources can be consolidated in several distinct levels, including the feature extraction level, match score level and decision level. While fusion at the match score and decision levels have been extensively studied in the literature, fusion at the feature level is a relatively understudied problem. In this paper we discuss fusion at the feature level in 3 different scenarios: (i) fusion of PCA and LDA coefficients of face; (ii) fusion of LDA coefficients corresponding to the R,G,B channels of a face image; (iii) fusion of face and hand modalities. Preliminary results are encouraging and help in highlighting the pros and cons of performing fusion at this level. The primary motivation of this work is to demonstrate the viability of such a fusion and to underscore the importance of pursuing further research in this direction.

Simultaneous acquisition of differing image types

DOEpatents

Demos, Stavros G

2012-10-09

A system in one embodiment includes an image forming device for forming an image from an area of interest containing different image components; an illumination device for illuminating the area of interest with light containing multiple components; at least one light source coupled to the illumination device, the at least one light source providing light to the illumination device containing different components, each component having distinct spectral characteristics and relative intensity; an image analyzer coupled to the image forming device, the image analyzer decomposing the image formed by the image forming device into multiple component parts based on type of imaging; and multiple image capture devices, each image capture device receiving one of the component parts of the image. A method in one embodiment includes receiving an image from an image forming device; decomposing the image formed by the image forming device into multiple component parts based on type of imaging; receiving the component parts of the image; and outputting image information based on the component parts of the image. Additional systems and methods are presented.

Patient source of learning about health technologies and ratings of trust in technologies used in their care

PubMed Central

Montague, Enid

2011-01-01

In order to design effective health technologies and systems, it is important to understand how patients learn and make decisions about health technologies used in their care. The objective of this study was to examine patients' source of learning about technologies used in their care and how the source related to their trust in the technology used. Individual face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted with 24 patients. Thirteen unique sources of information about technology were identified and three major themes emerged; outside of the work system versus inside the work system, when the health information was provided, and the medium used. Patients used multiple sources outside of the health care work system to learn about technologies that will be used in their care. Results showed a relationship between learning about technologies from web sources and trust in technologies but no relationship between learning about technologies from health care providers and trust in technologies. PMID:20967654

Sensor-based architecture for medical imaging workflow analysis.

PubMed

Silva, Luís A Bastião; Campos, Samuel; Costa, Carlos; Oliveira, José Luis

2014-08-01

The growing use of computer systems in medical institutions has been generating a tremendous quantity of data. While these data have a critical role in assisting physicians in the clinical practice, the information that can be extracted goes far beyond this utilization. This article proposes a platform capable of assembling multiple data sources within a medical imaging laboratory, through a network of intelligent sensors. The proposed integration framework follows a SOA hybrid architecture based on an information sensor network, capable of collecting information from several sources in medical imaging laboratories. Currently, the system supports three types of sensors: DICOM repository meta-data, network workflows and examination reports. Each sensor is responsible for converting unstructured information from data sources into a common format that will then be semantically indexed in the framework engine. The platform was deployed in the Cardiology department of a central hospital, allowing identification of processes' characteristics and users' behaviours that were unknown before the utilization of this solution.

Sexual behavior, knowledge and information sources of very young adolescents in four sub-Saharan African countries.

PubMed

Bankole, Akinrinola; Biddlecom, Ann; Guiella, Georges; Singh, Susheela; Zulu, Eliya

2007-12-01

Adolescents are a key target group for HIV and pregnancy prevention efforts, yet very little is known about the youngest adolescents: those under age 15. New survey data from 12-14 year olds in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda are used to describe their sexual activity, knowledge about HIV, STIs and pregnancy prevention, and sources of sexual and reproductive health information, including sex education in schools. Results show that very young adolescents are already beginning to be sexually active and many believe their close friends are sexually active. They have high levels of awareness but little in-depth knowledge about pregnancy and HIV prevention. Multiple information sources are used and preferred by very young adolescents. Given their needs for HIV, STI and pregnancy prevention information that is specific and practical and considering that the large majority are attending school in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, school-based sex education is a particularly promising avenue for reaching adolescents under age 15.

Living with uncertainty and hope: A qualitative study exploring parents' experiences of living with childhood multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Hinton, Denise; Kirk, Susan

2017-06-01

Background There is growing recognition that multiple sclerosis is a possible, albeit uncommon, diagnosis in childhood. However, very little is known about the experiences of families living with childhood multiple sclerosis and this is the first study to explore this in depth. Objective Our objective was to explore the experiences of parents of children with multiple sclerosis. Methods Qualitative in-depth interviews with 31 parents using a grounded theory approach were conducted. Parents were sampled and recruited via health service and voluntary sector organisations in the United Kingdom. Results Parents' accounts of life with childhood multiple sclerosis were dominated by feelings of uncertainty associated with four sources; diagnostic uncertainty, daily uncertainty, interaction uncertainty and future uncertainty. Parents attempted to manage these uncertainties using specific strategies, which could in turn create further uncertainties about their child's illness. However, over time, ongoing uncertainty appeared to give parents hope for their child's future with multiple sclerosis. Conclusion Illness-related uncertainties appear to play a role in generating hope among parents of a child with multiple sclerosis. However, this may lead parents to avoid sources of information and support that threatens their fragile optimism. Professionals need to be sensitive to the role hope plays in supporting parental coping with childhood multiple sclerosis.

A computational framework for modeling targets as complex adaptive systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Eugene; Santos, Eunice E.; Korah, John; Murugappan, Vairavan; Subramanian, Suresh

2017-05-01

Modeling large military targets is a challenge as they can be complex systems encompassing myriad combinations of human, technological, and social elements that interact, leading to complex behaviors. Moreover, such targets have multiple components and structures, extending across multiple spatial and temporal scales, and are in a state of change, either in response to events in the environment or changes within the system. Complex adaptive system (CAS) theory can help in capturing the dynamism, interactions, and more importantly various emergent behaviors, displayed by the targets. However, a key stumbling block is incorporating information from various intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sources, while dealing with the inherent uncertainty, incompleteness and time criticality of real world information. To overcome these challenges, we present a probabilistic reasoning network based framework called complex adaptive Bayesian Knowledge Base (caBKB). caBKB is a rigorous, overarching and axiomatic framework that models two key processes, namely information aggregation and information composition. While information aggregation deals with the union, merger and concatenation of information and takes into account issues such as source reliability and information inconsistencies, information composition focuses on combining information components where such components may have well defined operations. Since caBKBs can explicitly model the relationships between information pieces at various scales, it provides unique capabilities such as the ability to de-aggregate and de-compose information for detailed analysis. Using a scenario from the Network Centric Operations (NCO) domain, we will describe how our framework can be used for modeling targets with a focus on methodologies for quantifying NCO performance metrics.

Assessing the capacity of the Pacific Northwest as an intermodal freight transportation hub.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-08-01

This project synthesizes information from multiple sources about the capacity of the Pacific Northwest region to handle intermodal : freight transportation demand. The findings from this research are intended to be used as a framework to start a rese...

Recovery and restoration from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: An appraisal of concerns and values

EPA Science Inventory

Complex environmental management decisions are characterized by uncertainties, diverse trade-offs and competing beliefs. Practical guidance is needed for incorporating multiple sources of factual and values-based information throughout the phases of an environmental management pr...

Safety, operational, and energy impacts of in-vehicle adaptive stop displays using connected vehicle technology.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-07-01

Un-signalized intersections create multiple opportunities for missed or misunderstood information. : Stop sign-controlled intersections have also been shown to be a source of delay and emissions due : to their frequent, often inappropriate use. By us...

Pregnant women's navigation of information on everyday household chemicals: phthalates as a case study.

PubMed

Ashley, Justin M; Hodgson, Alexandra; Sharma, Sapna; Nisker, Jeff

2015-11-25

Current developments in science and the media have now placed pregnant women in a precarious situation as they are charged with the responsibility to navigate through information sources to make the best decisions for her pregnancy. Yet little is known regarding how pregnant women want to receive and use health information in general, let alone information regarding the uncertain risks to pregnancy in everyday household products such as phthalates found in cosmetics and canned food liners. Using phthalates as an example, this study investigated how pregnant women obtain, evaluate, and act on information regarding their pregnancy. Pregnant women were recruited using pamphlets and posters distributed in prenatal clinics, prenatal fairs and physician offices in Southwestern Ontario Canada. Research participants were engaged in 20 to 40 min semi-structured interviews regarding their use of information sources in pregnancy, particularly regarding phthalates in cosmetics and canned food liners. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using constructivist grounded theory techniques supported by NVivo 9™ software. Theoretical sufficiency was reached after 23 pregnant women were interviewed and their transcripts analyzed. Three overlapping themes resulted from the co-constructed analysis: I-Strength of Information Sources; II-Value Modifiers; and III-Deciding to Control Exposure. The research participants reported receiving information from a wide range of sources that they perceived varying in strength or believability. They then described the strategies employed to increase the validity of the message in order to avoid risk exposure. Pregnant women preferred a strong source of information such as physician, government but frequently used weak sources such as the internet or the opinions of friends. A model was developed from the relationship between themes that describes how pregnant women navigate the multiple sources of information available to them. Our study provides insight into how pregnant women receive, appraise, and act on information regarding everyday household chemicals. Clinicians and their professional organizations should produce specific educational materials to assist women in understanding exposure to everyday products in pregnancy.

A qualitative study on health workers' and community members' perceived sources, role of information and communication on malaria treatment, prevention and control in southeast Nigeria.

PubMed

Umeano-Enemuoh, Jane C; Uzochukwu, Benjamim; Ezumah, Nkoli; Mangham-Jefferies, Lindsay; Wiseman, Virginia; Onwujekwe, Obinna

2015-10-22

It has been widely acknowledged that well-planned and executed communication programmes can contribute to achieving malaria prevention and treatment goals. This however requires a good understanding of current sources and roles of information used by both health workers and communities. The study aimed at determining health workers' and community members' sources, value and use of information on malaria prevention and treatment in Nigeria. Qualitative data was collected from six selected communities (three urban and three rural) in Enugu state, southeast Nigeria. A total of 18 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 179 community members and 26 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with health workers in public and private health facilities were used to collect data on where people receive treatment for malaria and access information on malaria. The FGDS and IDIs also provided data on the values, uses and effects of information and communication on malaria treatment seeking and provision of services. The findings revealed that the major sources of information on malaria for health workers and community members were advertisements in the mass media, workshops and seminars organized by donor agencies, facility supervision, posters, other health workers, television and radio adverts. Community involvement in the design and delivery of information on malaria control was seen as a strong strategy for improving both consumer and provider knowledge. Information from the different sources catalyzed appropriate provision and consumption of malaria treatment amongst health workers and community members. Health workers and consumers receive information on malaria prevention and treatment from multiple sources of communication and information, which they find useful. Harnessing these information sources to encourage consistent and accurate messages around malaria prevention and treatment is a necessary first step in the design and implementation of malaria communication and behaviour change interventions and ultimately for the sustained control of malaria.

[Digital media as laypeople's source of information about the environment and health].

PubMed

Sassenberg, Kai

2017-06-01

Over the last two decades, the Internet has become the primary source of information. Thanks to the Internet, laypeople have access to information from the health and the environmental sector, which was for a long time available only to experts (e. g. scientific publications, statistics). Information on the Internet varies in quality, as generally anybody can publish online, without any quality control. At the same time, Internet use comes with specific situational characteristics. Given that the amount of information is nearly unlimited and that this information is easily available via search engines, users are not restricted to one or just a few texts, but can choose between multiple sources depending on their motivation and interest. Together with the heterogeneity of the sources, this provides the basis for a strong impact of motivation on the process and the outcomes of information acquisition online. Based on empirical research in the domain of Internet searching in the health sector, the current article discusses the impact of the use of digital media in the context of environmental medicine. Research has led to four conclusions: (1) Users are not sufficiently sensitive to the quality of information. (2) Information supporting their own opinion is preferably processed. (3) Users who feel threatened focus on positive information. (4) Vigilant users focus on negative information, which might result in cyberchrondria. The implications of these effects for the use of digital media in the sector of environmental medicine are discussed.

Influence of sources of information about influenza vaccine on parental attitudes and adolescent vaccine receipt

PubMed Central

Gargano, Lisa M; Underwood, Natasha L; Sales, Jessica M; Seib, Katherine; Morfaw, Christopher; Murray, Dennis; DiClemente, Ralph J; Hughes, James M

2015-01-01

In 2011–2012, only 34% of 13–17 years olds in the United States (US) received seasonal influenza vaccine. Little is known about the link between parents' sources of health information, their vaccine-related attitudes, and vaccination of their adolescent against influenza. This study seeks to determine the relationship between number of sources of information on influenza vaccine, parental attitudes toward influenza vaccine, and influenza vaccine uptake in adolescents. We conducted a telephone and web-based survey among US parents of students enrolled in 6 middle and 5 high schools in Georgia. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to examine associations between the number of information sources about influenza vaccine and vaccine receipt and whether parent vaccine-related attitudes act as a mediator. The most commonly reported sources of information were: a physician/medical professional (95.0%), a family member or friend (80.6%), and television (77.2%). Parents who had higher attitude scores toward influenza vaccine were 5 times as likely to report their adolescent had ever received influenza vaccine compared to parents who had lower attitude scores (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 5.1; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 3.1–8.4; P < 0.01). Parent vaccine-related attitudes were a significant mediator of the relationship between sources of information and vaccine receipt. In light of the low response rate and participation in an adolescent vaccination intervention, findings may not be generalizable to other populations. This study shows the importance of multiple sources of information in influencing parental decision-making about influenza vaccine for adolescents. Harnessing the power of mass media and family members and friends as health advocates for influenza vaccination can potentially help increase vaccination coverage of adolescents. PMID:25996686

Optimizing height presentation for aircraft cockpit displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, Chris S.; Croft, D.; Selcon, Stephen J.; Markin, H.; Jackson, M.

1997-02-01

This paper describes an experiment conducted to investigate the type of display symbology that most effectively conveys height information to users of head-down plan-view radar displays. The experiment also investigated the use of multiple information sources (redundancy) in the design of such displays. Subjects were presented with eight different height display formats. These formats were constructed from a control, and/or one, two, or three sources of redundant information. The three formats were letter coding, analogue scaling, and toggling (spatially switching the position of the height information from above to below the aircraft symbol). Subjects were required to indicate altitude awareness via a four-key, forced-choice keyboard response. Error scores and response times were taken as performance measures. There were three main findings. First, there was a significant performance advantage when the altitude information was presented above and below the symbol to aid the representation of height information. Second, the analogue scale, a line whose length indicated altitude, proved significantly detrimental to performance. Finally, no relationship was found between the number of redundant information sources employed and performance. The implications for future aircraft and displays are discussed in relation to current aircraft tactical displays and in the context of perceptual psychological theory.

Data registration for automated non-destructive inspection with multiple data sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tippetts, T.; Brierley, N.; Cawley, P.

2013-01-01

In many NDE applications, multiple sources of data are available covering the same region of a part under inspection. These overlapping data can come from intersecting scan patterns, sensors in an array configuration, or repeated inspections at different times. In many cases these data sets are analysed independently, with separate assessments for each channel or data file. It should be possible to improve the overall reliability of the inspection by combining multiple sources of information, simultaneously increasing the Probability of Detection (POD) and decreasing the Probability of False Alarm (PFA). Data registration, i.e. mapping the data to matching coordinates in space, is both an essential prerequisite and a challenging obstacle to this type of data fusion. This paper describes optimization techniques for matching and aligning features in NDE data. Examples from automated ultrasound inspection of aircraft engine discs illustrate the approach.

Range Safety for an Autonomous Flight Safety System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lanzi, Raymond J.; Simpson, James C.

2010-01-01

The Range Safety Algorithm software encapsulates the various constructs and algorithms required to accomplish Time Space Position Information (TSPI) data management from multiple tracking sources, autonomous mission mode detection and management, and flight-termination mission rule evaluation. The software evaluates various user-configurable rule sets that govern the qualification of TSPI data sources, provides a prelaunch autonomous hold-launch function, performs the flight-monitoring-and-termination functions, and performs end-of-mission safing

Taxonaut: an application software for comparative display of multiple taxonomies with a use case of GBIF Species API.

PubMed

Ytow, Nozomi

2016-01-01

The Species API of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) provides public access to taxonomic data aggregated from multiple data sources. Each data source follows its own classification which can be inconsistent with classifications from other sources. Even with a reference classification e.g. the GBIF Backbone taxonomy, a comprehensive method to compare classifications in the data aggregation is essential, especially for non-expert users. A Java application was developed to compare multiple taxonomies graphically using classification data acquired from GBIF's ChecklistBank via the GBIF Species API. It uses a table to display taxonomies where each column represents a taxonomy under comparison, with an aligner column to organise taxa by name. Each cell contains the name of a taxon if the classification in that column contains the name. Each column also has a cell showing the hierarchy of the taxonomy by a folder metaphor where taxa are aligned and synchronised in the aligner column. A set of those comparative tables shows taxa categorised by relationship between taxonomies. The result set is also available as tables in an Excel format file.

Multiwavelength counterparts of the point sources in the Chandra Source Catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynolds, Michael; Civano, Francesca Maria; Fabbiano, Giuseppina; D'Abrusco, Raffaele

2018-01-01

The most recent release of the Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) version 2.0 comprises more than $\\sim$350,000 point sources, down to fluxes of $\\sim$10$^{-16}$ erg/cm$^2$/s, covering $\\sim$500 deg$^2$ of the sky, making it one of the best available X-ray catalogs to date. There are many reasons to have multiwavelength counterparts for sources, one such reason is that X-ray information alone is not enough to identify the sources and divide them between galactic and extragalactic origin, therefore multiwavelength data associated to each X-ray source is crucial for classification and scientific analysis of the sample. To perform this multiwavelength association, we are going to employ the recently released versatile tool NWAY (Salvato et al. 2017), based on a Bayesian algorithm for cross-matching multiple catalogs. NWAY allows the combination of multiple catalogs at the same time, provides a probability for the matches, even in case of non-detection due to different depth of the matching catalogs, and it can be used by including priors on the nature of the sources (e.g. colors, magnitudes, etc). In this poster, we are presenting the preliminary analysis using the CSC sources above the galactic plane matched to the WISE All-Sky catalog, SDSS, Pan-STARRS and GALEX.

Searching Across the International Space Station Databases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maluf, David A.; McDermott, William J.; Smith, Ernest E.; Bell, David G.; Gurram, Mohana

2007-01-01

Data access in the enterprise generally requires us to combine data from different sources and different formats. It is advantageous thus to focus on the intersection of the knowledge across sources and domains; keeping irrelevant knowledge around only serves to make the integration more unwieldy and more complicated than necessary. A context search over multiple domain is proposed in this paper to use context sensitive queries to support disciplined manipulation of domain knowledge resources. The objective of a context search is to provide the capability for interrogating many domain knowledge resources, which are largely semantically disjoint. The search supports formally the tasks of selecting, combining, extending, specializing, and modifying components from a diverse set of domains. This paper demonstrates a new paradigm in composition of information for enterprise applications. In particular, it discusses an approach to achieving data integration across multiple sources, in a manner that does not require heavy investment in database and middleware maintenance. This lean approach to integration leads to cost-effectiveness and scalability of data integration with an underlying schemaless object-relational database management system. This highly scalable, information on demand system framework, called NX-Search, which is an implementation of an information system built on NETMARK. NETMARK is a flexible, high-throughput open database integration framework for managing, storing, and searching unstructured or semi-structured arbitrary XML and HTML used widely at the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) and industry.

Passing messages between biological networks to refine predicted interactions.

PubMed

Glass, Kimberly; Huttenhower, Curtis; Quackenbush, John; Yuan, Guo-Cheng

2013-01-01

Regulatory network reconstruction is a fundamental problem in computational biology. There are significant limitations to such reconstruction using individual datasets, and increasingly people attempt to construct networks using multiple, independent datasets obtained from complementary sources, but methods for this integration are lacking. We developed PANDA (Passing Attributes between Networks for Data Assimilation), a message-passing model using multiple sources of information to predict regulatory relationships, and used it to integrate protein-protein interaction, gene expression, and sequence motif data to reconstruct genome-wide, condition-specific regulatory networks in yeast as a model. The resulting networks were not only more accurate than those produced using individual data sets and other existing methods, but they also captured information regarding specific biological mechanisms and pathways that were missed using other methodologies. PANDA is scalable to higher eukaryotes, applicable to specific tissue or cell type data and conceptually generalizable to include a variety of regulatory, interaction, expression, and other genome-scale data. An implementation of the PANDA algorithm is available at www.sourceforge.net/projects/panda-net.

Text mining for adverse drug events: the promise, challenges, and state of the art.

PubMed

Harpaz, Rave; Callahan, Alison; Tamang, Suzanne; Low, Yen; Odgers, David; Finlayson, Sam; Jung, Kenneth; LePendu, Paea; Shah, Nigam H

2014-10-01

Text mining is the computational process of extracting meaningful information from large amounts of unstructured text. It is emerging as a tool to leverage underutilized data sources that can improve pharmacovigilance, including the objective of adverse drug event (ADE) detection and assessment. This article provides an overview of recent advances in pharmacovigilance driven by the application of text mining, and discusses several data sources-such as biomedical literature, clinical narratives, product labeling, social media, and Web search logs-that are amenable to text mining for pharmacovigilance. Given the state of the art, it appears text mining can be applied to extract useful ADE-related information from multiple textual sources. Nonetheless, further research is required to address remaining technical challenges associated with the text mining methodologies, and to conclusively determine the relative contribution of each textual source to improving pharmacovigilance.

III-V quantum light source and cavity-QED on silicon.

PubMed

Luxmoore, I J; Toro, R; Del Pozo-Zamudio, O; Wasley, N A; Chekhovich, E A; Sanchez, A M; Beanland, R; Fox, A M; Skolnick, M S; Liu, H Y; Tartakovskii, A I

2013-01-01

Non-classical light sources offer a myriad of possibilities in both fundamental science and commercial applications. Single photons are the most robust carriers of quantum information and can be exploited for linear optics quantum information processing. Scale-up requires miniaturisation of the waveguide circuit and multiple single photon sources. Silicon photonics, driven by the incentive of optical interconnects is a highly promising platform for the passive optical components, but integrated light sources are limited by silicon's indirect band-gap. III-V semiconductor quantum-dots, on the other hand, are proven quantum emitters. Here we demonstrate single-photon emission from quantum-dots coupled to photonic crystal nanocavities fabricated from III-V material grown directly on silicon substrates. The high quality of the III-V material and photonic structures is emphasized by observation of the strong-coupling regime. This work opens-up the advantages of silicon photonics to the integration and scale-up of solid-state quantum optical systems.

Recollections of sexual socialisation among marginalised heterosexual black men

PubMed Central

Dunlap, Eloise; Benoit, Ellen; Graves, Jennifer L.

2013-01-01

This paper describes the sexual socialisation process of marginalised, drug-using heterosexual black men, focusing primarily on the sources and content of sexual information. Analysing qualitative interview data, we discovered that the men in our sample both learn about sex and become sexually active at an early age. They most often learn about sex from the media and least often learn about sex from family members. The content of sexual information varies in specifics, but overall tends to equate sex with pleasure, encourage sexual activity with multiple partners, and emphasise using protection. Our goal is to use this data to better understand how sexual socialisation contributes to the prevalence of multiple sexual partners and high rates of HIV among heterosexual black men in order to inform future risk-reduction intervention programmes. PMID:24482611

Understanding the nature of information seeking behavior in critical care: implications for the design of health information technology.

PubMed

Kannampallil, Thomas G; Franklin, Amy; Mishra, Rashmi; Almoosa, Khalid F; Cohen, Trevor; Patel, Vimla L

2013-01-01

Information in critical care environments is distributed across multiple sources, such as paper charts, electronic records, and support personnel. For decision-making tasks, physicians have to seek, gather, filter and organize information from various sources in a timely manner. The objective of this research is to characterize the nature of physicians' information seeking process, and the content and structure of clinical information retrieved during this process. Eight medical intensive care unit physicians provided a verbal think-aloud as they performed a clinical diagnosis task. Verbal descriptions of physicians' activities, sources of information they used, time spent on each information source, and interactions with other clinicians were captured for analysis. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. We found that the information seeking process was exploratory and iterative and driven by the contextual organization of information. While there was no significant differences between the overall time spent paper or electronic records, there was marginally greater relative information gain (i.e., more unique information retrieved per unit time) from electronic records (t(6)=1.89, p=0.1). Additionally, information retrieved from electronic records was at a higher level (i.e., observations and findings) in the knowledge structure than paper records, reflecting differences in the nature of knowledge utilization across resources. A process of local optimization drove the information seeking process: physicians utilized information that maximized their information gain even though it required significantly more cognitive effort. Implications for the design of health information technology solutions that seamlessly integrate information seeking activities within the workflow, such as enriching the clinical information space and supporting efficient clinical reasoning and decision-making, are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intelligence, Dataveillance, and Information Privacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mace, Robyn R.

The extent and scope of intelligence activities are expanding in response to technological and economic transformations of the past decades. Intelligence efforts involving aggregated data from multiple public and private sources combined with past abuses of domestic intelligence functions have generated significant concerns among privacy advocates and citizens about the protection of individual civil liberties and information privacy from corporate and governmental misuse. In the information age, effective regulation and oversight are key components in the legitimacy and success of government domestic intelligence activities.

Apparatus and method for high dose rate brachytherapy radiation treatment

DOEpatents

Macey, Daniel J.; Majewski, Stanislaw; Weisenberger, Andrew G.; Smith, Mark Frederick; Kross, Brian James

2005-01-25

A method and apparatus for the in vivo location and tracking of a radioactive seed source during and after brachytherapy treatment. The method comprises obtaining multiple views of the seed source in a living organism using: 1) a single PSPMT detector that is exposed through a multiplicity of pinholes thereby obtaining a plurality of images from a single angle; 2) a single PSPMT detector that may obtain an image through a single pinhole or a plurality of pinholes from a plurality of angles through movement of the detector; or 3) a plurality of PSPMT detectors that obtain a plurality of views from different angles simultaneously or virtually simultaneously. The plurality of images obtained from these various techniques, through angular displacement of the various acquired images, provide the information required to generate the three dimensional images needed to define the location of the radioactive seed source within the body of the living organism.

Real-time validation of receiver state information in optical space-time block code systems.

PubMed

Alamia, John; Kurzweg, Timothy

2014-06-15

Free space optical interconnect (FSOI) systems are a promising solution to interconnect bottlenecks in high-speed systems. To overcome some sources of diminished FSOI performance caused by close proximity of multiple optical channels, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems implementing encoding schemes such as space-time block coding (STBC) have been developed. These schemes utilize information pertaining to the optical channel to reconstruct transmitted data. The STBC system is dependent on accurate channel state information (CSI) for optimal system performance. As a result of dynamic changes in optical channels, a system in operation will need to have updated CSI. Therefore, validation of the CSI during operation is a necessary tool to ensure FSOI systems operate efficiently. In this Letter, we demonstrate a method of validating CSI, in real time, through the use of moving averages of the maximum likelihood decoder data, and its capacity to predict the bit error rate (BER) of the system.

Follow-up of serious offender patients in the community: multiple methods of tracing.

PubMed

Jamieson, Elizabeth; Taylor, Pamela J

2002-01-01

Longitudinal studies of people with mental disorder are important in understanding outcome and intervention effects but attrition rates can be high. This study aimed to evaluate use of multiple record sources to trace, over 12 years, a one-year discharge cohort of high-security hospital patients. Everyone leaving such a hospital in 1984 was traced until a census date of 31 December 1995. Data were collected from several national databases (Office for National Statistics (ONS), Home Office (HO) Offenders' Index, Police National Computer Records, the Electoral Roll) and by hand-searching responsible agency records (HO, National Health Service). Using all methods, only three of the 204 patients had no follow-up information. Home Office Mental Health Unit data were an excellent source, but only for people still under discharge restrictions (<50% after eight years). Sequential tracing of hospital placements for people never or no longer under such restrictions was laborious and also produced only group-specific yield. The best indicator of community residence was ONS information on general practitioner (GP/primary care) registration. The electoral roll was useful when other sources were exhausted. Follow-up of offenders/offender-patients has generally focused on event data, such as re-offending. People untraced by that method alone, however, are unlikely to be lost to follow-up on casting a wider records net. Using multiple records, attrition at the census was 38%, but, after certain assumptions, reduced further to 5%.

Multiple layer optical memory system using second-harmonic-generation readout

DOEpatents

Boyd, Gary T.; Shen, Yuen-Ron

1989-01-01

A novel optical read and write information storage system is described which comprises a radiation source such as a laser for writing and illumination, the radiation source being capable of radiating a preselected first frequency; a storage medium including at least one layer of material for receiving radiation from the radiation source and capable of being surface modified in response to said radiation source when operated in a writing mode and capable of generating a pattern of radiation of the second harmonic of the preselected frequency when illuminated by the radiation source at the preselected frequency corresponding to the surface modifications on the storage medium; and a detector to receive the pattern of second harmonic frequency generated.

Systematics errors in strong lens modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Traci L.; Sharon, Keren; Bayliss, Matthew B.

We investigate how varying the number of multiple image constraints and the available redshift information can influence the systematic errors of strong lens models, specifically, the image predictability, mass distribution, and magnifications of background sources. This work will not only inform upon Frontier Field science, but also for work on the growing collection of strong lensing galaxy clusters, most of which are less massive and are capable of lensing a handful of galaxies.

A service-oriented distributed semantic mediator: integrating multiscale biomedical information.

PubMed

Mora, Oscar; Engelbrecht, Gerhard; Bisbal, Jesus

2012-11-01

Biomedical research continuously generates large amounts of heterogeneous and multimodal data spread over multiple data sources. These data, if appropriately shared and exploited, could dramatically improve the research practice itself, and ultimately the quality of health care delivered. This paper presents DISMED (DIstributed Semantic MEDiator), an open source semantic mediator that provides a unified view of a federated environment of multiscale biomedical data sources. DISMED is a Web-based software application to query and retrieve information distributed over a set of registered data sources, using semantic technologies. It also offers a userfriendly interface specifically designed to simplify the usage of these technologies by non-expert users. Although the architecture of the software mediator is generic and domain independent, in the context of this paper, DISMED has been evaluated for managing biomedical environments and facilitating research with respect to the handling of scientific data distributed in multiple heterogeneous data sources. As part of this contribution, a quantitative evaluation framework has been developed. It consist of a benchmarking scenario and the definition of five realistic use-cases. This framework, created entirely with public datasets, has been used to compare the performance of DISMED against other available mediators. It is also available to the scientific community in order to evaluate progress in the domain of semantic mediation, in a systematic and comparable manner. The results show an average improvement in the execution time by DISMED of 55% compared to the second best alternative in four out of the five use-cases of the experimental evaluation.

The use of triangulation in qualitative research.

PubMed

Carter, Nancy; Bryant-Lukosius, Denise; DiCenso, Alba; Blythe, Jennifer; Neville, Alan J

2014-09-01

Triangulation refers to the use of multiple methods or data sources in qualitative research to develop a comprehensive understanding of phenomena (Patton, 1999). Triangulation also has been viewed as a qualitative research strategy to test validity through the convergence of information from different sources. Denzin (1978) and Patton (1999) identified four types of triangulation: (a) method triangulation, (b) investigator triangulation, (c) theory triangulation, and (d) data source triangulation. The current article will present the four types of triangulation followed by a discussion of the use of focus groups (FGs) and in-depth individual (IDI) interviews as an example of data source triangulation in qualitative inquiry.

The More the Better? A Comparison of the Information Sources Used by the Public during Two Infectious Disease Outbreaks

PubMed Central

Boyd, Amanda D.; Driedger, S. Michelle

2015-01-01

Recent infectious disease outbreaks have resulted in renewed recognition of the importance of risk communication planning and execution to public health control strategies. Key to these efforts is public access to information that is understandable, reliable and meets their needs for informed decision-making on protective health behaviours. Learning from the trends in sources used in previous outbreaks will enable improvements in information access in future outbreaks. Two separate random-digit dialled telephone surveys were conducted in Alberta, Canada, to explore information sources used by the public, together with their perceived usefulness and credibility, during the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic (n = 1209) and 2009–2010 H1N1 pandemic (n = 1206). Traditional mass media were the most used information sources in both surveys. Although use of the Internet increased from 25% during SARS to 56% during H1N1, overall use of social media was not as high as anticipated. Friends and relatives were commonly used as an information source, but were not deemed very useful or credible. Conversely, doctors and health professionals were considered credible, but not consulted as frequently. The use of five or more information sources increased by almost 60% between the SARS and H1N1 surveys. There was a shift to older, more educated and more affluent respondents between the surveys, most likely caused by a decrease in the use of landlines amongst younger Canadians. It was concluded that people are increasingly using multiple sources of health risk information, presumably in a complementary manner. Subsequently, although using online media is important, this should be used to augment rather than replace more traditional information channels. Efforts should be made to improve knowledge transfer to health care professionals and doctors and provide them with opportunities to be more accessible as information sources. Finally, the future use of telephone surveys needs to account for the changing demographics of the respondents accessed through such surveys. PMID:26485302

Knowledge guided information fusion for segmentation of multiple sclerosis lesions in MRI images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Chaozhe; Jiang, Tianzi

2003-05-01

In this work, T1-, T2- and PD-weighted MR images of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, providing information on the properties of tissues from different aspects, are treated as three independent information sources for the detection and segmentation of MS lesions. Based on information fusion theory, a knowledge guided information fusion framework is proposed to accomplish 3-D segmentation of MS lesions. This framework consists of three parts: (1) information extraction, (2) information fusion, and (3) decision. Information provided by different spectral images is extracted and modeled separately in each spectrum using fuzzy sets, aiming at managing the uncertainty and ambiguity in the images due to noise and partial volume effect. In the second part, the possible fuzzy map of MS lesions in each spectral image is constructed from the extracted information under the guidance of experts' knowledge, and then the final fuzzy map of MS lesions is constructed through the fusion of the fuzzy maps obtained from different spectrum. Finally, 3-D segmentation of MS lesions is derived from the final fuzzy map. Experimental results show that this method is fast and accurate.

A predictive assessment of genetic correlations between traits in chickens using markers.

PubMed

Momen, Mehdi; Mehrgardi, Ahmad Ayatollahi; Sheikhy, Ayoub; Esmailizadeh, Ali; Fozi, Masood Asadi; Kranis, Andreas; Valente, Bruno D; Rosa, Guilherme J M; Gianola, Daniel

2017-02-01

Genomic selection has been successfully implemented in plant and animal breeding programs to shorten generation intervals and accelerate genetic progress per unit of time. In practice, genomic selection can be used to improve several correlated traits simultaneously via multiple-trait prediction, which exploits correlations between traits. However, few studies have explored multiple-trait genomic selection. Our aim was to infer genetic correlations between three traits measured in broiler chickens by exploring kinship matrices based on a linear combination of measures of pedigree and marker-based relatedness. A predictive assessment was used to gauge genetic correlations. A multivariate genomic best linear unbiased prediction model was designed to combine information from pedigree and genome-wide markers in order to assess genetic correlations between three complex traits in chickens, i.e. body weight at 35 days of age (BW), ultrasound area of breast meat (BM) and hen-house egg production (HHP). A dataset with 1351 birds that were genotyped with the 600 K Affymetrix platform was used. A kinship kernel (K) was constructed as K = λ G + (1 - λ)A, where A is the numerator relationship matrix, measuring pedigree-based relatedness, and G is a genomic relationship matrix. The weight (λ) assigned to each source of information varied over the grid λ = (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1). Maximum likelihood estimates of heritability and genetic correlations were obtained at each λ, and the "optimum" λ was determined using cross-validation. Estimates of genetic correlations were affected by the weight placed on the source of information used to build K. For example, the genetic correlation between BW-HHP and BM-HHP changed markedly when λ varied from 0 (only A used for measuring relatedness) to 1 (only genomic information used). As λ increased, predictive correlations (correlation between observed phenotypes and predicted breeding values) increased and mean-squared predictive error decreased. However, the improvement in predictive ability was not monotonic, with an optimum found at some 0 < λ < 1, i.e., when both sources of information were used together. Our findings indicate that multiple-trait prediction may benefit from combining pedigree and marker information. Also, it appeared that expected correlated responses to selection computed from standard theory may differ from realized responses. The predictive assessment provided a metric for performance evaluation as well as a means for expressing uncertainty of outcomes of multiple-trait selection.

A Prototype System for Retrieval of Gene Functional Information

PubMed Central

Folk, Lillian C.; Patrick, Timothy B.; Pattison, James S.; Wolfinger, Russell D.; Mitchell, Joyce A.

2003-01-01

Microarrays allow researchers to gather data about the expression patterns of thousands of genes simultaneously. Statistical analysis can reveal which genes show statistically significant results. Making biological sense of those results requires the retrieval of functional information about the genes thus identified, typically a manual gene-by-gene retrieval of information from various on-line databases. For experiments generating thousands of genes of interest, retrieval of functional information can become a significant bottleneck. To address this issue, we are currently developing a prototype system to automate the process of retrieval of functional information from multiple on-line sources. PMID:14728346

Information-Seeking about Anxiety and Perceptions about Technology to Teach Coping Skills in Older Veterans.

PubMed

Zapata, Aimee Marie L; Beaudreau, Sherry A; O'Hara, Ruth; Bereknyei Merrell, Sylvia; Bruce, Janine; Garrison-Diehn, Christina; Gould, Christine E

2018-01-01

We sought to learn where older veterans seek information about anxiety and coping. Due to increasing use of technology in health care, we also explored benefits and barriers of using technology to teach coping skills. Twenty veterans (mean age = 69.5 years, SD = 7.3) participated in semi-structured interviews in which we inquired about where they seek information about anxiety. We explored quantitative and qualitative differences for veterans with high versus low anxiety. In follow-up focus groups, we examined opinions about learning coping skills using technology. Though veterans primarily named health care professionals as sources of information about anxiety, online searches and reading books were frequently mentioned. Reported benefits of using technology were convenience and standardized instruction of coping skills. Barriers included lack of interaction and frustration with technology usability. Older veterans use multiple sources, heavily rely on interpersonal sources (e.g., professionals, friends), and employ varied search strategies regarding how to cope with anxiety. Using technology to teach coping skills was generally acceptable to older veterans. Health care professionals could guide patients towards credible online and book sources. Providing instruction about using technology may help older adults use technology to learn coping skills.

VAUD: A Visual Analysis Approach for Exploring Spatio-Temporal Urban Data.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Huang, Zhaosong; Wu, Feiran; Zhu, Minfeng; Guan, Huihua; Maciejewski, Ross

2017-10-02

Urban data is massive, heterogeneous, and spatio-temporal, posing a substantial challenge for visualization and analysis. In this paper, we design and implement a novel visual analytics approach, Visual Analyzer for Urban Data (VAUD), that supports the visualization, querying, and exploration of urban data. Our approach allows for cross-domain correlation from multiple data sources by leveraging spatial-temporal and social inter-connectedness features. Through our approach, the analyst is able to select, filter, aggregate across multiple data sources and extract information that would be hidden to a single data subset. To illustrate the effectiveness of our approach, we provide case studies on a real urban dataset that contains the cyber-, physical-, and socialinformation of 14 million citizens over 22 days.

MSAViewer: interactive JavaScript visualization of multiple sequence alignments.

PubMed

Yachdav, Guy; Wilzbach, Sebastian; Rauscher, Benedikt; Sheridan, Robert; Sillitoe, Ian; Procter, James; Lewis, Suzanna E; Rost, Burkhard; Goldberg, Tatyana

2016-11-15

The MSAViewer is a quick and easy visualization and analysis JavaScript component for Multiple Sequence Alignment data of any size. Core features include interactive navigation through the alignment, application of popular color schemes, sorting, selecting and filtering. The MSAViewer is 'web ready': written entirely in JavaScript, compatible with modern web browsers and does not require any specialized software. The MSAViewer is part of the BioJS collection of components. The MSAViewer is released as open source software under the Boost Software License 1.0. Documentation, source code and the viewer are available at http://msa.biojs.net/Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. msa@bio.sh. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

MSAViewer: interactive JavaScript visualization of multiple sequence alignments

PubMed Central

Yachdav, Guy; Wilzbach, Sebastian; Rauscher, Benedikt; Sheridan, Robert; Sillitoe, Ian; Procter, James; Lewis, Suzanna E.; Rost, Burkhard; Goldberg, Tatyana

2016-01-01

Summary: The MSAViewer is a quick and easy visualization and analysis JavaScript component for Multiple Sequence Alignment data of any size. Core features include interactive navigation through the alignment, application of popular color schemes, sorting, selecting and filtering. The MSAViewer is ‘web ready’: written entirely in JavaScript, compatible with modern web browsers and does not require any specialized software. The MSAViewer is part of the BioJS collection of components. Availability and Implementation: The MSAViewer is released as open source software under the Boost Software License 1.0. Documentation, source code and the viewer are available at http://msa.biojs.net/. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. Contact: msa@bio.sh PMID:27412096

Accurate Influenza Monitoring and Forecasting Using Novel Internet Data Streams: A Case Study in the Boston Metropolis

PubMed Central

Lu, Fred Sun; Hou, Suqin; Baltrusaitis, Kristin; Shah, Manan; Leskovec, Jure; Sosic, Rok; Hawkins, Jared; Brownstein, John; Conidi, Giuseppe; Gunn, Julia; Gray, Josh; Zink, Anna

2018-01-01

Background Influenza outbreaks pose major challenges to public health around the world, leading to thousands of deaths a year in the United States alone. Accurate systems that track influenza activity at the city level are necessary to provide actionable information that can be used for clinical, hospital, and community outbreak preparation. Objective Although Internet-based real-time data sources such as Google searches and tweets have been successfully used to produce influenza activity estimates ahead of traditional health care–based systems at national and state levels, influenza tracking and forecasting at finer spatial resolutions, such as the city level, remain an open question. Our study aimed to present a precise, near real-time methodology capable of producing influenza estimates ahead of those collected and published by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) for the Boston metropolitan area. This approach has great potential to be extended to other cities with access to similar data sources. Methods We first tested the ability of Google searches, Twitter posts, electronic health records, and a crowd-sourced influenza reporting system to detect influenza activity in the Boston metropolis separately. We then adapted a multivariate dynamic regression method named ARGO (autoregression with general online information), designed for tracking influenza at the national level, and showed that it effectively uses the above data sources to monitor and forecast influenza at the city level 1 week ahead of the current date. Finally, we presented an ensemble-based approach capable of combining information from models based on multiple data sources to more robustly nowcast as well as forecast influenza activity in the Boston metropolitan area. The performances of our models were evaluated in an out-of-sample fashion over 4 influenza seasons within 2012-2016, as well as a holdout validation period from 2016 to 2017. Results Our ensemble-based methods incorporating information from diverse models based on multiple data sources, including ARGO, produced the most robust and accurate results. The observed Pearson correlations between our out-of-sample flu activity estimates and those historically reported by the BPHC were 0.98 in nowcasting influenza and 0.94 in forecasting influenza 1 week ahead of the current date. Conclusions We show that information from Internet-based data sources, when combined using an informed, robust methodology, can be effectively used as early indicators of influenza activity at fine geographic resolutions. PMID:29317382

Schoolwide Screening and Programs of Positive Behavior Support: Informing Universal Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchant, Michelle; Anderson, Darlene H.; Caldarella, Paul; Fisher, Adam; Young, Benjamin J.; Young, K. Richard

2009-01-01

Researchers have suggested that screening, identification, and treatment are important components of comprehensive systems of positive behavior support. The authors highlight a procedure for using multiple data sources to develop strategies at the universal intervention level. Examples of schoolwide assessments include interviews, observations,…

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with multiple crystal heralded source with post-selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Dong; Shang-Hong, Zhao; MengYi, Deng

2018-03-01

The multiple crystal heralded source with post-selection (MHPS), originally introduced to improve the single-photon character of the heralded source, has specific applications for quantum information protocols. In this paper, by combining decoy-state measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) with spontaneous parametric downconversion process, we present a modified MDI-QKD scheme with MHPS where two architectures are proposed corresponding to symmetric scheme and asymmetric scheme. The symmetric scheme, which linked by photon switches in a log-tree structure, is adopted to overcome the limitation of the current low efficiency of m-to-1 optical switches. The asymmetric scheme, which shows a chained structure, is used to cope with the scalability issue with increase in the number of crystals suffered in symmetric scheme. The numerical simulations show that our modified scheme has apparent advances both in transmission distance and key generation rate compared to the original MDI-QKD with weak coherent source and traditional heralded source with post-selection. Furthermore, the recent advances in integrated photonics suggest that if built into a single chip, the MHPS might be a practical alternative source in quantum key distribution tasks requiring single photons to work.

Determining the Consistency of Information between Multiple Systems Used in Maritime Domain Awareness

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-01

In this example, the slice is made at the level of OOCL Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Figure 32...cube. The slice is made at the Ship level (OOCL Malaysia ship). The averaged consistency among sources is computed with the gray cells of the cube...reported from the sources. For example, variations such as ”OOCL Malaysia ” and ”OCCL Malaysia ”, or ”King of the sea” and ”King of sea” are common. During

Determining X-ray source intensity and confidence bounds in crowded fields

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

Primini, F. A.; Kashyap, V. L., E-mail: fap@head.cfa.harvard.edu

We present a rigorous description of the general problem of aperture photometry in high-energy astrophysics photon-count images, in which the statistical noise model is Poisson, not Gaussian. We compute the full posterior probability density function for the expected source intensity for various cases of interest, including the important cases in which both source and background apertures contain contributions from the source, and when multiple source apertures partially overlap. A Bayesian approach offers the advantages of allowing one to (1) include explicit prior information on source intensities, (2) propagate posterior distributions as priors for future observations, and (3) use Poisson likelihoods,more » making the treatment valid in the low-counts regime. Elements of this approach have been implemented in the Chandra Source Catalog.« less

A Self-Adaptive Dynamic Recognition Model for Fatigue Driving Based on Multi-Source Information and Two Levels of Fusion

PubMed Central

Sun, Wei; Zhang, Xiaorui; Peeta, Srinivas; He, Xiaozheng; Li, Yongfu; Zhu, Senlai

2015-01-01

To improve the effectiveness and robustness of fatigue driving recognition, a self-adaptive dynamic recognition model is proposed that incorporates information from multiple sources and involves two sequential levels of fusion, constructed at the feature level and the decision level. Compared with existing models, the proposed model introduces a dynamic basic probability assignment (BPA) to the decision-level fusion such that the weight of each feature source can change dynamically with the real-time fatigue feature measurements. Further, the proposed model can combine the fatigue state at the previous time step in the decision-level fusion to improve the robustness of the fatigue driving recognition. An improved correction strategy of the BPA is also proposed to accommodate the decision conflict caused by external disturbances. Results from field experiments demonstrate that the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed model are better than those of models based on a single fatigue feature and/or single-source information fusion, especially when the most effective fatigue features are used in the proposed model. PMID:26393615

Combinations of Multiple Neuroimaging Markers using Logistic Regression for Auxiliary Diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Mao, Nini; Liu, Yunting; Chen, Kewei; Yao, Li; Wu, Xia

2018-06-05

Multiple neuroimaging modalities have been developed providing various aspects of information on the human brain. Used together and properly, these complementary multimodal neuroimaging data integrate multisource information which can facilitate a diagnosis and improve the diagnostic accuracy. In this study, 3 types of brain imaging data (sMRI, FDG-PET, and florbetapir-PET) were fused in the hope to improve diagnostic accuracy, and multivariate methods (logistic regression) were applied to these trimodal neuroimaging indices. Then, the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) method was used to analyze the outcomes of the logistic classifier, with either each index, multiples from each modality, or all indices from all 3 modalities, to investigate their differential abilities to identify the disease. With increasing numbers of indices within each modality and across modalities, the accuracy of identifying Alzheimer disease (AD) increases to varying degrees. For example, the area under the ROC curve is above 0.98 when all the indices from the 3 imaging data types are combined. Using a combination of different indices, the results confirmed the initial hypothesis that different biomarkers were potentially complementary, and thus the conjoint analysis of multiple information from multiple sources would improve the capability to identify diseases such as AD and mild cognitive impairment. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Patients in need of medicine information.

PubMed

Kazaryan, I; Sevikyan, A

2015-01-01

Reliable medicine information is important not only for physicians and pharmacists, but also for patients [6]. However, the results of studies implemented in some countries show that patients may have slightly different needs and preferences in using sources of information [1, 4, 5, 7]. The main objective of patient medicines information is assisting consumers to achieve safe and effective use of pharmaceuticals [2, 3]. To identify patients' needs in medicine information and sources they use to receive it. We interviewed 1059 people who had visited community pharmacies in 10 regions of Armenia and Yerevan. Previously developed questionnaire was used for interviewing patients. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS program. We found that consumers need medicine information. 68.9% of respondents often use pharmaceuticals only if necessary medicines information is available. The majority of them believe that it is important to have information about therapeutic indications of pharmaceuticals to be used (91.8%), their dosage and method of administration (91.1%), contraindications (82.4%), adverse reactions (81.9%) and the simultaneous use of multiple medicines (76.5%). 58.9% of consumers value information about medicine's price. More than 70% of patients often seek information from health professionals and use medicines package information leaflets (PIL), and more than 75% of respondents mainly trust the same sources. 71.5% of respondents read package leaflets, while 42.0% of consumers do this several times. Only 36.7% of respondents completely understand information in a leaflet. Patients in Armenia need medicine information. They prefer to receive information from sources they trust.Many patients do not understand the content of package information leaflets (PILs) due to barriers, which can be removed by introducing appropriate regulatory provisions for their content and readability.

Sources Sought / Request For Information SOL-R3-13-00006: Region 3 - National Remedial Action Contracts / Multiple Award Competition

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Region 3 - EPA is performing market research to determine if industry has the capability and capacity to perform the work, on a national level, as described in the attached draft Statement of Work /Performance Work Statement(SOW/PWS).

Women in Delaware: A Documented Profile.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Hester R.; Cannon, Mary E.

A source of demographic data concerning the status of women in Delaware, this document includes multiple charts, graphs, and statistical information concerning women in the areas of (1) population characteristics, (2) marital status and living arrangements, (3) labor force participation, and (4) income and earnings. Included are data for the…

Impact of Sociocultural Background and Assessment Data Upon School Psychologists' Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huebner, E. Scott; Cummings, Jack A.

1985-01-01

Psychologists (N=56) participated in an adapted version of Algozzine and Ysseldyke's (1981) diagnostic simulation to investigate the effects of sociocultural background (rural vs. suburban) and assessment data (normal vs. learning disabled) on educational decisions. Findings suggest school psychologists utilize multiple sources of information but…

An Intervention to Improve Motivation for Homework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akioka, Elisabeth; Gilmore, Linda

2013-01-01

A repeated measures design, with randomly assigned intervention and control groups and multiple sources of information on each participant, was used to examine whether changing the method of delivery of a school's homework program in order to better meet the students' needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence would lead to more positive…

Distributed Leadership and Organizational Change: Implementation of a Teaching Performance Measure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sloan, Tine

2013-01-01

This article explores leadership practice and change as evidenced in multiple data sources gathered during a self-study implementation of a teaching performance assessment. It offers promising models of distributed leadership and organizational change that can inform future program implementers and the field in general. Our experiences suggest…

SHIFT: Shared Information Framework and Technology Concept

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-01

easy to get an overview of all those tasks what is happening around each mission. Federated Search allows actors to search multiple data sources...is sent to every individual database in the portal or federated search list. 4.7. SHIFT and the world around it The idea in SHIFT is to enable

Improving Early Warning Systems with Categorized Course Resource Usage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waddington, R. Joseph; Nam, SungJin; Lonn, Steven; Teasley, Stephanie D.

2016-01-01

Early Warning Systems (EWSs) aggregate multiple sources of data to provide timely information to stakeholders about students in need of academic support. There is an increasing need to incorporate relevant data about student behaviors into the algorithms underlying EWSs to improve predictors of students' success or failure. Many EWSs currently…

Family Matters: Gender, Networks, and Entrepreneurial Outcomes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Renzulli, Linda A.; Aldrich, Howard; Moody, James

2000-01-01

Examines the association between men's and women's social capital and their likelihood of starting a business. Suggests that heterogeneous social networks provide greater access to multiple sources of information. Women had a greater proportion of kin and greater homogeneity in their networks, but it was network characteristics rather than gender…

Audiovisual Speech Integration in Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magnee, Maurice J. C. M.; de Gelder, Beatrice; van Engeland, Herman; Kemner, Chantal

2008-01-01

Background: Integration of information from multiple sensory sources is an important prerequisite for successful social behavior, especially during face-to-face conversation. It has been suggested that communicative impairments among individuals with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) might be caused by an inability to integrate synchronously…

Counselors and Principals: Collaborating to Improve Instructional Equity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lashley, Carl A.; Stickl, Jaimie

2016-01-01

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

The Nature of Phoneme Representation in Spoken Word Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaskell, M. Gareth; Quinlan, Philip T.; Tamminen, Jakke; Cleland, Alexandra A.

2008-01-01

Four experiments used the psychological refractory period logic to examine whether integration of multiple sources of phonemic information has a decisional locus. All experiments made use of a dual-task paradigm in which participants made forced-choice color categorization (Task 1) and phoneme categorization (Task 2) decisions at varying stimulus…

Evidence-Based Support for the Characteristics of Tsunami Warning Messages for Local, Regional and Distant Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregg, C. E.; Johnston, D. M.; Sorensen, J. H.; Vogt Sorensen, B.; Whitmore, P.

2014-12-01

Many studies since 2004 have documented the dissemination and receipt of risk information for local to distant tsunamis and factors influencing people's responses. A few earlier tsunami studies and numerous studies of other hazards provide additional support for developing effective tsunami messages. This study explores evidence-based approaches to developing such messages for the Pacific and National Tsunami Warning Centers in the US. It extends a message metric developed for the NWS Tsunami Program. People at risk to tsunamis receive information from multiple sources through multiple channels. Sources are official and informal and environmental and social cues. Traditionally, official tsunami messages followed a linear dissemination path through relatively few channels from warning center to emergency management to public and media. However, the digital age has brought about a fundamental change in the dissemination and receipt of official and informal communications. Information is now disseminated in very non-linear paths and all end-user groups may receive the same message simultaneously. Research has demonstrated a range of factors that influence rapid respond to an initial real or perceived threat. Immediate response is less common than one involving delayed protective actions where people first engage in "milling behavior" to exchange information and confirm the warning before taking protective action. The most important message factors to achieve rapid response focus on the content and style of the message and the frequency of dissemination. Previously we developed a tsunami message metric consisting of 21 factors divided into message content and style and receiver characteristics. Initially, each factor was equally weighted to identify gaps, but here we extend the work by weighting specific factors. This utilizes recent research that identifies the most important determinants of protective action. We then discuss the prioritization of message information in the context of potentially limited space in evolving tsunami messages issued by the warning centers.

Intelligence-aided multitarget tracking for urban operations - a case study: counter terrorism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sathyan, T.; Bharadwaj, K.; Sinha, A.; Kirubarajan, T.

2006-05-01

In this paper, we present a framework for tracking multiple mobile targets in an urban environment based on data from multiple sources of information, and for evaluating the threat these targets pose to assets of interest (AOI). The motivating scenario is one where we have to track many targets, each with different (unknown) destinations and/or intents. The tracking algorithm is aided by information about the urban environment (e.g., road maps, buildings, hideouts), and strategic and intelligence data. The tracking algorithm needs to be dynamic in that it has to handle a time-varying number of targets and the ever-changing urban environment depending on the locations of the moving objects and AOI. Our solution uses the variable structure interacting multiple model (VS-IMM) estimator, which has been shown to be effective in tracking targets based on road map information. Intelligence information is represented as target class information and incorporated through a combined likelihood calculation within the VS-IMM estimator. In addition, we develop a model to calculate the probability that a particular target can attack a given AOI. This model for the calculation of the probability of attack is based on the target kinematic and class information. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the operation of the proposed framework on a representative scenario.

A double-correlation tremor-location method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ka Lok; Sgattoni, Giulia; Sadeghisorkhani, Hamzeh; Roberts, Roland; Gudmundsson, Olafur

2017-02-01

A double-correlation method is introduced to locate tremor sources based on stacks of complex, doubly-correlated tremor records of multiple triplets of seismographs back projected to hypothetical source locations in a geographic grid. Peaks in the resulting stack of moduli are inferred source locations. The stack of the moduli is a robust measure of energy radiated from a point source or point sources even when the velocity information is imprecise. Application to real data shows how double correlation focuses the source mapping compared to the common single correlation approach. Synthetic tests demonstrate the robustness of the method and its resolution limitations which are controlled by the station geometry, the finite frequency of the signal, the quality of the used velocity information and noise level. Both random noise and signal or noise correlated at time shifts that are inconsistent with the assumed velocity structure can be effectively suppressed. Assuming a surface wave velocity, we can constrain the source location even if the surface wave component does not dominate. The method can also in principle be used with body waves in 3-D, although this requires more data and seismographs placed near the source for depth resolution.

[Medical image compression: a review].

PubMed

Noreña, Tatiana; Romero, Eduardo

2013-01-01

Modern medicine is an increasingly complex activity , based on the evidence ; it consists of information from multiple sources : medical record text , sound recordings , images and videos generated by a large number of devices . Medical imaging is one of the most important sources of information since they offer comprehensive support of medical procedures for diagnosis and follow-up . However , the amount of information generated by image capturing gadgets quickly exceeds storage availability in radiology services , generating additional costs in devices with greater storage capacity . Besides , the current trend of developing applications in cloud computing has limitations, even though virtual storage is available from anywhere, connections are made through internet . In these scenarios the optimal use of information necessarily requires powerful compression algorithms adapted to medical activity needs . In this paper we present a review of compression techniques used for image storage , and a critical analysis of them from the point of view of their use in clinical settings.

Markov logic network based complex event detection under uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Jingyang; Jia, Bin; Chen, Genshe; Chen, Hua-mei; Sullivan, Nichole; Pham, Khanh; Blasch, Erik

2018-05-01

In a cognitive reasoning system, the four-stage Observe-Orient-Decision-Act (OODA) reasoning loop is of interest. The OODA loop is essential for the situational awareness especially in heterogeneous data fusion. Cognitive reasoning for making decisions can take advantage of different formats of information such as symbolic observations, various real-world sensor readings, or the relationship between intelligent modalities. Markov Logic Network (MLN) provides mathematically sound technique in presenting and fusing data at multiple levels of abstraction, and across multiple intelligent sensors to conduct complex decision-making tasks. In this paper, a scenario about vehicle interaction is investigated, in which uncertainty is taken into consideration as no systematic approaches can perfectly characterize the complex event scenario. MLNs are applied to the terrestrial domain where the dynamic features and relationships among vehicles are captured through multiple sensors and information sources regarding the data uncertainty.

How to retrieve additional information from the multiplicity distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilk, Grzegorz; Włodarczyk, Zbigniew

2017-01-01

Multiplicity distributions (MDs) P(N) measured in multiparticle production processes are most frequently described by the negative binomial distribution (NBD). However, with increasing collision energy some systematic discrepancies have become more and more apparent. They are usually attributed to the possible multi-source structure of the production process and described using a multi-NBD form of the MD. We investigate the possibility of keeping a single NBD but with its parameters depending on the multiplicity N. This is done by modifying the widely known clan model of particle production leading to the NBD form of P(N). This is then confronted with the approach based on the so-called cascade-stochastic formalism which is based on different types of recurrence relations defining P(N). We demonstrate that a combination of both approaches allows the retrieval of additional valuable information from the MDs, namely the oscillatory behavior of the counting statistics apparently visible in the high energy data.

Multi-Objective vs. Single Objective Calibration of a Hydrologic Model using Either Different Hydrologic Signatures or Complementary Data Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mai, J.; Cuntz, M.; Zink, M.; Schaefer, D.; Thober, S.; Samaniego, L. E.; Shafii, M.; Tolson, B.

2015-12-01

Hydrologic models are traditionally calibrated against discharge. Recent studies have shown however, that only a few global model parameters are constrained using the integral discharge measurements. It is therefore advisable to use additional information to calibrate those models. Snow pack data, for example, could improve the parametrization of snow-related processes, which might be underrepresented when using only discharge. One common approach is to combine these multiple objectives into one single objective function and allow the use of a single-objective algorithm. Another strategy is to consider the different objectives separately and apply a Pareto-optimizing algorithm. Both methods are challenging in the choice of appropriate multiple objectives with either conflicting interests or the focus on different model processes. A first aim of this study is to compare the two approaches employing the mesoscale Hydrologic Model mHM at several distinct river basins over Europe and North America. This comparison will allow the identification of the single-objective solution on the Pareto front. It is elucidated if this position is determined by the weighting and scaling of the multiple objectives when combing them to the single objective. The principal second aim is to guide the selection of proper objectives employing sensitivity analyses. These analyses are used to determine if an additional information would help to constrain additional model parameters. The additional information are either multiple data sources or multiple signatures of one measurement. It is evaluated if specific discharge signatures can inform different parts of the hydrologic model. The results show that an appropriate selection of discharge signatures increased the number of constrained parameters by more than 50% compared to using only NSE of the discharge time series. It is further assessed if the use of these signatures impose conflicting objectives on the hydrologic model. The usage of signatures is furthermore contrasted to the use of additional observations such as soil moisture or snow height. The gain of using an auxiliary dataset is determined using the parametric sensitivity on the respective modeled variable.

Digital dashboard design using multiple data streams for disease surveillance with influenza surveillance as an example.

PubMed

Cheng, Calvin K Y; Ip, Dennis K M; Cowling, Benjamin J; Ho, Lai Ming; Leung, Gabriel M; Lau, Eric H Y

2011-10-14

Great strides have been made exploring and exploiting new and different sources of disease surveillance data and developing robust statistical methods for analyzing the collected data. However, there has been less research in the area of dissemination. Proper dissemination of surveillance data can facilitate the end user's taking of appropriate actions, thus maximizing the utility of effort taken from upstream of the surveillance-to-action loop. The aims of the study were to develop a generic framework for a digital dashboard incorporating features of efficient dashboard design and to demonstrate this framework by specific application to influenza surveillance in Hong Kong. Based on the merits of the national websites and principles of efficient dashboard design, we designed an automated influenza surveillance digital dashboard as a demonstration of efficient dissemination of surveillance data. We developed the system to synthesize and display multiple sources of influenza surveillance data streams in the dashboard. Different algorithms can be implemented in the dashboard for incorporating all surveillance data streams to describe the overall influenza activity. We designed and implemented an influenza surveillance dashboard that utilized self-explanatory figures to display multiple surveillance data streams in panels. Indicators for individual data streams as well as for overall influenza activity were summarized in the main page, which can be read at a glance. Data retrieval function was also incorporated to allow data sharing in standard format. The influenza surveillance dashboard serves as a template to illustrate the efficient synthesization and dissemination of multiple-source surveillance data, which may also be applied to other diseases. Surveillance data from multiple sources can be disseminated efficiently using a dashboard design that facilitates the translation of surveillance information to public health actions.

Digital Dashboard Design Using Multiple Data Streams for Disease Surveillance With Influenza Surveillance as an Example

PubMed Central

Cheng, Calvin KY; Ip, Dennis KM; Cowling, Benjamin J; Ho, Lai Ming; Leung, Gabriel M

2011-01-01

Background Great strides have been made exploring and exploiting new and different sources of disease surveillance data and developing robust statistical methods for analyzing the collected data. However, there has been less research in the area of dissemination. Proper dissemination of surveillance data can facilitate the end user's taking of appropriate actions, thus maximizing the utility of effort taken from upstream of the surveillance-to-action loop. Objective The aims of the study were to develop a generic framework for a digital dashboard incorporating features of efficient dashboard design and to demonstrate this framework by specific application to influenza surveillance in Hong Kong. Methods Based on the merits of the national websites and principles of efficient dashboard design, we designed an automated influenza surveillance digital dashboard as a demonstration of efficient dissemination of surveillance data. We developed the system to synthesize and display multiple sources of influenza surveillance data streams in the dashboard. Different algorithms can be implemented in the dashboard for incorporating all surveillance data streams to describe the overall influenza activity. Results We designed and implemented an influenza surveillance dashboard that utilized self-explanatory figures to display multiple surveillance data streams in panels. Indicators for individual data streams as well as for overall influenza activity were summarized in the main page, which can be read at a glance. Data retrieval function was also incorporated to allow data sharing in standard format. Conclusions The influenza surveillance dashboard serves as a template to illustrate the efficient synthesization and dissemination of multiple-source surveillance data, which may also be applied to other diseases. Surveillance data from multiple sources can be disseminated efficiently using a dashboard design that facilitates the translation of surveillance information to public health actions. PMID:22001082

Audio-visual speech cue combination.

PubMed

Arnold, Derek H; Tear, Morgan; Schindel, Ryan; Roseboom, Warrick

2010-04-16

Different sources of sensory information can interact, often shaping what we think we have seen or heard. This can enhance the precision of perceptual decisions relative to those made on the basis of a single source of information. From a computational perspective, there are multiple reasons why this might happen, and each predicts a different degree of enhanced precision. Relatively slight improvements can arise when perceptual decisions are made on the basis of multiple independent sensory estimates, as opposed to just one. These improvements can arise as a consequence of probability summation. Greater improvements can occur if two initially independent estimates are summated to form a single integrated code, especially if the summation is weighted in accordance with the variance associated with each independent estimate. This form of combination is often described as a Bayesian maximum likelihood estimate. Still greater improvements are possible if the two sources of information are encoded via a common physiological process. Here we show that the provision of simultaneous audio and visual speech cues can result in substantial sensitivity improvements, relative to single sensory modality based decisions. The magnitude of the improvements is greater than can be predicted on the basis of either a Bayesian maximum likelihood estimate or a probability summation. Our data suggest that primary estimates of speech content are determined by a physiological process that takes input from both visual and auditory processing, resulting in greater sensitivity than would be possible if initially independent audio and visual estimates were formed and then subsequently combined.

Methane source identification in Boston, Massachusetts using isotopic and ethane measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Down, A.; Jackson, R. B.; Plata, D.; McKain, K.; Wofsy, S. C.; Rella, C.; Crosson, E.; Phillips, N. G.

2012-12-01

Methane has substantial greenhouse warming potential and is the principle component of natural gas. Fugitive natural gas emissions could be a significant source of methane to the atmosphere. However, the cumulative magnitude of natural gas leaks is not yet well constrained. We used a combination of point source measurements and ambient monitoring to characterize the methane sources in the Boston urban area. We developed distinct fingerprints for natural gas and multiple biogenic methane sources based on hydrocarbon concentration and isotopic composition. We combine these data with periodic measurements of atmospheric methane and ethane concentration to estimate the fractional contribution of natural gas and biogenic methane sources to the cumulative urban methane flux in Boston. These results are used to inform an inverse model of urban methane concentration and emissions.

Feedback power control strategies in wireless sensor networks with joint channel decoding.

PubMed

Abrardo, Andrea; Ferrari, Gianluigi; Martalò, Marco; Perna, Fabio

2009-01-01

In this paper, we derive feedback power control strategies for block-faded multiple access schemes with correlated sources and joint channel decoding (JCD). In particular, upon the derivation of the feasible signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region for the considered multiple access schemes, i.e., the multidimensional SNR region where error-free communications are, in principle, possible, two feedback power control strategies are proposed: (i) a classical feedback power control strategy, which aims at equalizing all link SNRs at the access point (AP), and (ii) an innovative optimized feedback power control strategy, which tries to make the network operational point fall in the feasible SNR region at the lowest overall transmit energy consumption. These strategies will be referred to as "balanced SNR" and "unbalanced SNR," respectively. While they require, in principle, an unlimited power control range at the sources, we also propose practical versions with a limited power control range. We preliminary consider a scenario with orthogonal links and ideal feedback. Then, we analyze the robustness of the proposed power control strategies to possible non-idealities, in terms of residual multiple access interference and noisy feedback channels. Finally, we successfully apply the proposed feedback power control strategies to a limiting case of the class of considered multiple access schemes, namely a central estimating officer (CEO) scenario, where the sensors observe noisy versions of a common binary information sequence and the AP's goal is to estimate this sequence by properly fusing the soft-output information output by the JCD algorithm.

PySE: Python Source Extractor for radio astronomical images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spreeuw, Hanno; Swinbank, John; Molenaar, Gijs; Staley, Tim; Rol, Evert; Sanders, John; Scheers, Bart; Kuiack, Mark

2018-05-01

PySE finds and measures sources in radio telescope images. It is run with several options, such as the detection threshold (a multiple of the local noise), grid size, and the forced clean beam fit, followed by a list of input image files in standard FITS or CASA format. From these, PySe provides a list of found sources; information such as the calculated background image, source list in different formats (e.g. text, region files importable in DS9), and other data may be saved. PySe can be integrated into a pipeline; it was originally written as part of the LOFAR Transient Detection Pipeline (TraP, ascl:1412.011).

Generation of Single Photons and Entangled Photon Pairs from a Quantum Dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Y.; Pelton, M.; Santori, C.; Solomon, G. S.

2002-10-01

Current quantum cryptography systems are limited by the Poissonian photon statistics of a standard light source: a security loophole is opened up by the possibility of multiple-photon pulses. By replacing the source with a single-photon emitter, transmission rates of secure information can be improved. A single photon source is also essential to implement a linear optics quantum computer. We have investigated the use of single self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots as such single-photon sources, and have seen a hundred-fold reduction in the multi-photon probability as compared to Poissonian pulses. An extension of our experiment should also allow for the generation of triggered, polarizationentangled photon pairs.

FALDO: a semantic standard for describing the location of nucleotide and protein feature annotation.

PubMed

Bolleman, Jerven T; Mungall, Christopher J; Strozzi, Francesco; Baran, Joachim; Dumontier, Michel; Bonnal, Raoul J P; Buels, Robert; Hoehndorf, Robert; Fujisawa, Takatomo; Katayama, Toshiaki; Cock, Peter J A

2016-06-13

Nucleotide and protein sequence feature annotations are essential to understand biology on the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic level. Using Semantic Web technologies to query biological annotations, there was no standard that described this potentially complex location information as subject-predicate-object triples. We have developed an ontology, the Feature Annotation Location Description Ontology (FALDO), to describe the positions of annotated features on linear and circular sequences. FALDO can be used to describe nucleotide features in sequence records, protein annotations, and glycan binding sites, among other features in coordinate systems of the aforementioned "omics" areas. Using the same data format to represent sequence positions that are independent of file formats allows us to integrate sequence data from multiple sources and data types. The genome browser JBrowse is used to demonstrate accessing multiple SPARQL endpoints to display genomic feature annotations, as well as protein annotations from UniProt mapped to genomic locations. Our ontology allows users to uniformly describe - and potentially merge - sequence annotations from multiple sources. Data sources using FALDO can prospectively be retrieved using federalised SPARQL queries against public SPARQL endpoints and/or local private triple stores.

UV fatigue investigations with non-destructive tools in silica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Natoli, Jean-Yves; Beaudier, Alexandre; Wagner, Frank R.

2017-08-01

A fatigue effect is often observed under multiple laser irradiations, overall in UV. This decrease of LIDT, is a critical parameter for laser sources with high repetition rates and with a need of long-term life, as in spatial applications at 355nm. A challenge is also to replace excimer lasers by solid laser sources, this challenge requires to improve drastically the lifetime of optical materials at 266nm. Main applications of these sources are devoted to material surface nanostructuration, spectroscopy and medical surgeries. In this work we focus on the understanding of the laser matter interaction at 266nm in silica in order to predict the lifetime of components and study parameters links to these lifetimes to give keys of improvement for material suppliers. In order to study the mechanism involved in the case of multiple irradiations, an interesting approach is to involve the evolution of fluorescence, in order to observe the first stages of material changes just before breakdown. We will show that it is sometime possible to estimate the lifetime of component only with the fluorescence measurement, saving time and materials. Moreover, the data from the diagnostics give relevant informations to highlight "defects" induced by multiple laser irradiations.

FALDO: a semantic standard for describing the location of nucleotide and protein feature annotation

DOE PAGES

Bolleman, Jerven T.; Mungall, Christopher J.; Strozzi, Francesco; ...

2016-06-13

Nucleotide and protein sequence feature annotations are essential to understand biology on the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic level. Using Semantic Web technologies to query biological annotations, there was no standard that described this potentially complex location information as subject-predicate-object triples. In this paper, we have developed an ontology, the Feature Annotation Location Description Ontology (FALDO), to describe the positions of annotated features on linear and circular sequences. FALDO can be used to describe nucleotide features in sequence records, protein annotations, and glycan binding sites, among other features in coordinate systems of the aforementioned “omics” areas. Using the same data formatmore » to represent sequence positions that are independent of file formats allows us to integrate sequence data from multiple sources and data types. The genome browser JBrowse is used to demonstrate accessing multiple SPARQL endpoints to display genomic feature annotations, as well as protein annotations from UniProt mapped to genomic locations. Our ontology allows users to uniformly describe – and potentially merge – sequence annotations from multiple sources. Finally, data sources using FALDO can prospectively be retrieved using federalised SPARQL queries against public SPARQL endpoints and/or local private triple stores.« less

FALDO: a semantic standard for describing the location of nucleotide and protein feature annotation

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

Bolleman, Jerven T.; Mungall, Christopher J.; Strozzi, Francesco

Nucleotide and protein sequence feature annotations are essential to understand biology on the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic level. Using Semantic Web technologies to query biological annotations, there was no standard that described this potentially complex location information as subject-predicate-object triples. In this paper, we have developed an ontology, the Feature Annotation Location Description Ontology (FALDO), to describe the positions of annotated features on linear and circular sequences. FALDO can be used to describe nucleotide features in sequence records, protein annotations, and glycan binding sites, among other features in coordinate systems of the aforementioned “omics” areas. Using the same data formatmore » to represent sequence positions that are independent of file formats allows us to integrate sequence data from multiple sources and data types. The genome browser JBrowse is used to demonstrate accessing multiple SPARQL endpoints to display genomic feature annotations, as well as protein annotations from UniProt mapped to genomic locations. Our ontology allows users to uniformly describe – and potentially merge – sequence annotations from multiple sources. Finally, data sources using FALDO can prospectively be retrieved using federalised SPARQL queries against public SPARQL endpoints and/or local private triple stores.« less

Information processing of earth resources data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zobrist, A. L.; Bryant, N. A.

1982-01-01

Current trends in the use of remotely sensed data include integration of multiple data sources of various formats and use of complex models. These trends have placed a strain on information processing systems because an enormous number of capabilities are needed to perform a single application. A solution to this problem is to create a general set of capabilities which can perform a wide variety of applications. General capabilities for the Image-Based Information System (IBIS) are outlined in this report. They are then cross-referenced for a set of applications performed at JPL.

Cultural differences in the understanding of modelling and feedback as sources of self-efficacy information.

PubMed

Ahn, Hyun Seon; Usher, Ellen L; Butz, Amanda; Bong, Mimi

2016-03-01

The potential role of culture in the development and operation of self-efficacy has been acknowledged by researchers. Clearer understanding of this cultural impact will benefit from research that shows how the same efficacy information is evaluated across cultures. We tested whether two sources of self-efficacy information delivered by multiple social agents (i.e., vicarious experience and social persuasion) were weighed differently by adolescents in different cultures. Of 2,893 middle school students in Korea (n = 416), the Philippines (n = 522), and the United States (n = 1,955) who completed the survey, 400 students were randomly pooled from each country. Invariance of the measurement and of the latent means for self-efficacy and self-efficacy sources across the groups was tested by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Predictive utility of the self-efficacy sources was compared by multigroup structural equation modelling. Compared to the students in the two collectivistic countries, the US students reported significantly higher mathematics self-efficacy. Whereas the efficacy beliefs of the Korean and the US students were predicted equally well by the vicarious experience from their teachers and the social persuasion by their family and peers, those of the Filipino adolescents were best predicted by the social persuasion from their peers. This study provided empirical evidence that socially conveyed sources of self-efficacy information are construed and evaluated differently across cultures, depending on who delivered the efficacy-relevant information. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Matching Alternative Addresses: a Semantic Web Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ariannamazi, S.; Karimipour, F.; Hakimpour, F.

2015-12-01

Rapid development of crowd-sourcing or volunteered geographic information (VGI) provides opportunities for authoritatives that deal with geospatial information. Heterogeneity of multiple data sources and inconsistency of data types is a key characteristics of VGI datasets. The expansion of cities resulted in the growing number of POIs in the OpenStreetMap, a well-known VGI source, which causes the datasets to outdate in short periods of time. These changes made to spatial and aspatial attributes of features such as names and addresses might cause confusion or ambiguity in the processes that require feature's literal information like addressing and geocoding. VGI sources neither will conform specific vocabularies nor will remain in a specific schema for a long period of time. As a result, the integration of VGI sources is crucial and inevitable in order to avoid duplication and the waste of resources. Information integration can be used to match features and qualify different annotation alternatives for disambiguation. This study enhances the search capabilities of geospatial tools with applications able to understand user terminology to pursuit an efficient way for finding desired results. Semantic web is a capable tool for developing technologies that deal with lexical and numerical calculations and estimations. There are a vast amount of literal-spatial data representing the capability of linguistic information in knowledge modeling, but these resources need to be harmonized based on Semantic Web standards. The process of making addresses homogenous generates a helpful tool based on spatial data integration and lexical annotation matching and disambiguating.

Fast Tracking Data to Informed Decisions: An Advanced Information System to Improve Environmental Understanding and Management (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minsker, B. S.; Myers, J.; Liu, Y.; Bajcsy, P.

2010-12-01

Emerging sensing and information technology are rapidly creating a new paradigm for environmental research and management, in which data from multiple sensors and information sources can guide real-time adaptive observation and decision making. This talk will provide an overview of emerging cyberinfrastructure and three case studies that illustrate their potential: combined sewer overflows in Chicago, hypoxia in Corpus Christi Bay, Texas, and sustainable agriculture in Illinois. An advanced information system for real-time decision making and visual geospatial analytics will be presented as an example of cyberinfrastructure that enables easier implementation of numerous real-time applications.

Feasibility and utility of applications of the common data model to multiple, disparate observational health databases

PubMed Central

Makadia, Rupa; Matcho, Amy; Ma, Qianli; Knoll, Chris; Schuemie, Martijn; DeFalco, Frank J; Londhe, Ajit; Zhu, Vivienne; Ryan, Patrick B

2015-01-01

Objectives To evaluate the utility of applying the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model (CDM) across multiple observational databases within an organization and to apply standardized analytics tools for conducting observational research. Materials and methods Six deidentified patient-level datasets were transformed to the OMOP CDM. We evaluated the extent of information loss that occurred through the standardization process. We developed a standardized analytic tool to replicate the cohort construction process from a published epidemiology protocol and applied the analysis to all 6 databases to assess time-to-execution and comparability of results. Results Transformation to the CDM resulted in minimal information loss across all 6 databases. Patients and observations excluded were due to identified data quality issues in the source system, 96% to 99% of condition records and 90% to 99% of drug records were successfully mapped into the CDM using the standard vocabulary. The full cohort replication and descriptive baseline summary was executed for 2 cohorts in 6 databases in less than 1 hour. Discussion The standardization process improved data quality, increased efficiency, and facilitated cross-database comparisons to support a more systematic approach to observational research. Comparisons across data sources showed consistency in the impact of inclusion criteria, using the protocol and identified differences in patient characteristics and coding practices across databases. Conclusion Standardizing data structure (through a CDM), content (through a standard vocabulary with source code mappings), and analytics can enable an institution to apply a network-based approach to observational research across multiple, disparate observational health databases. PMID:25670757

Bayesian adaptive survey protocols for resource management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Halstead, Brian J.; Wylie, Glenn D.; Coates, Peter S.; Casazza, Michael L.

2011-01-01

Transparency in resource management decisions requires a proper accounting of uncertainty at multiple stages of the decision-making process. As information becomes available, periodic review and updating of resource management protocols reduces uncertainty and improves management decisions. One of the most basic steps to mitigating anthropogenic effects on populations is determining if a population of a species occurs in an area that will be affected by human activity. Species are rarely detected with certainty, however, and falsely declaring a species absent can cause improper conservation decisions or even extirpation of populations. We propose a method to design survey protocols for imperfectly detected species that accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty in the detection process, is capable of quantitatively incorporating expert opinion into the decision-making process, allows periodic updates to the protocol, and permits resource managers to weigh the severity of consequences if the species is falsely declared absent. We developed our method using the giant gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas), a threatened species precinctive to the Central Valley of California, as a case study. Survey date was negatively related to the probability of detecting the giant gartersnake, and water temperature was positively related to the probability of detecting the giant gartersnake at a sampled location. Reporting sampling effort, timing and duration of surveys, and water temperatures would allow resource managers to evaluate the probability that the giant gartersnake occurs at sampled sites where it is not detected. This information would also allow periodic updates and quantitative evaluation of changes to the giant gartersnake survey protocol. Because it naturally allows multiple sources of information and is predicated upon the idea of updating information, Bayesian analysis is well-suited to solving the problem of developing efficient sampling protocols for species of conservation concern.

Toward multimodal signal detection of adverse drug reactions.

PubMed

Harpaz, Rave; DuMouchel, William; Schuemie, Martijn; Bodenreider, Olivier; Friedman, Carol; Horvitz, Eric; Ripple, Anna; Sorbello, Alfred; White, Ryen W; Winnenburg, Rainer; Shah, Nigam H

2017-12-01

Improving mechanisms to detect adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is key to strengthening post-marketing drug safety surveillance. Signal detection is presently unimodal, relying on a single information source. Multimodal signal detection is based on jointly analyzing multiple information sources. Building on, and expanding the work done in prior studies, the aim of the article is to further research on multimodal signal detection, explore its potential benefits, and propose methods for its construction and evaluation. Four data sources are investigated; FDA's adverse event reporting system, insurance claims, the MEDLINE citation database, and the logs of major Web search engines. Published methods are used to generate and combine signals from each data source. Two distinct reference benchmarks corresponding to well-established and recently labeled ADRs respectively are used to evaluate the performance of multimodal signal detection in terms of area under the ROC curve (AUC) and lead-time-to-detection, with the latter relative to labeling revision dates. Limited to our reference benchmarks, multimodal signal detection provides AUC improvements ranging from 0.04 to 0.09 based on a widely used evaluation benchmark, and a comparative added lead-time of 7-22 months relative to labeling revision dates from a time-indexed benchmark. The results support the notion that utilizing and jointly analyzing multiple data sources may lead to improved signal detection. Given certain data and benchmark limitations, the early stage of development, and the complexity of ADRs, it is currently not possible to make definitive statements about the ultimate utility of the concept. Continued development of multimodal signal detection requires a deeper understanding the data sources used, additional benchmarks, and further research on methods to generate and synthesize signals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Testing the Auroral Current-Voltage Relation in Multiple Arcs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cameron, T. G.; Knudsen, D. J.; Cully, C. M.

2013-12-01

The well-known current-voltage relation within auroral inverted-V regions [Knight, Planet. Space Sci., 21, 741, 1973] predicts current carried by an auroral flux tube given the total potential drop between a plasma-sheet source region and the ionosphere. Numerous previous studies have tested this relation using spacecraft that traverse auroral arcs at low (ionospheric) or mid altitudes. Typically, the potential drop is estimated at the peak of the inverted-V, and field-aligned current is estimated from magnetometer data; statistical information is then gathered over many arc crossings that occur over a wide range of source conditions. In this study we use electron data from the FAST satellite to examine the current-voltage relation in multiple arc sets, in which the key source parameters (plasma sheet density and temperature) are presumed to be identical. We argue that this approach provides a more sensitive test of the Knight relation, and we seek to explain remaining variability with factors other than source variability. This study is supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Spectrally resolved, broadband frequency response characterization of photodetectors using continuous-wave supercontinuum sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choudhury, Vishal; Prakash, Roopa; Nagarjun, K. P.; Supradeepa, V. R.

2018-02-01

A simple and powerful method using continuous wave supercontinuum lasers is demonstrated to perform spectrally resolved, broadband frequency response characterization of photodetectors in the NIR Band. In contrast to existing techniques, this method allows for a simple system to achieve the goal, requiring just a standard continuous wave(CW) high-power fiber laser source and an RF spectrum analyzer. From our recent work, we summarize methods to easily convert any high-power fiber laser into a CW supercontinuum. These sources in the time domain exhibit interesting properties all the way down to the femtosecond time scale. This enables measurement of broadband frequency response of photodetectors while the wide optical spectrum of the supercontinuum can be spectrally filtered to obtain this information in a spectrally resolved fashion. The method involves looking at the RF spectrum of the output of a photodetector under test when incident with the supercontinuum. By using prior knowledge of the RF spectrum of the source, the frequency response can be calculated. We utilize two techniques for calibration of the source spectrum, one using a prior measurement and the other relying on a fitted model. Here, we characterize multiple photodetectors from 150MHz bandwidth to >20GHz bandwidth at multiple bands in the NIR region. We utilize a supercontinuum source spanning over 700nm bandwidth from 1300nm to 2000nm. For spectrally resolved measurement, we utilize multiple wavelength bands such as around 1400nm and 1600nm. Interesting behavior was observed in the frequency response of the photodetectors when comparing broadband spectral excitation versus narrower band excitation.

An optimal merging technique for high-resolution precipitation products: OPTIMAL MERGING OF PRECIPITATION METHOD

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

Shrestha, Roshan; Houser, Paul R.; Anantharaj, Valentine G.

2011-04-01

Precipitation products are currently available from various sources at higher spatial and temporal resolution than any time in the past. Each of the precipitation products has its strengths and weaknesses in availability, accuracy, resolution, retrieval techniques and quality control. By merging the precipitation data obtained from multiple sources, one can improve its information content by minimizing these issues. However, precipitation data merging poses challenges of scale-mismatch, and accurate error and bias assessment. In this paper we present Optimal Merging of Precipitation (OMP), a new method to merge precipitation data from multiple sources that are of different spatial and temporal resolutionsmore » and accuracies. This method is a combination of scale conversion and merging weight optimization, involving performance-tracing based on Bayesian statistics and trend-analysis, which yields merging weights for each precipitation data source. The weights are optimized at multiple scales to facilitate multiscale merging and better precipitation downscaling. Precipitation data used in the experiment include products from the 12-km resolution North American Land Data Assimilation (NLDAS) system, the 8-km resolution CMORPH and the 4-km resolution National Stage-IV QPE. The test cases demonstrate that the OMP method is capable of identifying a better data source and allocating a higher priority for them in the merging procedure, dynamically over the region and time period. This method is also effective in filtering out poor quality data introduced into the merging process.« less

Method and system for knowledge discovery using non-linear statistical analysis and a 1st and 2nd tier computer program

DOEpatents

Hively, Lee M [Philadelphia, TN

2011-07-12

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for simultaneously processing different sources of test data into informational data and then processing different categories of informational data into knowledge-based data. The knowledge-based data can then be communicated between nodes in a system of multiple computers according to rules for a type of complex, hierarchical computer system modeled on a human brain.

Mediated learning in the workplace: student perspectives on knowledge resources.

PubMed

Shanahan, Madeleine

2015-01-01

In contemporary clinical practice, student radiographers can use many types of knowledge resources to support their learning. These include workplace experts, digital and nondigital information sources (eg, journals, textbooks, and the Internet), and electronic communication tools such as e-mail and social media. Despite the range of knowledge tools available, there is little available data about radiography students' use of these resources during clinical placement. A 68-item questionnaire was distributed to 62 students enrolled in an Australian university undergraduate radiography program after they completed a clinical placement. Researchers used descriptive statistics to analyze student access to workplace experts and their use of digital and nondigital information sources and electronic communication tools. A 5-point Likert scale (1 = very important; 5 = not important) was used to assess the present importance and perceived future value of knowledge tools for workplace learning. Of the 53 students who completed and returned the questionnaire anonymously, most rely on the knowledge of practicing technologists and on print and electronic information sources to support their learning; some students also use electronic communication tools. Students perceive that these knowledge resources also will be important tools for their future learning as qualified health professionals. The findings from this study present baseline data regarding the value students attribute to multiple knowledge tools and regarding student access to and use of these tools during clinical placement. In addition, most students have access to multiple knowledge tools in the workplace and incorporate these tools simultaneously into their overall learning practice during clinical placement. Although a range of knowledge tools is used in the workplace to support learning among student radiographers, the quality of each tool should be critically analyzed before it is adopted in practice. Integrating practice-based learning with learning mediated by information sources provides a more complete paradigm of learning during clinical placement.

Information theoretic partitioning and confidence based weight assignment for multi-classifier decision level fusion in hyperspectral target recognition applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, S.; Bruce, L. M.

2007-04-01

There is a growing interest in using multiple sources for automatic target recognition (ATR) applications. One approach is to take multiple, independent observations of a phenomenon and perform a feature level or a decision level fusion for ATR. This paper proposes a method to utilize these types of multi-source fusion techniques to exploit hyperspectral data when only a small number of training pixels are available. Conventional hyperspectral image based ATR techniques project the high dimensional reflectance signature onto a lower dimensional subspace using techniques such as Principal Components Analysis (PCA), Fisher's linear discriminant analysis (LDA), subspace LDA and stepwise LDA. While some of these techniques attempt to solve the curse of dimensionality, or small sample size problem, these are not necessarily optimal projections. In this paper, we present a divide and conquer approach to address the small sample size problem. The hyperspectral space is partitioned into contiguous subspaces such that the discriminative information within each subspace is maximized, and the statistical dependence between subspaces is minimized. We then treat each subspace as a separate source in a multi-source multi-classifier setup and test various decision fusion schemes to determine their efficacy. Unlike previous approaches which use correlation between variables for band grouping, we study the efficacy of higher order statistical information (using average mutual information) for a bottom up band grouping. We also propose a confidence measure based decision fusion technique, where the weights associated with various classifiers are based on their confidence in recognizing the training data. To this end, training accuracies of all classifiers are used for weight assignment in the fusion process of test pixels. The proposed methods are tested using hyperspectral data with known ground truth, such that the efficacy can be quantitatively measured in terms of target recognition accuracies.

Road and Roadside Feature Extraction Using Imagery and LIDAR Data for Transportation Operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ural, S.; Shan, J.; Romero, M. A.; Tarko, A.

2015-03-01

Transportation agencies require up-to-date, reliable, and feasibly acquired information on road geometry and features within proximity to the roads as input for evaluating and prioritizing new or improvement road projects. The information needed for a robust evaluation of road projects includes road centerline, width, and extent together with the average grade, cross-sections, and obstructions near the travelled way. Remote sensing is equipped with a large collection of data and well-established tools for acquiring the information and extracting aforementioned various road features at various levels and scopes. Even with many remote sensing data and methods available for road extraction, transportation operation requires more than the centerlines. Acquiring information that is spatially coherent at the operational level for the entire road system is challenging and needs multiple data sources to be integrated. In the presented study, we established a framework that used data from multiple sources, including one-foot resolution color infrared orthophotos, airborne LiDAR point clouds, and existing spatially non-accurate ancillary road networks. We were able to extract 90.25% of a total of 23.6 miles of road networks together with estimated road width, average grade along the road, and cross sections at specified intervals. Also, we have extracted buildings and vegetation within a predetermined proximity to the extracted road extent. 90.6% of 107 existing buildings were correctly identified with 31% false detection rate.

Collecting and Using Staff Performance Information for School Improvement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Null A.

Use of multiple data sources for evaluation of faculty performance by the DeKalb County (Georgia) School System is described. Focus is on two evaluations, the administrator evaluation and the counselor evaluation; the former has been employed longer than any other component of the evaluation system, while the latter is scheduled for its second…

Getting beyond "Gut Feeling": Understanding How Mentors Judge Readiness to Teach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ell, Fiona; Haigh, Mavis

2015-01-01

Assessing whether or not a teacher candidate is ready to take their own class is a high-stakes decision that requires consideration of multiple, often competing, sources of information. Three research instruments were designed to explore how mentors judge readiness to teach during final practicum placements. This article describes the three…

77 FR 32959 - Request for Information on Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Disconnected Youth

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-04

...? What is the best evidence to support these program designs (e.g., correlational or longitudinal... approval to blend funds from multiple funding sources and obtain waivers, such as for program design... 2013 budget does not request dedicated funding for Performance Partnership Pilots as they are designed...

"I'd Rather Watch TV": An Examination of Physical Activity in Adults with Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frey, Georgia C.; Buchanan, Alice M.; Rosser Sandt, Dawn D.

2005-01-01

Interpretive ethnography was used as a framework to examine perceptions of physical activity behavior of 12 adults with mild mental retardation. Four parents and two job supervisors also agreed to participate. Multiple data sources included in-depth interviews, diaries, accelerometry, and informal observations. Participants reported many physical…

Public Service Professionalism among State Administrators: A Multiple State Study. A Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Bruce J.; And Others

This working paper, part of an ongoing national study, presents preliminary analysis of public service professionalism among state public administrators in many states on the basis of data already produced by a continuing survey research project. Information about the data source and sample profiles are provided. Additionally, the research…

Leading for Literacy: Engaging Schools and Districts in Transforming Subject-Area Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoenbach, Ruth; Greenleaf, Cynthia

2017-01-01

Two-thirds of U.S. high school students today are unable to read and comprehend complex academic materials, think critically about texts, synthesize information from multiple sources, or effectively communicate what they have learned. And in response, many teachers simply stop assigning challenging texts, opting instead to "deliver…

Understanding Students' Needs: A Guide for Developing and Implementing Assessment Procedures for Students Encountering Educational Challenges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samuels, Marilyn T.

This manual, intended to help administrators, specialists, and teachers in Alberta, Canada, understand a problem-solving, process-based approach to assessment of special needs students using multiple sources of information. Assessment outcomes are viewed as describing needs and influencing education programs, rather than being used to provide…

Investigating the Representation of Multiple Intelligences Theory in TPSOL Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ebadi, Saman; Beigzadeh, Maryam

2016-01-01

As the main applicable language resources in classrooms, textbooks provide the primary source of information, and they serve the foundation of instruction and transfer the curriculum objectives. Therefore, teachers should be conscious in choosing the right textbooks and activities for their students. The purpose of this study is to investigate one…

First-Degree Relatives of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Some Gender Aspects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eriksson, Mats Anders; Westerlund, Joakim; Anderlid, Britt Marie; Gillberg, Christopher; Fernell, Elisabeth

2012-01-01

Prenatal risk factors, with special focus on gender distribution of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions were analysed in first-degree relatives in a population-based group of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Multiple information sources were combined. This group was contrasted with the general population regarding…

Incorporating Computer-Aided Language Sample Analysis into Clinical Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Lisa Hammett; Hendricks, Sean; Cook, Colleen

2010-01-01

Purpose: During the evaluation of language abilities, the needs of the child are best served when multiple types and sources of data are included in the evaluation process. Current educational policies and practice guidelines further dictate the use of authentic assessment data to inform diagnosis and treatment planning. Language sampling and…

Astronomy with the Color Blind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Donald A.; Melrose, Justyn

2014-01-01

The standard method to create dramatic color images in astrophotography is to record multiple black and white images, each with a different color filter in the optical path, and then tint each frame with a color appropriate to the corresponding filter. When combined, the resulting image conveys information about the sources of emission in the…

Passive polarimetric imagery-based material classification robust to illumination source position and viewpoint.

PubMed

Thilak Krishna, Thilakam Vimal; Creusere, Charles D; Voelz, David G

2011-01-01

Polarization, a property of light that conveys information about the transverse electric field orientation, complements other attributes of electromagnetic radiation such as intensity and frequency. Using multiple passive polarimetric images, we develop an iterative, model-based approach to estimate the complex index of refraction and apply it to target classification.

Development of the crop residue and rangeland burning in the 2014 National Emissions Inventory using information from multiple sources

EPA Science Inventory

Biomass burning has been identified as an important contributor to the degradation of air quality because of its impact on ozone and particulate matter. One component of the biomass burning inventory, crop residue burning, has been poorly characterized in the National Emissions I...

Reflective Practice: Using Focus Groups to Determine Family Priorities and Guide Social Pragmatic Program Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theadore, Geraldine; Laurent, Amy; Kovarsky, Dana; Weiss, Amy L.

2011-01-01

Reflective practice requires that professionals carefully examine and integrate multiple sources of information when designing intervention and evaluating its effectiveness. This article describes the use of focus group discussion as a form of qualitative research for understanding parents' perspectives of a university-based intervention program…

Constructing probability boxes and Dempster-Shafer structures

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

Ferson, Scott; Kreinovich, Vladik; Grinzburg, Lev

This report summarizes a variety of the most useful and commonly applied methods for obtaining Dempster-Shafer structures, and their mathematical kin probability boxes, from empirical information or theoretical knowledge. The report includes a review of the aggregation methods for handling agreement and conflict when multiple such objects are obtained from different sources.

Toward New Data and Information Management Solutions for Data-Intensive Ecological Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laney, Christine Marie

2013-01-01

Ecosystem health is deteriorating in many parts of the world due to direct and indirect anthropogenic pressures. Generating accurate, useful, and impactful models of past, current, and future states of ecosystem structure and function is a complex endeavor that often requires vast amounts of data from multiple sources and knowledge from…

DESIGN: a program to create data entry programs

Treesearch

J. Michael Wuerth; David R. Weise

1994-01-01

Scientific data entry can be an exacting process. The specific information needs change from investigation to investigation. A computer program to design custom data screens is described. The program, DESIGN, generates the necessary C programming language source code to create a basic data entry program. Data entry screens can contain multiple nested screens. Users can...

Learning of Alignment Rules between Concept Hierarchies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ichise, Ryutaro; Takeda, Hideaki; Honiden, Shinichi

With the rapid advances of information technology, we are acquiring much information than ever before. As a result, we need tools for organizing this data. Concept hierarchies such as ontologies and information categorizations are powerful and convenient methods for accomplishing this goal, which have gained wide spread acceptance. Although each concept hierarchy is useful, it is difficult to employ multiple concept hierarchies at the same time because it is hard to align their conceptual structures. This paper proposes a rule learning method that inputs information from a source concept hierarchy and finds suitable location for them in a target hierarchy. The key idea is to find the most similar categories in each hierarchy, where similarity is measured by the κ(kappa) statistic that counts instances belonging to both categories. In order to evaluate our method, we conducted experiments using two internet directories: Yahoo! and LYCOS. We map information instances from the source directory into the target directory, and show that our learned rules agree with a human-generated assignment 76% of the time.

Discourse comprehension in L2: Making sense of what is not explicitly said.

PubMed

Foucart, Alice; Romero-Rivas, Carlos; Gort, Bernharda Lottie; Costa, Albert

2016-12-01

Using ERPs, we tested whether L2 speakers can integrate multiple sources of information (e.g., semantic, pragmatic information) during discourse comprehension. We presented native speakers and L2 speakers with three-sentence scenarios in which the final sentence was highly causally related, intermediately related, or causally unrelated to its context; its interpretation therefore required simple or complex inferences. Native speakers revealed a gradual N400-like effect, larger in the causally unrelated condition than in the highly related condition, and falling in-between in the intermediately related condition, replicating previous results. In the crucial intermediately related condition, L2 speakers behaved like native speakers, however, showing extra processing in a later time-window. Overall, the results show that, when reading, L2 speakers are able to process information from the local context and prior information (e.g., world knowledge) to build global coherence, suggesting that they process different sources of information to make inferences online during discourse comprehension, like native speakers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Passing Messages between Biological Networks to Refine Predicted Interactions

PubMed Central

Glass, Kimberly; Huttenhower, Curtis; Quackenbush, John; Yuan, Guo-Cheng

2013-01-01

Regulatory network reconstruction is a fundamental problem in computational biology. There are significant limitations to such reconstruction using individual datasets, and increasingly people attempt to construct networks using multiple, independent datasets obtained from complementary sources, but methods for this integration are lacking. We developed PANDA (Passing Attributes between Networks for Data Assimilation), a message-passing model using multiple sources of information to predict regulatory relationships, and used it to integrate protein-protein interaction, gene expression, and sequence motif data to reconstruct genome-wide, condition-specific regulatory networks in yeast as a model. The resulting networks were not only more accurate than those produced using individual data sets and other existing methods, but they also captured information regarding specific biological mechanisms and pathways that were missed using other methodologies. PANDA is scalable to higher eukaryotes, applicable to specific tissue or cell type data and conceptually generalizable to include a variety of regulatory, interaction, expression, and other genome-scale data. An implementation of the PANDA algorithm is available at www.sourceforge.net/projects/panda-net. PMID:23741402

Use of information and communication technology to provide health information: what do older migrants know, and what do they need to know?

PubMed

Goodall, Ken; Ward, Paul; Newman, Lareen

2010-01-01

Governments and businesses are increasingly using the internet and mobile telephones to disseminate information about services and products. However, not all population groups have the resources and capabilities to support equality of access to and use of these technologies. While Australia's ageing population receives attention in a wide variety of literatures, the ageing migrant population has received very little attention in relation to understanding their place in the 'digital divide'. It is not known how this group gathers information used in everyday living, or what role the internet or mobile phones plays within this. At a time when the population is ageing and there is an increasing use of the internet to deliver services and information, there is little research on the effects of ethnicity, migration, socio-economic status, education or gender of older people on the use of information and communication technology (ICT). Addressing this should be a priority in Australia, which has an old and ageing population that includes many post-war migrants from non-English speaking European countries. To analyse the views of older migrants living in South Australia with respect to their current information sources, their use of ICT and any barriers and enablers to future use of ICT for accessing health information. A qualitative study employing eight focus groups involving 43 older Italian and Greek migrants living in the community in metropolitan or regional settings in South Australia. Interviews were held and audio-recorded and the English language components transcribed. Transcriptions were analysed manually using a grounded theory approach. Older migrants do not use ICT to a great extent to access information in their everyday lives, with many expressing no interest in learning how to do so. However, they access the information they need to function in society with a desired quality of life from multiple sources by various means. Sources include electronic and print media from Australia and their home countries, family and acquaintances, government departments or service providers. Many expressed a preference for receiving information as printed material or directly from another person. Governments or primary healthcare organisations planning to make health information solely available via ICT should be aware that doing so may lead to an increase in 'information exclusion' and the formation of functional knowledge deficits for older migrants. At the moment at least, our participants do not perceive any functional knowledge deficits as they engage multiple sources to access the information they need for everyday life. We recommend that governments and healthcare organisations evaluate the appropriateness of using ICT to directly provide information to older migrants and consider non-digital means or the engagement of 'information brokers' when communicating with groups identified as low or non-users of ICT.

Architecture for WSN Nodes Integration in Context Aware Systems Using Semantic Messages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larizgoitia, Iker; Muguira, Leire; Vazquez, Juan Ignacio

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are becoming extremely popular in the development of context aware systems. Traditionally WSN have been focused on capturing data, which was later analyzed and interpreted in a server with more computational power. In this kind of scenario the problem of representing the sensor information needs to be addressed. Every node in the network might have different sensors attached; therefore their correspondent packet structures will be different. The server has to be aware of the meaning of every single structure and data in order to be able to interpret them. Multiple sensors, multiple nodes, multiple packet structures (and not following a standard format) is neither scalable nor interoperable. Context aware systems have solved this problem with the use of semantic technologies. They provide a common framework to achieve a standard definition of any domain. Nevertheless, these representations are computationally expensive, so a WSN cannot afford them. The work presented in this paper tries to bridge the gap between the sensor information and its semantic representation, by defining a simple architecture that enables the definition of this information natively in a semantic way, achieving the integration of the semantic information in the network packets. This will have several benefits, the most important being the possibility of promoting every WSN node to a real semantic information source.

A statistical approach to combining multisource information in one-class classifiers

DOE PAGES

Simonson, Katherine M.; Derek West, R.; Hansen, Ross L.; ...

2017-06-08

A new method is introduced in this paper for combining information from multiple sources to support one-class classification. The contributing sources may represent measurements taken by different sensors of the same physical entity, repeated measurements by a single sensor, or numerous features computed from a single measured image or signal. The approach utilizes the theory of statistical hypothesis testing, and applies Fisher's technique for combining p-values, modified to handle nonindependent sources. Classifier outputs take the form of fused p-values, which may be used to gauge the consistency of unknown entities with one or more class hypotheses. The approach enables rigorousmore » assessment of classification uncertainties, and allows for traceability of classifier decisions back to the constituent sources, both of which are important for high-consequence decision support. Application of the technique is illustrated in two challenge problems, one for skin segmentation and the other for terrain labeling. Finally, the method is seen to be particularly effective for relatively small training samples.« less

A statistical approach to combining multisource information in one-class classifiers

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

Simonson, Katherine M.; Derek West, R.; Hansen, Ross L.

A new method is introduced in this paper for combining information from multiple sources to support one-class classification. The contributing sources may represent measurements taken by different sensors of the same physical entity, repeated measurements by a single sensor, or numerous features computed from a single measured image or signal. The approach utilizes the theory of statistical hypothesis testing, and applies Fisher's technique for combining p-values, modified to handle nonindependent sources. Classifier outputs take the form of fused p-values, which may be used to gauge the consistency of unknown entities with one or more class hypotheses. The approach enables rigorousmore » assessment of classification uncertainties, and allows for traceability of classifier decisions back to the constituent sources, both of which are important for high-consequence decision support. Application of the technique is illustrated in two challenge problems, one for skin segmentation and the other for terrain labeling. Finally, the method is seen to be particularly effective for relatively small training samples.« less

III–V quantum light source and cavity-QED on Silicon

PubMed Central

Luxmoore, I. J.; Toro, R.; Pozo-Zamudio, O. Del; Wasley, N. A.; Chekhovich, E. A.; Sanchez, A. M.; Beanland, R.; Fox, A. M.; Skolnick, M. S.; Liu, H. Y.; Tartakovskii, A. I.

2013-01-01

Non-classical light sources offer a myriad of possibilities in both fundamental science and commercial applications. Single photons are the most robust carriers of quantum information and can be exploited for linear optics quantum information processing. Scale-up requires miniaturisation of the waveguide circuit and multiple single photon sources. Silicon photonics, driven by the incentive of optical interconnects is a highly promising platform for the passive optical components, but integrated light sources are limited by silicon's indirect band-gap. III–V semiconductor quantum-dots, on the other hand, are proven quantum emitters. Here we demonstrate single-photon emission from quantum-dots coupled to photonic crystal nanocavities fabricated from III–V material grown directly on silicon substrates. The high quality of the III–V material and photonic structures is emphasized by observation of the strong-coupling regime. This work opens-up the advantages of silicon photonics to the integration and scale-up of solid-state quantum optical systems. PMID:23393621

Multiple-component Decomposition from Millimeter Single-channel Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez-Montoya, Iván; Sánchez-Argüelles, David; Aretxaga, Itziar; Bertone, Emanuele; Chávez-Dagostino, Miguel; Hughes, David H.; Montaña, Alfredo; Wilson, Grant W.; Zeballos, Milagros

2018-03-01

We present an implementation of a blind source separation algorithm to remove foregrounds off millimeter surveys made by single-channel instruments. In order to make possible such a decomposition over single-wavelength data, we generate levels of artificial redundancy, then perform a blind decomposition, calibrate the resulting maps, and lastly measure physical information. We simulate the reduction pipeline using mock data: atmospheric fluctuations, extended astrophysical foregrounds, and point-like sources, but we apply the same methodology to the Aztronomical Thermal Emission Camera/ASTE survey of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey–South (GOODS-S). In both applications, our technique robustly decomposes redundant maps into their underlying components, reducing flux bias, improving signal-to-noise ratio, and minimizing information loss. In particular, GOODS-S is decomposed into four independent physical components: one of them is the already-known map of point sources, two are atmospheric and systematic foregrounds, and the fourth component is an extended emission that can be interpreted as the confusion background of faint sources.

Refining the aggregate exposure pathway.

PubMed

Tan, Yu-Mei; Leonard, Jeremy A; Edwards, Stephen; Teeguarden, Justin; Egeghy, Peter

2018-03-01

Advancements in measurement technologies and modeling capabilities continue to result in an abundance of exposure information, adding to that currently in existence. However, fragmentation within the exposure science community acts as an obstacle for realizing the vision set forth in the National Research Council's report on Exposure Science in the 21 st century to consider exposures from source to dose, on multiple levels of integration, and to multiple stressors. The concept of an Aggregate Exposure Pathway (AEP) was proposed as a framework for organizing and integrating diverse exposure information that exists across numerous repositories and among multiple scientific fields. A workshop held in May 2016 followed introduction of the AEP concept, allowing members of the exposure science community to provide extensive evaluation and feedback regarding the framework's structure, key components, and applications. The current work briefly introduces topics discussed at the workshop and attempts to address key challenges involved in refining this framework. The resulting evolution in the AEP framework's features allows for facilitating acquisition, integration, organization, and transparent application and communication of exposure knowledge in a manner that is independent of its ultimate use, thereby enabling reuse of such information in many applications.

Rate My Sleep: Examining the Information, Function, and Basis in Empirical Evidence Within Sleep Applications for Mobile Devices.

PubMed

Lee-Tobin, Peta A; Ogeil, Rowan P; Savic, Michael; Lubman, Dan I

2017-11-15

Sleep applications (apps) have proliferated in online spaces, but few studies have examined the validity of the information contained within the apps. This study aimed to examine the information and functions found within sleep apps, determine if the information is based on empirical evidence, and whether or not user ratings were affected by these factors. Sleep apps found in the Google Play store (n = 76) were coded using content analysis to examine the types of information, functions, and evidence base of each app. Only 32.9% of sleep apps contained empirical evidence supporting their claims, 15.8% contained clinical input, and 13.2% contained links to sleep literature. Apps also contained information on how sleep is affected by alcohol or drugs (23.7%), food (13.2%), daily activities (13.2), and stress (13.2%). A mean difference in average user rating was found between apps that contained at least one source of information compared those that did not. App user ratings were not associated with an app having multiple functions, or from an app drawing on multiple sources of evidence (except for sleep literature only). Last, there was a higher average user rating among apps that contained a sleep tip function. Sleep apps are increasingly popular, demonstrated by the large number of downloads in the Google Play store. Users favored apps that contained sleep tips; however, these tips and other information in the apps were generally not based on empirical evidence. Future research in the area of sleep apps should consider constructing sleep apps derived from empirical evidence and examining their effectiveness. © 2017 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Are Australian smokers with mental illness receiving adequate smoking cessation and harm reduction information?

PubMed

Sharma-Kumar, Ratika; Meurk, Carla; Ford, Pauline; Beere, Diana; Gartner, Coral

2018-05-02

Provision of smoking cessation support in the form of advice and information is central to increasing quit rates, including among people with mental illness (MI), who have 3-5 times higher odds of smoking than those without MI. This study investigated the extent and perceived utility of quit smoking advice and information available to Australian smokers with MI through face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 29 current smokers with MI. Qualitative analysis identified four major sources of quit smoking advice and information: (i) mental health practitioners; (ii) Quitline; (iii) social networks; and (iv) Internet and media. All identified sources, including formal sources (mental health practitioners and Quitline), were perceived as providing inadequate information about quitting smoking, particularly regarding optimal usage of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Social networks emerged as a substantial source of quit smoking advice and information, especially for nontraditional methods such as vaping. Participants showed high interest in receiving support from peer-led smoking cessation groups. A minority of participants reported that they had received quit smoking information from Internet and media; this was largely restricted to negative reports about e-cigarettes and short advertisements for nicotine replacement therapy. Our findings suggest that more can be done to provide smokers with MI with practical smoking cessation advice and support. Comprehensive information resources tailored for smokers with MI should be developed and disseminated via multiple pathways. We also recommend a number of policy and practice reforms to promote smoking cessation among those with MI. © 2018 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Health Information Seeking Among Rural African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics: It Is Built, Did They Come?

PubMed

Powe, Barbara D

2015-09-01

This cross-sectional study examines health information-seeking behaviors and access to and use of technology among rural African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics. There was a low level of health information seeking across the sample. Few used smartphones or tablets and did not endorse receiving health information from their health care provider by e-mail. Printed materials remained a source of health information as did friends and family. Information should be shared using multiple platforms including more passive methods such as television and radio. More research is needed to ensure the health literacy, numeracy, and ability to navigate the online environment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Incorporating digital health literacy into adult ESL education on the US-Mexico border.

PubMed

Mein, Erika; Fuentes, Brenda; Soto Más, Francisco; Muro, Andrés

2012-12-01

The increasing digitization of information and communication has undoubtedly impacted the ways in which people in the United States access and interpret health information. Although the traditional emphasis of health literacy research has been the comprehension of health-related texts such as patient information forms, prescriptions, and medicine labels, the increased use of electronic means to locate health information requires more critical engagement with texts beyond basic comprehension. In accessing electronic health information, patients need to be able to navigate the vast amount of online health information and to interpret and synthesize health information across multiple sources (i.e. websites) while also evaluating the credibility of these sources. Recent health literacy research has examined the increased role of the media literacy in influencing health behaviors (Bergsma & Carney, 2008) and the role of increased access to computers (Salovey et al., 2009), but little (if any) research to date has provided recommendations for best practices related to meeting the health literacy demands required by digitization. This article attempts to fill this gap by exploring the use of the internet as a key source of health information and by looking at best practices in teaching digital health literacy. It describes the development of a digital literacy component within a community-based health literacy/ESL curriculum funded by the National Institutes of Health and implemented on the US-Mexico border.

Incorporating digital health literacy into adult ESL education on the US-Mexico border

PubMed Central

Mein, Erika; Fuentes, Brenda; Soto Más, Francisco; Muro, Andrés

2013-01-01

The increasing digitization of information and communication has undoubtedly impacted the ways in which people in the United States access and interpret health information. Although the traditional emphasis of health literacy research has been the comprehension of health-related texts such as patient information forms, prescriptions, and medicine labels, the increased use of electronic means to locate health information requires more critical engagement with texts beyond basic comprehension. In accessing electronic health information, patients need to be able to navigate the vast amount of online health information and to interpret and synthesize health information across multiple sources (i.e. websites) while also evaluating the credibility of these sources. Recent health literacy research has examined the increased role of the media literacy in influencing health behaviors (Bergsma & Carney, 2008) and the role of increased access to computers (Salovey et al., 2009), but little (if any) research to date has provided recommendations for best practices related to meeting the health literacy demands required by digitization. This article attempts to fill this gap by exploring the use of the internet as a key source of health information and by looking at best practices in teaching digital health literacy. It describes the development of a digital literacy component within a community-based health literacy/ESL curriculum funded by the National Institutes of Health and implemented on the US-Mexico border. PMID:23730533

Interpolating between random walks and optimal transportation routes: Flow with multiple sources and targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guex, Guillaume

2016-05-01

In recent articles about graphs, different models proposed a formalism to find a type of path between two nodes, the source and the target, at crossroads between the shortest-path and the random-walk path. These models include a freely adjustable parameter, allowing to tune the behavior of the path toward randomized movements or direct routes. This article presents a natural generalization of these models, namely a model with multiple sources and targets. In this context, source nodes can be viewed as locations with a supply of a certain good (e.g. people, money, information) and target nodes as locations with a demand of the same good. An algorithm is constructed to display the flow of goods in the network between sources and targets. With again a freely adjustable parameter, this flow can be tuned to follow routes of minimum cost, thus displaying the flow in the context of the optimal transportation problem or, by contrast, a random flow, known to be similar to the electrical current flow if the random-walk is reversible. Moreover, a source-targetcoupling can be retrieved from this flow, offering an optimal assignment to the transportation problem. This algorithm is described in the first part of this article and then illustrated with case studies.

Consolidating WLCG topology and configuration in the Computing Resource Information Catalogue

DOE PAGES

Alandes, Maria; Andreeva, Julia; Anisenkov, Alexey; ...

2017-10-01

Here, the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid infrastructure links about 200 participating computing centres affiliated with several partner projects. It is built by integrating heterogeneous computer and storage resources in diverse data centres all over the world and provides CPU and storage capacity to the LHC experiments to perform data processing and physics analysis. In order to be used by the experiments, these distributed resources should be well described, which implies easy service discovery and detailed description of service configuration. Currently this information is scattered over multiple generic information sources like GOCDB, OIM, BDII and experiment-specific information systems. Such a modelmore » does not allow to validate topology and configuration information easily. Moreover, information in various sources is not always consistent. Finally, the evolution of computing technologies introduces new challenges. Experiments are more and more relying on opportunistic resources, which by their nature are more dynamic and should also be well described in the WLCG information system. This contribution describes the new WLCG configuration service CRIC (Computing Resource Information Catalogue) which collects information from various information providers, performs validation and provides a consistent set of UIs and APIs to the LHC VOs for service discovery and usage configuration. The main requirements for CRIC are simplicity, agility and robustness. CRIC should be able to be quickly adapted to new types of computing resources, new information sources, and allow for new data structures to be implemented easily following the evolution of the computing models and operations of the experiments.« less

Consolidating WLCG topology and configuration in the Computing Resource Information Catalogue

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

Alandes, Maria; Andreeva, Julia; Anisenkov, Alexey

Here, the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid infrastructure links about 200 participating computing centres affiliated with several partner projects. It is built by integrating heterogeneous computer and storage resources in diverse data centres all over the world and provides CPU and storage capacity to the LHC experiments to perform data processing and physics analysis. In order to be used by the experiments, these distributed resources should be well described, which implies easy service discovery and detailed description of service configuration. Currently this information is scattered over multiple generic information sources like GOCDB, OIM, BDII and experiment-specific information systems. Such a modelmore » does not allow to validate topology and configuration information easily. Moreover, information in various sources is not always consistent. Finally, the evolution of computing technologies introduces new challenges. Experiments are more and more relying on opportunistic resources, which by their nature are more dynamic and should also be well described in the WLCG information system. This contribution describes the new WLCG configuration service CRIC (Computing Resource Information Catalogue) which collects information from various information providers, performs validation and provides a consistent set of UIs and APIs to the LHC VOs for service discovery and usage configuration. The main requirements for CRIC are simplicity, agility and robustness. CRIC should be able to be quickly adapted to new types of computing resources, new information sources, and allow for new data structures to be implemented easily following the evolution of the computing models and operations of the experiments.« less

Consolidating WLCG topology and configuration in the Computing Resource Information Catalogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alandes, Maria; Andreeva, Julia; Anisenkov, Alexey; Bagliesi, Giuseppe; Belforte, Stephano; Campana, Simone; Dimou, Maria; Flix, Jose; Forti, Alessandra; di Girolamo, A.; Karavakis, Edward; Lammel, Stephan; Litmaath, Maarten; Sciaba, Andrea; Valassi, Andrea

2017-10-01

The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid infrastructure links about 200 participating computing centres affiliated with several partner projects. It is built by integrating heterogeneous computer and storage resources in diverse data centres all over the world and provides CPU and storage capacity to the LHC experiments to perform data processing and physics analysis. In order to be used by the experiments, these distributed resources should be well described, which implies easy service discovery and detailed description of service configuration. Currently this information is scattered over multiple generic information sources like GOCDB, OIM, BDII and experiment-specific information systems. Such a model does not allow to validate topology and configuration information easily. Moreover, information in various sources is not always consistent. Finally, the evolution of computing technologies introduces new challenges. Experiments are more and more relying on opportunistic resources, which by their nature are more dynamic and should also be well described in the WLCG information system. This contribution describes the new WLCG configuration service CRIC (Computing Resource Information Catalogue) which collects information from various information providers, performs validation and provides a consistent set of UIs and APIs to the LHC VOs for service discovery and usage configuration. The main requirements for CRIC are simplicity, agility and robustness. CRIC should be able to be quickly adapted to new types of computing resources, new information sources, and allow for new data structures to be implemented easily following the evolution of the computing models and operations of the experiments.

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

Rao, Nageswara S; Sen, Satyabrata; Berry, M. L..

Domestic Nuclear Detection Office s (DNDO) Intelligence Radiation Sensors Systems (IRSS) program supported the development of networks of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) radiation counters for detecting, localizing, and identifying low-level radiation sources. Under this program, a series of indoor and outdoor tests were conducted with multiple source strengths and types, different background profiles, and various types of source and detector movements. Following the tests, network algorithms were replayed in various re-constructed scenarios using sub-networks. These measurements and algorithm traces together provide a rich collection of highly valuable datasets for testing the current and next generation radiation network algorithms, including the ones (tomore » be) developed by broader R&D communities such as distributed detection, information fusion, and sensor networks. From this multiple TeraByte IRSS database, we distilled out and packaged the first batch of canonical datasets for public release. They include measurements from ten indoor and two outdoor tests which represent increasingly challenging baseline scenarios for robustly testing radiation network algorithms.« less

Dimensional feature weighting utilizing multiple kernel learning for single-channel talker location discrimination using the acoustic transfer function.

PubMed

Takashima, Ryoichi; Takiguchi, Tetsuya; Ariki, Yasuo

2013-02-01

This paper presents a method for discriminating the location of the sound source (talker) using only a single microphone. In a previous work, the single-channel approach for discriminating the location of the sound source was discussed, where the acoustic transfer function from a user's position is estimated by using a hidden Markov model of clean speech in the cepstral domain. In this paper, each cepstral dimension of the acoustic transfer function is newly weighted, in order to obtain the cepstral dimensions having information that is useful for classifying the user's position. Then, this paper proposes a feature-weighting method for the cepstral parameter using multiple kernel learning, defining the base kernels for each cepstral dimension of the acoustic transfer function. The user's position is trained and classified by support vector machine. The effectiveness of this method has been confirmed by sound source (talker) localization experiments performed in different room environments.

Studies of ambient noise in shallow water environments off Mexico and Alaska: characteristics, metrics and time-synchronization applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerra, Melania

Sound in the ocean originates from multiple mechanisms, both natural and anthropogenic. Collectively, underwater ambient noise accumulates valuable information about both its sources and the oceanic environment that propagates this noise. Characterizing the features of ambient noise source mechanisms is challenging, but essential, for properly describing an acoustic environment. Disturbances to a local acoustic environment may affect many aquatic species that have adapted to be heavily dependent on this particular sense for survival functions. In the case of marine mammals, which are federally protected, demand exists for understanding such potential impacts, which drives important scientific efforts that utilize passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) tools to inform regulatory decisions. This dissertation presents two independent studies that use PAM data to investigate the characteristics of source mechanisms that dominate ambient noise in two diverse shallow water environments. The study in Chapter 2 directly addresses the concern of how anthropogenic activities can degrade the effectiveness of PAM. In the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, an environment where ambient noise is normally dominated by natural causes, seismic surveys create impulsive sounds to map the composition of the bottom. By inspecting single-sensor PAM data, the spectral characteristics of seismic survey airgun reverberation are measured, and their contribution to the overall ambient noise is quantified. This work is relevant to multiple ongoing mitigation protocols that rely on PAM to acoustically detect marine mammal presence during industrial operations. Meanwhile, Chapter 3 demonstrates that by analyzing data from multiple PAM sensors, features embedded in both directional and omnidirectional ambient noise can be used to develop new time-synchronization processing techniques for aligning autonomous elements of an acoustic array, a tool commonly used in PAM for detecting and tracking marine mammals. Using the time-synchronization procedures shown here, arrays may be built out of stand-alone recorders that simplify the deployment logistics and can be arranged in multiple configurations. Given increasing economic pressures worldwide, anthropogenic activities in the ocean are only expected to expand, and their ambient noise contributions will continue to rise. These studies provide baseline knowledge and practical tools to help properly assess the impact of such source mechanisms in shallow-water acoustic environments.

Remote listening and passive acoustic detection in a 3-D environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnhill, Colin

Teleconferencing environments are a necessity in business, education and personal communication. They allow for the communication of information to remote locations without the need for travel and the necessary time and expense required for that travel. Visual information can be communicated using cameras and monitors. The advantage of visual communication is that an image can capture multiple objects and convey them, using a monitor, to a large group of people regardless of the receiver's location. This is not the case for audio. Currently, most experimental teleconferencing systems' audio is based on stereo recording and reproduction techniques. The problem with this solution is that it is only effective for one or two receivers. To accurately capture a sound environment consisting of multiple sources and to recreate that for a group of people is an unsolved problem. This work will focus on new methods of multiple source 3-D environment sound capture and applications using these captured environments. Using spherical microphone arrays, it is now possible to capture a true 3-D environment A spherical harmonic transform on the array's surface allows us to determine the basis functions (spherical harmonics) for all spherical wave solutions (up to a fixed order). This spherical harmonic decomposition (SHD) allows us to not only look at the time and frequency characteristics of an audio signal but also the spatial characteristics of an audio signal. In this way, a spherical harmonic transform is analogous to a Fourier transform in that a Fourier transform transforms a signal into the frequency domain and a spherical harmonic transform transforms a signal into the spatial domain. The SHD also decouples the input signals from the microphone locations. Using the SHD of a soundfield, new algorithms are available for remote listening, acoustic detection, and signal enhancement The new algorithms presented in this paper show distinct advantages over previous detection and listening algorithms especially for multiple speech sources and room environments. The algorithms use high order (spherical harmonic) beamforming and power signal characteristics for source localization and signal enhancement These methods are applied to remote listening, surveillance, and teleconferencing.

Multi-Sensor Detection with Particle Swarm Optimization for Time-Frequency Coded Cooperative WSNs Based on MC-CDMA for Underground Coal Mines

PubMed Central

Xu, Jingjing; Yang, Wei; Zhang, Linyuan; Han, Ruisong; Shao, Xiaotao

2015-01-01

In this paper, a wireless sensor network (WSN) technology adapted to underground channel conditions is developed, which has important theoretical and practical value for safety monitoring in underground coal mines. According to the characteristics that the space, time and frequency resources of underground tunnel are open, it is proposed to constitute wireless sensor nodes based on multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) to make full use of these resources. To improve the wireless transmission performance of source sensor nodes, it is also proposed to utilize cooperative sensors with good channel conditions from the sink node to assist source sensors with poor channel conditions. Moreover, the total power of the source sensor and its cooperative sensors is allocated on the basis of their channel conditions to increase the energy efficiency of the WSN. To solve the problem that multiple access interference (MAI) arises when multiple source sensors transmit monitoring information simultaneously, a kind of multi-sensor detection (MSD) algorithm with particle swarm optimization (PSO), namely D-PSO, is proposed for the time-frequency coded cooperative MC-CDMA WSN. Simulation results show that the average bit error rate (BER) performance of the proposed WSN in an underground coal mine is improved significantly by using wireless sensor nodes based on MC-CDMA, adopting time-frequency coded cooperative transmission and D-PSO algorithm with particle swarm optimization. PMID:26343660

Multi-Sensor Detection with Particle Swarm Optimization for Time-Frequency Coded Cooperative WSNs Based on MC-CDMA for Underground Coal Mines.

PubMed

Xu, Jingjing; Yang, Wei; Zhang, Linyuan; Han, Ruisong; Shao, Xiaotao

2015-08-27

In this paper, a wireless sensor network (WSN) technology adapted to underground channel conditions is developed, which has important theoretical and practical value for safety monitoring in underground coal mines. According to the characteristics that the space, time and frequency resources of underground tunnel are open, it is proposed to constitute wireless sensor nodes based on multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) to make full use of these resources. To improve the wireless transmission performance of source sensor nodes, it is also proposed to utilize cooperative sensors with good channel conditions from the sink node to assist source sensors with poor channel conditions. Moreover, the total power of the source sensor and its cooperative sensors is allocated on the basis of their channel conditions to increase the energy efficiency of the WSN. To solve the problem that multiple access interference (MAI) arises when multiple source sensors transmit monitoring information simultaneously, a kind of multi-sensor detection (MSD) algorithm with particle swarm optimization (PSO), namely D-PSO, is proposed for the time-frequency coded cooperative MC-CDMA WSN. Simulation results show that the average bit error rate (BER) performance of the proposed WSN in an underground coal mine is improved significantly by using wireless sensor nodes based on MC-CDMA, adopting time-frequency coded cooperative transmission and D-PSO algorithm with particle swarm optimization.

Predicting residential indoor concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter, and elemental carbon using questionnaire and geographic information system based data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baxter, Lisa K.; Clougherty, Jane E.; Paciorek, Christopher J.; Wright, Rosalind J.; Levy, Jonathan I.

Previous studies have identified associations between traffic-related air pollution and adverse health effects. Most have used measurements from a few central ambient monitors and/or some measure of traffic as indicators of exposure, disregarding spatial variability and factors influencing personal exposure-ambient concentration relationships. This study seeks to utilize publicly available data (i.e., central site monitors, geographic information system, and property assessment data) and questionnaire responses to predict residential indoor concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants for lower socioeconomic status (SES) urban households. As part of a prospective birth cohort study in urban Boston, we collected indoor and outdoor 3-4 day samples of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in 43 low SES residences across multiple seasons from 2003 to 2005. Elemental carbon (EC) concentrations were determined via reflectance analysis. Multiple traffic indicators were derived using Massachusetts Highway Department data and traffic counts collected outside sampling homes. Home characteristics and occupant behaviors were collected via a standardized questionnaire. Additional housing information was collected through property tax records, and ambient concentrations were collected from a centrally located ambient monitor. The contributions of ambient concentrations, local traffic and indoor sources to indoor concentrations were quantified with regression analyses. PM 2.5 was influenced less by local traffic but had significant indoor sources, while EC was associated with traffic and NO 2 with both traffic and indoor sources. Comparing models based on covariate selection using p-values or a Bayesian approach yielded similar results, with traffic density within a 50 m buffer of a home and distance from a truck route as important contributors to indoor levels of NO 2 and EC, respectively. The Bayesian approach also highlighted the uncertanity in the models. We conclude that by utilizing public databases and focused questionnaire data we can identify important predictors of indoor concentrations for multiple air pollutants in a high-risk population.

Text Mining for Adverse Drug Events: the Promise, Challenges, and State of the Art

PubMed Central

Harpaz, Rave; Callahan, Alison; Tamang, Suzanne; Low, Yen; Odgers, David; Finlayson, Sam; Jung, Kenneth; LePendu, Paea; Shah, Nigam H.

2014-01-01

Text mining is the computational process of extracting meaningful information from large amounts of unstructured text. Text mining is emerging as a tool to leverage underutilized data sources that can improve pharmacovigilance, including the objective of adverse drug event detection and assessment. This article provides an overview of recent advances in pharmacovigilance driven by the application of text mining, and discusses several data sources—such as biomedical literature, clinical narratives, product labeling, social media, and Web search logs—that are amenable to text-mining for pharmacovigilance. Given the state of the art, it appears text mining can be applied to extract useful ADE-related information from multiple textual sources. Nonetheless, further research is required to address remaining technical challenges associated with the text mining methodologies, and to conclusively determine the relative contribution of each textual source to improving pharmacovigilance. PMID:25151493

How the owl tracks its prey – II

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Terry T.

2010-01-01

Barn owls can capture prey in pitch darkness or by diving into snow, while homing in on the sounds made by their prey. First, the neural mechanisms by which the barn owl localizes a single sound source in an otherwise quiet environment will be explained. The ideas developed for the single source case will then be expanded to environments in which there are multiple sound sources and echoes – environments that are challenging for humans with impaired hearing. Recent controversies regarding the mechanisms of sound localization will be discussed. Finally, the case in which both visual and auditory information are available to the owl will be considered. PMID:20889819

PopHR: a knowledge-based platform to support integration, analysis, and visualization of population health data.

PubMed

Shaban-Nejad, Arash; Lavigne, Maxime; Okhmatovskaia, Anya; Buckeridge, David L

2017-01-01

Population health decision makers must consider complex relationships between multiple concepts measured with differential accuracy from heterogeneous data sources. Population health information systems are currently limited in their ability to integrate data and present a coherent portrait of population health. Consequentially, these systems can provide only basic support for decision makers. The Population Health Record (PopHR) is a semantic web application that automates the integration and extraction of massive amounts of heterogeneous data from multiple distributed sources (e.g., administrative data, clinical records, and survey responses) to support the measurement and monitoring of population health and health system performance for a defined population. The design of the PopHR draws on the theories of the determinants of health and evidence-based public health to harmonize and explicitly link information about a population with evidence about the epidemiology and control of chronic diseases. Organizing information in this manner and linking it explicitly to evidence is expected to improve decision making related to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of population health and health system interventions. In this paper, we describe the PopHR platform and discuss the architecture, design, key modules, and its implementation and use. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

Effect of multiple-source entry on price competition after patent expiration in the pharmaceutical industry.

PubMed Central

Suh, D C; Manning, W G; Schondelmeyer, S; Hadsall, R S

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of multiple-source drug entry on price competition after patent expiration in the pharmaceutical industry. DATA SOURCES: Originators and their multiple-source drugs selected from the 35 chemical entities whose patents expired from 1984 through 1987. Data were obtained from various primary and secondary sources for the patents' expiration dates, sales volume and units sold, and characteristics of drugs in the sample markets. STUDY DESIGN: The study was designed to determine significant factors using the study model developed under the assumption that the off-patented market is an imperfectly segmented market. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: After patent expiration, the originators' prices continued to increase, while the price of multiple-source drugs decreased significantly over time. By the fourth year after patent expiration, originators' sales had decreased 12 percent in dollars and 30 percent in quantity. Multiple-source drugs increased their sales twofold in dollars and threefold in quantity, and possessed about one-fourth (in dollars) and half (in quantity) of the total market three years after entry. CONCLUSION: After patent expiration, multiple-source drugs compete largely with other multiple-source drugs in the price-sensitive sector, but indirectly with the originator in the price-insensitive sector. Originators have first-mover advantages, and therefore have a market that is less price sensitive after multiple-source drugs enter. On the other hand, multiple-source drugs target the price-sensitive sector, using their lower-priced drugs. This trend may indicate that the off-patented market is imperfectly segmented between the price-sensitive and insensitive sector. Consumers as a whole can gain from the entry of multiple-source drugs because the average price of the market continually declines after patent expiration. PMID:10857475

Modeling the Volcanic Source at Long Valley, CA, Using a Genetic Algorithm Technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tiampo, Kristy F.

1999-01-01

In this project, we attempted to model the deformation pattern due to the magmatic source at Long Valley caldera using a real-value coded genetic algorithm (GA) inversion similar to that found in Michalewicz, 1992. The project has been both successful and rewarding. The genetic algorithm, coded in the C programming language, performs stable inversions over repeated trials, with varying initial and boundary conditions. The original model used a GA in which the geophysical information was coded into the fitness function through the computation of surface displacements for a Mogi point source in an elastic half-space. The program was designed to invert for a spherical magmatic source - its depth, horizontal location and volume - using the known surface deformations. It also included the capability of inverting for multiple sources.

Information-seeking behaviour for epilepsy: an infodemiological study of searches for Wikipedia articles.

PubMed

Brigo, Francesco; Otte, Willem M; Igwe, Stanley C; Ausserer, Harald; Nardone, Raffaele; Tezzon, Frediano; Trinka, Eugen

2015-12-01

Millions of people worldwide use the internet daily as a source of health information. Wikipedia is a popular free online encyclopaedia used by patients and physicians to search for health-related information. Our aim was to evaluate information-seeking behaviour of English-speaking internet users searching Wikipedia for articles related to epilepsy and epileptic seizures. Using Wiki Trends, which provides quantitative information on daily viewing of articles, data on global search queries for Wikipedia articles related to epilepsy and seizures were analysed. The daily Wikipedia article views on syncope, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, migraine, and multiple sclerosis served as comparative data. The period of analysis covered was from January 2008 to December 2014. Overall, the Wikipedia article "epilepsy and driving" was found to be more frequently visited than the articles "epilepsy and employment" or "epilepsy in children". Since January 2008, the Wikipedia article "multiple sclerosis" was more often visited compared to the articles "epilepsy", "syncope", "psychogenic non-epileptic seizures" or "migraine"; the article "epilepsy" ranked 3,779 and was less frequently visited than "multiple sclerosis", ranked at 571, in traffic on Wikipedia. The highest peak in search volume for the article "epilepsy" coincided with the news of a celebrity having seizures. Fears and worries about epileptic seizures, their impact on driving and employment, and news about celebrities with epilepsy might be major determinants in searching Wikipedia for information.

The impact of extended longitudinal observation on the assessment of personality disorders.

PubMed

Pedersen, G; Karterud, S; Hummelen, B; Wilberg, T

2013-11-01

Multiple sources of information are necessary for a valid assessment of personality disorders (PDs). This study investigates the impact of longitudinal observation. The sample comprised 1217 patients from 15 different treatment units. PDs were assessed at admission to treatment using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) and additional clinical information (best estimate diagnosis). After approximately 18 weeks of treatment, the SCID-II protocols were re-examined at clinical conferences and the diagnostic status reassessed on the basis of longitudinal observations in multiple group situations (longitudinal, expert, all data principle). Using this procedure, 78% of the patients' diagnostic criteria sets were changed, and 32% of patients' diagnostic statuses were changed. Many (32%) patients who were evaluated initially as not having a PD received a PD diagnosis after re-examination. The information provided by customary clinical assessment has important limitations, and longitudinal observation provides additional information that may change the diagnostic status in approximately one-third of PD cases. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Linked data and provenance in biological data webs.

PubMed

Zhao, Jun; Miles, Alistair; Klyne, Graham; Shotton, David

2009-03-01

The Web is now being used as a platform for publishing and linking life science data. The Web's linking architecture can be exploited to join heterogeneous data from multiple sources. However, as data are frequently being updated in a decentralized environment, provenance information becomes critical to providing reliable and trustworthy services to scientists. This article presents design patterns for representing and querying provenance information relating to mapping links between heterogeneous data from sources in the domain of functional genomics. We illustrate the use of named resource description framework (RDF) graphs at different levels of granularity to make provenance assertions about linked data, and demonstrate that these assertions are sufficient to support requirements including data currency, integrity, evidential support and historical queries.

[Comparative evaluation of information products regarding cancer screening of German-speaking cancer organizations].

PubMed

Hofmann, Julia; Kien, Christina; Gartlehner, Gerald

2015-01-01

Evidence-based information materials about the pros and cons of cancer screening are important sources for men and women to decide for or against cancer screening. The aim of this paper was to compare recommendations from different cancer institutions in German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland) regarding screening for breast, cervix, colon, and prostate cancer and to assess the quality and development process of patient information materials. Relevant information material was identified through web searches and personal contact with cancer institutions. To achieve our objective, we employed a qualitative approach. The quality of 22 patient information materials was analysed based on established guidance by Bunge et al. In addition, we conducted guided interviews about the process of developing information materials with decision-makers of cancer institutes. Overall, major discrepancies in cancer screening recommendations exist among the Austrian, German, and Swiss cancer institutes. Process evaluation revealed that crucial steps of quality assurance, such as assembling a multi-disciplinary panel, assessing conflicts of interest, or transparency regarding funding sources, have frequently not been undertaken. All information materials had substantial quality deficits in multiple areas. Three out of four institutes issued information materials that met fewer than half of the quality criteria. Most patient information materials of cancer institutes in German-speaking countries are fraught with substantial deficits and do not provide an objective source for patients to be able to make an informed decision for or against cancer screening. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Assessing the Multiple Dimensions of Engagement to Characterize Learning: A Neurophysiological Perspective

PubMed Central

Charland, Patrick; Léger, Pierre-Majorique; Sénécal, Sylvain; Courtemanche, François; Mercier, Julien; Skelling, Yannick; Labonté-Lemoyne, Elise

2015-01-01

In a recent theoretical synthesis on the concept of engagement, Fredricks, Blumenfeld and Paris1 defined engagement by its multiple dimensions: behavioral, emotional and cognitive. They observed that individual types of engagement had not been studied in conjunction, and little information was available about interactions or synergy between the dimensions; consequently, more studies would contribute to creating finely tuned teaching interventions. Benefiting from the recent technological advances in neurosciences, this paper presents a recently developed methodology to gather and synchronize data on multidimensional engagement during learning tasks. The technique involves the collection of (a) electroencephalography, (b) electrodermal, (c) eye-tracking, and (d) facial emotion recognition data on four different computers. This led to synchronization issues for data collected from multiple sources. Post synchronization in specialized integration software gives researchers a better understanding of the dynamics between the multiple dimensions of engagement. For curriculum developers, these data could provide informed guidelines for achieving better instruction/learning efficiency. This technique also opens up possibilities in the field of brain-computer interactions, where adaptive learning or assessment environments could be developed. PMID:26167712

Mitigation of volcanic hazards to aviation: The need for real-time integration of multiple data sources (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, D. J.

2009-12-01

The successful mitigation of volcanic hazards to aviation requires rapid interpretation and coordination of data from multiple sources, and communication of information products to a variety of end users. This community of information providers and information users include volcano observatories, volcanic ash advisory centers, meteorological watch offices, air traffic control centers, airline dispatch and military flight operations centers, and pilots. Each of these entities has capabilities and needs that are unique to their situations that evolve over a range of time spans. Prior to an eruption, information about probable eruption scenarios are needed in order to allow for contingency planning. Once a hazardous eruption begins, the immediate questions are where, when, how high, and how long will the eruption last? Following the initial detection of an eruption, the need for information changes to forecasting the movement of the volcanic cloud, determining whether ground operations will be affected by ash fall, and estimating how long the drifting volcanic cloud will remain hazardous. A variety of tools have been developed and/or improved over the past several years that provide additional data sources about volcanic hazards that is pertinent to the aviation sector. These include seismic and pressure sensors, ground-based radar and lidar, web cameras, ash dispersion models, and more sensitive satellite sensors that are capable of better detecting volcanic ash, gases and aerosols. Along with these improved capabilities come increased challenges in rapidly assimilating the available data sources, which come from a variety of data providers. In this presentation, examples from the recent large eruptions of Okmok, Kasatochi, and Sarychev Peak volcanoes will be used to demonstrate the challenges faced by hazard response agencies. These eruptions produced volcanic clouds that were dispersed over large regions of the Northern Hemisphere and were observed by pilots and detected by various satellite sensors for several weeks. The disruption to aviation caused by these eruptions further emphasizes the need to improve the real-time characterization of volcanic clouds (altitude, composition, particle size, and concentration) and to better understand the impacts of volcanic ash, gases and aerosols on aircraft, flight crews, and passengers.

Query-Adaptive Hash Code Ranking for Large-Scale Multi-View Visual Search.

PubMed

Liu, Xianglong; Huang, Lei; Deng, Cheng; Lang, Bo; Tao, Dacheng

2016-10-01

Hash-based nearest neighbor search has become attractive in many applications. However, the quantization in hashing usually degenerates the discriminative power when using Hamming distance ranking. Besides, for large-scale visual search, existing hashing methods cannot directly support the efficient search over the data with multiple sources, and while the literature has shown that adaptively incorporating complementary information from diverse sources or views can significantly boost the search performance. To address the problems, this paper proposes a novel and generic approach to building multiple hash tables with multiple views and generating fine-grained ranking results at bitwise and tablewise levels. For each hash table, a query-adaptive bitwise weighting is introduced to alleviate the quantization loss by simultaneously exploiting the quality of hash functions and their complement for nearest neighbor search. From the tablewise aspect, multiple hash tables are built for different data views as a joint index, over which a query-specific rank fusion is proposed to rerank all results from the bitwise ranking by diffusing in a graph. Comprehensive experiments on image search over three well-known benchmarks show that the proposed method achieves up to 17.11% and 20.28% performance gains on single and multiple table search over the state-of-the-art methods.

MACSIMS : multiple alignment of complete sequences information management system

PubMed Central

Thompson, Julie D; Muller, Arnaud; Waterhouse, Andrew; Procter, Jim; Barton, Geoffrey J; Plewniak, Frédéric; Poch, Olivier

2006-01-01

Background In the post-genomic era, systems-level studies are being performed that seek to explain complex biological systems by integrating diverse resources from fields such as genomics, proteomics or transcriptomics. New information management systems are now needed for the collection, validation and analysis of the vast amount of heterogeneous data available. Multiple alignments of complete sequences provide an ideal environment for the integration of this information in the context of the protein family. Results MACSIMS is a multiple alignment-based information management program that combines the advantages of both knowledge-based and ab initio sequence analysis methods. Structural and functional information is retrieved automatically from the public databases. In the multiple alignment, homologous regions are identified and the retrieved data is evaluated and propagated from known to unknown sequences with these reliable regions. In a large-scale evaluation, the specificity of the propagated sequence features is estimated to be >99%, i.e. very few false positive predictions are made. MACSIMS is then used to characterise mutations in a test set of 100 proteins that are known to be involved in human genetic diseases. The number of sequence features associated with these proteins was increased by 60%, compared to the features available in the public databases. An XML format output file allows automatic parsing of the MACSIM results, while a graphical display using the JalView program allows manual analysis. Conclusion MACSIMS is a new information management system that incorporates detailed analyses of protein families at the structural, functional and evolutionary levels. MACSIMS thus provides a unique environment that facilitates knowledge extraction and the presentation of the most pertinent information to the biologist. A web server and the source code are available at . PMID:16792820

Information Fusion Issues in the UK Environmental Science Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giles, J. R.

2010-12-01

The Earth is a complex, interacting system which cannot be neatly divided by discipline boundaries. To gain an holistic understanding of even a component of an Earth System requires researchers to draw information from multiple disciplines and integrate these to develop a broader understanding. But the barriers to achieving this are formidable. Research funders attempting to encourage the integration of information across disciplines need to take into account culture issues, the impact of intrusion of projects on existing information systems, ontologies and semantics, scale issues, heterogeneity and the uncertainties associated with combining information from diverse sources. Culture - There is a cultural dualism in the environmental sciences were information sharing is both rewarded and discouraged. Researchers who share information both gain new opportunities and risk reducing their chances of being first author in an high-impact journal. The culture of the environmental science community has to be managed to ensure that information fusion activities are encouraged. Intrusion - Existing information systems have an inertia of there own because of the intellectual and financial capital invested within them. Information fusion activities must recognise and seek to minimise the potential impact of their projects on existing systems. Low intrusion information fusions systems such as OGC web-service and the OpenMI Standard are to be preferred to whole-sale replacement of existing systems. Ontology and Semantics - Linking information across disciplines requires a clear understanding of the concepts deployed in the vocabulary used to describe them. Such work is a critical first step to creating routine information fusion. It is essential that national bodies, such as geological surveys organisations, document and publish their ontologies, semantics, etc. Scale - Environmental processes operate at scales ranging from microns to the scale of the Solar System and potentially beyond. The many different scales involved provide serious challenges to information fusion which need to be researched. Heterogeneity - Natural systems are heterogeneous, that is a system consisting of multiple components each of which may have considerable internal variation. Modelling Earth Systems requires recognition of the inherent complexity. Uncertainty - Understanding the uncertainties within a single information source can be difficult. Understanding the uncertainties across a system of linked models, each drawn from multiple information resources, represents a considerable challenge that must be addressed. The challenges to overcome appear insurmountable to individual research groups; but the potential rewards, in terms of a fuller scientific understanding of Earth Systems, are significant. A major international effort must be mounted to tackle these barriers and enable routine information fusion.

Characterization of sources and loadings of fecal pollutants using microbial source tracking assays in urban and rural areas of the Grand River Watershed, Southwestern Ontario.

PubMed

Lee, Dae-Young; Lee, Hung; Trevors, Jack T; Weir, Susan C; Thomas, Janis L; Habash, Marc

2014-04-15

Sources of fecal water pollution were assessed in the Grand River and two of its tributaries (Ontario, Canada) using total and host-specific (human and bovine) Bacteroidales genetic markers in conjunction with reference information, such as land use and weather. In-stream levels of the markers and culturable Escherichia coli were also monitored during multiple rain events to gain information on fecal loadings to catchment from diffuse sources. Elevated human-specific marker levels were accurately identified in river water impacted by a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent and at a downstream site in the Grand River. In contrast, the bovine-specific marker showed high levels of cattle fecal pollution in two tributaries, both of which are characterized as intensely farmed areas. The bovine-specific Bacteroidales marker increased with rainfall in the agricultural tributaries, indicating enhanced loading of cattle-derived fecal pollutants to river from non-point sources following rain events. However, rain-triggered fecal loading was not substantiated in urban settings, indicating continuous inputs of human-originated fecal pollutants from point sources, such as WWTP effluent. This study demonstrated that the Bacteroidales source tracking assays, in combination with land use information and hydrological data, may provide additional insight into the spatial and temporal distribution of source-specific fecal contamination in streams impacted by varying land uses. Using the approach described in this study may help to characterize impacted water sources and to design targeted land use management plans in other watersheds in the future. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementation of a Research Information Management System in a Pediatric Hospital.

PubMed

Kissling, Alison D; Ballinger, Kimberly D

2018-01-01

Faculty publications have been collected in universities, health, and medical institutions for many years, and Cincinnati Children's is no exception. Since 1949, a yearly list of faculty publications was manually compiled using multiple data sources and disseminated by the Edward L. Pratt Research Library. Products to centralize faculty publication collection and analysis with bibliometric tools are growing in popularity. This article will review the collaborative decision to choose a Research Information Management System and the implementation process including successes, challenges, and future opportunities.

Transparent mediation-based access to multiple yeast data sources using an ontology driven interface.

PubMed

Briache, Abdelaali; Marrakchi, Kamar; Kerzazi, Amine; Navas-Delgado, Ismael; Rossi Hassani, Badr D; Lairini, Khalid; Aldana-Montes, José F

2012-01-25

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is recognized as a model system representing a simple eukaryote whose genome can be easily manipulated. Information solicited by scientists on its biological entities (Proteins, Genes, RNAs...) is scattered within several data sources like SGD, Yeastract, CYGD-MIPS, BioGrid, PhosphoGrid, etc. Because of the heterogeneity of these sources, querying them separately and then manually combining the returned results is a complex and time-consuming task for biologists most of whom are not bioinformatics expert. It also reduces and limits the use that can be made on the available data. To provide transparent and simultaneous access to yeast sources, we have developed YeastMed: an XML and mediator-based system. In this paper, we present our approach in developing this system which takes advantage of SB-KOM to perform the query transformation needed and a set of Data Services to reach the integrated data sources. The system is composed of a set of modules that depend heavily on XML and Semantic Web technologies. User queries are expressed in terms of a domain ontology through a simple form-based web interface. YeastMed is the first mediation-based system specific for integrating yeast data sources. It was conceived mainly to help biologists to find simultaneously relevant data from multiple data sources. It has a biologist-friendly interface easy to use. The system is available at http://www.khaos.uma.es/yeastmed/.

Sources of Information and Behavioral Patterns in Online Health Forums: Observational Study

PubMed Central

Friede, Tim; Grabowski, Jens; Koschack, Janka; Makedonski, Philip; Himmel, Wolfgang

2014-01-01

Background Increasing numbers of patients are raising their voice in online forums. This shift is welcome as an act of patient autonomy, reflected in the term “expert patient”. At the same time, there is considerable concern that patients can be easily misguided by pseudoscientific research and debate. Little is known about the sources of information used in health-related online forums, how users apply this information, and how they behave in such forums. Objective The intent of the study was to identify (1) the sources of information used in online health-related forums, and (2) the roles and behavior of active forum visitors in introducing and disseminating this information. Methods This observational study used the largest German multiple sclerosis (MS) online forum as a database, analyzing the user debate about the recently proposed and controversial Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) hypothesis. After extracting all posts and then filtering relevant CCSVI posts between 01 January 2008 and 17 August 2012, we first identified hyperlinks to scientific publications and other information sources used or referenced in the posts. Employing k-means clustering, we then analyzed the users’ preference for sources of information and their general posting habits. Results Of 139,912 posts from 11,997 threads, 8628 posts discussed or at least mentioned CCSVI. We detected hyperlinks pointing to CCSVI-related scientific publications in 31 posts. In contrast, 2829 different URLs were posted to the forum, most frequently referring to social media, such as YouTube or Facebook. We identified a total of 6 different roles of hyperlink posters including Social Media Fans, Organization Followers, and Balanced Source Users. Apart from the large and nonspecific residual category of the “average user”, several specific behavior patterns were identified, such as the small but relevant groups of CCSVI-Focused Responders or CCSVI Activators. Conclusions The bulk of the observed contributions were not based on scientific results, but on various social media sources. These sources seem to contain mostly opinions and personal experience. A small group of people with distinct behavioral patterns played a core role in fuelling the discussion about CCSVI. PMID:24425598

Data quality and processing for decision making: divergence between corporate strategy and manufacturing processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeil, Ronald D.; Miele, Renato; Shaul, Dennis

2000-10-01

Information technology is driving improvements in manufacturing systems. Results are higher productivity and quality. However, corporate strategy is driven by a number of factors and includes data and pressure from multiple stakeholders, which includes employees, managers, executives, stockholders, boards, suppliers and customers. It is also driven by information about competitors and emerging technology. Much information is based on processing of data and the resulting biases of the processors. Thus, stakeholders can base inputs on faulty perceptions, which are not reality based. Prior to processing, data used may be inaccurate. Sources of data and information may include demographic reports, statistical analyses, intelligence reports (e.g., marketing data), technology and primary data collection. The reliability and validity of data as well as the management of sources and information is critical element to strategy formulation. The paper explores data collection, processing and analyses from secondary and primary sources, information generation and report presentation for strategy formulation and contrast this with data and information utilized to drive internal process such as manufacturing. The hypothesis is that internal process, such as manufacturing, are subordinate to corporate strategies. The impact of possible divergence in quality of decisions at the corporate level on IT driven, quality-manufacturing processes based on measurable outcomes is significant. Recommendations for IT improvements at the corporate strategy level are given.

Determinants of Internet use as a preferred source of information on personal health.

PubMed

Lemire, Marc; Paré, Guy; Sicotte, Claude; Harvey, Charmian

2008-11-01

To understand the personal, social and cultural factors likely to explain recourse to the Internet as a preferred source of personal health information. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a population of 2923 Internet users visiting a firmly established website that offers information on personal health. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of site use. The analysis template comprised four classes of determinants likely to explain Internet use: beliefs, intentions, user satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics. Seven-point Likert scales were used. An analysis of the psychometric qualities of the variables provided compelling evidence of the construct's validity and reliability. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the correspondence with the factors predicted by the theoretical model. The regression analysis explained 35% of the variance in Internet use. Use was directly associated with five factors: perceived usefulness, importance given to written media in searches for health information, concern for personal health, importance given to the opinions of physicians and other health professionals, and the trust placed in the information available on the site itself. This study confirms the importance of the credibility of information on the frequency of Internet use as a preferred source of information on personal health. It also shows the potentially influential role of the Internet in the development of personal knowledge of health issues.

Comparing the information seeking strategies of residents, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants in critical care settings

PubMed Central

Kannampallil, Thomas G; Jones, Laura K; Patel, Vimla L; Buchman, Timothy G; Franklin, Amy

2014-01-01

Objective Critical care environments are information-intensive environments where effective decisions are predicated on successfully finding and using the ‘right information at the right time’. We characterize the differences in processes and strategies of information seeking between residents, nurse practitioners (NPs), and physician assistants (PAs). Method We conducted an exploratory study in the cardiothoracic intensive care units of two large academic hospitals within the same healthcare system. Clinicians (residents (n=5), NPs (n=5), and PAs (n=5)) were shadowed as they gathered information on patients in preparation for clinical rounds. Information seeking activities on 96 patients were collected over a period of 3 months (NRes=37, NNP=24, NPA=35 patients). The sources of information and time spent gathering the information at each source were recorded. Exploratory data analysis using probabilistic sequential approaches was used to analyze the data. Results Residents predominantly used a patient-based information seeking strategy in which all relevant information was aggregated for one patient at a time. In contrast, NPs and PAs primarily utilized a source-based information seeking strategy in which similar (or equivalent) information was aggregated for multiple patients at a time (eg, X-rays for all patients). Conclusions The differences in the information seeking strategies are potentially a result of the differences in clinical training, strategies of managing cognitive load, and the nature of the use of available health IT tools. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of these differences on clinical and process outcomes. PMID:24619926

The Case for Multiple Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cummins, Sunday

2017-01-01

Reading just one text on any topic, Cummins argues, isn't enough if we expect students to learn at deep levels about the topic, synthesize various sources of information, and gain the knowledge they need to write and speak seriously about the topic. Reading a second or third text expands a reader's knowledge on any topic or story--and the why…

A Review of e-Learning in Canada: Rejoinder to Commentaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrami, Philip C.; Bernard, Robert M.; Wade, C. Anne; Borokhovski, Eugene; Tamim, Rana; Surkes, Michael; Zhang, Dai

2006-01-01

Abrami et al. (this issue) provide a review of e-learning in Canada from 2000 onwards by synthesizing information drawn from multiple sources, not only primary research. In total, there were 726 documents included in our review: 235 views expressed in the public printed media (an expression of general public opinion); 131 views from…

Agency, Socio-Cultural Context, and the Role of the Technical Communicator during IT Adoption: A Case Study in Innovation Diffusion across Cultures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coggio, Grace Leinbach

2010-01-01

This dissertation examines the diffusion of an innovative information technology system across multiple cultures between 2000 and 2006. Developed and implemented by technical communicators in the technical communication department of a global medical device company, the Advanced Single-Source Authoring and Publication System (ASAPS) brought…

Resources and Practices to Help Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows Write Statements of Teaching Philosophy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kearns, Katherine D.; Sullivan, Carol Subino

2011-01-01

Students and postdoctoral fellows currently encounter requests for a statement of teaching philosophy in at least half of academic job announcements in the United States. A systematic process for the development of a teaching statement is required that integrates multiple sources of support, informs writers of the document's purpose and audience,…

Cultural Perspectives on Teaching and Learning: A Collaborative Self-Study of Two Professors' First Year Teaching Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Ran; Smith, Judith J.

2011-01-01

In this collaborative self-study, two first-year assistant professors examine their views of teaching and learning from two cultural perspectives. Drawing from multiple data sources, including reflective analyses of teaching, monthly peer-support meetings, and the Students Opinion Information Survey, the study explores the differences in views of…

Drugs, Devices, and Desires: A Problem-Based Learning Course in the History of Medicine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levitt, Sarah; McKeage, Anne; Rangachari, P. K.

2013-01-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) is well suited for courses in the history of medicine, where multiple perspectives exist and information has to be gleaned from different sources. A student, an archivist, and a teacher offer three perspectives about a senior level course where students explored the antecedents and consequences of medical technology.…

Information Theoretic Secret Key Generation: Structured Codes and Tree Packing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nitinawarat, Sirin

2010-01-01

This dissertation deals with a multiterminal source model for secret key generation by multiple network terminals with prior and privileged access to a set of correlated signals complemented by public discussion among themselves. Emphasis is placed on a characterization of secret key capacity, i.e., the largest rate of an achievable secret key,…

Fluctuations in national forest timber harvest and removals: the southern regional perspective

Treesearch

Sonja N. Oswalt; Tony G. Johnson; Mike Howell; James W. Bentley

2009-01-01

Here, we examine fluctuations in timber harvest and removals on National Forest System (NFS) lands of the Southern Region in light of changing societal values and administrative policies. We also present timber product utilization information based on multiple data sources, examine NFS removals in the context of standing volume, and compare NFS removals with removals...

Relationship between the Learning Hierarchy and Academic Achievement on Strategies Used by Third-Grade Students When Solving Multiplication Word Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanive, Rebecca A.

2016-01-01

Distinguishing between sources of variability in mathematics performance may contribute to a more comprehensive theory of mathematics skills. Research has examined student differences based upon scores on achievement tests, which provide overall proficiency, but may not provide the detailed information for identifying and remediating difficulties.…

A Comparison of Domain-Referenced and Classic Psychometric Test Construction Methods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willoughby, Lee; And Others

This study compared a domain referenced approach with a traditional psychometric approach in the construction of a test. Results of the December, 1975 Quarterly Profile Exam (QPE) administered to 400 examinees at a university were the source of data. The 400 item QPE is a five alternative multiple choice test of information a "safe"…

Exploring multiple sources of climatic information within personal and medical diaries, Bombay 1799-1828

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adamson, George

2016-04-01

Private diaries are being recognised as an important source of information on past climatic conditions, providing place-specific, often daily records of meteorological information. As many were not intended for publication, or indeed to be read by anyone other than the author, issues of observer bias are lower than some other types of documentary sources. This paper comprises an exploration of the variety of types of climatic information can be mined from a single document or set of documents. The focus of the analysis is three private and one medical diary kept by British colonists in Bombay, western India, during the first decades of the nineteenth century. The paper discusses the potential of the diaries for reconstruction of precipitation, temperature and extreme events. Ad-hoc temperature observations collected by the four observers prove to be particularly fruitful for reconstructing monthly extreme temperatures, with values comparable to more systematic observations collected during the period. This leads to a tentative conclusion that extreme temperatures in Bombay were around 5°C lower during the period than today, a difference likely predominantly attributable to the urban heat island effect.

Feedback Power Control Strategies in Wireless Sensor Networks with Joint Channel Decoding

PubMed Central

Abrardo, Andrea; Ferrari, Gianluigi; Martalò, Marco; Perna, Fabio

2009-01-01

In this paper, we derive feedback power control strategies for block-faded multiple access schemes with correlated sources and joint channel decoding (JCD). In particular, upon the derivation of the feasible signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region for the considered multiple access schemes, i.e., the multidimensional SNR region where error-free communications are, in principle, possible, two feedback power control strategies are proposed: (i) a classical feedback power control strategy, which aims at equalizing all link SNRs at the access point (AP), and (ii) an innovative optimized feedback power control strategy, which tries to make the network operational point fall in the feasible SNR region at the lowest overall transmit energy consumption. These strategies will be referred to as “balanced SNR” and “unbalanced SNR,” respectively. While they require, in principle, an unlimited power control range at the sources, we also propose practical versions with a limited power control range. We preliminary consider a scenario with orthogonal links and ideal feedback. Then, we analyze the robustness of the proposed power control strategies to possible non-idealities, in terms of residual multiple access interference and noisy feedback channels. Finally, we successfully apply the proposed feedback power control strategies to a limiting case of the class of considered multiple access schemes, namely a central estimating officer (CEO) scenario, where the sensors observe noisy versions of a common binary information sequence and the AP's goal is to estimate this sequence by properly fusing the soft-output information output by the JCD algorithm. PMID:22291536

Multiple Household Water Sources and Their Use in Remote Communities With Evidence From Pacific Island Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, Mark; MacDonald, Morgan C.; Chan, Terence; Kearton, Annika; Shields, Katherine F.; Bartram, Jamie K.; Hadwen, Wade L.

2017-11-01

Global water research and monitoring typically focus on the household's "main source of drinking-water." Use of multiple water sources to meet daily household needs has been noted in many developing countries but rarely quantified or reported in detail. We gathered self-reported data using a cross-sectional survey of 405 households in eight communities of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and five Solomon Islands (SI) communities. Over 90% of households used multiple sources, with differences in sources and uses between wet and dry seasons. Most RMI households had large rainwater tanks and rationed stored rainwater for drinking throughout the dry season, whereas most SI households collected rainwater in small pots, precluding storage across seasons. Use of a source for cooking was strongly positively correlated with use for drinking, whereas use for cooking was negatively correlated or uncorrelated with nonconsumptive uses (e.g., bathing). Dry season water uses implied greater risk of water-borne disease, with fewer (frequently zero) handwashing sources reported and more unimproved sources consumed. Use of multiple sources is fundamental to household water management and feasible to monitor using electronic survey tools. We contend that recognizing multiple water sources can greatly improve understanding of household-level and community-level climate change resilience, that use of multiple sources confounds health impact studies of water interventions, and that incorporating multiple sources into water supply interventions can yield heretofore-unrealized benefits. We propose that failure to consider multiple sources undermines the design and effectiveness of global water monitoring, data interpretation, implementation, policy, and research.

Weighted minimum-norm source estimation of magnetoencephalography utilizing the temporal information of the measured data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwaki, Sunao; Ueno, Shoogo

1998-06-01

The weighted minimum-norm estimation (wMNE) is a popular method to obtain the source distribution in the human brain from magneto- and electro- encephalograpic measurements when detailed information about the generator profile is not available. We propose a method to reconstruct current distributions in the human brain based on the wMNE technique with the weighting factors defined by a simplified multiple signal classification (MUSIC) prescanning. In this method, in addition to the conventional depth normalization technique, weighting factors of the wMNE were determined by the cost values previously calculated by a simplified MUSIC scanning which contains the temporal information of the measured data. We performed computer simulations of this method and compared it with the conventional wMNE method. The results show that the proposed method is effective for the reconstruction of the current distributions from noisy data.

Reaction schemes visualized in network form: the syntheses of strychnine as an example.

PubMed

Proudfoot, John R

2013-05-24

Representation of synthesis sequences in a network form provides an effective method for the comparison of multiple reaction schemes and an opportunity to emphasize features such as reaction scale that are often relegated to experimental sections. An example of data formatting that allows construction of network maps in Cytoscape is presented, along with maps that illustrate the comparison of multiple reaction sequences, comparison of scaffold changes within sequences, and consolidation to highlight common key intermediates used across sequences. The 17 different synthetic routes reported for strychnine are used as an example basis set. The reaction maps presented required a significant data extraction and curation, and a standardized tabular format for reporting reaction information, if applied in a consistent way, could allow the automated combination of reaction information across different sources.

Understanding the Digital Gap Among US Adults With Disability: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey 2013.

PubMed

Kim, Eun Ji; Yuan, Yiyang; Liebschutz, Jane; Cabral, Howard; Kazis, Lewis

2018-03-16

Disabilities affect more than 1 in 5 US adults, and those with disabilities face multiple barriers in accessing health care. A digital gap, defined as the disparity caused by differences in the ability to use advanced technologies, is assumed to be prevalent among individuals with disabilities. This study examined the associations between disability and use of information technology (IT) in obtaining health information and between trust factors and IT use. We hypothesized that compared to US adults without disabilities, those with disabilities are less likely to refer to the internet for health information, more likely to refer to a health care provider to obtain health information, and less likely to use IT to exchange medical information with a provider. Additionally, we hypothesized that trust factors, such as trust toward health information source and willingness to exchange health information, are associated with IT use. The primary database was the 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey 4 Cycle 3 (N=3185). Disability status, the primary study covariate, was based on 6 questions that encompassed a wide spectrum of conditions, including impairments in mobility, cognition, independent living, vision, hearing, and self-care. Study covariates included sociodemographic factors, respondents' trust toward the internet and provider as information sources, and willingness to exchange medical information via IT with providers. Study outcomes were the use of the internet as the primary health information source, use of health care providers as the primary health information source, and use of IT to exchange medical information with providers. We conducted multivariate logistic regressions to examine the association between disability and study outcomes controlling for study covariates. Multiple imputations with fully conditional specification were used to impute missing values. We found presence of any disability was associated with decreased odds (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.65, 95% CI 0.43-0.98) of obtaining health information from the internet, in particular for those with vision disability (AOR 0.27, 95% CI 0.11-0.65) and those with mobility disability (AOR 0.51, 95% CI 0.30-0.88). Compared to those without disabilities, those with disabilities were significantly more likely to consult a health care provider for health information in both actual (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.54-3.18) and hypothetical situations (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.24-2.60). Trust toward health information from the internet (AOR 3.62, 95% CI 2.07-6.33), and willingness to exchange via IT medical information with a provider (AOR 1.88, 95% CI 1.57-2.24) were significant predictors for seeking and exchanging such information, respectively. A potential digital gap may exist among US adults with disabilities in terms of their recent use of the internet for health information. Trust toward health information sources and willingness play an important role in people's engagement in use of the internet for health information. Future studies should focus on addressing trust factors associated with IT use and developing tools to improve access to care for those with disabilities. ©Eun Ji Kim, Yiyang Yuan, Jane Liebschutz, Howard Cabral, Lewis Kazis. Originally published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (http://rehab.jmir.org), 16.03.2018.

Collective Influence of Multiple Spreaders Evaluated by Tracing Real Information Flow in Large-Scale Social Networks.

PubMed

Teng, Xian; Pei, Sen; Morone, Flaviano; Makse, Hernán A

2016-10-26

Identifying the most influential spreaders that maximize information flow is a central question in network theory. Recently, a scalable method called "Collective Influence (CI)" has been put forward through collective influence maximization. In contrast to heuristic methods evaluating nodes' significance separately, CI method inspects the collective influence of multiple spreaders. Despite that CI applies to the influence maximization problem in percolation model, it is still important to examine its efficacy in realistic information spreading. Here, we examine real-world information flow in various social and scientific platforms including American Physical Society, Facebook, Twitter and LiveJournal. Since empirical data cannot be directly mapped to ideal multi-source spreading, we leverage the behavioral patterns of users extracted from data to construct "virtual" information spreading processes. Our results demonstrate that the set of spreaders selected by CI can induce larger scale of information propagation. Moreover, local measures as the number of connections or citations are not necessarily the deterministic factors of nodes' importance in realistic information spreading. This result has significance for rankings scientists in scientific networks like the APS, where the commonly used number of citations can be a poor indicator of the collective influence of authors in the community.

Feasibility and utility of applications of the common data model to multiple, disparate observational health databases.

PubMed

Voss, Erica A; Makadia, Rupa; Matcho, Amy; Ma, Qianli; Knoll, Chris; Schuemie, Martijn; DeFalco, Frank J; Londhe, Ajit; Zhu, Vivienne; Ryan, Patrick B

2015-05-01

To evaluate the utility of applying the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model (CDM) across multiple observational databases within an organization and to apply standardized analytics tools for conducting observational research. Six deidentified patient-level datasets were transformed to the OMOP CDM. We evaluated the extent of information loss that occurred through the standardization process. We developed a standardized analytic tool to replicate the cohort construction process from a published epidemiology protocol and applied the analysis to all 6 databases to assess time-to-execution and comparability of results. Transformation to the CDM resulted in minimal information loss across all 6 databases. Patients and observations excluded were due to identified data quality issues in the source system, 96% to 99% of condition records and 90% to 99% of drug records were successfully mapped into the CDM using the standard vocabulary. The full cohort replication and descriptive baseline summary was executed for 2 cohorts in 6 databases in less than 1 hour. The standardization process improved data quality, increased efficiency, and facilitated cross-database comparisons to support a more systematic approach to observational research. Comparisons across data sources showed consistency in the impact of inclusion criteria, using the protocol and identified differences in patient characteristics and coding practices across databases. Standardizing data structure (through a CDM), content (through a standard vocabulary with source code mappings), and analytics can enable an institution to apply a network-based approach to observational research across multiple, disparate observational health databases. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Automatic identification of resting state networks: an extended version of multiple template-matching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guaje, Javier; Molina, Juan; Rudas, Jorge; Demertzi, Athena; Heine, Lizette; Tshibanda, Luaba; Soddu, Andrea; Laureys, Steven; Gómez, Francisco

2015-12-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging in resting state (fMRI-RS) constitutes an informative protocol to investigate several pathological and pharmacological conditions. A common approach to study this data source is through the analysis of changes in the so called resting state networks (RSNs). These networks correspond to well-defined functional entities that have been associated to different low and high brain order functions. RSNs may be characterized by using Independent Component Analysis (ICA). ICA provides a decomposition of the fMRI-RS signal into sources of brain activity, but it lacks of information about the nature of the signal, i.e., if the source is artifactual or not. Recently, a multiple template-matching (MTM) approach was proposed to automatically recognize RSNs in a set of Independent Components (ICs). This method provides valuable information to assess subjects at individual level. Nevertheless, it lacks of a mechanism to quantify how much certainty there is about the existence/absence of each network. This information may be important for the assessment of patients with severely damaged brains, in which RSNs may be greatly affected as a result of the pathological condition. In this work we propose a set of changes to the original MTM that improves the RSNs recognition task and also extends the functionality of the method. The key points of this improvement is a standardization strategy and a modification of method's constraints that adds flexibility to the approach. Additionally, we also introduce an analysis to the trustworthiness measurement of each RSN obtained by using template-matching approach. This analysis consists of a thresholding strategy applied over the computed Goodness-of-Fit (GOF) between the set of templates and the ICs. The proposed method was validated on 2 two independent studies (Baltimore, 23 healthy subjects and Liege, 27 healthy subjects) with different configurations of MTM. Results suggest that the method will provide complementary information for characterization of RSNs at individual level.

Influence of commercial information on prescription quantity in primary care.

PubMed

Caamaño, Francisco; Figueiras, Adolfo; Gestal-Otero, Juan Jesus

2002-09-01

In the last few years we have witnessed many publicly-financed health services reaching a crisis point. Thus, drug expenditure is nowadays one of the main concerns of health managers, and its containment one of the first goals of health authorities in western countries. The objective of this study is to identify the effect of the perceived quality stated in commercial information, its uses, and how physicians perceive the influence it has on prescription amounts. A cross-sectional study of 405 primary care physicians was conducted in Galicia (north-west Spain). The independent variables physician's education and speciality, physician's perception of the quality of available drug information sources, type of practice, and number of patients were collected, through a postal questionnaire. Environmental characteristics of the practice were obtained from secondary sources. Multiple regression models were constructed using as dependent variables two indicators of prescription volume. The response rate was 75.2%. Prescription amounts was found to be associated with perceived credibility of information provided by medical visitors, regulated physician training, and environmental characteristics of the practice (primary care team practice, urban environment). The study results suggest that in order to decrease prescription amounts it is necessary to limit the role of pharmaceutical companies in physician training, improve physician education and training, and emphasize more objective sources of information.

Integrating multiple data sources in species distribution modeling: A framework for data fusion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pacifici, Krishna; Reich, Brian J.; Miller, David A.W.; Gardner, Beth; Stauffer, Glenn E.; Singh, Susheela; McKerrow, Alexa; Collazo, Jaime A.

2017-01-01

The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in the use of species distribution models (SDMs) to characterize patterns of species’ occurrence and abundance. Efforts to parameterize SDMs often create a tension between the quality and quantity of data available to fit models. Estimation methods that integrate both standardized and non-standardized data types offer a potential solution to the tradeoff between data quality and quantity. Recently several authors have developed approaches for jointly modeling two sources of data (one of high quality and one of lesser quality). We extend their work by allowing for explicit spatial autocorrelation in occurrence and detection error using a Multivariate Conditional Autoregressive (MVCAR) model and develop three models that share information in a less direct manner resulting in more robust performance when the auxiliary data is of lesser quality. We describe these three new approaches (“Shared,” “Correlation,” “Covariates”) for combining data sources and show their use in a case study of the Brown-headed Nuthatch in the Southeastern U.S. and through simulations. All three of the approaches which used the second data source improved out-of-sample predictions relative to a single data source (“Single”). When information in the second data source is of high quality, the Shared model performs the best, but the Correlation and Covariates model also perform well. When the information quality in the second data source is of lesser quality, the Correlation and Covariates model performed better suggesting they are robust alternatives when little is known about auxiliary data collected opportunistically or through citizen scientists. Methods that allow for both data types to be used will maximize the useful information available for estimating species distributions.

Attenuation - The Ugly Stepsister of Velocity in the Noise Correlation Family

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawrence, J. F.; Prieto, G.; Denolle, M.; Seats, K. J.

2012-12-01

Noise correlation functions and noise transfer functions have shown in practice to preserve the relative amplitude information, despite the challenge to reliably resolve it compared to phase information. Yet amplitude contains important information about wavefield interactions with the subsurface structure, including focusing/defocusing and seismic attenuation. To focus on the anelastic effects, or attenuation, we measure amplitude decay with increased station separation (distance). We present numerical results showing that the noise correlation functions (NCFs) preserve the relative amplitude information and properly retrieve seismic attenuation for sufficient noise source distribution and appropriate processing. Attenuation is only preserved through the relative decay of distinct waves from multiple simultaneous source locations. With appropriate whitening (and no time domain normalization), the coherency preserves correlation amplitudes proportional to the relative decay expected with all the inter-station spacing. We present new attenuation results for the United States, and particularly the Yellowstone region that illustrate lateral variations that strongly correlate with known geological features such as sedimentary basins, crustal blocks and active volcanism.

Temporal evolution of the Green's function reconstruction in the seismic coda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clerc, V.; Roux, P.; Campillo, M.

2013-12-01

In presence of multiple scattering, the wavefield evolves towards an equipartitioned state, equivalent to ambient noise. CAMPILLO and PAUL (2003) reconstructed the surface wave part of the Green's function between three pairs of stations in Mexico. The data indicate that the time asymmetry between causal and acausal part of the Green's function is less pronounced when the correlation is performed in the later windows of the coda. These results on the correlation of diffuse waves provide another perspective on the reconstruction of Green function which is independent of the source distribution and which suggests that if the time of observation is long enough, a single source could be sufficient. The paper by ROUX et al. (2005) provides a theoretical frame for the reconstruction of the Green's function in a homogeneous middle. In a multiple scattering medium with a single source, scatterers behave as secondary sources according to the Huygens principle. Coda waves are relevant to multiple scattering, a regime which can be approximated by diffusion for long lapse times. We express the temporal evolution of the correlation function between two receivers as a function of the secondary sources. We are able to predict the effect of the persistence of the net flux of energy observed by CAMPILLO and PAUL (2003) in numerical simulations. This method is also effective in order to retrieve the scattering mean free path. We perform a partial reconstruction of the Green's function in a strongly scattering medium in numerical simulations. The prediction of the flux asymmetry allows defining the parts of the coda providing the same information as ambient noise cross correlation.

Ontology-Based Information Extraction for Business Intelligence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saggion, Horacio; Funk, Adam; Maynard, Diana; Bontcheva, Kalina

Business Intelligence (BI) requires the acquisition and aggregation of key pieces of knowledge from multiple sources in order to provide valuable information to customers or feed statistical BI models and tools. The massive amount of information available to business analysts makes information extraction and other natural language processing tools key enablers for the acquisition and use of that semantic information. We describe the application of ontology-based extraction and merging in the context of a practical e-business application for the EU MUSING Project where the goal is to gather international company intelligence and country/region information. The results of our experiments so far are very promising and we are now in the process of building a complete end-to-end solution.

A precedence effect resolves phantom sound source illusions in the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea

PubMed Central

Lee, Norman; Elias, Damian O.; Mason, Andrew C.

2009-01-01

Localizing individual sound sources under reverberant environmental conditions can be a challenge when the original source and its acoustic reflections arrive at the ears simultaneously from different paths that convey ambiguous directional information. The acoustic parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea (Diptera: Tachinidae) relies on a pair of ears exquisitely sensitive to sound direction to localize the 5-kHz tone pulsatile calling song of their host crickets. In nature, flies are expected to encounter a complex sound field with multiple sources and their reflections from acoustic clutter potentially masking temporal information relevant to source recognition and localization. In field experiments, O. ochracea were lured onto a test arena and subjected to small random acoustic asymmetries between 2 simultaneous sources. Most flies successfully localize a single source but some localize a ‘phantom’ source that is a summed effect of both source locations. Such misdirected phonotaxis can be elicited reliably in laboratory experiments that present symmetric acoustic stimulation. By varying onset delay between 2 sources, we test whether hyperacute directional hearing in O. ochracea can function to exploit small time differences to determine source location. Selective localization depends on both the relative timing and location of competing sources. Flies preferred phonotaxis to a forward source. With small onset disparities within a 10-ms temporal window of attention, flies selectively localize the leading source while the lagging source has minimal influence on orientation. These results demonstrate the precedence effect as a mechanism to overcome phantom source illusions that arise from acoustic reflections or competing sources. PMID:19332794

Combinatorial Fusion Analysis for Meta Search Information Retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, D. Frank; Taksa, Isak

Leading commercial search engines are built as single event systems. In response to a particular search query, the search engine returns a single list of ranked search results. To find more relevant results the user must frequently try several other search engines. A meta search engine was developed to enhance the process of multi-engine querying. The meta search engine queries several engines at the same time and fuses individual engine results into a single search results list. The fusion of multiple search results has been shown (mostly experimentally) to be highly effective. However, the question of why and how the fusion should be done still remains largely unanswered. In this chapter, we utilize the combinatorial fusion analysis proposed by Hsu et al. to analyze combination and fusion of multiple sources of information. A rank/score function is used in the design and analysis of our framework. The framework provides a better understanding of the fusion phenomenon in information retrieval. For example, to improve the performance of the combined multiple scoring systems, it is necessary that each of the individual scoring systems has relatively high performance and the individual scoring systems are diverse. Additionally, we illustrate various applications of the framework using two examples from the information retrieval domain.

The impact of an online Facebook support group for people with multiple sclerosis on non-active users.

PubMed

Steadman, Jacqui; Pretorius, Chrisma

2014-01-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease and there is little research on support networks for people with MS (PwMS). More specifically, most studies on online support groups focus on those who actively participate in the group, whereas the majority of those who utilise online support groups do so in a passive way. This study therefore aimed to explore the experiences of non-active users of an online Facebook support group for PwMS. Emphasis was placed on the facilitators and the barriers that were associated with membership to this group. An exploratory qualitative research design was implemented, whereby thematic analysis was utilised to examine the ten semi-structured interviews that were conducted. Several facilitators were acquired through the online support group; namely emotional support (constant source of support, exposure to negative aspects of the disease), informational support (group as a source of knowledge, quality of information) and social companionship (place of belonging). Some barriers were also identified; namely emotional support (emotions lost online, response to messages, exposure to negative aspects of the disease), informational support (information posted on the group, misuse of group) and social companionship (non-active status). These findings demonstrate that the non-active members of the online support group for PwMS have valid reasons for their non-active membership status. More important, the findings suggest that the online Facebook support group provided the group members with an important support network in the form of emotional support, informational support and social companionship, despite their non-active membership status or the barriers that have been identified.

How to communicate with the public about chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear terrorism: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Rubin, G James; Chowdhury, Alexander K; Amlôt, Richard

2012-12-01

A deliberate attack involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) material has the potential to cause substantial fear among the public. This presents problems for communicators, who will need to provide information quickly after an attack while ensuring that their messages are easily understood and likely to be attended to by members of the public. Identifying in advance what people would want to know, where they would get information from, and how messages should be presented might allow communicators to ensure that their messages have the best chance of having their desired effect. In this review, we identified all peer-reviewed studies that have assessed communication strategies or information needs using hypothetical CBRN scenarios or in actual CBRN incidents. We identified 33 relevant studies. Their results support existing psychological models of why people engage in health protective behaviors, with information about the severity of the incident, the likelihood of being exposed, the efficacy and costs or risks of recommended behaviors, and the ability of individuals to perform recommended behaviors being sought by the public. Trust plays a crucial role in ensuring that people attend to messages. Finally, while a large variety of spokespeople and sources were identified as being turned to in the event of an incident, the use of multiple information sources was also common, affirming the importance of communicating a consistent message through multiple channels. Further research is required to extend these predominantly US-based findings to other countries and to confirm the findings of research using hypothetical scenarios.

Opportunities and Challenges in Supply-Side Simulation: Physician-Based Models

PubMed Central

Gresenz, Carole Roan; Auerbach, David I; Duarte, Fabian

2013-01-01

Objective To provide a conceptual framework and to assess the availability of empirical data for supply-side microsimulation modeling in the context of health care. Data Sources Multiple secondary data sources, including the American Community Survey, Health Tracking Physician Survey, and SK&A physician database. Study Design We apply our conceptual framework to one entity in the health care market—physicians—and identify, assess, and compare data available for physician-based simulation models. Principal Findings Our conceptual framework describes three broad types of data required for supply-side microsimulation modeling. Our assessment of available data for modeling physician behavior suggests broad comparability across various sources on several dimensions and highlights the need for significant integration of data across multiple sources to provide a platform adequate for modeling. A growing literature provides potential estimates for use as behavioral parameters that could serve as the models' engines. Sources of data for simulation modeling that account for the complex organizational and financial relationships among physicians and other supply-side entities are limited. Conclusions A key challenge for supply-side microsimulation modeling is optimally combining available data to harness their collective power. Several possibilities also exist for novel data collection. These have the potential to serve as catalysts for the next generation of supply-side-focused simulation models to inform health policy. PMID:23347041

A European model and case studies for aggregate exposure assessment of pesticides.

PubMed

Kennedy, Marc C; Glass, C Richard; Bokkers, Bas; Hart, Andy D M; Hamey, Paul Y; Kruisselbrink, Johannes W; de Boer, Waldo J; van der Voet, Hilko; Garthwaite, David G; van Klaveren, Jacob D

2015-05-01

Exposures to plant protection products (PPPs) are assessed using risk analysis methods to protect public health. Traditionally, single sources, such as food or individual occupational sources, have been addressed. In reality, individuals can be exposed simultaneously to multiple sources. Improved regulation therefore requires the development of new tools for estimating the population distribution of exposures aggregated within an individual. A new aggregate model is described, which allows individual users to include as much, or as little, information as is available or relevant for their particular scenario. Depending on the inputs provided by the user, the outputs can range from simple deterministic values through to probabilistic analyses including characterisations of variability and uncertainty. Exposures can be calculated for multiple compounds, routes and sources of exposure. The aggregate model links to the cumulative dietary exposure model developed in parallel and is implemented in the web-based software tool MCRA. Case studies are presented to illustrate the potential of this model, with inputs drawn from existing European data sources and models. These cover exposures to UK arable spray operators, Italian vineyard spray operators, Netherlands users of a consumer spray and UK bystanders/residents. The model could also be adapted to handle non-PPP compounds. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Targeted versus statistical approaches to selecting parameters for modelling sediment provenance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laceby, J. Patrick

2017-04-01

One effective field-based approach to modelling sediment provenance is the source fingerprinting technique. Arguably, one of the most important steps for this approach is selecting the appropriate suite of parameters or fingerprints used to model source contributions. Accordingly, approaches to selecting parameters for sediment source fingerprinting will be reviewed. Thereafter, opportunities and limitations of these approaches and some future research directions will be presented. For properties to be effective tracers of sediment, they must discriminate between sources whilst behaving conservatively. Conservative behavior is characterized by constancy in sediment properties, where the properties of sediment sources remain constant, or at the very least, any variation in these properties should occur in a predictable and measurable way. Therefore, properties selected for sediment source fingerprinting should remain constant through sediment detachment, transportation and deposition processes, or vary in a predictable and measurable way. One approach to select conservative properties for sediment source fingerprinting is to identify targeted tracers, such as caesium-137, that provide specific source information (e.g. surface versus subsurface origins). A second approach is to use statistical tests to select an optimal suite of conservative properties capable of modelling sediment provenance. In general, statistical approaches use a combination of a discrimination (e.g. Kruskal Wallis H-test, Mann-Whitney U-test) and parameter selection statistics (e.g. Discriminant Function Analysis or Principle Component Analysis). The challenge is that modelling sediment provenance is often not straightforward and there is increasing debate in the literature surrounding the most appropriate approach to selecting elements for modelling. Moving forward, it would be beneficial if researchers test their results with multiple modelling approaches, artificial mixtures, and multiple lines of evidence to provide secondary support to their initial modelling results. Indeed, element selection can greatly impact modelling results and having multiple lines of evidence will help provide confidence when modelling sediment provenance.

Improving life sciences information retrieval using semantic web technology.

PubMed

Quan, Dennis

2007-05-01

The ability to retrieve relevant information is at the heart of every aspect of research and development in the life sciences industry. Information is often distributed across multiple systems and recorded in a way that makes it difficult to piece together the complete picture. Differences in data formats, naming schemes and network protocols amongst information sources, both public and private, must be overcome, and user interfaces not only need to be able to tap into these diverse information sources but must also assist users in filtering out extraneous information and highlighting the key relationships hidden within an aggregated set of information. The Semantic Web community has made great strides in proposing solutions to these problems, and many efforts are underway to apply Semantic Web techniques to the problem of information retrieval in the life sciences space. This article gives an overview of the principles underlying a Semantic Web-enabled information retrieval system: creating a unified abstraction for knowledge using the RDF semantic network model; designing semantic lenses that extract contextually relevant subsets of information; and assembling semantic lenses into powerful information displays. Furthermore, concrete examples of how these principles can be applied to life science problems including a scenario involving a drug discovery dashboard prototype called BioDash are provided.

Apparatus and method for measuring fluorescence intensities at a plurality of wavelengths and lifetimes

DOEpatents

Buican, T.N.

1993-05-04

Apparatus and method is described for measuring intensities at a plurality of wavelengths and lifetimes. A source of multiple-wavelength electromagnetic radiation is passed through a first interferometer modulated at a first frequency, the output thereof being directed into a sample to be investigated. The light emitted from the sample as a result of the interaction thereof with the excitation radiation is directed into a second interferometer modulated at a second frequency, and the output detected and analyzed. In this manner excitation, emission, and lifetime information may be obtained for a multiplicity of fluorochromes in the sample.

Data Fusion for Enhanced Aircraft Engine Prognostics and Health Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volponi, Al

2005-01-01

Aircraft gas-turbine engine data is available from a variety of sources, including on-board sensor measurements, maintenance histories, and component models. An ultimate goal of Propulsion Health Management (PHM) is to maximize the amount of meaningful information that can be extracted from disparate data sources to obtain comprehensive diagnostic and prognostic knowledge regarding the health of the engine. Data fusion is the integration of data or information from multiple sources for the achievement of improved accuracy and more specific inferences than can be obtained from the use of a single sensor alone. The basic tenet underlying the data/ information fusion concept is to leverage all available information to enhance diagnostic visibility, increase diagnostic reliability and reduce the number of diagnostic false alarms. This report describes a basic PHM data fusion architecture being developed in alignment with the NASA C-17 PHM Flight Test program. The challenge of how to maximize the meaningful information extracted from disparate data sources to obtain enhanced diagnostic and prognostic information regarding the health and condition of the engine is the primary goal of this endeavor. To address this challenge, NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, and Pratt & Whitney have formed a team with several small innovative technology companies to plan and conduct a research project in the area of data fusion, as it applies to PHM. Methodologies being developed and evaluated have been drawn from a wide range of areas including artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, statistical estimation, and fuzzy logic. This report will provide a chronology and summary of the work accomplished under this research contract.

A method for separation of heavy metal sources in urban groundwater using multiple lines of evidence.

PubMed

Hepburn, Emily; Northway, Anne; Bekele, Dawit; Liu, Gang-Jun; Currell, Matthew

2018-06-11

Determining sources of heavy metals in soils, sediments and groundwater is important for understanding their fate and transport and mitigating human and environmental exposures. Artificially imported fill, natural sediments and groundwater from 240 ha of reclaimed land at Fishermans Bend in Australia, were analysed for heavy metals and other parameters to determine the relative contributions from different possible sources. Fishermans Bend is Australia's largest urban re-development project, however, complicated land-use history, geology, and multiple contamination sources pose challenges to successful re-development. We developed a method for heavy metal source separation in groundwater using statistical categorisation of the data, analysis of soil leaching values and fill/sediment XRF profiling. The method identified two major sources of heavy metals in groundwater: 1. Point sources from local or up-gradient groundwater contaminated by industrial activities and/or legacy landfills; and 2. contaminated fill, where leaching of Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn was observed. Across the precinct, metals were most commonly sourced from a combination of these sources; however, eight locations indicated at least one metal sourced solely from fill leaching, and 23 locations indicated at least one metal sourced solely from impacted groundwater. Concentrations of heavy metals in groundwater ranged from 0.0001 to 0.003 mg/L (Cd), 0.001-0.1 mg/L (Cr), 0.001-0.2 mg/L (Cu), 0.001-0.5 mg/L (Ni), 0.001-0.01 mg/L (Pb), and 0.005-1.2 mg/L (Zn). Our method can determine the likely contribution of different metal sources to groundwater, helping inform more detailed contamination assessments and precinct-wide management and remediation strategies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pairing field methods to improve inference in wildlife surveys while accommodating detection covariance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clare, John; McKinney, Shawn T.; DePue, John E.; Loftin, Cynthia S.

2017-01-01

It is common to use multiple field sampling methods when implementing wildlife surveys to compare method efficacy or cost efficiency, integrate distinct pieces of information provided by separate methods, or evaluate method-specific biases and misclassification error. Existing models that combine information from multiple field methods or sampling devices permit rigorous comparison of method-specific detection parameters, enable estimation of additional parameters such as false-positive detection probability, and improve occurrence or abundance estimates, but with the assumption that the separate sampling methods produce detections independently of one another. This assumption is tenuous if methods are paired or deployed in close proximity simultaneously, a common practice that reduces the additional effort required to implement multiple methods and reduces the risk that differences between method-specific detection parameters are confounded by other environmental factors. We develop occupancy and spatial capture–recapture models that permit covariance between the detections produced by different methods, use simulation to compare estimator performance of the new models to models assuming independence, and provide an empirical application based on American marten (Martes americana) surveys using paired remote cameras, hair catches, and snow tracking. Simulation results indicate existing models that assume that methods independently detect organisms produce biased parameter estimates and substantially understate estimate uncertainty when this assumption is violated, while our reformulated models are robust to either methodological independence or covariance. Empirical results suggested that remote cameras and snow tracking had comparable probability of detecting present martens, but that snow tracking also produced false-positive marten detections that could potentially substantially bias distribution estimates if not corrected for. Remote cameras detected marten individuals more readily than passive hair catches. Inability to photographically distinguish individual sex did not appear to induce negative bias in camera density estimates; instead, hair catches appeared to produce detection competition between individuals that may have been a source of negative bias. Our model reformulations broaden the range of circumstances in which analyses incorporating multiple sources of information can be robustly used, and our empirical results demonstrate that using multiple field-methods can enhance inferences regarding ecological parameters of interest and improve understanding of how reliably survey methods sample these parameters.

The ASAS-SN Bright Supernova Catalog – II. 2015

DOE PAGES

Holoien, T. W. -S.; Brown, J. S.; Stanek, K. Z.; ...

2017-01-16

Here, this paper presents information for all supernovae discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) during 2015, its second full year of operations. The same information is presented for bright (mV ≤ 17), spectroscopically confirmed supernovae discovered by other sources in 2015. As with the first ASAS-SN bright supernova catalogue, we also present redshifts and near-ultraviolet through infrared magnitudes for all supernova host galaxies in both samples. Combined with our previous catalogue, this work comprises a complete catalogue of 455 supernovae from multiple professional and amateur sources, allowing for population studies that were previously impossible. This is themore » second of a series of yearly papers on bright supernovae and their hosts from the ASAS-SN team.« less

The ASAS-SN Bright Supernova Catalog – II. 2015

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

Holoien, T. W. -S.; Brown, J. S.; Stanek, K. Z.

Here, this paper presents information for all supernovae discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) during 2015, its second full year of operations. The same information is presented for bright (mV ≤ 17), spectroscopically confirmed supernovae discovered by other sources in 2015. As with the first ASAS-SN bright supernova catalogue, we also present redshifts and near-ultraviolet through infrared magnitudes for all supernova host galaxies in both samples. Combined with our previous catalogue, this work comprises a complete catalogue of 455 supernovae from multiple professional and amateur sources, allowing for population studies that were previously impossible. This is themore » second of a series of yearly papers on bright supernovae and their hosts from the ASAS-SN team.« less

Review of Maintenance and Repair Times for Components in Technological Facilities

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

L. C. Cadwallader

2012-11-01

This report is a compilation of some unique component repair time data and it also presents citations of more extensive reports where lists of repair times can be found. This collection of information should support analysts who seek to quantify maintainability and availability of high technology and nuclear energy production systems. While there are newer sources of repair time information, most, if not all, of the newer sources are proprietary and cannot be shared. This report offers data that, while older, is openly accessible and can serve as reasonable estimates of repair times, at least for initial studies. Some timesmore » were found for maintenance times in radiation environments, and some guidance for multiplicative factors to use to account for work in contamination areas.« less

The Annotated Bibliography and Citation Behavior: Enhancing Student Scholarship in an Undergraduate Biology Course

PubMed Central

Rux, Erika M.; Flaspohler, John A.

2007-01-01

Contemporary undergraduates in the biological sciences have unprecedented access to scientific information. Although many of these students may be savvy technologists, studies from the field of library and information science consistently show that undergraduates often struggle to locate, evaluate, and use high-quality, reputable sources of information. This study demonstrates the efficacy and pedagogical value of a collaborative teaching approach designed to enhance information literacy competencies among undergraduate biology majors who must write a formal scientific research paper. We rely on the triangulation of assessment data to determine the effectiveness of a substantial research paper project completed by students enrolled in an upper-level biology course. After enhancing library-based instruction, adding an annotated bibliography requirement, and using multiple assessment techniques, we show fundamental improvements in students' library research abilities. Ultimately, these improvements make it possible for students to more independently and effectively complete this challenging science-based writing assignment. We document critical information literacy advances in several key areas: student source-type use, annotated bibliography enhancement, plagiarism reduction, as well as student and faculty/librarian satisfaction. PMID:18056306

Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the region of Osona, Catalonia, northern Spain.

PubMed Central

Bufill, E; Blesa, R; Galan, I; Dean, G

1995-01-01

To ascertain the prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the region of Osona in Catalonia, northern Spain, an intensive study was undertaken in a small population of 72,000 people over a period of five years, using many sources of information. Patients were classified according to the Poser criteria. Most of the patients presented with mild symptoms only and many had not seen a neurologist or attended a large hospital. The prevalence of definite and probable multiple sclerosis was 58 per 100,000. This is nine to 10 times higher than had been found previously in Catalonia and is a similar prevalence to that found in southern Spain, in Sicily, and in Greek speaking Cyprus. Images PMID:7745405

Use and availability of continuous streamflow records in Oklahoma

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blumer, S.P.; Hauth, L.D.

1984-01-01

This report documents the results of the data uses and funding portion of a study of the cost-effectiveness of the streamflow information program in Oklahoma. Presently, 123 continuous surface-water stations are operated in Oklahoma on a budget of $617,120. Data uses and funding sources are identified for each of the 123 stations. Data from most stations have multiple uses.

Designing Meaning with Multiple Media Sources: A Case Study of an Eight-Year-Old Student's Writing Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranker, Jason

2007-01-01

This case study closely examines how John (a former student of mine, age eight, second grade) composed during an informal writing group at school. Using qualitative research methods, I found that John selectively took up conventions, characters, story grammars, themes, and motifs from video games, television, Web pages, and comics. Likening his…

Insights into the Interactions between Educational Messages: Looking across Multiple Organizations Addressing Water Issues in Maricopa County, Arizona

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cutts, Bethany; Saltz, Charlene; Elser, Monica

2008-01-01

The public receives environmental information from a variety of sources. Evaluation of a single program or one organization's effort is incomplete. Through surveys and interviews, we evaluate the cumulative impact of outreach by 20 water-related organizations in Maricopa County, Arizona. Household water conservation is a topic addressed by 18…

Control Coordination of Multiple Agents Through Decision Theoretic and Economic Methods

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-02-01

instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information...investigated the design of test data for benchmarking such optimization algorithms. Our other research on combinatorial auctions included I...average combination rule. We exemplified these theoretical results with experiments on stock market data , demonstrating how ensembles of classifiers can

Trends in Adolescent Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Findings from Three Sentinel Sites in South Africa (1997-2001)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parry, Charles D. H.; Myers, Bronwyn; Morojele, Neo K.; Flisher, Alan J.; Bhana, Arvin; Donson, Hilton; Pluddemann, Andreas

2004-01-01

This paper aims to provide surveillance information about the extent and consequences of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use by adolescents for three sentinel sites in South Africa (Cape Town, Durban and Gauteng province). From 1997 to 2001, data were gathered from multiple sources, including specialist treatment centres, trauma units, school…

The Integrated Epidemiologic Profile: Using Multiple Data Sources in Developing Profiles to Inform HIV Prevention and Care Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitmore, Suzanne K.; Zaidi, Irum F.; Dean, Hazel D.

2005-01-01

HIV/AIDS epidemiologic profiles describe the HIV/AIDS epidemic among state and local populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources Services Administration collaborated to develop one set of guidelines for developing epidemiologic profiles that would serve as the basis for both prevention and care planning.…

Snake oil, silver buckshot, and people who hate us: metaphors and conventional discourses of wood-based bioenergy in the rural southeastern United States

Treesearch

Sarah Hitchner; John Schelhas; J. Peter  Brosius

2016-01-01

Multiple experiences and sources of information influence ideas about wood-based bioenergy, and people often use similar language to reference various discourses (e.g., energy independence, rural development, environmental sustainability). We collected data during ethnographic research in three primary and three secondary field sites in the southeastern...

Exploring the Usage of ICT and YouTube for Teaching: A Study of Pre-Service Teachers in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szeto, Elson; Cheng, Annie Yan-Ni

2014-01-01

Pre-service teachers are expected to teach the digital-native generation of students in the information and communication technology (ICT)-enriched school environments. The aim of this study is to better understand their usage of ICT tools and YouTube for teaching during their teaching practicums. Multiple data sources, including interviews,…

Oxygen isotopes as a tracer of phosphate sources and cycling in aquatic systems (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, M. B.; Kendall, C.; Paytan, A.

2013-12-01

The oxygen isotopic composition of phosphate can provide valuable information about sources and processes affecting phosphorus as it moves through hydrologic systems. Applications of this technique in soil and water have become more common in recent years due to improvements in extraction methods and instrument capabilities, and studies in multiple aquatic environments have demonstrated that some phosphorus sources may have distinct isotopic compositions within a given system. Under normal environmental conditions, the oxygen-phosphorus bonds in dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) can only be broken by enzymatic activity. Biological cycling of DIP will bring the phosphate oxygen into a temperature-dependent equilibrium with the surrounding water, overprinting any existing isotopic source signals. However, studies conducted in a wide range of estuarine, freshwater, and groundwater systems have found that the phosphate oxygen is often out of biological equilibrium with the water, suggesting that it is common for at least a partial isotopic source signal to be retained in aquatic systems. Oxygen isotope analysis on various potential phosphate sources such as synthetic and organic fertilizers, animal waste, detergents, and septic/wastewater treatment plant effluents show that these sources span a wide range of isotopic compositions, and although there is considerable overlap between the source groups, sources may be isotopically distinct within a given study area. Recent soil studies have shown that isotopic analysis of phosphate oxygen is also useful for understanding microbial cycling across different phosphorus pools, and may provide insights into controls on phosphorus leaching. Combining stable isotope information from soil and water studies will greatly improve our understanding of complex phosphate cycling, and the increasing use of this isotopic technique across different environments will provide new information regarding anthropogenic phosphate inputs and controls on biological cycling within hydrologic systems.

The source of dual-task limitations: Serial or parallel processing of multiple response selections?

PubMed Central

Marois, René

2014-01-01

Although it is generally recognized that the concurrent performance of two tasks incurs costs, the sources of these dual-task costs remain controversial. The serial bottleneck model suggests that serial postponement of task performance in dual-task conditions results from a central stage of response selection that can only process one task at a time. Cognitive-control models, by contrast, propose that multiple response selections can proceed in parallel, but that serial processing of task performance is predominantly adopted because its processing efficiency is higher than that of parallel processing. In the present study, we empirically tested this proposition by examining whether parallel processing would occur when it was more efficient and financially rewarded. The results indicated that even when parallel processing was more efficient and was incentivized by financial reward, participants still failed to process tasks in parallel. We conclude that central information processing is limited by a serial bottleneck. PMID:23864266

MRMer, an interactive open source and cross-platform system for data extraction and visualization of multiple reaction monitoring experiments.

PubMed

Martin, Daniel B; Holzman, Ted; May, Damon; Peterson, Amelia; Eastham, Ashley; Eng, Jimmy; McIntosh, Martin

2008-11-01

Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry identifies and quantifies specific peptides in a complex mixture with very high sensitivity and speed and thus has promise for the high throughput screening of clinical samples for candidate biomarkers. We have developed an interactive software platform, called MRMer, for managing highly complex MRM-MS experiments, including quantitative analyses using heavy/light isotopic peptide pairs. MRMer parses and extracts information from MS files encoded in the platform-independent mzXML data format. It extracts and infers precursor-product ion transition pairings, computes integrated ion intensities, and permits rapid visual curation for analyses exceeding 1000 precursor-product pairs. Results can be easily output for quantitative comparison of consecutive runs. Additionally MRMer incorporates features that permit the quantitative analysis experiments including heavy and light isotopic peptide pairs. MRMer is open source and provided under the Apache 2.0 license.

Handicapping: the effects of its source and frequency.

PubMed

McElroy, James C; Crant, J Michael

2008-07-01

Using a sample of 246 working adults, the authors created a 2 x 2 x 2 experimental design to isolate the influence of performance outcome, source of handicapping, and frequency of handicapping on reactions to handicapping in organizations. Dependent measures were observers' allocations of credit/blame, interpersonal affect, and the perceived credibility of the explanation. Results showed direct effects on observer impressions for all 3 independent variables, along with a significant Source x Frequency interaction. Handicapping information presented by others yielded more favorable observer impressions than did self-handicapping, and frequent handicapping decreased observer impressions. The least credible handicapping strategy was multiple self-handicaps. A significant 3-way interaction showed that source and frequency affected perceived credibility differently, depending upon whether actual performance was a success or a failure.

How could health information exchange better meet the needs of care practitioners?

PubMed

Kierkegaard, P; Kaushal, R; Vest, J R

2014-01-01

Health information exchange (HIE) has the potential to improve the quality of healthcare by enabling providers with better access to patient information from multiple sources at the point of care. However, HIE efforts have historically been difficult to establish in the US and the failure rates of organizations created to foster HIE have been high. We sought to better understand how RHIO-based HIE systems were used in practice and the challenges care practitioners face using them. The objective of our study were to so investigate how HIE can better meet the needs of care practitioners. We performed a multiple-case study using qualitative methods in three communities in New York State. We conducted interviews onsite and by telephone with HIE users and non-users and observed the workflows of healthcare professionals at multiple healthcare organizations participating in a local HIE effort in New York State. The empirical data analysis suggests that challenges still remain in increasing provider usage, optimizing HIE implementations and connecting HIE systems across geographic regions. Important determinants of system usage and perceived value includes users experienced level of available information and the fit of use for physician workflows. Challenges still remain in increasing provider adoption, optimizing HIE implementations, and demonstrating value. The inability to find information reduced usage of HIE. Healthcare organizations, HIE facilitating organizations, and states can help support HIE adoption by ensuring patient information is accessible to providers through increasing patient consents, fostering broader participation, and by ensuring systems are usable.

All Source Solution Decision Support Products Created for Stennis Space Center in Response to Hurricane Katrina

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Kenton W.; Graham, William D.

2007-01-01

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and in response to the needs of SSC (Stennis Space Center), NASA required the generation of decision support products with a broad range of geospatial inputs. Applying a systems engineering approach, the NASA ARTPO (Applied Research and Technology Project Office) at SSC evaluated the Center's requirements and source data quality. ARTPO identified data and information products that had the potential to meet decision-making requirements; included were remotely sensed data ranging from high-spatial-resolution aerial images through high-temporal-resolution MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) products. Geospatial products, such as FEMA's (Federal Emergency Management Agency's) Advisory Base Flood Elevations, were also relevant. Where possible, ARTPO applied SSC calibration/validation expertise to both clarify the quality of various data source options and to validate that the inputs that were finally chosen met SSC requirements. ARTPO integrated various information sources into multiple decision support products, including two maps: Hurricane Katrina Inundation Effects at Stennis Space Center (highlighting surge risk posture) and Vegetation Change In and Around Stennis Space Center: Katrina and Beyond (highlighting fire risk posture).

Real Time Tracking of Magmatic Intrusions by means of Ground Deformation Modeling during Volcanic Crises.

PubMed

Cannavò, Flavio; Camacho, Antonio G; González, Pablo J; Mattia, Mario; Puglisi, Giuseppe; Fernández, José

2015-06-09

Volcano observatories provide near real-time information and, ultimately, forecasts about volcano activity. For this reason, multiple physical and chemical parameters are continuously monitored. Here, we present a new method to efficiently estimate the location and evolution of magmatic sources based on a stream of real-time surface deformation data, such as High-Rate GPS, and a free-geometry magmatic source model. The tool allows tracking inflation and deflation sources in time, providing estimates of where a volcano might erupt, which is important in understanding an on-going crisis. We show a successful simulated application to the pre-eruptive period of May 2008, at Mount Etna (Italy). The proposed methodology is able to track the fast dynamics of the magma migration by inverting the real-time data within seconds. This general method is suitable for integration in any volcano observatory. The method provides first order unsupervised and realistic estimates of the locations of magmatic sources and of potential eruption sites, information that is especially important for civil protection purposes.

Real Time Tracking of Magmatic Intrusions by means of Ground Deformation Modeling during Volcanic Crises

PubMed Central

Cannavò, Flavio; Camacho, Antonio G.; González, Pablo J.; Mattia, Mario; Puglisi, Giuseppe; Fernández, José

2015-01-01

Volcano observatories provide near real-time information and, ultimately, forecasts about volcano activity. For this reason, multiple physical and chemical parameters are continuously monitored. Here, we present a new method to efficiently estimate the location and evolution of magmatic sources based on a stream of real-time surface deformation data, such as High-Rate GPS, and a free-geometry magmatic source model. The tool allows tracking inflation and deflation sources in time, providing estimates of where a volcano might erupt, which is important in understanding an on-going crisis. We show a successful simulated application to the pre-eruptive period of May 2008, at Mount Etna (Italy). The proposed methodology is able to track the fast dynamics of the magma migration by inverting the real-time data within seconds. This general method is suitable for integration in any volcano observatory. The method provides first order unsupervised and realistic estimates of the locations of magmatic sources and of potential eruption sites, information that is especially important for civil protection purposes. PMID:26055494

Development of a Knowledgebase (MetRxn) of Metabolites, Reactions and Atom Mappings to Accelerate Discovery and Redesign

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

Maranas, Costas D.

With advances in DNA sequencing and genome annotation techniques, the breadth of metabolic knowledge across all kingdoms of life is increasing. The construction of genome-scale models (GSMs) facilitates this distillation of knowledge by systematically accounting for reaction stoichiometry and directionality, gene to protein to reaction relationships, reaction localization among cellular organelles, metabolite transport costs and routes, transcriptional regulation, and biomass composition. Genome-scale reconstructions available now span across all kingdoms of life, from microbes to whole-plant models, and have become indispensable for driving informed metabolic designs and interventions. A key barrier to the pace of this development is our inability tomore » utilize metabolite/reaction information from databases such as BRENDA [1], KEGG [2], MetaCyc [3], etc. due to incompatibilities of representation, duplications, and errors. Duplicate entries constitute a major impediment, where the same metabolite is found with multiple names across databases and models, which significantly slows downs the collating of information from multiple data sources. This can also lead to serious modeling errors such as charge/mass imbalances [4,5] which can thwart model predictive abilities such as identifying synthetic lethal gene pairs and quantifying metabolic flows. Hence, we created the MetRxn database [6] that takes the next step in integrating data from multiple sources and formats to automatically create a standardized knowledgebase. We subsequently deployed this resource to bring about new paradigms in genome-scale metabolic model reconstruction, metabolic flux elucidation through MFA, modeling of microbial communities, and pathway prospecting. This research has enabled the PI’s group to continue building upon research milestones and reach new ones (see list of MetRxn-related publications below).« less

46 CFR 111.10-5 - Multiple energy sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Multiple energy sources. 111.10-5 Section 111.10-5...-GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Power Supply § 111.10-5 Multiple energy sources. Failure of any single generating set energy source such as a boiler, diesel, gas turbine, or steam turbine must not cause all generating sets...

46 CFR 111.10-5 - Multiple energy sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Multiple energy sources. 111.10-5 Section 111.10-5...-GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Power Supply § 111.10-5 Multiple energy sources. Failure of any single generating set energy source such as a boiler, diesel, gas turbine, or steam turbine must not cause all generating sets...

46 CFR 111.10-5 - Multiple energy sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Multiple energy sources. 111.10-5 Section 111.10-5...-GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Power Supply § 111.10-5 Multiple energy sources. Failure of any single generating set energy source such as a boiler, diesel, gas turbine, or steam turbine must not cause all generating sets...

46 CFR 111.10-5 - Multiple energy sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Multiple energy sources. 111.10-5 Section 111.10-5...-GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Power Supply § 111.10-5 Multiple energy sources. Failure of any single generating set energy source such as a boiler, diesel, gas turbine, or steam turbine must not cause all generating sets...

46 CFR 111.10-5 - Multiple energy sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Multiple energy sources. 111.10-5 Section 111.10-5...-GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Power Supply § 111.10-5 Multiple energy sources. Failure of any single generating set energy source such as a boiler, diesel, gas turbine, or steam turbine must not cause all generating sets...

Malaysians' Preferences and Concerns Regarding Seeking Information About Illegal Drugs.

PubMed

Chie, Qiu Ting; Tam, Cai Lian; Bonn, Gregory

2018-01-01

A brief survey asked Malaysians if they had searched for information about illegal drugs and their thoughts about the information available. Two hundred and eighty participants from four states: Selangor, Penang, Malacca, and Johor filled out a paper-and-pencil survey including both multiple choice and open-ended written questions. Quantitative analyses of closed-ended, and thematic analyses of open-ended data indicated the following: Half of participants had, at some point, actively searched for information about drug use; 28% reported searching at least once per month. Participants generally (79%) preferred to obtain information online, but 62% also reported sharing and obtaining information about drugs in face-to-face interactions with friends and others. Concerns regarding the reliability of information, such as the presence of conflicting or contradictory messages from multiple sources, was a common theme in open ended responses. Of those who searched for information, about 70% reported desiring more detailed information about different drugs, in particular about their various side effects and risks. It is suggested that drug information campaigns, particularly those aimed at university students, might better focus on providing accurate, detailed information about the risks and other issues involved in various types of drug use, rather than one-size-fits-all messages. Given the varied and confusing nature of information already available, overly simplistic anti-drug messages may be ineffective, if not counterproductive.

Malaysians' Preferences and Concerns Regarding Seeking Information About Illegal Drugs

PubMed Central

Chie, Qiu Ting; Tam, Cai Lian; Bonn, Gregory

2018-01-01

A brief survey asked Malaysians if they had searched for information about illegal drugs and their thoughts about the information available. Two hundred and eighty participants from four states: Selangor, Penang, Malacca, and Johor filled out a paper-and-pencil survey including both multiple choice and open-ended written questions. Quantitative analyses of closed-ended, and thematic analyses of open-ended data indicated the following: Half of participants had, at some point, actively searched for information about drug use; 28% reported searching at least once per month. Participants generally (79%) preferred to obtain information online, but 62% also reported sharing and obtaining information about drugs in face-to-face interactions with friends and others. Concerns regarding the reliability of information, such as the presence of conflicting or contradictory messages from multiple sources, was a common theme in open ended responses. Of those who searched for information, about 70% reported desiring more detailed information about different drugs, in particular about their various side effects and risks. It is suggested that drug information campaigns, particularly those aimed at university students, might better focus on providing accurate, detailed information about the risks and other issues involved in various types of drug use, rather than one-size-fits-all messages. Given the varied and confusing nature of information already available, overly simplistic anti-drug messages may be ineffective, if not counterproductive. PMID:29868548

The effects of viewpoint on the virtual space of pictures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sedgwick, H. A.

1989-01-01

Pictorial displays whose primary purpose is to convey accurate information about the 3-D spatial layout of an environment are discussed. How and how well, pictures can convey such information is discussed. It is suggested that picture perception is not best approached as a unitary, indivisible process. Rather, it is a complex process depending on multiple, partially redundant, interacting sources of visual information for both the real surface of the picture and the virtual space beyond. Each picture must be assessed for the particular information that it makes available. This will determine how accurately the virtual space represented by the picture is seen, as well as how it is distorted when seen from the wrong viewpoint.

Precise segmentation of multiple organs in CT volumes using learning-based approach and information theory.

PubMed

Lu, Chao; Zheng, Yefeng; Birkbeck, Neil; Zhang, Jingdan; Kohlberger, Timo; Tietjen, Christian; Boettger, Thomas; Duncan, James S; Zhou, S Kevin

2012-01-01

In this paper, we present a novel method by incorporating information theory into the learning-based approach for automatic and accurate pelvic organ segmentation (including the prostate, bladder and rectum). We target 3D CT volumes that are generated using different scanning protocols (e.g., contrast and non-contrast, with and without implant in the prostate, various resolution and position), and the volumes come from largely diverse sources (e.g., diseased in different organs). Three key ingredients are combined to solve this challenging segmentation problem. First, marginal space learning (MSL) is applied to efficiently and effectively localize the multiple organs in the largely diverse CT volumes. Second, learning techniques, steerable features, are applied for robust boundary detection. This enables handling of highly heterogeneous texture pattern. Third, a novel information theoretic scheme is incorporated into the boundary inference process. The incorporation of the Jensen-Shannon divergence further drives the mesh to the best fit of the image, thus improves the segmentation performance. The proposed approach is tested on a challenging dataset containing 188 volumes from diverse sources. Our approach not only produces excellent segmentation accuracy, but also runs about eighty times faster than previous state-of-the-art solutions. The proposed method can be applied to CT images to provide visual guidance to physicians during the computer-aided diagnosis, treatment planning and image-guided radiotherapy to treat cancers in pelvic region.

A method of classification for multisource data in remote sensing based on interval-valued probabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Hakil; Swain, Philip H.

1990-01-01

An axiomatic approach to intervalued (IV) probabilities is presented, where the IV probability is defined by a pair of set-theoretic functions which satisfy some pre-specified axioms. On the basis of this approach representation of statistical evidence and combination of multiple bodies of evidence are emphasized. Although IV probabilities provide an innovative means for the representation and combination of evidential information, they make the decision process rather complicated. It entails more intelligent strategies for making decisions. The development of decision rules over IV probabilities is discussed from the viewpoint of statistical pattern recognition. The proposed method, so called evidential reasoning method, is applied to the ground-cover classification of a multisource data set consisting of Multispectral Scanner (MSS) data, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, and digital terrain data such as elevation, slope, and aspect. By treating the data sources separately, the method is able to capture both parametric and nonparametric information and to combine them. Then the method is applied to two separate cases of classifying multiband data obtained by a single sensor. In each case a set of multiple sources is obtained by dividing the dimensionally huge data into smaller and more manageable pieces based on the global statistical correlation information. By a divide-and-combine process, the method is able to utilize more features than the conventional maximum likelihood method.

Development of an Information Fusion System for Engine Diagnostics and Health Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volponi, Allan J.; Brotherton, Tom; Luppold, Robert; Simon, Donald L.

2004-01-01

Aircraft gas-turbine engine data are available from a variety of sources including on-board sensor measurements, maintenance histories, and component models. An ultimate goal of Propulsion Health Management (PHM) is to maximize the amount of meaningful information that can be extracted from disparate data sources to obtain comprehensive diagnostic and prognostic knowledge regarding the health of the engine. Data Fusion is the integration of data or information from multiple sources, to achieve improved accuracy and more specific inferences than can be obtained from the use of a single sensor alone. The basic tenet underlying the data/information fusion concept is to leverage all available information to enhance diagnostic visibility, increase diagnostic reliability and reduce the number of diagnostic false alarms. This paper describes a basic PHM Data Fusion architecture being developed in alignment with the NASA C17 Propulsion Health Management (PHM) Flight Test program. The challenge of how to maximize the meaningful information extracted from disparate data sources to obtain enhanced diagnostic and prognostic information regarding the health and condition of the engine is the primary goal of this endeavor. To address this challenge, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) and Pratt & Whitney (P&W) have formed a team with several small innovative technology companies to plan and conduct a research project in the area of data fusion as applied to PHM. Methodologies being developed and evaluated have been drawn from a wide range of areas including artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, statistical estimation, and fuzzy logic. This paper will provide a broad overview of this work, discuss some of the methodologies employed and give some illustrative examples.

Parents' concerns about vaccine scheduling in Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Wagner, Abram L; Boulton, Matthew L; Sun, Xiaodong; Huang, Zhuoying; Harmsen, Irene A; Ren, Jia; Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J

2017-08-03

Several new vaccines have been introduced into China in recent years, but some parents in China have shown concerns about the scheduling of vaccinations for young infants. This study explores caregiver concerns about children receiving multiple vaccines during a single visit and about vaccine administration in infants <6months, and assesses the degree to which these concerns are associated with ratings of the importance of different sources of vaccine information in Shanghai. Caregivers of children 8months to 7years presenting at immunization clinics in Shanghai completed a survey about vaccine co-administration and vaccine administration <6months of age. Respondents provided ratings of information from different sources (Internet, family/friends, other parents) and trust in doctors. We analyzed vaccine concerns using linear regression analyses that included these information sources after adjusting for socioeconomic variables. Among 618 caregivers, 64% were concerned about vaccine co-administration and 31% were concerned about vaccine administration to infants <6months of age. Higher ratings of Internet as an important source of information were associated with greater concern about co-administration (β=0.11, 95% CI: 0.00, 0.22) and concern about administration at <6months of age (β=0.17, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.28). Higher ratings given to information from other parents corresponded to 0.24 points greater concern about vaccine co-administration (95% CI: 0.04, 0.44). More trust in doctors and ratings of information from friends and family were not associated with vaccine concerns. Caregiver concerns about vaccine scheduling may limit China's flexibility to add vaccines to its official immunization schedule. Reporting information about vaccine safety on the Internet and bringing groups of parents together to discuss vaccines might help to ameliorate concerns about vaccine scheduling. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Under-reporting of pertussis in Ontario: A Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) study using capture-recapture

PubMed Central

Crowcroft, Natasha S.; Johnson, Caitlin; Chen, Cynthia; Li, Ye; Marchand-Austin, Alex; Bolotin, Shelly; Schwartz, Kevin; Deeks, Shelley L.; Jamieson, Frances; Drews, Steven; Russell, Margaret L.; Svenson, Lawrence W.; Simmonds, Kimberley; Mahmud, Salaheddin M.; Kwong, Jeffrey C.

2018-01-01

Introduction Under-reporting of pertussis cases is a longstanding challenge. We estimated the true number of pertussis cases in Ontario using multiple data sources, and evaluated the completeness of each source. Methods We linked data from multiple sources for the period 2009 to 2015: public health reportable disease surveillance data, public health laboratory data, and health administrative data (hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and physician office visits). To estimate the total number of pertussis cases in Ontario, we used a three-source capture-recapture analysis stratified by age (infants, or aged one year and older) and adjusting for dependency between sources. We used the Bayesian Information Criterion to compare models. Results Using probable and confirmed reported cases, laboratory data, and combined hospitalizations/emergency department visits, the estimated total number of cases during the six-year period amongst infants was 924, compared with 545 unique observed cases from all sources. Using the same sources, the estimated total for those aged 1 year and older was 12,883, compared with 3,304 observed cases from all sources. Only 37% of infants and 11% for those aged 1 year and over admitted to hospital or seen in an emergency department for pertussis were reported to public health. Public health reporting sensitivity varied from 2% to 68% depending on age group and the combination of data sources included. Sensitivity of combined hospitalizations and emergency department visits varied from 37% to 49% and of laboratory data from 1% to 50%. Conclusions All data sources contribute cases and are complementary, suggesting that the incidence of pertussis is substantially higher than suggested by routine reports. The sensitivity of different data sources varies. Better case identification is required to improve pertussis control in Ontario. PMID:29718945

Characterize kinematic rupture history of large earthquakes with Multiple Haskell sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Z.; Zhan, Z.

2017-12-01

Earthquakes are often regarded as continuous rupture along a single fault, but the occurrence of complex large events involving multiple faults and dynamic triggering challenges this view. Such rupture complexities cause difficulties in existing finite fault inversion algorithms, because they rely on specific parameterizations and regularizations to obtain physically meaningful solutions. Furthermore, it is difficult to assess reliability and uncertainty of obtained rupture models. Here we develop a Multi-Haskell Source (MHS) method to estimate rupture process of large earthquakes as a series of sub-events of varying location, timing and directivity. Each sub-event is characterized by a Haskell rupture model with uniform dislocation and constant unilateral rupture velocity. This flexible yet simple source parameterization allows us to constrain first-order rupture complexity of large earthquakes robustly. Additionally, relatively few parameters in the inverse problem yields improved uncertainty analysis based on Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling in a Bayesian framework. Synthetic tests and application of MHS method on real earthquakes show that our method can capture major features of large earthquake rupture process, and provide information for more detailed rupture history analysis.

Information content analysis: the potential for methane isotopologue retrieval from GOSAT-2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malina, Edward; Yoshida, Yukio; Matsunaga, Tsuneo; Muller, Jan-Peter

2018-02-01

Atmospheric methane is comprised of multiple isotopic molecules, with the most abundant being 12CH4 and 13CH4, making up 98 and 1.1 % of atmospheric methane respectively. It has been shown that is it possible to distinguish between sources of methane (biogenic methane, e.g. marshland, or abiogenic methane, e.g. fracking) via a ratio of these main methane isotopologues, otherwise known as the δ13C value. δ13C values typically range between -10 and -80 ‰, with abiogenic sources closer to zero and biogenic sources showing more negative values. Initially, we suggest that a δ13C difference of 10 ‰ is sufficient, in order to differentiate between methane source types, based on this we derive that a precision of 0.2 ppbv on 13CH4 retrievals may achieve the target δ13C variance. Using an application of the well-established information content analysis (ICA) technique for assumed clear-sky conditions, this paper shows that using a combination of the shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands on the planned Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT-2) mission, 13CH4 can be measured with sufficient information content to a precision of between 0.7 and 1.2 ppbv from a single sounding (assuming a total column average value of 19.14 ppbv), which can then be reduced to the target precision through spatial and temporal averaging techniques. We therefore suggest that GOSAT-2 can be used to differentiate between methane source types. We find that large unconstrained covariance matrices are required in order to achieve sufficient information content, while the solar zenith angle has limited impact on the information content.

The receiver operational characteristic for binary classification with multiple indices and its application to the neuroimaging study of Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Wu, Xia; Li, Juan; Ayutyanont, Napatkamon; Protas, Hillary; Jagust, William; Fleisher, Adam; Reiman, Eric; Yao, Li; Chen, Kewei

2013-01-01

Given a single index, the receiver operational characteristic (ROC) curve analysis is routinely utilized for characterizing performances in distinguishing two conditions/groups in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Given the availability of multiple data sources (referred to as multi-indices), such as multimodal neuroimaging data sets, cognitive tests, and clinical ratings and genomic data in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) studies, the single-index-based ROC underutilizes all available information. For a long time, a number of algorithmic/analytic approaches combining multiple indices have been widely used to simultaneously incorporate multiple sources. In this study, we propose an alternative for combining multiple indices using logical operations, such as “AND,” “OR,” and “at least n” (where n is an integer), to construct multivariate ROC (multiV-ROC) and characterize the sensitivity and specificity statistically associated with the use of multiple indices. With and without the “leave-one-out” cross-validation, we used two data sets from AD studies to showcase the potentially increased sensitivity/specificity of the multiV-ROC in comparison to the single-index ROC and linear discriminant analysis (an analytic way of combining multi-indices). We conclude that, for the data sets we investigated, the proposed multiV-ROC approach is capable of providing a natural and practical alternative with improved classification accuracy as compared to univariate ROC and linear discriminant analysis.

The Receiver Operational Characteristic for Binary Classification with Multiple Indices and Its Application to the Neuroimaging Study of Alzheimer’s Disease

PubMed Central

Wu, Xia; Li, Juan; Ayutyanont, Napatkamon; Protas, Hillary; Jagust, William; Fleisher, Adam; Reiman, Eric; Yao, Li; Chen, Kewei

2014-01-01

Given a single index, the receiver operational characteristic (ROC) curve analysis is routinely utilized for characterizing performances in distinguishing two conditions/groups in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Given the availability of multiple data sources (referred to as multi-indices), such as multimodal neuroimaging data sets, cognitive tests, and clinical ratings and genomic data in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) studies, the single-index-based ROC underutilizes all available information. For a long time, a number of algorithmic/analytic approaches combining multiple indices have been widely used to simultaneously incorporate multiple sources. In this study, we propose an alternative for combining multiple indices using logical operations, such as “AND,” “OR,” and “at least n” (where n is an integer), to construct multivariate ROC (multiV-ROC) and characterize the sensitivity and specificity statistically associated with the use of multiple indices. With and without the “leave-one-out” cross-validation, we used two data sets from AD studies to showcase the potentially increased sensitivity/specificity of the multiV-ROC in comparison to the single-index ROC and linear discriminant analysis (an analytic way of combining multi-indices). We conclude that, for the data sets we investigated, the proposed multiV-ROC approach is capable of providing a natural and practical alternative with improved classification accuracy as compared to univariate ROC and linear discriminant analysis. PMID:23702553

CLASH-VLT: A highly precise strong lensing model of the galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7-4431 (Abell S1063) and prospects for cosmography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caminha, G. B.; Grillo, C.; Rosati, P.; Balestra, I.; Karman, W.; Lombardi, M.; Mercurio, A.; Nonino, M.; Tozzi, P.; Zitrin, A.; Biviano, A.; Girardi, M.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Melchior, P.; Meneghetti, M.; Munari, E.; Suyu, S. H.; Umetsu, K.; Annunziatella, M.; Borgani, S.; Broadhurst, T.; Caputi, K. I.; Coe, D.; Delgado-Correal, C.; Ettori, S.; Fritz, A.; Frye, B.; Gobat, R.; Maier, C.; Monna, A.; Postman, M.; Sartoris, B.; Seitz, S.; Vanzella, E.; Ziegler, B.

2016-03-01

Aims: We perform a comprehensive study of the total mass distribution of the galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7-4431 (z = 0.348) with a set of high-precision strong lensing models, which take advantage of extensive spectroscopic information on many multiply lensed systems. In the effort to understand and quantify inherent systematics in parametric strong lensing modelling, we explore a collection of 22 models in which we use different samples of multiple image families, different parametrizations of the mass distribution and cosmological parameters. Methods: As input information for the strong lensing models, we use the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up observations, with the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), to identify and characterize bona fide multiple image families and measure their redshifts down to mF814W ≃ 26. A total of 16 background sources, over the redshift range 1.0-6.1, are multiply lensed into 47 images, 24 of which are spectroscopically confirmed and belong to ten individual sources. These also include a multiply lensed Lyman-α blob at z = 3.118. The cluster total mass distribution and underlying cosmology in the models are optimized by matching the observed positions of the multiple images on the lens plane. Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques are used to quantify errors and covariances of the best-fit parameters. Results: We show that with a careful selection of a large sample of spectroscopically confirmed multiple images, the best-fit model can reproduce their observed positions with a rms scatter of 0.̋3 in a fixed flat ΛCDM cosmology, whereas the lack of spectroscopic information or the use of inaccurate photometric redshifts can lead to biases in the values of the model parameters. We find that the best-fit parametrization for the cluster total mass distribution is composed of an elliptical pseudo-isothermal mass distribution with a significant core for the overall cluster halo and truncated pseudo-isothermal mass profiles for the cluster galaxies. We show that by adding bona fide photometric-selected multiple images to the sample of spectroscopic families, one can slightly improve constraints on the model parameters. In particular, we find that the degeneracy between the lens total mass distribution and the underlying geometry of the Universe, which is probed via angular diameter distance ratios between the lens and sources and the observer and sources, can be partially removed. Allowing cosmological parameters to vary together with the cluster parameters, we find (at 68% confidence level) Ωm = 0.25+ 0.13-0.16 and w = -1.07+ 0.16-0.42 for a flat ΛCDM model, and Ωm = 0.31+ 0.12-0.13 and ΩΛ = 0.38+ 0.38-0.27 for a Universe with w = -1 and free curvature. Finally, using toy models mimicking the overall configuration of multiple images and cluster total mass distribution, we estimate the impact of the line-of-sight mass structure on the positional rms to be 0.̋3 ± 0. We argue that the apparent sensitivity of our lensing model to cosmography is due to the combination of the regular potential shape of RXC J2248, a large number of bona fide multiple images out to z = 6.1, and a relatively modest presence of intervening large-scale structure, as revealed by our spectroscopic survey.

The concomitant effects of phrase length and informational content in sentence comprehension.

PubMed

Thornton, R; MacDonald, M C; Arnold, J E

2000-03-01

Recent evidence suggests that phrase length plays a crucial role in modification ambiguities. Using a self-paced reading task, we extended these results by examining the additional pragmatic effects that length manipulations may exert. The results demonstrate that length not only modulates modification preferences directly, but that it also necessarily changes the informational content of a sentence, which itself affects modification preferences. Our findings suggest that the same length manipulation affects multiple sources of constraints, both structural and pragmatic, which can each exert differing effects on processing.

The Perfect Storm of Information: Combining Traditional and Non-Traditional Data Sources for Public Health Situational Awareness During Hurricane Response

PubMed Central

Bennett, Kelly J.; Olsen, Jennifer M.; Harris, Sara; Mekaru, Sumiko; Livinski, Alicia A.; Brownstein, John S.

2013-01-01

Background: Hurricane Isaac made landfall in southeastern Louisiana in late August 2012, resulting in extensive storm surge and inland flooding. As the lead federal agency responsible for medical and public health response and recovery coordination, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must have situational awareness to prepare for and address state and local requests for assistance following hurricanes. Both traditional and non-traditional data have been used to improve situational awareness in fields like disease surveillance and seismology. This study investigated whether non-traditional data (i.e., tweets and news reports) fill a void in traditional data reporting during hurricane response, as well as whether non-traditional data improve the timeliness for reporting identified HHS Essential Elements of Information (EEI). Methods: HHS EEIs provided the information collection guidance, and when the information indicated there was a potential public health threat, an event was identified and categorized within the larger scope of overall Hurricane Issac situational awareness. Tweets, news reports, press releases, and federal situation reports during Hurricane Isaac response were analyzed for information about EEIs. Data that pertained to the same EEI were linked together and given a unique event identification number to enable more detailed analysis of source content. Reports of sixteen unique events were examined for types of data sources reporting on the event and timeliness of the reports. Results: Of these sixteen unique events identified, six were reported by only a single data source, four were reported by two data sources, four were reported by three data sources, and two were reported by four or more data sources. For five of the events where news tweets were one of multiple sources of information about an event, the tweet occurred prior to the news report, press release, local government\\emergency management tweet, and federal situation report. In all circumstances where citizens were reporting along with other sources, the citizen tweet was the earliest notification of the event. Conclusion: Critical information is being shared by citizens, news organizations, and local government representatives. To have situational awareness for providing timely, life-saving public health and medical response following a hurricane, this study shows that non-traditional data sources should augment traditional data sources and can fill some of the gaps in traditional reporting. During a hurricane response where early event detection can save lives and reduce morbidity, tweets can provide a source of information for early warning. In times of limited budgets, investing technical and personnel resources to efficiently and effectively gather, curate, and analyze non-traditional data for improved situational awareness can yield a high return on investment. PMID:24459610

The perfect storm of information: combining traditional and non-traditional data sources for public health situational awareness during hurricane response.

PubMed

Bennett, Kelly J; Olsen, Jennifer M; Harris, Sara; Mekaru, Sumiko; Livinski, Alicia A; Brownstein, John S

2013-12-16

Hurricane Isaac made landfall in southeastern Louisiana in late August 2012, resulting in extensive storm surge and inland flooding. As the lead federal agency responsible for medical and public health response and recovery coordination, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must have situational awareness to prepare for and address state and local requests for assistance following hurricanes. Both traditional and non-traditional data have been used to improve situational awareness in fields like disease surveillance and seismology. This study investigated whether non-traditional data (i.e., tweets and news reports) fill a void in traditional data reporting during hurricane response, as well as whether non-traditional data improve the timeliness for reporting identified HHS Essential Elements of Information (EEI). HHS EEIs provided the information collection guidance, and when the information indicated there was a potential public health threat, an event was identified and categorized within the larger scope of overall Hurricane Issac situational awareness. Tweets, news reports, press releases, and federal situation reports during Hurricane Isaac response were analyzed for information about EEIs. Data that pertained to the same EEI were linked together and given a unique event identification number to enable more detailed analysis of source content. Reports of sixteen unique events were examined for types of data sources reporting on the event and timeliness of the reports. Of these sixteen unique events identified, six were reported by only a single data source, four were reported by two data sources, four were reported by three data sources, and two were reported by four or more data sources. For five of the events where news tweets were one of multiple sources of information about an event, the tweet occurred prior to the news report, press release, local government\\emergency management tweet, and federal situation report. In all circumstances where citizens were reporting along with other sources, the citizen tweet was the earliest notification of the event. Critical information is being shared by citizens, news organizations, and local government representatives. To have situational awareness for providing timely, life-saving public health and medical response following a hurricane, this study shows that non-traditional data sources should augment traditional data sources and can fill some of the gaps in traditional reporting. During a hurricane response where early event detection can save lives and reduce morbidity, tweets can provide a source of information for early warning. In times of limited budgets, investing technical and personnel resources to efficiently and effectively gather, curate, and analyze non-traditional data for improved situational awareness can yield a high return on investment.

Investigation of Finite Sources through Time Reversal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kremers, Simon; Brietzke, Gilbert; Igel, Heiner; Larmat, Carene; Fichtner, Andreas; Johnson, Paul A.; Huang, Lianjie

2010-05-01

Under certain conditions time reversal is a promising method to determine earthquake source characteristics without any a-priori information (except the earth model and the data). It consists of injecting flipped-in-time records from seismic stations within the model to create an approximate reverse movie of wave propagation from which the location of the hypocenter and other information might be inferred. In this study, the backward propagation is performed numerically using a parallel cartesian spectral element code. Initial tests using point source moment tensors serve as control for the adaptability of the used wave propagation algorithm. After that we investigated the potential of time reversal to recover finite source characteristics (e.g., size of ruptured area, rupture velocity etc.). We used synthetic data from the SPICE kinematic source inversion blind test initiated to investigate the performance of current kinematic source inversion approaches (http://www.spice-rtn.org/library/valid). The synthetic data set attempts to reproduce the 2000 Tottori earthquake with 33 records close to the fault. We discuss the influence of various assumptions made on the source (e.g., origin time, hypocenter, fault location, etc.), adjoint source weighting (e.g., correct for epicentral distance) and structure (uncertainty in the velocity model) on the results of the time reversal process. We give an overview about the quality of focussing of the different wavefield properties (i.e., displacements, strains, rotations, energies). Additionally, the potential to recover source properties of multiple point sources at the same time is discussed.

Pregnancy eHealth and mHealth: user proportions and characteristics of pregnant women using Web-based information sources-a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Wallwiener, Stephanie; Müller, Mitho; Doster, Anne; Laserer, Wolfgang; Reck, Corinna; Pauluschke-Fröhlich, Jan; Brucker, Sara Y; Wallwiener, Christian W; Wallwiener, Markus

2016-11-01

To analyze the current proportions and characteristics of women using Internet (eHealth) and smartphone (mHealth) based sources of information during pregnancy and to investigate the influence, this information-seeking behavior has on decision-making. A cross-sectional study was conducted at two major German university hospitals. Questionnaires covering socio-demographic data, medical data and details of Internet, and smartphone application use were administered to 220 pregnant women. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. 50.7 % of pregnant women were online information seekers. 22.4 % used an mHealth pregnancy application. Women using eHealth information showed no specific profile, while women using mHealth applications proved to be younger, were more likely to be in their first pregnancy, felt less healthy, and were more likely to be influenced by the retrieved information. Stepwise backward regression analysis explained 25.8 % of the variance of mHealth use. 80.5 % of cases were classified correctly by the identified predictors. All types of Web-based information correlated significantly with decision-making during pregnancy. Pregnant women frequently use the Internet and smartphone applications as a source of information. While Web usage was a common phenomenon, this study revealed specific characteristics of mHealth users during pregnancy. Improved, medically accurate smartphone applications might provide a way to specifically target the mHealth user group. As user influenceability was of major relevance to all types of information, all medical content should be carefully reviewed by a multidisciplinary board of medical specialists.

Integrated model of multiple kernel learning and differential evolution for EUR/USD trading.

PubMed

Deng, Shangkun; Sakurai, Akito

2014-01-01

Currency trading is an important area for individual investors, government policy decisions, and organization investments. In this study, we propose a hybrid approach referred to as MKL-DE, which combines multiple kernel learning (MKL) with differential evolution (DE) for trading a currency pair. MKL is used to learn a model that predicts changes in the target currency pair, whereas DE is used to generate the buy and sell signals for the target currency pair based on the relative strength index (RSI), while it is also combined with MKL as a trading signal. The new hybrid implementation is applied to EUR/USD trading, which is the most traded foreign exchange (FX) currency pair. MKL is essential for utilizing information from multiple information sources and DE is essential for formulating a trading rule based on a mixture of discrete structures and continuous parameters. Initially, the prediction model optimized by MKL predicts the returns based on a technical indicator called the moving average convergence and divergence. Next, a combined trading signal is optimized by DE using the inputs from the prediction model and technical indicator RSI obtained from multiple timeframes. The experimental results showed that trading using the prediction learned by MKL yielded consistent profits.

The Application of the Open Pharmacological Concepts Triple Store (Open PHACTS) to Support Drug Discovery Research

PubMed Central

Ratnam, Joseline; Zdrazil, Barbara; Digles, Daniela; Cuadrado-Rodriguez, Emiliano; Neefs, Jean-Marc; Tipney, Hannah; Siebes, Ronald; Waagmeester, Andra; Bradley, Glyn; Chau, Chau Han; Richter, Lars; Brea, Jose; Evelo, Chris T.; Jacoby, Edgar; Senger, Stefan; Loza, Maria Isabel; Ecker, Gerhard F.; Chichester, Christine

2014-01-01

Integration of open access, curated, high-quality information from multiple disciplines in the Life and Biomedical Sciences provides a holistic understanding of the domain. Additionally, the effective linking of diverse data sources can unearth hidden relationships and guide potential research strategies. However, given the lack of consistency between descriptors and identifiers used in different resources and the absence of a simple mechanism to link them, gathering and combining relevant, comprehensive information from diverse databases remains a challenge. The Open Pharmacological Concepts Triple Store (Open PHACTS) is an Innovative Medicines Initiative project that uses semantic web technology approaches to enable scientists to easily access and process data from multiple sources to solve real-world drug discovery problems. The project draws together sources of publicly-available pharmacological, physicochemical and biomolecular data, represents it in a stable infrastructure and provides well-defined information exploration and retrieval methods. Here, we highlight the utility of this platform in conjunction with workflow tools to solve pharmacological research questions that require interoperability between target, compound, and pathway data. Use cases presented herein cover 1) the comprehensive identification of chemical matter for a dopamine receptor drug discovery program 2) the identification of compounds active against all targets in the Epidermal growth factor receptor (ErbB) signaling pathway that have a relevance to disease and 3) the evaluation of established targets in the Vitamin D metabolism pathway to aid novel Vitamin D analogue design. The example workflows presented illustrate how the Open PHACTS Discovery Platform can be used to exploit existing knowledge and generate new hypotheses in the process of drug discovery. PMID:25522365

Function of basal ganglia in bridging cognitive and motor modules to perform an action

PubMed Central

Nagano-Saito, Atsuko; Martinu, Kristina; Monchi, Oury

2014-01-01

The basal ganglia (BG) are thought to be involved in the integration of multiple sources of information, and their dysfunction can lead to disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). PD patients show motor and cognitive dysfunction with specific impairments in the internal generation of motor actions and executive deficits, respectively. The role of the BG, then, would be to integrate information from several sources in order to make a decision on a resulting action adequate for the required task. Reanalyzing the data set from our previous study (Martinu et al., 2012), we investigated this hypothesis by applying a graph theory method to a series of fMRI data during the performance of self-initiated (SI) finger movement tasks obtained in healthy volunteers (HV) and early stage PD patients. Dorsally, connectivity strength between the medial prefrontal areas (mPFC) and cortical regions including the primary motor area (M1), the extrastriate visual cortex, and the associative cortex, was reduced in the PD patients. The connectivity strengths were positively correlated to activity in the striatum in both groups. Ventrally, all connectivity between the striatum, the thalamus, and the extrastriate visual cortex decreased in strength in the PD, as did the connectivity between the striatum and the ventrolateral PFC (VLPFC). Individual response time (RT) was negatively correlated to connectivity strength between the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) and the striatum and positively correlated to connectivity between the VLPFC and the striatum in the HV. These results indicate that the BG, with the mPFC and thalamus, are involved in integrating multiple sources of information from areas such as DLPFC, and VLPFC, connecting to M1, thereby determining a network that leads to the adequate decision and performance of the resulting action. PMID:25071432

APPLICATION OF SPATIAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO PETROLEUM RESOURCE ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, Betty M.; Domaratz, Michael A.

1984-01-01

Petroleum resource assessment procedures require the analysis of a large volume of spatial data. The US Geological Survey (USGS) has developed and applied spatial information handling procedures and digital cartographic techniques to a recent study involving the assessment of oil and gas resource potential for 74 million acres of designated and proposed wilderness lands in the western United States. The part of the study which dealt with the application of spatial information technology to petroleum resource assessment procedures is reviewed. A method was designed to expedite the gathering, integrating, managing, manipulating and plotting of spatial data from multiple data sources that are essential in modern resource assessment procedures.

The Unified Medical Language System

PubMed Central

Humphreys, Betsy L.; Lindberg, Donald A. B.; Schoolman, Harold M.; Barnett, G. Octo

1998-01-01

In 1986, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) assembled a large multidisciplinary, multisite team to work on the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), a collaborative research project aimed at reducing fundamental barriers to the application of computers to medicine. Beyond its tangible products, the UMLS Knowledge Sources, and its influence on the field of informatics, the UMLS project is an interesting case study in collaborative research and development. It illustrates the strengths and challenges of substantive collaboration among widely distributed research groups. Over the past decade, advances in computing and communications have minimized the technical difficulties associated with UMLS collaboration and also facilitated the development, dissemination, and use of the UMLS Knowledge Sources. The spread of the World Wide Web has increased the visibility of the information access problems caused by multiple vocabularies and many information sources which are the focus of UMLS work. The time is propitious for building on UMLS accomplishments and making more progress on the informatics research issues first highlighted by the UMLS project more than 10 years ago. PMID:9452981

The Unified Medical Language System: an informatics research collaboration.

PubMed

Humphreys, B L; Lindberg, D A; Schoolman, H M; Barnett, G O

1998-01-01

In 1986, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) assembled a large multidisciplinary, multisite team to work on the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), a collaborative research project aimed at reducing fundamental barriers to the application of computers to medicine. Beyond its tangible products, the UMLS Knowledge Sources, and its influence on the field of informatics, the UMLS project is an interesting case study in collaborative research and development. It illustrates the strengths and challenges of substantive collaboration among widely distributed research groups. Over the past decade, advances in computing and communications have minimized the technical difficulties associated with UMLS collaboration and also facilitated the development, dissemination, and use of the UMLS Knowledge Sources. The spread of the World Wide Web has increased the visibility of the information access problems caused by multiple vocabularies and many information sources which are the focus of UMLS work. The time is propitious for building on UMLS accomplishments and making more progress on the informatics research issues first highlighted by the UMLS project more than 10 years ago.

Role of data warehousing in healthcare epidemiology.

PubMed

Wyllie, D; Davies, J

2015-04-01

Electronic storage of healthcare data, including individual-level risk factors for both infectious and other diseases, is increasing. These data can be integrated at hospital, regional and national levels. Data sources that contain risk factor and outcome information for a wide range of conditions offer the potential for efficient epidemiological analysis of multiple diseases. Opportunities may also arise for monitoring healthcare processes. Integrating diverse data sources presents epidemiological, practical, and ethical challenges. For example, diagnostic criteria, outcome definitions, and ascertainment methods may differ across the data sources. Data volumes may be very large, requiring sophisticated computing technology. Given the large populations involved, perhaps the most challenging aspect is how informed consent can be obtained for the development of integrated databases, particularly when it is not easy to demonstrate their potential. In this article, we discuss some of the ups and downs of recent projects as well as the potential of data warehousing for antimicrobial resistance monitoring. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Exploiting heterogeneous publicly available data sources for drug safety surveillance: computational framework and case studies.

PubMed

Koutkias, Vassilis G; Lillo-Le Louët, Agnès; Jaulent, Marie-Christine

2017-02-01

Driven by the need of pharmacovigilance centres and companies to routinely collect and review all available data about adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and adverse events of interest, we introduce and validate a computational framework exploiting dominant as well as emerging publicly available data sources for drug safety surveillance. Our approach relies on appropriate query formulation for data acquisition and subsequent filtering, transformation and joint visualization of the obtained data. We acquired data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), PubMed and Twitter. In order to assess the validity and the robustness of the approach, we elaborated on two important case studies, namely, clozapine-induced cardiomyopathy/myocarditis versus haloperidol-induced cardiomyopathy/myocarditis, and apixaban-induced cerebral hemorrhage. The analysis of the obtained data provided interesting insights (identification of potential patient and health-care professional experiences regarding ADRs in Twitter, information/arguments against an ADR existence across all sources), while illustrating the benefits (complementing data from multiple sources to strengthen/confirm evidence) and the underlying challenges (selecting search terms, data presentation) of exploiting heterogeneous information sources, thereby advocating the need for the proposed framework. This work contributes in establishing a continuous learning system for drug safety surveillance by exploiting heterogeneous publicly available data sources via appropriate support tools.

Communication failures during clinical handovers lead to a poor patient outcome: Lessons from a case report.

PubMed

Manias, Elizabeth; Geddes, Fiona; Watson, Bernadette; Jones, Dorothy; Della, Phillip

2015-01-01

In the emergency department, communication failures occur in clinical handover due to the urgent, changing and unpredictable nature of care provision. We present a case report of a female patient who was assaulted, and identify how various factors interacted to produce communication failures at multiple clinical handovers, leading to a poor patient outcome. Several handovers created many communication failures at diverse time points. The bedside medical handover produced misunderstandings during verbal exchange of information between emergency department consultants and junior doctors, and there was miscommunication involving plastic registrars. There was a failure in adequately informing the general practitioner and the patient relating to follow-up care after discharge. Deficiencies of communication occurred with conveying changes in an investigative report. Communication could be improved by dividing the conduct of handover in a quiet room and at the bedside, ensuring multiple sources of information are used and encouraging role-modelling behaviours for junior clinicians.

A highly scalable information system as extendable framework solution for medical R&D projects.

PubMed

Holzmüller-Laue, Silke; Göde, Bernd; Stoll, Regina; Thurow, Kerstin

2009-01-01

For research projects in preventive medicine a flexible information management is needed that offers a free planning and documentation of project specific examinations. The system should allow a simple, preferably automated data acquisition from several distributed sources (e.g., mobile sensors, stationary diagnostic systems, questionnaires, manual inputs) as well as an effective data management, data use and analysis. An information system fulfilling these requirements has been developed at the Center for Life Science Automation (celisca). This system combines data of multiple investigations and multiple devices and displays them on a single screen. The integration of mobile sensor systems for comfortable, location-independent capture of time-based physiological parameter and the possibility of observation of these measurements directly by this system allow new scenarios. The web-based information system presented in this paper is configurable by user interfaces. It covers medical process descriptions, operative process data visualizations, a user-friendly process data processing, modern online interfaces (data bases, web services, XML) as well as a comfortable support of extended data analysis with third-party applications.

Trichloroethylene: Mechanistic, epidemiologic and other supporting evidence of carcinogenic hazard.

PubMed

Rusyn, Ivan; Chiu, Weihsueh A; Lash, Lawrence H; Kromhout, Hans; Hansen, Johnni; Guyton, Kathryn Z

2014-01-01

The chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant. The carcinogenic hazard of TCE was the subject of a 2012 evaluation by a Working Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Information on exposures, relevant data from epidemiologic studies, bioassays in experimental animals, and toxicity and mechanism of action studies was used to conclude that TCE is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). This article summarizes the key evidence forming the scientific bases for the IARC classification. Exposure to TCE from environmental sources (including hazardous waste sites and contaminated water) is common throughout the world. While workplace use of TCE has been declining, occupational exposures remain of concern, especially in developing countries. The strongest human evidence is from studies of occupational TCE exposure and kidney cancer. Positive, although less consistent, associations were reported for liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. TCE is carcinogenic at multiple sites in multiple species and strains of experimental animals. The mechanistic evidence includes extensive data on the toxicokinetics and genotoxicity of TCE and its metabolites. Together, available evidence provided a cohesive database supporting the human cancer hazard of TCE, particularly in the kidney. For other target sites of carcinogenicity, mechanistic and other data were found to be more limited. Important sources of susceptibility to TCE toxicity and carcinogenicity were also reviewed by the Working Group. In all, consideration of the multiple evidence streams presented herein informed the IARC conclusions regarding the carcinogenicity of TCE. © 2013.

Trichloroethylene: Mechanistic, Epidemiologic and Other Supporting Evidence of Carcinogenic Hazard

PubMed Central

Rusyn, Ivan; Chiu, Weihsueh A.; Lash, Lawrence H.; Kromhout, Hans; Hansen, Johnni; Guyton, Kathryn Z.

2013-01-01

The chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant. The carcinogenic hazard of TCE was the subject of a 2012 evaluation by a Working Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Information on exposures, relevant data from epidemiologic studies, bioassays in experimental animals, and toxicity and mechanism of action studies was used to conclude that TCE is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). This article summarizes the key evidence forming the scientific bases for the IARC classification. Exposure to TCE from environmental sources (including from hazardous waste sites and contaminated water) is common throughout the world. While workplace use of TCE has been declining, occupational exposures remain of concern, especially in developing countries. Strongest human evidence is from studies of occupational TCE exposure and kidney cancer. Positive, although less consistent, associations were reported for liver cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. TCE is carcinogenic at multiple sites in multiple species and strains of experimental animals. The mechanistic evidence includes extensive data on the toxicokinetics and genotoxicity of TCE and its metabolites. Together, available evidence provided a cohesive database supporting the human cancer hazard of TCE, particularly in the kidney. For other target sites of carcinogenicity, mechanistic and other data were found to be more limited. Important sources of susceptibility to TCE toxicity and carcinogenicity were also reviewed by the Working Group. In all, consideration of the multiple evidence streams presented herein informed the IARC conclusions regarding the carcinogenicity of TCE. PMID:23973663

Sequential Test Strategies for Multiple Fault Isolation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shakeri, M.; Pattipati, Krishna R.; Raghavan, V.; Patterson-Hine, Ann; Kell, T.

1997-01-01

In this paper, we consider the problem of constructing near optimal test sequencing algorithms for diagnosing multiple faults in redundant (fault-tolerant) systems. The computational complexity of solving the optimal multiple-fault isolation problem is super-exponential, that is, it is much more difficult than the single-fault isolation problem, which, by itself, is NP-hard. By employing concepts from information theory and Lagrangian relaxation, we present several static and dynamic (on-line or interactive) test sequencing algorithms for the multiple fault isolation problem that provide a trade-off between the degree of suboptimality and computational complexity. Furthermore, we present novel diagnostic strategies that generate a static diagnostic directed graph (digraph), instead of a static diagnostic tree, for multiple fault diagnosis. Using this approach, the storage complexity of the overall diagnostic strategy reduces substantially. Computational results based on real-world systems indicate that the size of a static multiple fault strategy is strictly related to the structure of the system, and that the use of an on-line multiple fault strategy can diagnose faults in systems with as many as 10,000 failure sources.

Optical gravitational lensing experiment: OGLE-1999-BUL-19 - the first multipeak parallax event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Martin C.; Mao, Shude; Woźniak, P.; Udalski, A.; Szymański, M.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzyński, G.; Soszyński, I.; Żebruń, K.

2002-10-01

We describe a highly unusual microlensing event, OGLE-1999-BUL-19. Unlike most standard microlensing events, this event exhibits multiple peaks in its light curve. The Einstein radius crossing time for this event is approximately 1 yr, which is unusually long. We show that the additional peaks in the light curve can be caused by the very small value for the relative transverse velocity of the lens projected on to the observer plane (). Since this value is significantly less than the speed of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun (v⊕~ 30km s-1), the motion of the Earth induces these multiple peaks in the light curve. This value for is the lowest velocity so far published and we believe that this is the first multiple-peak parallax event ever observed. We also found that the event can be somewhat better fitted by a rotating binary-source model, although this is to be expected since every parallax microlensing event can be exactly reproduced by a suitable binary-source model. A face-on rotating binary-lens model was also identified, but this provides a significantly worse fit. We conclude that the most likely cause for this multipeak behaviour is parallax microlensing rather than microlensing by a binary source. However, this event may be exhibiting a slight binary-source signature in addition to these parallax-induced multiple peaks. With spectroscopic observations it is possible to test this `parallax plus binary-source' hypothesis and (in the instance that the hypothesis turns out to be correct) to simultaneously fit both models and obtain a measurement of the lens mass. Furthermore, spectroscopic observations could also supply information regarding the lens properties, possibly providing another avenue for determining the lens mass. We also investigated the nature of the blending for this event, and found that the majority of the I-band blending is contributed by a source roughly aligned with the lensed source. This implies that most of the I-band blending is caused by light from the lens or a binary companion to the source. However, in the V band, there appears to be a second blended source 0.35 arcsec away from the lensed source. Hubble Space Telescope observations will be very useful for understanding the nature of the blends. We also suggest that a radial velocity survey of all parallax events will be very useful for further constraining the lensing kinematics and understanding the origins of these events and the excess of long events toward the bulge.

Collective Influence of Multiple Spreaders Evaluated by Tracing Real Information Flow in Large-Scale Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teng, Xian; Pei, Sen; Morone, Flaviano; Makse, Hernán A.

2016-10-01

Identifying the most influential spreaders that maximize information flow is a central question in network theory. Recently, a scalable method called “Collective Influence (CI)” has been put forward through collective influence maximization. In contrast to heuristic methods evaluating nodes’ significance separately, CI method inspects the collective influence of multiple spreaders. Despite that CI applies to the influence maximization problem in percolation model, it is still important to examine its efficacy in realistic information spreading. Here, we examine real-world information flow in various social and scientific platforms including American Physical Society, Facebook, Twitter and LiveJournal. Since empirical data cannot be directly mapped to ideal multi-source spreading, we leverage the behavioral patterns of users extracted from data to construct “virtual” information spreading processes. Our results demonstrate that the set of spreaders selected by CI can induce larger scale of information propagation. Moreover, local measures as the number of connections or citations are not necessarily the deterministic factors of nodes’ importance in realistic information spreading. This result has significance for rankings scientists in scientific networks like the APS, where the commonly used number of citations can be a poor indicator of the collective influence of authors in the community.

Collective Influence of Multiple Spreaders Evaluated by Tracing Real Information Flow in Large-Scale Social Networks

PubMed Central

Teng, Xian; Pei, Sen; Morone, Flaviano; Makse, Hernán A.

2016-01-01

Identifying the most influential spreaders that maximize information flow is a central question in network theory. Recently, a scalable method called “Collective Influence (CI)” has been put forward through collective influence maximization. In contrast to heuristic methods evaluating nodes’ significance separately, CI method inspects the collective influence of multiple spreaders. Despite that CI applies to the influence maximization problem in percolation model, it is still important to examine its efficacy in realistic information spreading. Here, we examine real-world information flow in various social and scientific platforms including American Physical Society, Facebook, Twitter and LiveJournal. Since empirical data cannot be directly mapped to ideal multi-source spreading, we leverage the behavioral patterns of users extracted from data to construct “virtual” information spreading processes. Our results demonstrate that the set of spreaders selected by CI can induce larger scale of information propagation. Moreover, local measures as the number of connections or citations are not necessarily the deterministic factors of nodes’ importance in realistic information spreading. This result has significance for rankings scientists in scientific networks like the APS, where the commonly used number of citations can be a poor indicator of the collective influence of authors in the community. PMID:27782207

Separation of non-stationary multi-source sound field based on the interpolated time-domain equivalent source method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Chuan-Xing; Geng, Lin; Zhang, Xiao-Zheng

2016-05-01

In the sound field with multiple non-stationary sources, the measured pressure is the sum of the pressures generated by all sources, and thus cannot be used directly for studying the vibration and sound radiation characteristics of every source alone. This paper proposes a separation model based on the interpolated time-domain equivalent source method (ITDESM) to separate the pressure field belonging to every source from the non-stationary multi-source sound field. In the proposed method, ITDESM is first extended to establish the relationship between the mixed time-dependent pressure and all the equivalent sources distributed on every source with known location and geometry information, and all the equivalent source strengths at each time step are solved by an iterative solving process; then, the corresponding equivalent source strengths of one interested source are used to calculate the pressure field generated by that source alone. Numerical simulation of two baffled circular pistons demonstrates that the proposed method can be effective in separating the non-stationary pressure generated by every source alone in both time and space domains. An experiment with two speakers in a semi-anechoic chamber further evidences the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Use and availability of continuous streamflow records in Tennessee

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lowery, J.F.

1988-01-01

This report documents the results of the data uses and funding part of a study of the cost-effectiveness of the streamflow information program in Tennessee. Presently, 88 continuous surface water gaging stations are operated in Tennessee on a budget of $490,800. Data uses and funding sources are identified for each of the 88 stations. Data from most stations have multiple uses. (USGS)

Neuro-Oscillatory Mechanisms of Intersensory Selective Attention and Task Switching in School-Aged Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Jeremy W.; Foxe, John J.; Molholm, Sophie

2016-01-01

The ability to attend to one among multiple sources of information is central to everyday functioning. Just as central is the ability to switch attention among competing inputs as the task at hand changes. Such processes develop surprisingly slowly, such that even into adolescence, we remain slower and more error prone at switching among tasks…

A Bayesian Analysis of Scale-Invariant Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

Earth Grid (EASE- Grid). The NED raster elevation data of one arc-second resolution (30 m) over the continental US are derived from multiple satellites ...instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send...empirical and ME distributions, yet ensuring computational efficiency. Instead of com- puting empirical histograms from large amount of data , only some

A New Mathematical Framework for Design Under Uncertainty

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-05

blending multiple information sources via auto-regressive stochastic modeling. A computationally efficient machine learning framework is developed based on...sion and machine learning approaches; see Fig. 1. This will lead to a comprehensive description of system performance with less uncertainty than in the...Bayesian optimization of super-cavitating hy- drofoils The goal of this study is to demonstrate the capabilities of statistical learning and

NASA/BLM Applications Pilot Test (APT), phase 2. Volume 3: Technology transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Techniques used and materials presented at a planning session and two workshops held to provide hands-on training in the integration of quantitatively based remote sensing data are described as well as methods used to enhance understanding of approaches to inventories that integrate multiple data sources given various resource information objectives. Significant results from each of the technology transfer sessions are examined.

Investigating Early Childhood Teachers' Views on Science Teaching Practices: The Integration of Science with Visual Art in Early Childhood Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Öztürk Yilmaztekin, Elif; Erden, Feyza Tantekin

2017-01-01

This study investigates early childhood teachers' views about science teaching practices in an early childhood settings. It was conducted in a preschool located in Ankara, Turkey. The data of the study were collected through multiple sources of information such as interviews with early childhood teachers and observations of their practices in the…

Incorporating Hydroepidemiology into the Epidemia Malaria Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wimberly, M. C.; Merkord, C. L.; Henebry, G. M.; Senay, G. B.

2014-12-01

Early warning of the timing and locations of malaria epidemics can facilitate the targeting of resources for prevention and emergency response. In response to this need, we are developing the Epidemic Prognosis Incorporating Disease and Environmental Monitoring for Integrated Assessment (EPIDEMIA) computer system. EPIDEMIA incorporates software for capturing, processing, and integrating environmental and epidemiological data from multiple sources; data assimilation techniques that continually update models and forecasts; and a web-based interface that makes the resulting information available to public health decision makers. The system will enable forecasts that incorporate lagged responses to environmental risk factors as well as information about recent trends in malaria cases. Because the egg, larval, and pupal stages of mosquito development occur in aquatic habitats, information about the spatial and temporal distributions of stagnant water bodies is critical for modeling malaria risk. Potential sources of hydrological data include satellite-derived rainfall estimates, evapotranspiration (ET) calculated using a simplified surface energy balance model, and estimates of soil moisture and fractional water cover from passive microwave radiometry. We used partial least squares regression to analyze and visualize seasonal patterns of these variables in relation to malaria cases using data from 49 districts in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Seasonal patterns of rainfall were strongly associated with the incidence and seasonality of malaria across the region, and model fit was improved by the addition of remotely-sensed ET and soil moisture variables. The results highlight the importance of remotely-sensed hydrological data for modeling malaria risk in this region and emphasize the value of an ensemble approach that utilizes multiple sources of information about precipitation and land surface wetness. These variables will be incorporated into the forecasting models at the core of the EPIDEMIA system, and. future model development will involve a cycle of continuous forecasting, accuracy assessment, and model refinement.

Electronic health information quality challenges and interventions to improve public health surveillance data and practice.

PubMed

Dixon, Brian E; Siegel, Jason A; Oemig, Tanya V; Grannis, Shaun J

2013-01-01

We examined completeness, an attribute of data quality, in the context of electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) of notifiable disease information to public health agencies. We extracted more than seven million ELR messages from multiple clinical information systems in two states. We calculated and compared the completeness of various data fields within the messages that were identified to be important to public health reporting processes. We compared unaltered, original messages from source systems with similar messages from another state as well as messages enriched by a health information exchange (HIE). Our analysis focused on calculating completeness (i.e., the number of nonmissing values) for fields deemed important for inclusion in notifiable disease case reports. The completeness of data fields for laboratory transactions varied across clinical information systems and jurisdictions. Fields identifying the patient and test results were usually complete (97%-100%). Fields containing patient demographics, patient contact information, and provider contact information were suboptimal (6%-89%). Transactions enhanced by the HIE were found to be more complete (increases ranged from 2% to 25%) than the original messages. ELR data from clinical information systems can be of suboptimal quality. Public health monitoring of data sources and augmentation of ELR message content using HIE services can improve data quality.

U.S. Seismic Design Maps Web Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, E.; Fee, J.

2015-12-01

The application computes earthquake ground motion design parameters compatible with the International Building Code and other seismic design provisions. It is the primary method for design engineers to obtain ground motion parameters for multiple building codes across the country. When designing new buildings and other structures, engineers around the country use the application. Users specify the design code of interest, location, and other parameters to obtain necessary ground motion information consisting of a high-level executive summary as well as detailed information including maps, data, and graphs. Results are formatted such that they can be directly included in a final engineering report. In addition to single-site analysis, the application supports a batch mode for simultaneous consideration of multiple locations. Finally, an application programming interface (API) is available which allows other application developers to integrate this application's results into larger applications for additional processing. Development on the application has proceeded in an iterative manner working with engineers through email, meetings, and workshops. Each iteration provided new features, improved performance, and usability enhancements. This development approach positioned the application to be integral to the structural design process and is now used to produce over 1800 reports daily. Recent efforts have enhanced the application to be a data-driven, mobile-first, responsive web application. Development is ongoing, and source code has recently been published into the open-source community on GitHub. Open-sourcing the code facilitates improved incorporation of user feedback to add new features ensuring the application's continued success.

The impact of an online Facebook support group for people with multiple sclerosis on non-active users

PubMed Central

Steadman, Jacqui

2014-01-01

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease and there is little research on support networks for people with MS (PwMS). More specifically, most studies on online support groups focus on those who actively participate in the group, whereas the majority of those who utilise online support groups do so in a passive way. Objectives This study therefore aimed to explore the experiences of non-active users of an online Facebook support group for PwMS. Emphasis was placed on the facilitators and the barriers that were associated with membership to this group. Method An exploratory qualitative research design was implemented, whereby thematic analysis was utilised to examine the ten semi-structured interviews that were conducted. Results Several facilitators were acquired through the online support group; namely emotional support (constant source of support, exposure to negative aspects of the disease), informational support (group as a source of knowledge, quality of information) and social companionship (place of belonging). Some barriers were also identified; namely emotional support (emotions lost online, response to messages, exposure to negative aspects of the disease), informational support (information posted on the group, misuse of group) and social companionship (non-active status) Conclusion These findings demonstrate that the non-active members of the online support group for PwMS have valid reasons for their non-active membership status. More important, the findings suggest that the online Facebook support group provided the group members with an important support network in the form of emotional support, informational support and social companionship, despite their non-active membership status or the barriers that have been identified. PMID:28730005

Parameter estimation for slit-type scanning sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fowler, J. W.; Rolfe, E. G.

1981-01-01

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite, scheduled for launch into a 900 km near-polar orbit in August 1982, will perform an infrared point source survey by scanning the sky with slit-type sensors. The description of position information is shown to require the use of a non-Gaussian random variable. Methods are described for deciding whether separate detections stem from a single common source, and a formulism is developed for the scan-to-scan problems of identifying multiple sightings of inertially fixed point sources for combining their individual measurements into a refined estimate. Several cases are given where the general theory yields results which are quite different from the corresponding Gaussian applications, showing that argument by Gaussian analogy would lead to error.

Conflicting health information: a critical research need.

PubMed

Carpenter, Delesha M; Geryk, Lorie L; Chen, Annie T; Nagler, Rebekah H; Dieckmann, Nathan F; Han, Paul K J

2016-12-01

Conflicting health information is increasing in amount and visibility, as evidenced most recently by the controversy surrounding the risks and benefits of childhood vaccinations. The mechanisms through which conflicting information affects individuals are poorly understood; thus, we are unprepared to help people process conflicting information when making important health decisions. In this viewpoint article, we describe this problem, summarize insights from the existing literature on the prevalence and effects of conflicting health information, and identify important knowledge gaps. We propose a working definition of conflicting health information and describe a conceptual typology to guide future research in this area. The typology classifies conflicting information according to four fundamental dimensions: the substantive issue under conflict, the number of conflicting sources (multiplicity), the degree of evidence heterogeneity and the degree of temporal inconsistency. © 2015 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Single-exposure two-dimensional superresolution in digital holography using a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser source array.

PubMed

Granero, Luis; Zalevsky, Zeev; Micó, Vicente

2011-04-01

We present a new implementation capable of producing two-dimensional (2D) superresolution (SR) imaging in a single exposure by aperture synthesis in digital lensless Fourier holography when using angular multiplexing provided by a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser source array. The system performs the recording in a single CCD snapshot of a multiplexed hologram coming from the incoherent addition of multiple subholograms, where each contains information about a different 2D spatial frequency band of the object's spectrum. Thus, a set of nonoverlapping bandpass images of the input object can be recovered by Fourier transformation (FT) of the multiplexed hologram. The SR is obtained by coherent addition of the information contained in each bandpass image while generating an enlarged synthetic aperture. Experimental results demonstrate improvement in resolution and image quality.

Harnessing the web information ecosystem with wiki-based visualization dashboards.

PubMed

McKeon, Matt

2009-01-01

We describe the design and deployment of Dashiki, a public website where users may collaboratively build visualization dashboards through a combination of a wiki-like syntax and interactive editors. Our goals are to extend existing research on social data analysis into presentation and organization of data from multiple sources, explore new metaphors for these activities, and participate more fully in the web!s information ecology by providing tighter integration with real-time data. To support these goals, our design includes novel and low-barrier mechanisms for editing and layout of dashboard pages and visualizations, connection to data sources, and coordinating interaction between visualizations. In addition to describing these technologies, we provide a preliminary report on the public launch of a prototype based on this design, including a description of the activities of our users derived from observation and interviews.

Predictors for the Number of Warning Information Sources During Tornadoes.

PubMed

Cong, Zhen; Luo, Jianjun; Liang, Daan; Nejat, Ali

2017-04-01

People may receive tornado warnings from multiple information sources, but little is known about factors that affect the number of warning information sources (WISs). This study examined predictors for the number of WISs with a telephone survey on randomly sampled residents in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri, approximately 1 year after both cities were struck by violent tornadoes (EF4 and EF5) in 2011. The survey included 1006 finished interviews and the working sample included 903 respondents. Poisson regression and Zero-Inflated Poisson regression showed that older age and having an emergency plan predicted more WISs in both cities. Education, marital status, and gender affected the possibilities of receiving warnings and the number of WISs either in Joplin or in Tuscaloosa. The findings suggest that social disparity affects the access to warnings not only with respect to the likelihood of receiving any warnings but also with respect to the number of WISs. In addition, historical and social contexts are important for examining predictors for the number of WISs. We recommend that the number of WISs should be regarded as an important measure to evaluate access to warnings in addition to the likelihood of receiving warnings. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:168-172).

Quantifying learning in biotracer studies.

PubMed

Brown, Christopher J; Brett, Michael T; Adame, Maria Fernanda; Stewart-Koster, Ben; Bunn, Stuart E

2018-04-12

Mixing models have become requisite tools for analyzing biotracer data, most commonly stable isotope ratios, to infer dietary contributions of multiple sources to a consumer. However, Bayesian mixing models will always return a result that defaults to their priors if the data poorly resolve the source contributions, and thus, their interpretation requires caution. We describe an application of information theory to quantify how much has been learned about a consumer's diet from new biotracer data. We apply the approach to two example data sets. We find that variation in the isotope ratios of sources limits the precision of estimates for the consumer's diet, even with a large number of consumer samples. Thus, the approach which we describe is a type of power analysis that uses a priori simulations to find an optimal sample size. Biotracer data are fundamentally limited in their ability to discriminate consumer diets. We suggest that other types of data, such as gut content analysis, must be used as prior information in model fitting, to improve model learning about the consumer's diet. Information theory may also be used to identify optimal sampling protocols in situations where sampling of consumers is limited due to expense or ethical concerns.

Proprioceptive Distance Cues Restore Perfect Size Constancy in Grasping, but Not Perception, When Vision Is Limited.

PubMed

Chen, Juan; Sperandio, Irene; Goodale, Melvyn Alan

2018-03-19

Our brain integrates information from multiple modalities in the control of behavior. When information from one sensory source is compromised, information from another source can compensate for the loss. What is not clear is whether the nature of this multisensory integration and the re-weighting of different sources of sensory information are the same across different control systems. Here, we investigated whether proprioceptive distance information (position sense of body parts) can compensate for the loss of visual distance cues that support size constancy in perception (mediated by the ventral visual stream) [1, 2] versus size constancy in grasping (mediated by the dorsal visual stream) [3-6], in which the real-world size of an object is computed despite changes in viewing distance. We found that there was perfect size constancy in both perception and grasping in a full-viewing condition (lights on, binocular viewing) and that size constancy in both tasks was dramatically disrupted in the restricted-viewing condition (lights off; monocular viewing of the same but luminescent object through a 1-mm pinhole). Importantly, in the restricted-viewing condition, proprioceptive cues about viewing distance originating from the non-grasping limb (experiment 1) or the inclination of the torso and/or the elbow angle of the grasping limb (experiment 2) compensated for the loss of visual distance cues to enable a complete restoration of size constancy in grasping but only a modest improvement of size constancy in perception. This suggests that the weighting of different sources of sensory information varies as a function of the control system being used. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Resource assessment in Western Australia using a geographic information system

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

Jackson, A.

1991-03-01

Three study areas in Western Australia covering from 77,000 to 425,000 mi{sup 2} were examined for oil and gas potential using a geographic information system (GIS). A data base of source rock thickness, source richness, maturity, and expulsion efficiency was created for each interval. The GIS (Arc/Info) was used to create, manage, and analyze data for each interval in each study area. Source rock thickness and source richness data were added to the data base from digitized data. Maturity information was generated with Arc/Info by combining geochemical and depth to structure data. Expulsion efficiency data was created by a systemmore » level Arc/Info program. After the data base for each interval was built, the GIS was used to analyze the geologic data. The analysis consisted of converting each data layer into a lattice (grid) and using the lattice operation in Arc/Infor (addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction) to combine the data layers. Additional techniques for combining and selecting data were developed using Arc/Info system level programs. The procedure for performing the analyses was written as macros in Arc/Info's macro programming language (AML). The results of the analysis were estimates of oil and gas volumes for each interval. The resultant volumes were produced in tabular form for reports and cartographic form for presentation. The geographic information system provided several clear advantages over traditional methods of resource assessment including simplified management, updating, and editing of geologic data.« less

Visual Feature Integration Indicated by pHase-Locked Frontal-Parietal EEG Signals

PubMed Central

Phillips, Steven; Takeda, Yuji; Singh, Archana

2012-01-01

The capacity to integrate multiple sources of information is a prerequisite for complex cognitive ability, such as finding a target uniquely identifiable by the conjunction of two or more features. Recent studies identified greater frontal-parietal synchrony during conjunctive than non-conjunctive (feature) search. Whether this difference also reflects greater information integration, rather than just differences in cognitive strategy (e.g., top-down versus bottom-up control of attention), or task difficulty is uncertain. Here, we examine the first possibility by parametrically varying the number of integrated sources from one to three and measuring phase-locking values (PLV) of frontal-parietal EEG electrode signals, as indicators of synchrony. Linear regressions, under hierarchical false-discovery rate control, indicated significant positive slopes for number of sources on PLV in the 30–38 Hz, 175–250 ms post-stimulus frequency-time band for pairs in the sagittal plane (i.e., F3-P3, Fz-Pz, F4-P4), after equating conditions for behavioural performance (to exclude effects due to task difficulty). No such effects were observed for pairs in the transverse plane (i.e., F3-F4, C3-C4, P3-P4). These results provide support for the idea that anterior-posterior phase-locking in the lower gamma-band mediates integration of visual information. They also provide a potential window into cognitive development, seen as developing the capacity to integrate more sources of information. PMID:22427847

Visual feature integration indicated by pHase-locked frontal-parietal EEG signals.

PubMed

Phillips, Steven; Takeda, Yuji; Singh, Archana

2012-01-01

The capacity to integrate multiple sources of information is a prerequisite for complex cognitive ability, such as finding a target uniquely identifiable by the conjunction of two or more features. Recent studies identified greater frontal-parietal synchrony during conjunctive than non-conjunctive (feature) search. Whether this difference also reflects greater information integration, rather than just differences in cognitive strategy (e.g., top-down versus bottom-up control of attention), or task difficulty is uncertain. Here, we examine the first possibility by parametrically varying the number of integrated sources from one to three and measuring phase-locking values (PLV) of frontal-parietal EEG electrode signals, as indicators of synchrony. Linear regressions, under hierarchical false-discovery rate control, indicated significant positive slopes for number of sources on PLV in the 30-38 Hz, 175-250 ms post-stimulus frequency-time band for pairs in the sagittal plane (i.e., F3-P3, Fz-Pz, F4-P4), after equating conditions for behavioural performance (to exclude effects due to task difficulty). No such effects were observed for pairs in the transverse plane (i.e., F3-F4, C3-C4, P3-P4). These results provide support for the idea that anterior-posterior phase-locking in the lower gamma-band mediates integration of visual information. They also provide a potential window into cognitive development, seen as developing the capacity to integrate more sources of information.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2016-12-01

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

On the possibility of the multiple inductively coupled plasma and helicon plasma sources for large-area processes

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

Lee, Jin-Won; Lee, Yun-Seong, E-mail: leeeeys@kaist.ac.kr; Chang, Hong-Young

2014-08-15

In this study, we attempted to determine the possibility of multiple inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and helicon plasma sources for large-area processes. Experiments were performed with the one and two coils to measure plasma and electrical parameters, and a circuit simulation was performed to measure the current at each coil in the 2-coil experiment. Based on the result, we could determine the possibility of multiple ICP sources due to a direct change of impedance due to current and saturation of impedance due to the skin-depth effect. However, a helicon plasma source is difficult to adapt to the multiple sources duemore » to the consistent change of real impedance due to mode transition and the low uniformity of the B-field confinement. As a result, it is expected that ICP can be adapted to multiple sources for large-area processes.« less

Combining multiple sources of data to inform conservation of Lesser Prairie-Chicken populations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ross, Beth; Haukos, David A.; Hagen, Christian A.; Pitman, James

2018-01-01

Conservation of small populations is often based on limited data from spatially and temporally restricted studies, resulting in management actions based on an incomplete assessment of the population drivers. If fluctuations in abundance are related to changes in weather, proper management is especially important, because extreme weather events could disproportionately affect population abundance. Conservation assessments, especially for vulnerable populations, are aided by a knowledge of how extreme events influence population status and trends. Although important for conservation efforts, data may be limited for small or vulnerable populations. Integrated population models maximize information from various sources of data to yield population estimates that fully incorporate uncertainty from multiple data sources while allowing for the explicit incorporation of environmental covariates of interest. Our goal was to assess the relative influence of population drivers for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in the core of its range, western and southern Kansas, USA. We used data from roadside lek count surveys, nest monitoring surveys, and survival data from telemetry monitoring combined with climate (Palmer drought severity index) data in an integrated population model. Our results indicate that variability in population growth rate was most influenced by variability in juvenile survival. The Palmer drought severity index had no measurable direct effects on adult survival or mean number of offspring per female; however, there were declines in population growth rate following severe drought. Because declines in population growth rate occurred at a broad spatial scale, declines in response to drought were likely due to decreases in chick and juvenile survival rather than emigration outside of the study area. Overall, our model highlights the importance of accounting for environmental and demographic sources of variability, and provides a thorough method for simultaneously evaluating population demography in response to long-term climate effects.

The Role of Microglia and Matrix Metalloproteinases Involvement in Neuroinflammation and Gliomas

PubMed Central

Könnecke, Helen; Bechmann, Ingo

2013-01-01

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are involved in the pathogenesis of neuroinflammatory diseases (such as multiple sclerosis) as well as in the expansion of malignant gliomas because they facilitate penetration of anatomical barriers (such as the glia limitans) and migration within the neuropil. This review elucidates pathomechanisms and summarizes the current knowledge of the involvement of MMPs in neuroinflammation and glioma, invasion highlighting microglia as major sources of MMPs. The induction of expression, suppression, and multiple pathways of function of MMPs in these scenarios will also be discussed. Understanding the induction and action of MMPs might provide valuable information and reveal attractive targets for future therapeutic strategies. PMID:24023566

Application of fuzzy set and Dempster-Shafer theory to organic geochemistry interpretation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, C. S.; Isaksen, G. H.

1993-01-01

An application of fuzzy sets and Dempster Shafter Theory (DST) in modeling the interpretational process of organic geochemistry data for predicting the level of maturities of oil and source rock samples is presented. This was accomplished by (1) representing linguistic imprecision and imprecision associated with experience by a fuzzy set theory, (2) capturing the probabilistic nature of imperfect evidences by a DST, and (3) combining multiple evidences by utilizing John Yen's generalized Dempster-Shafter Theory (GDST), which allows DST to deal with fuzzy information. The current prototype provides collective beliefs on the predicted levels of maturity by combining multiple evidences through GDST's rule of combination.

Semantic integration of data on transcriptional regulation

PubMed Central

Baitaluk, Michael; Ponomarenko, Julia

2010-01-01

Motivation: Experimental and predicted data concerning gene transcriptional regulation are distributed among many heterogeneous sources. However, there are no resources to integrate these data automatically or to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ experience for users seeking information essential for deciphering and modeling gene regulatory networks. Results: IntegromeDB, a semantic graph-based ‘deep-web’ data integration system that automatically captures, integrates and manages publicly available data concerning transcriptional regulation, as well as other relevant biological information, is proposed in this article. The problems associated with data integration are addressed by ontology-driven data mapping, multiple data annotation and heterogeneous data querying, also enabling integration of the user's data. IntegromeDB integrates over 100 experimental and computational data sources relating to genomics, transcriptomics, genetics, and functional and interaction data concerning gene transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Availability: IntegromeDB is accessible through the integrated research environment BiologicalNetworks at http://www.BiologicalNetworks.org Contact: baitaluk@sdsc.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:20427517

Linking data to decision-making: applying qualitative data analysis methods and software to identify mechanisms for using outcomes data.

PubMed

Patel, Vaishali N; Riley, Anne W

2007-10-01

A multiple case study was conducted to examine how staff in child out-of-home care programs used data from an Outcomes Management System (OMS) and other sources to inform decision-making. Data collection consisted of thirty-seven semi-structured interviews with clinicians, managers, and directors from two treatment foster care programs and two residential treatment centers, and individuals involved with developing the OMS; and observations of clinical and quality management meetings. Case study and grounded theory methodology guided analyses. The application of qualitative data analysis software is described. Results show that although staff rarely used data from the OMS, they did rely on other sources of systematically collected information to inform clinical, quality management, and program decisions. Analyses of how staff used these data suggest that improving the utility of OMS will involve encouraging staff to participate in data-based decision-making, and designing and implementing OMS in a manner that reflects how decision-making processes operate.

Interactive visualization and analysis of multimodal datasets for surgical applications.

PubMed

Kirmizibayrak, Can; Yim, Yeny; Wakid, Mike; Hahn, James

2012-12-01

Surgeons use information from multiple sources when making surgical decisions. These include volumetric datasets (such as CT, PET, MRI, and their variants), 2D datasets (such as endoscopic videos), and vector-valued datasets (such as computer simulations). Presenting all the information to the user in an effective manner is a challenging problem. In this paper, we present a visualization approach that displays the information from various sources in a single coherent view. The system allows the user to explore and manipulate volumetric datasets, display analysis of dataset values in local regions, combine 2D and 3D imaging modalities and display results of vector-based computer simulations. Several interaction methods are discussed: in addition to traditional interfaces including mouse and trackers, gesture-based natural interaction methods are shown to control these visualizations with real-time performance. An example of a medical application (medialization laryngoplasty) is presented to demonstrate how the combination of different modalities can be used in a surgical setting with our approach.

Social media in clinical trials.

PubMed

Thompson, Michael A

2014-01-01

Social media has potential in clinical trials for pointing out trial issues, addressing barriers, educating, and engaging multiple groups involved in cancer clinical research. Social media is being used in clinical trials to highlight issues such as poor accrual and barriers; educate potential participants and physicians about clinical trial options; and is a potential indirect or direct method to improve accrual. We are moving from a passive "push" of information to patients to a "pull" of patients requesting information. Patients and advocates are often driving an otherwise reluctant health care system into communication. Online patient communities are creating new information repositories. Potential clinical trial participants are using the Twittersphere and other sources to learn about potential clinical trial options. We are seeing more organized patient-centric and patient-engaged forums with the potential to crowd source to improve clinical trial accrual and design. This is an evolving process that will meet many individual, institutional, and regulatory obstacles as we move forward in a changed research landscape.

Collective decision dynamics in the presence of external drivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bassett, Danielle S.; Alderson, David L.; Carlson, Jean M.

2012-09-01

We develop a sequence of models describing information transmission and decision dynamics for a network of individual agents subject to multiple sources of influence. Our general framework is set in the context of an impending natural disaster, where individuals, represented by nodes on the network, must decide whether or not to evacuate. Sources of influence include a one-to-many externally driven global broadcast as well as pairwise interactions, across links in the network, in which agents transmit either continuous opinions or binary actions. We consider both uniform and variable threshold rules on the individual opinion as baseline models for decision making. Our results indicate that (1) social networks lead to clustering and cohesive action among individuals, (2) binary information introduces high temporal variability and stagnation, and (3) information transmission over the network can either facilitate or hinder action adoption, depending on the influence of the global broadcast relative to the social network. Our framework highlights the essential role of local interactions between agents in predicting collective behavior of the population as a whole.

Mineral facilities of Africa and the Middle East

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eros, J.M.; Candelario-Quintana, Luissette

2006-01-01

This map displays over 1,500 mineral facilities in Africa and the Middle East. The mineral facilities include mines, plants, mills, or refineries of aluminum, cement, coal, copper, diamond, gold, iron and steel, nickel, platinum-group metals, salt, and silver, among others. The data used in this poster were compiled from multiple sources, including the 2004 USGS Minerals Yearbook (Africa and Middle East volume), Minerals Statistics and Information from the USGS Web site (http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/), and data collected by USGS minerals information country specialists. Data reflect the most recent published table of industry structure for each country. Other sources include statistical publications of individual countries, annual reports and press releases of operating companies, and trade journals. Due to the sensitivity of some energy commodity data, the quality of these data should be evaluated on a country-by-country basis. Additional information and explanation is available from the country specialists. See Table 1 for general information about each mineral facility site including country, location and facility name, facility type, latitude, longitude, mineral commodity, mining method, main operating company, status, capacity, and units.

Mineral Facilities of Latin America and Canada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bernstein, Rachel; Eros, Mike; Quintana-Velazquez, Meliany

2006-01-01

This data set consists of records for over 900 mineral facilities in Latin America and Canada. The mineral facilities include mines, plants, smelters, or refineries of aluminum, cement, coal, copper, diamond, gold, iron and steel, nickel, platinum-group metals, salt, and silver, among others. Records include attributes such as commodity, country, location, company name, facility type and capacity if applicable, and generalized coordinates. The data were compiled from multiple sources, including the 2003 and 2004 USGS Minerals Yearbooks (Latin America and Candada volume), data to be published in the 2005 Minerals Yearbook Latin America and Canada Volume, minerals statistics and information from the USGS minerals information Web site (minerals.usgs.gov/minerals), and data collected by USGS minerals information country specialists. Data reflect the most recent published table of industry structure for each country. Other sources include statistical publications of individual countries, annual reports and press releases of operating companies,and trade journals. Due to the sensitivity of some energy commodity data, the quality of these data should be evaluated on a country-by-country basis. Additional information and explanation is available from the country specialists.

Exploring uncertainty in the Earth Sciences - the potential field perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saltus, R. W.; Blakely, R. J.

2013-12-01

Interpretation of gravity and magnetic anomalies is mathematically non-unique because multiple theoretical solutions are possible. The mathematical label of 'non-uniqueness' can lead to the erroneous impression that no single interpretation is better in a geologic sense than any other. The purpose of this talk is to present a practical perspective on the theoretical non-uniqueness of potential field interpretation in geology. There are multiple ways to approach and constrain potential field studies to produce significant, robust, and definitive results. For example, a smooth, bell-shaped gravity profile, in theory, could be caused by an infinite set of physical density bodies, ranging from a deep, compact, circular source to a shallow, smoothly varying, inverted bell-shaped source. In practice, however, we can use independent geologic or geophysical information to limit the range of possible source densities and rule out many of the theoretical solutions. We can further reduce the theoretical uncertainty by careful attention to subtle anomaly details. For example, short-wavelength anomalies are a well-known and theoretically established characteristic of shallow geologic sources. The 'non-uniqueness' of potential field studies is closely related to the more general topic of scientific uncertainty in the Earth sciences and beyond. Nearly all results in the Earth sciences are subject to significant uncertainty because problems are generally addressed with incomplete and imprecise data. The increasing need to combine results from multiple disciplines into integrated solutions in order to address complex global issues requires special attention to the appreciation and communication of uncertainty in geologic interpretation.

Trait and State Variance in Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms: A Multi-Source Investigation with Spanish Children

PubMed Central

Preszler, Jonathan; Burns, G. Leonard; Litson, Kaylee; Geiser, Christian; Servera, Mateu

2016-01-01

The objective was to determine and compare the trait and state components of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptom reports across multiple informants. Mothers, fathers, primary teachers, and secondary teachers rated the occurrence of the ODD symptoms in 810 Spanish children (55% boys) on two occasions (end first and second grades). Single source latent state-trait (LST) analyses revealed that ODD symptom ratings from all four sources showed more trait (M = 63%) than state residual (M = 37%) variance. A multiple source LST analysis revealed substantial convergent validity of mothers’ and fathers’ trait variance components (M = 68%) and modest convergent validity of state residual variance components (M = 35%). In contrast, primary and secondary teachers showed low convergent validity relative to mothers for trait variance (Ms = 31%, 32%, respectively) and essentially zero convergent validity relative to mothers for state residual variance (Ms = 1%, 3%, respectively). Although ODD symptom ratings reflected slightly more trait- than state-like constructs within each of the four sources separately across occasions, strong convergent validity for the trait variance only occurred within settings (i.e., mothers with fathers; primary with secondary teachers) with the convergent validity of the trait and state residual variance components being low to non-existent across settings. These results suggest that ODD symptom reports are trait-like across time for individual sources with this trait variance, however, only having convergent validity within settings. Implications for assessment of ODD are discussed. PMID:27148784

Approach to identifying pollutant source and matching flow field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liping, Pang; Yu, Zhang; Hongquan, Qu; Tao, Hu; Wei, Wang

2013-07-01

Accidental pollution events often threaten people's health and lives, and it is necessary to identify a pollutant source rapidly so that prompt actions can be taken to prevent the spread of pollution. But this identification process is one of the difficulties in the inverse problem areas. This paper carries out some studies on this issue. An approach using single sensor information with noise was developed to identify a sudden continuous emission trace pollutant source in a steady velocity field. This approach first compares the characteristic distance of the measured concentration sequence to the multiple hypothetical measured concentration sequences at the sensor position, which are obtained based on a source-three-parameter multiple hypotheses. Then we realize the source identification by globally searching the optimal values with the objective function of the maximum location probability. Considering the large amount of computation load resulting from this global searching, a local fine-mesh source search method based on priori coarse-mesh location probabilities is further used to improve the efficiency of identification. Studies have shown that the flow field has a very important influence on the source identification. Therefore, we also discuss the impact of non-matching flow fields with estimation deviation on identification. Based on this analysis, a method for matching accurate flow field is presented to improve the accuracy of identification. In order to verify the practical application of the above method, an experimental system simulating a sudden pollution process in a steady flow field was set up and some experiments were conducted when the diffusion coefficient was known. The studies showed that the three parameters (position, emission strength and initial emission time) of the pollutant source in the experiment can be estimated by using the method for matching flow field and source identification.

Misconceptions and biases in German students' perception of multiple energy sources: implications for science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Roh Pin

2016-04-01

Misconceptions and biases in energy perception could influence people's support for developments integral to the success of restructuring a nation's energy system. Science education, in equipping young adults with the cognitive skills and knowledge necessary to navigate in the confusing energy environment, could play a key role in paving the way for informed decision-making. This study examined German students' knowledge of the contribution of diverse energy sources to their nation's energy mix as well as their affective energy responses so as to identify implications for science education. Specifically, the study investigated whether and to what extent students hold mistaken beliefs about the role of multiple energy sources in their nation's energy mix, and assessed how misconceptions could act as self-generated reference points to underpin support/resistance of proposed developments. An in-depth analysis of spontaneous affective associations with five key energy sources also enabled the identification of underlying concerns driving people's energy responses and facilitated an examination of how affective perception, in acting as a heuristic, could lead to biases in energy judgment and decision-making. Finally, subgroup analysis differentiated by education and gender supported insights into a 'two culture' effect on energy perception and the challenge it poses to science education.