Kohlberg and Gilligan: Duet or Duel?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jorgensen, Gunnar

2006-01-01

Most moral psychologists have come to accept two types of moral reasoning: Kohlberg's "justice" and Gilligan's "care", but there still seem to be some unresolved issues. By analysing and comparing Kohlberg's statement on some theoretical issues with some of Gilligan's statements in an interview in April 2003, I will look at some key issues in the…

Psychological Constructivism in Therapy and Counseling: Some Unresolved Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kruglanski, Arie W.

1988-01-01

Responds to Mahoney and Lyddon's review of constructivism in previous article by discussing several major problems that should be resolved if constructivism is to become widely accepted alternative to prevalent rationalist therapies. Included are issues of authority, pathology, and intervention. (NB)

Coherent versus noncoherent signaling for satellite-aided mobile communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davarian, F.; Sumida, J.

1986-01-01

The use of coherent versus noncoherent communications is an unresolved issue for the mobile satellite community. Should one select the more robust but less efficient noncoherent strategy for communications over satellite-aided mobile channels, or does the introduction of a space platform in the mobile link improve signal stability (both amplitude and phase) such that conventional coherent schemes become attractive? This publication tries to answer some of the questions by discussing the results from experiments using a coherent QPSK receiver. The issues discussed include items such as the measured performance in Rician fading, the link error floor in a fading environment, etc. The results are compared and contrasted with that of a noncoherent limiter/discriminator FM receiver.

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation at 30: Unresolved scientific issues.

PubMed

Reiss, Steven

2005-01-01

The undermining effect of extrinsic reward on intrinsic motivation remains unproven. The key unresolved issues are construct invalidity (all four definitions are unproved and two are illogical); measurement unreliability (the free-choice measure requires unreliable, subjective judgments to infer intrinsic motivation); inadequate experimental controls (negative affect and novelty, not cognitive evaluation, may explain "undermining" effects); and biased metareviews (studies with possible floor effects excluded, but those with possible ceiling effects included). Perhaps the greatest error with the undermining theory, however, is that it does not adequately recognize the multifaceted nature of intrinsic motivation (Reiss, 2004a). Advice to limit the use of applied behavior analysis based on "hidden" undermining effects is ideologically inspired and is unsupported by credible scientific evidence.

[Transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer - just a fashion trend?].

PubMed

Kala, Z; Skrovina, M; Procházka, V; Grolich, T; Klos, K

2014-12-01

Transanal total mesorectal excision performed using equipment for transanal minimally invasive surgery is an innovative surgical technique introduced to facilitate this procedure and to reach better oncosurgical outcomes in patients with low rectal cancer. This article presents a brief summary of guidelines for treatment of patients with low rectal carcinoma. Up-to-date information about the principles of this new method, its modifications and contemporary indications is presented. Based on their own experience and literature resources, the authors inform about the advantages, limitations and unresolved issues of minimally invasive transanal mesorectal excision.

University Management Education and Research in Canada: Some Unresolved Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Zur-Muehlen, Max

An historical overview of university management education and research in Canada is presented and issues relevant to the present status of management education and research opportunities are discussed. Management and administrative studies schools in Canada receive, on the average, about four percent of the operating budget of the university…

Forces Affecting Educational Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Neil V.

This speech begins with a discussion of broad social and political patterns and trends that are currently developing and continues to the specific unresolved social issues which will affect the nature and structure of educational systems. Those issues seen by the author is most likely to produce the greatest amount of activity are integration, the…

The Challenges of Intersectionality: Researching Difference in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flintoff, A.; Fitzgerald, H.; Scraton, S.

2008-01-01

Researching the intersection of class, race, gender, sexuality and disability raises many issues for educational research. Indeed, Maynard (2002, 33) has recently argued that "difference is one of the most significant, yet unresolved, issues for feminist and social thinking at the beginning of the twentieth century". This paper reviews…

14 CFR 431.37 - Mission readiness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... contingency abort plans and procedures, if any, as required under § 431.39; (vi) Unresolved safety issues.... (2) Procedures that ensure mission constraints, rules, contingency abort and emergency abort...

14 CFR 431.37 - Mission readiness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... contingency abort plans and procedures, if any, as required under § 431.39; (vi) Unresolved safety issues.... (2) Procedures that ensure mission constraints, rules, contingency abort and emergency abort...

14 CFR 431.37 - Mission readiness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... contingency abort plans and procedures, if any, as required under § 431.39; (vi) Unresolved safety issues.... (2) Procedures that ensure mission constraints, rules, contingency abort and emergency abort...

14 CFR 431.37 - Mission readiness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... contingency abort plans and procedures, if any, as required under § 431.39; (vi) Unresolved safety issues.... (2) Procedures that ensure mission constraints, rules, contingency abort and emergency abort...

14 CFR 431.37 - Mission readiness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... contingency abort plans and procedures, if any, as required under § 431.39; (vi) Unresolved safety issues.... (2) Procedures that ensure mission constraints, rules, contingency abort and emergency abort...

Status of thermalhydraulic modelling and assessment: Open issues

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

Bestion, D.; Barre, F.

1997-07-01

This paper presents the status of the physical modelling in present codes used for Nuclear Reactor Thermalhydraulics (TRAC, RELAP 5, CATHARE, ATHLET,...) and attempts to list the unresolved or partially resolved issues. First, the capabilities and limitations of present codes are presented. They are mainly known from a synthesis of the assessment calculations performed for both separate effect tests and integral effect tests. It is also interesting to list all the assumptions and simplifications which were made in the establishment of the system of equations and of the constitutive relations. Many of the present limitations are associated to physical situationsmore » where these assumptions are not valid. Then, recommendations are proposed to extend the capabilities of these codes.« less

15 CFR 971.300 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS Certification of Applications § 971... the pending unresolved issues, the efforts to resolve them, and an estimate of the time required to do...

Mathematical and Numerical Studies of Nonstandard Difference Equation Models of Differential Equations

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

Mickens, Ronald E.

2008-12-22

This research examined the following items/issues: the NSFD methodology, technical achievements and applications, dissemination efforts and research related professional activities. Also a list of unresolved issues were identified that could form the basis for future research in the area of constructing and analyzing NSFD schemes for both ODE's and PDE's.

Equity in Education: Opportunities and Challenges In A Changing Sri Lanka

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sedere, Upali M.

2010-01-01

Equity is a major concern for all development actors. Although Sri Lanka has successfully addressed equity issues in education sector there are unresolved factors and variables those perpetuate inequity. There are emerging new equity issues those that Sri Lanka needs to address. The changing population dynamics and the huge middle class population…

Unconscious Inhibition and Facilitation at the Objective Detection Threshold: Replicable and Qualitatively Different Unconscious Perceptual Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snodgrass, Michael; Shevrin, Howard

2006-01-01

Although the veridicality of unconscious perception is increasingly accepted, core issues remain unresolved [Jack, A., & Shallice, T. (2001). Introspective physicalism as an approach to the science of consciousness. "Cognition, 79," 161-196], and sharp disagreement persists regarding fundamental methodological and theoretical issues. The most…

The Thermodynamics of Black Holes.

PubMed

Wald, Robert M

2001-01-01

We review the present status of black hole thermodynamics. Our review includes discussion of classical black hole thermodynamics, Hawking radiation from black holes, the generalized second law, and the issue of entropy bounds. A brief survey also is given of approaches to the calculation of black hole entropy. We conclude with a discussion of some unresolved open issues.

13 CFR 130.700 - Suspension, termination and non-renewal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... the AA/SBDCs a written description of the unresolved issues, a summary of the positions of the District Office on the issues, and any supportive documentation. (5) The AA/SBDCs shall transmit a written... extension of time is mutually agreed upon by the recipient organization and the AA/SBDCs. (6) The AA/SBDCs...

13 CFR 130.700 - Suspension, termination and non-renewal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... the AA/SBDCs a written description of the unresolved issues, a summary of the positions of the District Office on the issues, and any supportive documentation. (5) The AA/SBDCs shall transmit a written... extension of time is mutually agreed upon by the recipient organization and the AA/SBDCs. (6) The AA/SBDCs...

13 CFR 130.700 - Suspension, termination and non-renewal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... the AA/SBDCs a written description of the unresolved issues, a summary of the positions of the District Office on the issues, and any supportive documentation. (5) The AA/SBDCs shall transmit a written... extension of time is mutually agreed upon by the recipient organization and the AA/SBDCs. (6) The AA/SBDCs...

Addendum report to atmospheric science facility pallet-only mode space transportation system payload feasibility study, volume 3, revision A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The feasibility of accomplishing selected atmospheric science mission using a pallet-only mode was studied. Certain unresolved issues were identified. The first issue was that of assuring that the on-board computer facility was adequate to process scientific data, control subsystems such as instrument pointing, provide mission operational program capability, and accomplish display and control. The second issue evolved from an investigation of the availability of existing substitute instruments that could be used instead of the prime instrumentation where the development tests and schedules are incompatible with the realistic budgets and shuttle vehicle schedules. Some effort was expended on identifying candidate substitute instruments, and the performance, cost, and development schedule trade-offs found during that effort were significant enough to warrant a follow-on investigation. This addendum documents the results of that follow-on effort, as it applies to the Atmospheric Sciences Facility.

Emotion theory and research: highlights, unanswered questions, and emerging issues.

PubMed

Izard, Carroll E

2009-01-01

Emotion feeling is a phase of neurobiological activity, the key component of emotions and emotion-cognition interactions. Emotion schemas, the most frequently occurring emotion experiences, are dynamic emotion-cognition interactions that may consist of momentary/situational responding or enduring traits of personality that emerge over developmental time. Emotions play a critical role in the evolution of consciousness and the operations of all mental processes. Types of emotion relate differentially to types or levels of consciousness. Unbridled imagination and the ability for sympathetic regulation of empathy may represent both potential gains and losses from the evolution and ontogeny of emotion processes and consciousness. Unresolved issues include psychology's neglect of levels of consciousness that are distinct from access or reflective consciousness and use of the term "unconscious mind" as a dumpster for all mental processes that are considered unreportable. The relation of memes and the mirror neuron system to empathy, sympathy, and cultural influences on the development of socioemotional skills are unresolved issues destined to attract future research.

Emotion Theory and Research: Highlights, Unanswered Questions, and Emerging Issues

PubMed Central

Izard, Carroll E.

2009-01-01

Emotion feeling is a phase of neurobiological activity, the key component of emotions and emotion-cognition interactions. Emotion schemas, the most frequently occurring emotion experiences, are dynamic emotion-cognition interactions that may consist of momentary/ situational responding or enduring traits of personality that emerge over developmental time. Emotions play a critical role in the evolution of consciousness and the operations of all mental processes. Types of emotion relate differentially to types or levels of consciousness. Unbridled imagination and the ability for sympathetic regulation of empathy may represent both potential gains and losses from the evolution and ontogeny of emotion processes and consciousness. Unresolved issues include psychology’s neglect of levels of consciousness that are distinct from access or reflective consciousness and use of the term “unconscious mind” as a dumpster for all mental processes that are considered unreportable. The relation of memes and the mirror neuron system to empathy, sympathy, and cultural influences on the development of socioemotional skills are unresolved issues destined to attract future research. PMID:18729725

Expanding Horizons and Unresolved Conundrums: Language Testing and Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Constant; Lewkowicz, Jo

2006-01-01

Since the last "TESOL Quarterly" commemorative issue 15 years ago, there have been too many important developments in language testing and assessment for all of them to be discussed in a single article. Therefore, this article focuses on issues that we believe are integrally linked to pedagogic and curriculum concerns of English language teaching.…

Crunch Seen on Ed. Issues after Election

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Alyson

2012-01-01

From the White House to Capitol Hill, the winners in this week's elections won't have much time to savor their victories. Even as federal policymakers sort out the political landscape, the remainder of 2012 and the early months of 2013 are likely to be dominated by divisive, unresolved issues with broad consequences for K-12 and higher…

The cognitive neuroscience of ageing.

PubMed

Grady, Cheryl

2012-06-20

The availability of neuroimaging technology has spurred a marked increase in the human cognitive neuroscience literature, including the study of cognitive ageing. Although there is a growing consensus that the ageing brain retains considerable plasticity of function, currently measured primarily by means of functional MRI, it is less clear how age differences in brain activity relate to cognitive performance. The field is also hampered by the complexity of the ageing process itself and the large number of factors that are influenced by age. In this Review, current trends and unresolved issues in the cognitive neuroscience of ageing are discussed.

Staubli TX-90XL robot qualification at the LLIHE.

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

Covert, Timothy Todd

The Light Initiated High Explosive (LIHE) Facility uses a robotic arm to spray explosive material onto test items for impulse tests. In 2007, the decision was made to replace the existing PUMA 760 robot with the Staubli TX-90XL. A qualification plan was developed and implemented to verify the safe operating conditions and failure modes of the new system. The robot satisfied the safety requirements established in the qualification plan. A performance issue described in this report remains unresolved at the time of this publication. The final readiness review concluded the qualification of this robot at the LIHE facility.

Advanced Technology Composite Fuselage-Structural Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, T. H.; Minguet, P. J.; Flynn, B. W.; Carbery, D. J.; Swanson, G. D.; Ilcewicz, L. B.

1997-01-01

Boeing is studying the technologies associated with the application of composite materials to commercial transport fuselage structure under the NASA-sponsored contracts for Advanced Technology Composite Aircraft Structures (ATCAS) and Materials Development Omnibus Contract (MDOC). This report addresses the program activities related to structural performance of the selected concepts, including both the design development and subsequent detailed evaluation. Design criteria were developed to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and typical company objectives. Accurate analysis methods were selected and/or developed where practical, and conservative approaches were used where significant approximations were necessary. Design sizing activities supported subsequent development by providing representative design configurations for structural evaluation and by identifying the critical performance issues. Significant program efforts were directed towards assessing structural performance predictive capability. The structural database collected to perform this assessment was intimately linked to the manufacturing scale-up activities to ensure inclusion of manufacturing-induced performance traits. Mechanical tests were conducted to support the development and critical evaluation of analysis methods addressing internal loads, stability, ultimate strength, attachment and splice strength, and damage tolerance. Unresolved aspects of these performance issues were identified as part of the assessments, providing direction for future development.

Sickle red cell adhesion: many issues and some answers.

PubMed

Kaul, D K

2008-01-01

Among multiple pathologies associated with sickle cell disease, sickle red cell-endothelial interaction has been implicated as a potential initiating mechanism in vaso-occlusive events that characterize this disease. Vast literature exists on various aspects of sickle red cell adhesion, but many issues remain unresolved, especially pertaining to the role of sickle red cell heterogeneity, the relative role of multiple adhesion mechanisms and targets of antiadhesive therapy. This review briefly analyzes these issues.

Immunogenicity and immune tolerance coagulation Factors VIII and IX.

PubMed

Rup, B

2003-01-01

Some of the major issues related to the development and control of antibodies that occur during treatment of haemophilia with replacement factors (Factor VIII and Factor IX) are reviewed. Information on analytical issues, immunogenicity, and immune tolerance may be applicable to the study of other therapeutic proteins. Conversely, new information obtained from evaluation of other therapeutic protein products may address issues that remain unresolved for Factor VIII and FIX replacement therapy.

Advance of Nitrogen Removal in Constructed Wetland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Anbin; Chen, Hao; You, Shaohong

2018-01-01

Based on current literature, the article reviewed the mechanism and route of nitrogen removal, discussed the microbial species associated with nitrogen metabolism in constructed wetlands. Key unresolved issues were concluded for classical and novel nitrogen removal routes.

Preterm birth, an unresolved issue.

PubMed

Belizán, Jose M; Hofmeyr, Justus; Buekens, Pierre; Salaria, Natasha

2013-11-15

Premature birth is the world's leading cause of neonatal mortality with worldwide estimates indicating 11.1% of all live births were preterm in 2010. Preterm birth rates are increasing in most countries with continual differences in survival rates amongst rich and poor countries. Preterm birth is currently an important unresolved global issue with research efforts focusing on uterine quiescence and activation, the 'omics' approaches and implementation science in order to reduce the incidence and increase survival rates of preterm babies. The journal Reproductive Health has published a supplement entitled Born Too Soon which addresses factors in the preconception and pregnancy period which may increase the risk of preterm birth and also outlines potential interventions which may reduce preterm birth rates and improve survival of preterm babies by as much as 84% annually. This is critical in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4) for child survival by 2015 and beyond.

Confronting uncomfortable truths: receptivity and resistance to Aboriginal content in midwifery education.

PubMed

Thackrah, Rosalie D; Thompson, Sandra C

2013-12-01

The emotional responses of students undertaking a new, compulsory unit on Indigenous cultures and health were investigated as part of a broader study looking at culturally secure practice in midwifery education and service provision for Aboriginal women. Classroom observations were conducted on a first year midwifery cohort from July to October 2012 and students completed 'before and after' questionnaires. A spectrum of emotional responses was identified and found to be consistent with studies of medical student exposure to Aboriginal content. While stereotypes were challenged and perceptions altered as a result of the content, issues surrounding racism remained unresolved, with some students expressing dismay at the attitudes of their peers. This study confirmed the need for content on Aboriginal health and cultures to extend beyond one unit in a course. Learning and knowledge must be carefully integrated and developed to maximise understanding and ensure that unresolved issues are addressed.

Oxytocin and the social brain: neural mechanisms and perspectives in human research.

PubMed

Kanat, Manuela; Heinrichs, Markus; Domes, Gregor

2014-09-11

The present paper summarizes functional imaging studies investigating the effects of intranasal oxytocin (OT) on brain responses to social stimuli. We aim to integrate previous research, point to unresolved issues and highlight perspectives for future studies. The studies so far have focused on identifying neural circuits underlying social information processing which are particularly sensitive to modulations by exogenous OT. Most consistently, stimulus-related responses of the amygdala and associated areas within the prefrontal and temporal cortices have been found to be modulated by OT administration. However, there are a number of unresolved issues related to the possible role of sex differences and hormonal status, genetic variability, and individual differences in socio-cognitive functioning. Future studies focusing on these open questions are expected to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the role of the central OT system in humans and may provide the basis for novel treatment approaches for mental disorders characterized by social deficits. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin and Social Behav. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Safeguarding patient privacy in electronic healthcare in the USA: the legal view.

PubMed

Walsh, Diana; Passerini, Katia; Varshney, Upkar; Fjermestad, Jerry

2008-01-01

The conflict between the sweeping power of technology to access and assemble personal information and the ongoing concern about our privacy and security is ever increasing. While we gradually need higher electronic access to medical information, issues relating to patient privacy and reducing vulnerability to security breaches surmount. In this paper, we take a legal perspective and examine the existing patchwork of laws and obligations governing health information in the USA. The study finds that as Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) increase in scope and dissemination, privacy protections gradually decrease due to the shortcomings in the legal system. The contributions of this paper are (1) an overview of the legal EMR issues in the USA, and (2) the identification of the unresolved legal issues and how these will escalate when health information is transmitted over wireless networks. More specifically, the paper discusses federal and state government regulations such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and judicial intervention. Based on the legal overview, the unresolved challenges are identified and suggestions for future research are included.

Fitting Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equation Models with Random Effects and Unknown Initial Conditions Using the Stochastic Approximation Expectation-Maximization (SAEM) Algorithm.

PubMed

Chow, Sy-Miin; Lu, Zhaohua; Sherwood, Andrew; Zhu, Hongtu

2016-03-01

The past decade has evidenced the increased prevalence of irregularly spaced longitudinal data in social sciences. Clearly lacking, however, are modeling tools that allow researchers to fit dynamic models to irregularly spaced data, particularly data that show nonlinearity and heterogeneity in dynamical structures. We consider the issue of fitting multivariate nonlinear differential equation models with random effects and unknown initial conditions to irregularly spaced data. A stochastic approximation expectation-maximization algorithm is proposed and its performance is evaluated using a benchmark nonlinear dynamical systems model, namely, the Van der Pol oscillator equations. The empirical utility of the proposed technique is illustrated using a set of 24-h ambulatory cardiovascular data from 168 men and women. Pertinent methodological challenges and unresolved issues are discussed.

FITTING NONLINEAR ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION MODELS WITH RANDOM EFFECTS AND UNKNOWN INITIAL CONDITIONS USING THE STOCHASTIC APPROXIMATION EXPECTATION–MAXIMIZATION (SAEM) ALGORITHM

PubMed Central

Chow, Sy- Miin; Lu, Zhaohua; Zhu, Hongtu; Sherwood, Andrew

2014-01-01

The past decade has evidenced the increased prevalence of irregularly spaced longitudinal data in social sciences. Clearly lacking, however, are modeling tools that allow researchers to fit dynamic models to irregularly spaced data, particularly data that show nonlinearity and heterogeneity in dynamical structures. We consider the issue of fitting multivariate nonlinear differential equation models with random effects and unknown initial conditions to irregularly spaced data. A stochastic approximation expectation–maximization algorithm is proposed and its performance is evaluated using a benchmark nonlinear dynamical systems model, namely, the Van der Pol oscillator equations. The empirical utility of the proposed technique is illustrated using a set of 24-h ambulatory cardiovascular data from 168 men and women. Pertinent methodological challenges and unresolved issues are discussed. PMID:25416456

Continuum and line spectra of degenerate dwarf X-ray sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lamb, D. Q.

1981-01-01

Recent observations of X-ray sources are summarized. Unresolved issues concerning these sources are discussed and an outline of the kinds of X-ray observations that would best advance the understanding of these sources is presented.

Medicine's Library Lifeline.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shipman, Jean; Homan, Michael

2003-01-01

Discusses how librarians in the new role of "informationist" can help doctors and researches of medical information. Describes existing models of the informationist; potential benefits of working across professional boundaries outside the library; professional requirements; and unresolved issues for the new role, including potential…

Artificial Intelligence for Command and Control

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-15

complexity of information and are a very active current research area. Some of the important unresolved frame -related issues are control issues , such as...indepth analysis of the combat engineer’s decisio -mnaking activities. -Specificaly 3 combat engineers-stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (307th...experience. The CETOOLS concept is potentially applicable in any decision- making environment, commercial or government, where plans for actions are

Unresolved Galaxy Classifier for ESA/Gaia mission: Support Vector Machines approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellas-Velidis, Ioannis; Kontizas, Mary; Dapergolas, Anastasios; Livanou, Evdokia; Kontizas, Evangelos; Karampelas, Antonios

A software package Unresolved Galaxy Classifier (UGC) is being developed for the ground-based pipeline of ESA's Gaia mission. It aims to provide an automated taxonomic classification and specific parameters estimation analyzing Gaia BP/RP instrument low-dispersion spectra of unresolved galaxies. The UGC algorithm is based on a supervised learning technique, the Support Vector Machines (SVM). The software is implemented in Java as two separate modules. An offline learning module provides functions for SVM-models training. Once trained, the set of models can be repeatedly applied to unknown galaxy spectra by the pipeline's application module. A library of galaxy models synthetic spectra, simulated for the BP/RP instrument, is used to train and test the modules. Science tests show a very good classification performance of UGC and relatively good regression performance, except for some of the parameters. Possible approaches to improve the performance are discussed.

Light-Induced Capacitance Tunability in Ferroelectric Crystals.

PubMed

Páez-Margarit, David; Rubio-Marcos, Fernando; Ochoa, Diego A; Del Campo, Adolfo; Fernández, José F; García, José E

2018-06-25

The remote controlling of ferroic properties with light is nowadays a hot and highly appealing topic in materials science. Here, we shed light on some of the unresolved issues surrounding light-matter coupling in ferroelectrics. Our findings show that the capacitance and, consequently, its related intrinsic material property, i.e., the dielectric constant, can be reversibly adjusted through the light power control. High photodielectric performance is exhibited across a wide range of the visible light wavelength because of the wavelength-independence of the phenomenon. We have verified that this counterintuitive behavior can be strongly ascribed to the existence of "locally free charges" at domain wall.

Role of attentional tags in working memory-driven attentional capture.

PubMed

Kuo, Chun-Yu; Chao, Hsuan-Fu

2014-08-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that the contents of working memory capture attention when performing a visual search task. However, it remains an intriguing and unresolved question whether all kinds of items stored in working memory capture attention. The present study investigated this issue by manipulating the attentional tags (target or distractor) associated with information maintained in working memory. The results showed that working memory-driven attentional capture is a flexible process, and that attentional tags associated with items stored in working memory do modulate attentional capture. When items were tagged as a target, they automatically captured attention; however, when items were tagged as a distractor, attentional capture was reduced.

10 CFR 709.15 - Processing counterintelligence evaluation results.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Processing counterintelligence evaluation results. 709.15... and Protection of National Security § 709.15 Processing counterintelligence evaluation results. (a) If... are significant unresolved issues, not exclusively related to polygraph examination results...

10 CFR 709.15 - Processing counterintelligence evaluation results.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Processing counterintelligence evaluation results. 709.15... and Protection of National Security § 709.15 Processing counterintelligence evaluation results. (a) If... are significant unresolved issues, not exclusively related to polygraph examination results...

10 CFR 709.15 - Processing counterintelligence evaluation results.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Processing counterintelligence evaluation results. 709.15... and Protection of National Security § 709.15 Processing counterintelligence evaluation results. (a) If... are significant unresolved issues, not exclusively related to polygraph examination results...

Scientific Results of the Nasa-sponsored Study Project on Mars: Evolution of Its Climate and Atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clifford, Stephen M.; Greeley, Ronald; Haberle, Robert M.

1988-01-01

The scientific highlights of the Mars: Evolution of its Climate and Atmosphere (MECA) study project are reviewed and some of the important issues in Martian climate research that remain unresolved are discussed.

The effects of scattering on the relative LPI performance of optical and mm-wave systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oetting, John; Hampton, Jerry

1988-01-01

Previous results comparing the LPI performance of optical and millimeter-wave satellite systems is extended to include the effects of scattering on optical LPI performance. The LPI figure of merit used to compare the two media is the circular equivalent vulnerability radius (CEVR). The CEVR is calculated for typical optical and spread spectrum millimeter-wave systems, and the LPI performance tradeoffs available with each medium are compared. Attention is given to the possibility that light will be scattered into the interceptor's FOV and thereby enable detection in geometries in which interception of the main beam is impossible. The effects of daytime vs. nighttime operation of the optical LPI system are also considered. Some illustrative results for the case of a ground-to-space uplink to a low earth orbit satellite are presented, along with some conclusions and unresolved issues for further study.

A Simple Case Study of a Grid Performance System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aydt, Ruth; Gunter, Dan; Quesnel, Darcy; Smith, Warren; Taylor, Valerie; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This document presents a simple case study of a Grid performance system based on the Grid Monitoring Architecture (GMA) being developed by the Grid Forum Performance Working Group. It describes how the various system components would interact for a very basic monitoring scenario, and is intended to introduce people to the terminology and concepts presented in greater detail in other Working Group documents. We believe that by focusing on the simple case first, working group members can familiarize themselves with terminology and concepts, and productively join in the ongoing discussions of the group. In addition, prototype implementations of this basic scenario can be built to explore the feasibility of the proposed architecture and to expose possible shortcomings. Once the simple case is understood and agreed upon, complexities can be added incrementally as warranted by cases not addressed in the most basic implementation described here. Following the basic performance monitoring scenario discussion, unresolved issues are introduced for future discussion.

MODIFYING THE AVIAN REPRODUCTION TEST GUIDELINES FOR DETERMINING DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS

EPA Science Inventory

As a subgroup of the OECD Expert Group on Assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Effects in Birds, we reviewed unresolved methodological issues important for the development of a two-generation toxicity text, discussed advantages and disadvantages of alternative approaches, and propo...

Manipulating Color and Other Visual Information Influences Picture Naming at Different Levels of Processing: Evidence from Alzheimer Subjects and Normal Controls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zannino, Gian Daniele; Perri, Roberta; Salamone, Giovanna; Di Lorenzo, Concetta; Caltagirone, Carlo; Carlesimo, Giovanni A.

2010-01-01

There is now a large body of evidence suggesting that color and photographic detail exert an effect on recognition of visually presented familiar objects. However, an unresolved issue is whether these factors act at the visual, the semantic or lexical level of the recognition process. In the present study, we investigated this issue by having…

Relationship between time management in construction industry and project management performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nasir, Najuwa; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Radzuan, Kamaruddin

2016-08-01

Nowadays, construction industry particularly in Malaysia struggle in achieving status of eminent time management for construction project. Project managers have a great responsibility to keep the project success under time of project completion. However, studies shows that delays especially in Malaysian construction industry still unresolved due to weakness in managing the project. In addition, quality of time management on construction projects is generally poor. Due to the progressively extended delays issue, time performance becomes an important subject to be explored to investigate delay factors. The method of this study is review of literature towards issues in construction industry which affecting time performance of project in general by focusing towards process involved for project management. Based on study, it was found that knowledge, commitment, cooperation are the main criteria as an overall to manage the project into a smooth process during project execution until completion. It can be concluded that, the strength between project manager and team members in these main criteria while conducting the project towards good time performance is highly needed. However, there is lack of establishment towards factors of poor time performance which strongly related with project management. Hence, this study has been conducted to establish factors of poor time performance and its relations with project management.

Specific issues in living donor kidney transplantation: ABO - incompatibility.

PubMed

Thaiss, Friedrich

2009-12-29

Pre-emptive living kidney transplantation is the best choice of therapy to treat patients with advanced renal insufficiency. Unfortunately in up to one third of all cases kidney donation was refused due to blood group incompatibility. Limitations in donor availability for kidney transplantation therefore require that ABO-incompatible transplantation is safely established. This has changed when a new protocol was introduced in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2001. Almost 400 ABO-incompatible transplantations have since been performed in more than 20 centers with this protocol in Europe. ABO-incompatible living kidney transplantation can now be offered to our patients with advanced kidney disease as a safe procedure. To get more insight into the role ABO-incompatible organ transplantation might play in the near future transplantation centers currently involved in these processes should share their data to answer the unresolved issues we are concerned. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

ISSUES IN DEVELOPING A TWO-GENERATION AVIAN TOXICITY TEST WITH JAPANESE QUAIL

EPA Science Inventory

As a subgroup of the OECD Expert Group on Assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Effects in Birds, we reviewed unresolved methodological issures important for the development of a two-generation toxicity test, discussed advantages and disadvantages of alternative approaches, and prop...

Research projects lead by the USDA Cranberry Entomology Laboratory (CEL)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

1. Newly discovered native nematode species represent bio-insecticides (grad student project) a. Problems being addressed: Issues over flea beetle control; unresolved questions over pesticide use during bloom. b. Discoveries: at least two native nematodes species new to science have been discovered ...

Planetary science and resource utilization at a lunar outpost - Chemical analytical facility requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, Lawrence A.

1992-01-01

Unresolved issues of lunar geology are reviewed and the role of a lunar outpost in helping to address them is considered. Plans for in situ resource utilization of lunar materials are examined. Concepts for a lunar outpost are described.

7 CFR 1940.307 - Environmental responsibilities within the State Office.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... any unresolved or difficult environmental issues in a timely manner; and (3) Incorporate into projects... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Environmental responsibilities within the State Office..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) PROGRAM REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) GENERAL Environmental Program § 1940...

Detecting unresolved binary stars in Euclid VIS images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuntzer, T.; Courbin, F.

2017-10-01

Measuring a weak gravitational lensing signal to the level required by the next generation of space-based surveys demands exquisite reconstruction of the point-spread function (PSF). However, unresolved binary stars can significantly distort the PSF shape. In an effort to mitigate this bias, we aim at detecting unresolved binaries in realistic Euclid stellar populations. We tested methods in numerical experiments where (I) the PSF shape is known to Euclid requirements across the field of view; and (II) the PSF shape is unknown. We drew simulated catalogues of PSF shapes for this proof-of-concept paper. Following the Euclid survey plan, the objects were observed four times. We propose three methods to detect unresolved binary stars. The detection is based on the systematic and correlated biases between exposures of the same object. One method is a simple correlation analysis, while the two others use supervised machine-learning algorithms (random forest and artificial neural network). In both experiments, we demonstrate the ability of our methods to detect unresolved binary stars in simulated catalogues. The performance depends on the level of prior knowledge of the PSF shape and the shape measurement errors. Good detection performances are observed in both experiments. Full complexity, in terms of the images and the survey design, is not included, but key aspects of a more mature pipeline are discussed. Finding unresolved binaries in objects used for PSF reconstruction increases the quality of the PSF determination at arbitrary positions. We show, using different approaches, that we are able to detect at least binary stars that are most damaging for the PSF reconstruction process. The code corresponding to the algorithms used in this work and all scripts to reproduce the results are publicly available from a GitHub repository accessible via http://lastro.epfl.ch/software

Delivery Issues in the Day Care Debate. Occasional Papers in Education: Paper No. 2 - Policy Studies of the Early Childhood Planning Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGee, Maureen

The question of who should provide day care services is an unresolved issue in the current day care debate and a topic now on the national agenda because it is the common concern of a constellation of diverse, highly motivated interest groups. Motivation for extending day care in the United States stems from several factors: among these are the…

Molecular Phylogenetics and the Perennial Problem of Homology.

PubMed

Inkpen, S Andrew; Doolittle, W Ford

2016-12-01

The concept of homology has a long history, during much of which the issue has been how to reconcile similarity and common descent when these are not coextensive. Although thinking molecular phylogeneticists have learned not to say "percent homology," the problems are deeper than that and unresolved.

The NII and the New World Trade Agreement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smoot, Oliver

1994-01-01

Examines the relationship between the National Information Infrastructure (NII) and the new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Topics discussed include the reduction or elimination of tariffs on NII products; protection of copyrighted works; unresolved trade issues, including the European telecommunications market; standards; and privacy and…

Uterine influences on conceptus development in fertility-classified heifers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A major unresolved issue is how the uterus influences infertility and subfertility in cattle. Serial embryo transfer was previously used to classify heifers as high fertile (HF), subfertile (SF), or infertile (IF). To assess pregnancy loss in those animals, two in vivo produced embryos were transfer...

Behavioral Assessment and Interventions in Youth Sports.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Ronald E.; And Others

1996-01-01

Discusses the use of behavioral assessment for both descriptive and program evaluation purposes. Notes the use of behavioral assessment to study coaching behaviors and their effects on young athletes. Operant and cognitive-behavioral interventions have proven effective in both athletic and psychosocial outcomes. Discusses unresolved issues and…

Poetry as a Healing Experience for Teams.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bronson, Jim; Schaub, Nancy

Experiential practitioners have the opportunity to help groups move to a higher level of functioning, getting beyond unresolved emotional issues and becoming more truthful, immediate, involved, and collaborative. This critical process takes place along a continuum from "staying safe and shallow" at one end to "going deep and…

Simulation of the human-telerobot interface on the Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stuart, Mark A.; Smith, Randy L.

1993-01-01

Many issues remain unresolved concerning the components of the human-telerobot interface presented in this work. It is critical that these components be optimally designed and arranged to ensure, not only that the overall system's goals are met, but but that the intended end-user has been optimally accommodated. With sufficient testing and evaluation throughout the development cycle, the selection of the components to use in the final telerobotic system can promote efficient, error-free performance. It is recommended that whole-system simulation with full-scale mockups be used to help design the human-telerobot interface. It is contended that the use of simulation can facilitate this design and evaluation process.

Bullying by Definition: An Examination of Definitional Components of Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldsmid, Susan; Howie, Pauline

2014-01-01

Lack of definitional consensus remains an important unresolved issue within bullying research. This study examined the ability of definitional variables to predict overall level of victimisation (distress, power inequity, and provocation as predictors) and bullying (intention to harm, power inequity, and provocation as predictors) in 246…

Structured Ethical Reflection in Practitioner Inquiry: Theory, Pedagogy, and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Douglas M.; Brydon-Miller, Mary; Raider-Roth, Miriam

2016-01-01

Practitioner inquiry provides a powerful tool for improving practice and addressing critical issues in classrooms, schools, and broader communities. However, it also raises unique ethical challenges that often go unrecognized and unresolved. Structured Ethical Reflection (SER) provides teacher researchers with a process for identifying core values…

Determination of Passing Scores on Certification Examinations: An Unresolved Issue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karni, Karen R.; Lofsness, Karen G.

1985-01-01

This study examined the results obtained from certification applicants and practitioners on a national certification examination for clinical laboratory scientists (medical technologists), using a modified Angoff procedure to establish the cut-off score. The major question of the investigation concerned whether the cut-off score was appropriate.…

Student Personnel Administration and the Adult Learner: An Unresolved Issue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Rollin J.

The role of college student personnel administration in serving adult learners is considered. Historical trends in the student personnel function and the philosophy that student personnel workers are educators who create programs that contribute to the student's overall educational growth are examined. Changes for the student development personnel…

12 CFR 5.34 - Operating subsidiaries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... entity if: (A) The bank has the ability to control the management and operations of the subsidiary; (B... entity is a corporation, limited liability company, or limited partnership; and (3) The bank: (i) Has the... analysis if the proposal is novel, unusually complex, or raises substantial unresolved legal issues. In...

12 CFR 5.34 - Operating subsidiaries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... entity if: (A) The bank has the ability to control the management and operations of the subsidiary; (B... entity is a corporation, limited liability company, or limited partnership; and (3) The bank: (i) Has the... analysis if the proposal is novel, unusually complex, or raises substantial unresolved legal issues. In...

12 CFR 5.34 - Operating subsidiaries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... entity if: (A) The bank has the ability to control the management and operations of the subsidiary; (B... entity is a corporation, limited liability company, or limited partnership; and (3) The bank: (i) Has the... analysis if the proposal is novel, unusually complex, or raises substantial unresolved legal issues. In...

Mode(s) of action of arsenic-induced tumors and toxicity.

EPA Science Inventory

Although arsenic has long been known for its toxicity and carcinogenicity, it is unknown exactly how these adverse health effects ocurr. Three of the biggest unresolved issues in arsenic exposures and adverse health effects are (a) what is (are) the mode of action (MOA)(s) of ar...

Accounting for sub-pixel variability of clouds and/or unresolved spectral variability, as needed, with generalized radiative transfer theory

DOE PAGES

Davis, Anthony B.; Xu, Feng; Collins, William D.

2015-03-01

Atmospheric hyperspectral VNIR sensing struggles with sub-pixel variability of clouds and limited spectral resolution mixing molecular lines. Our generalized radiative transfer model addresses both issues with new propagation kernels characterized by power-law decay in space.

Brain Responses to Filled Gaps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hestvik, Arild; Maxfield, Nathan; Schwartz, Richard G.; Shafer, Valerie

2007-01-01

An unresolved issue in the study of sentence comprehension is whether the process of gap-filling is mediated by the construction of empty categories (traces), or whether the parser relates fillers directly to the associated verb's argument structure. We conducted an event-related potentials (ERP) study that used the violation paradigm to examine…

Androgyny as Trait and as Role: Unresolved Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spence, Janet T.

In the late 1970's androgyny as a concept gained respectability, accompanied, however, by a backlash. Debate centered primarily on scientific grounds and both sides failed to define the concepts of masculinity, femininity and androgyny, including possible cultural relativity. Most empirical research on androgyny uses either the BSRI or the PAQ…

Sexuality and the Curriculum: The Politics and Practices of Sexuality Education. Critical Issues in the Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sears, James T., Ed.

This book of essays explores the explicit and hidden curriculum of sexuality from kindergarten through college. The 15 interrelated essays challenge conventional assumptions regarding sexuality and the curriculum by applying non-traditional perspectives to traditionally unresolved problems while proposing specific curricular strategies and…

Traumatic Brain Injury and Vocational Rehabilitation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corthell, David W., Ed.

Intended to serve as a resource guide on traumatic brain injury for rehabilitation practitioners, the book's 10 chapters are grouped into sections which provide an introduction and examine aspects of evaluation, treatment and placement planning, and unresolved issues. Chapters have the following titles and authors: "Scope of the Problem" (Marilyn…

"My Mom and Her Boyfriend Fuss": A Five-Minute RAP

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laursen, Erik K.; Whindleton, Kendra

2012-01-01

Unresolved issues from home often spill over into behavior problems at school. This article discusses the five-minute RAP techniques: (1) connect; (2) clarify; and (3) restore. The authors present a case study wherein this brief restorative intervention had been a successful alternative to punishment and exclusion.

The future of microarray technology: networking the genome search.

PubMed

D'Ambrosio, C; Gatta, L; Bonini, S

2005-10-01

In recent years microarray technology has been increasingly used in both basic and clinical research, providing substantial information for a better understanding of genome-environment interactions responsible for diseases, as well as for their diagnosis and treatment. However, in genomic research using microarray technology there are several unresolved issues, including scientific, ethical and legal issues. Networks of excellence like GA(2)LEN may represent the best approach for teaching, cost reduction, data repositories, and functional studies implementation.

Biotechnology patent challenged: ex-colleague seeks share of the credit.

PubMed

Budiansky, Stephen

1982-11-25

Dr. Robert Helling, supported by the University of Michigan, has decided to press a claim to co-ownership of two Cohen-Boyer genetic engineering patents assigned to Stanford and the University of California. This decision will likely delay further the issuing of the second patent, tentatively rejected by the Patent Office in part on the basis of Helling's unresolved role. It may also increase pressure for a re-examination of the first patent issued in 1980.

Spatially unresolved SED fitting can underestimate galaxy masses: a solution to the missing mass problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorba, Robert; Sawicki, Marcin

2018-05-01

We perform spatially resolved, pixel-by-pixel Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) fitting on galaxies up to z ˜ 2.5 in the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF). Comparing stellar mass estimates from spatially resolved and spatially unresolved photometry we find that unresolved masses can be systematically underestimated by factors of up to 5. The ratio of the unresolved to resolved mass measurement depends on the galaxy's specific star formation rate (sSFR): at low sSFRs the bias is small, but above sSFR ˜ 10-9.5 yr-1 the discrepancy increases rapidly such that galaxies with sSFRs ˜ 10-8 yr-1 have unresolved mass estimates of only one-half to one-fifth of the resolved value. This result indicates that stellar masses estimated from spatially unresolved data sets need to be systematically corrected, in some cases by large amounts, and we provide an analytic prescription for applying this correction. We show that correcting stellar mass measurements for this bias changes the normalization and slope of the star-forming main sequence and reduces its intrinsic width; most dramatically, correcting for the mass bias increases the stellar mass density of the Universe at high redshift and can resolve the long-standing discrepancy between the directly measured cosmic SFR density at z ≳ 1 and that inferred from stellar mass densities (`the missing mass problem').

Work–Family Conflict and Health Among Working Parents: Potential Linkages for Family Studies and Social Neuroscience

PubMed Central

Grzywacz, Joseph G.; Smith, Amy M.

2016-01-01

In this paired article the authors review research on paid work, parenting, and health in order to isolate fundamental questions and issues that remain unaddressed. Next, consistent with the theme of this special issue, the authors introduce social neuroscience and highlight how this emerging multidisciplinary science offers substantial promise for advancing key unresolved issues in the paid work, parenting, and health literature. The article concludes with suggestions for promising areas of research wherein family scientists and social neuroscientists could build collaborative research to address gaps in the work–family literature. PMID:27840467

Collins Center Update. Volume 15, Issue 3. April-June 2013

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

and unresolved boundary issues with Mali, Niger , and Benin . Within this security environment the Burkinabe Armed Forces are working with the U.S...Analytical Exchanges at Collins Hall • Burkina Faso Military Strategy Review Phase II • Joint Land, Air and Sea Strategic Exercise (JLASS-EX) 2013...Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 2 C S L D Burkina Faso Military Strategy Review Phase II Prof. B.F. Griffard and Prof. Bert B. Tussing Center for Strategic

Accountability as a Way Forward for Privacy Protection in the Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearson, Siani; Charlesworth, Andrew

The issue of how to provide appropriate privacy protection for cloud computing is important, and as yet unresolved. In this paper we propose an approach in which procedural and technical solutions are co-designed to demonstrate accountability as a path forward to resolving jurisdictional privacy and security risks within the cloud.

Contextual E-Learning Evaluation: A Preliminary Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voigt, Christian; Swatman, Paula M. C.

2004-01-01

The evaluation of solutions is a major unresolved issue for all those involved in e-learning. In this paper we illustrate the importance of context by means of a qualitative comparison of two e-learning prototype implementations--an action research case undertaken in conjunction with a major German insurance company; and a more experimental…

Iterative Purification and Effect Size Use with Logistic Regression for Differential Item Functioning Detection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

French, Brian F.; Maller, Susan J.

2007-01-01

Two unresolved implementation issues with logistic regression (LR) for differential item functioning (DIF) detection include ability purification and effect size use. Purification is suggested to control inaccuracies in DIF detection as a result of DIF items in the ability estimate. Additionally, effect size use may be beneficial in controlling…

Franchise competition in the electric utility industry

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

Vince, C.A.; Fogel, J.C.

Franchise competition is - and should be - an integral part of enhanced competition. It serves the traditional goal of encouraging lower costs through the threat of takeover or purchase. However, the issue of utility recovery for stranded costs stands as a major unresolved question affecting customers` ability to partake of this central aspect of competition.

Special Education History, Current Status and Future: India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antony, Pavan John

2013-01-01

Education of all children in public schools, including those with disabilities, continues to be an unresolved issue in many countries around the globe. While education of all children is mandated by law and considered a basic human right in many countries, the current status of implementation varies. India, for example, is an ancient country that…

Framing and Assessing Classroom Opportunity to Learn: The Case of Mexico

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Bryant; Pérez Martínez, María Guadalupe; Aguilar Escobar, Angélica

2016-01-01

Educational policy in Mexico and throughout Latin America is shifting focus from school access to school quality. Improving "quality" is often interpreted as enhancing student learning opportunities, but three issues remain unresolved: (a) what constitutes opportunity to learn (OTL) in classrooms; (b) how to assess classroom OTL (COTL);…

Collaborative Reasoning: Language-Rich Discussions for English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Jie; Dougherty Stahl, Katherine A.

2012-01-01

Collaborative Reasoning (CR) is a peer-led, small group discussion approach that aims to promote intellectual and personal engagement in elementary school classrooms. In CR, students read a text that raises an unresolved issue with multiple and competing points of view. Students are expected to take positions on a big question, support the…

The giant panda gut microbiome.

PubMed

Wei, Fuwen; Wang, Xiao; Wu, Qi

2015-08-01

Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are bamboo specialists that evolved from carnivores. Their gut microbiota probably aids in the digestion of cellulose and this is considered an example of gut microbiota adaptation to a bamboo diet. However, this issue remains unresolved and further functional and compositional studies are needed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Idiosyncratic Genetic Specificity for Neurolinguistic Systems: A Cause of Atypical or Delayed Language Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamendella, John T.

The diagnostic problem presented by children without obvious neurological, cognitive, genetic, emotional or environmental basis for their atypical or delayed language development is discussed. One unresolved issue is whether the deficits of such dysphasic children are linguistic or are more fundamental cognitive or perceptuomotor deficits. A…

The Role of Broca's Area in Sentence Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogalsky, Corianne; Hickok, Gregory

2011-01-01

The role of Broca's area in sentence processing has been debated for the last 30 years. A central and still unresolved issue is whether Broca's area plays a specific role in some aspect of syntactic processing (e.g., syntactic movement, hierarchical structure building) or whether it serves a more general function on which sentence processing…

Learning How They Learn: A Review of the Literature on Learning Styles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Vicki A.

The literature on learning styles is full of unresolved issues, both theoretical and practical. Early research into learning styles includes that of H. A. Witkin, who developed the Embedded Figures Test in the late 1960s. This test determines the "field dependence" or "field independence" of individuals, marking their global…

Widening Access to Scottish Higher Education: Unresolved Issues and Future Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riddell, Sheila

2016-01-01

Despite the Scottish Government's frequent affirmation of its commitment to social justice principles, there has of late been a recognition of the need for firmer action to tackle the social class gap in higher education participation, reflecting wider social inequalities in Scotland. In a recent policy statement, Angela Constance, Cabinet…

Causal Indicator Models: Unresolved Issues of Construction and Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Stephen G.; Grimm, Kevin J.

2014-01-01

These authors agree with Bainter and Bollen that causal effects represents a useful measurement structure in some applications. The structure of the science of the measurement problem should determine the model; the measurement model should not determine the science. They also applaud Bainter and Bollen's important reminder that the full…

Chocolate and cardiovascular health: is it too good to be true?

PubMed

Ariefdjohan, Merlin W; Savaiano, Dennis A

2005-12-01

Recent findings indicate that cocoa and chocolate, when processed appropriately, may contain relatively large amounts of flavonoids, particularly catechin and epicatechin. We review the benefits of these flavonoids, specifically with regard to cardiovascular health, and raise several unresolved issues that suggest the need for additional research and product development in this area.

Risk Management: the Economics and Mor ality of Safety Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, John

The introduction to the proceedings of the Royal Academy of Engineering 2006 seminar on The Economics and Morality of Safety (RAEng 2006) concluded with a list of issues that were ‘worthy of further exploration’. I have reduced them to the following questions: Why do moral arguments about ‘rights’ persist unresolved?

Satellite power system concept development and evaluation program. Volume 2: System definition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The system level results of the system definition studies performed by NASA as a part of the Department of Energy/NASA satellite power system concept development and evaluation program are summarized. System requirements and guidelines are discussed as well as the major elements that comprise the reference system and its design options. Alternative system approaches including different system sizes, solid state amplifier (microwave) concepts, and laser power transmission system cost summaries are reviewed. An overview of the system analysis and planning efforts is included. The overall study led to the conclusion that the reference satellite power system concept is a feasible baseload source of electrical power and, within the assumed guidelines, the minimum cost per kilowatt is achieved at the maximum output of 5 gigawatts to the utility grid. Major unresolved technical issues include maximum allowable microwave power density in the ionosphere and performance/mass characteristics of laser power transmission systems.

A subtraction scheme for computing QCD jet cross sections at NNLO: integrating the iterated singly-unresolved subtraction terms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolzoni, Paolo; Somogyi, Gábor; Trócsányi, Zoltán

2011-01-01

We perform the integration of all iterated singly-unresolved subtraction terms, as defined in ref. [1], over the two-particle factorized phase space. We also sum over the unresolved parton flavours. The final result can be written as a convolution (in colour space) of the Born cross section and an insertion operator. We spell out the insertion operator in terms of 24 basic integrals that are defined explicitly. We compute the coefficients of the Laurent expansion of these integrals in two different ways, with the method of Mellin-Barnes representations and sector decomposition. Finally, we present the Laurent-expansion of the full insertion operator for the specific examples of electron-positron annihilation into two and three jets.

Remaining uncertainties in the use of Rn-222 as a quantitative tracer of submarine groundwater discharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burnett, W.C.; Santos, I.R.; Weinstein, Y.; Swarzenski, P.W.; Herut, B.

2007-01-01

Research performed in many locations over the past decade has shown that radon is an effective tracer for quantifying submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). The technique works because both fresh and saline groundwaters acquire radon from the subterranean environment and display activities that are typically orders of magnitude greater than those found in coastal seawaters. However, some uncertainties and unanswered problems remain. We focus here on three components of the mass balance, each of which has some unresolved issues: (1) End-member radon - what to do if groundwater Rn measurements are highly variable? (2) Atmospheric evasion -do the standard gas exchange equations work under high-energy coastal mixing scenarios? And (3) "mixing" losses - are there other significant radon losses (e.g. recharge of coastal waters into the aquifer) besides those attributed to mixing with lower-activity waters offshore? We address these issues using data sets collected from several different types of coastal environment. Copyright ?? 2007 IAHS Press.

Memory Retrieval Given Two Independent Cues: Cue Selection or Parallel Access?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rickard, Timothy C.; Bajic, Daniel

2004-01-01

A basic but unresolved issue in the study of memory retrieval is whether multiple independent cues can be used concurrently (i.e., in parallel) to recall a single, common response. A number of empirical results, as well as potentially applicable theories, suggest that retrieval can proceed in parallel, though Rickard (1997) set forth a model that…

Working Memory in Children with Learning Disabilities in Reading versus Spelling: Searching for Overlapping and Specific Cognitive Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandenburg, Janin; Klesczewski, Julia; Fischbach, Anne; Schuchardt, Kirsten; Büttner, Gerhard; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2015-01-01

In transparent orthographies like German, isolated learning disabilities in either reading or spelling are common and occur as often as a combined reading and spelling disability. However, most issues surrounding the cognitive causes of these isolated or combined literacy difficulties are yet unresolved. Recently, working memory dysfunctions have…

Cooperative Learning: Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Grouping of Iranian EFL Learners in a Writing Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zamani, Mona

2016-01-01

One of the important aspects of learning and teaching through cooperation is the group composition or grouping "who with whom". An unresolved issue is that of the superiority of heterogeneity or homogeneity in the structure of the groups. The present study was an attempt to investigate the impact that homogeneous and heterogeneous…

Differential Labeling of Mental Illness by Social Status: A New Look at an Old Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thoits, Peggy A.

2005-01-01

Whether the higher rates of mental hospitalization and involuntary treatment for marginal social groups are due to differential labeling or simply to the occurrence of higher rates of disorder in these groups remains unresolved. I reexamine this issue with data from the National Comorbidity Survey (N = 5,877) that allow comparisons between…

The U.S. draft guidance regarding population and individual bioequivalence approaches: comments by a research-based pharmaceutical company.

PubMed

Hauschke, D; Steinijans, V W

2000-10-30

Generally, the motivation for switching from average bioequivalence to population and/or individual bio-equivalence is well recognized in the light of certain limitations of the concept of average bioequivalence. However, this switch still results in unresolved issues which should be addressed before the regulatory guidance is finalized.

Independent Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS): What Does CAS Measure?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kranzler, John H.; Keith, Timothy Z.

1999-01-01

Uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to address unresolved issues concerning the structure of the Cognitive Assessment System, a test of intelligence based upon the planning, attention, and simultaneous-successive (PASS) processes theory of human cognition. Results reveal that the CFA of the standardization data do not support use of the CAS…

Invention versus Direct Instruction: For Some Content, It's a Tie

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chase, Catherine C.; Klahr, David

2017-01-01

An important, but as yet unresolved pedagogical question is whether discovery-oriented or direct instruction methods lead to greater learning and transfer. We address this issue in a study with 101 fourth and fifth grade students that contrasts two distinct instructional methods. One is a blend of discovery and direct instruction called…

Revisiting the Energy Crisis: How Far Have We Come?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman, David Lewis

1995-01-01

This article is a summary of discussions that took place at a symposium attended by scholars and policymakers on the legacy of the 1970s energy crisis. Examines enduring impacts and unresolved issues, the possibility of a future embargo-style crisis, and the future of energy policy. Discusses energy and environment in developing countries. (LZ)

The Marginalisation of Indigenous Students within School Mathematics and the Math Wars: Seeking Resolutions within Ethical Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Gale L.; Chernoff, Egan J.

2013-01-01

In mathematics education, there are (at least) two seemingly disparate and unethical issues that have been allowed to continue unresolved for decades: the math wars (traditional versus reform teaching and learning of mathematics) and the marginalisation of Indigenous students within K-12 mathematics. Willie Ermine, an Indigenous scholar, has…

Microbes are trophic analogues of arthropods, mammals, and fish: Isotopic fingerprinting unites ‘green’ and ‘brown’ food webs

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This work addresses a cross-cutting issue within the field of food-web ecology—the integration of the microbiome into trophic hierarchies. The nature and degree to which microbes may reconfigure the trophic identities of carnivore and omnivore groups have remained surprisingly unresolved. This means...

The Construct Validity of HPAT-Ireland for the Selection of Medical Students: Unresolved Issues and Future Research Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Maureen E.; O'Flynn, Siun

2017-01-01

Aptitude tests are widely used in selection. However, despite certain advantages their use remains controversial. This paper aims to critically appraise five sources of evidence for the construct validity of the Health Professions Admission Test (HPAT)-Ireland, an aptitude test used for selecting undergraduate medical students. The objectives are…

Cost Issues Unresolved in Chicago

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawchuk, Stephen

2012-01-01

Chicago teachers voted last week to suspend a 7-day-old strike, sending some 350,000 students back to the classroom and paving the way for the teaching force to vote on a tentative contract. But for many in the Windy City, the contract has raised another potentially tall hurdle: how the cash-strapped district will manage to pay for it. District…

Distractor Repetitions Retrieve Previous Responses and Previous Targets: Experimental Dissociations of Distractor-Response and Distractor-Target Bindings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giesen, Carina; Rothermund, Klaus

2014-01-01

Even an irrelevant distractor stimulus is integrated into event files. Subsequently repeating the distractor triggers retrieval of the event file; however, an unresolved issue concerns the question of "what" is retrieved by the distractor. While recent studies predominantly assume that the distractor retrieves the previous response, it…

Family Interaction in the Newborn Period: Some Findings, Some Observations, and Some Unresolved Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parke, Ross D.

This paper presents two studies which explored the manner in which the father interacts with his newborn infant and compared paternal and maternal interaction patterns. In contrast to earlier studies, a direct observational approach was employed that permitted a detailed specification of father behaviors in the presence of the newborn. In the…

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): FMEA/CIL assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinsdale, L. W.; Swain, L. J.; Barnes, J. E.

1988-01-01

The McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company (MDAC) was selected to perform an Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL). Direction was given by the Orbiter and GFE Projects Office to perform the hardware analysis and assessment using the instructions and ground rules defined in NSTS 22206. The IOA analysis featured a top-down approach to determine hardware failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, the analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA and Prime Contractor FMEA/CIL documentation. The assessment process compared the independently derived failure modes and criticality assignments to the proposed NASA post 51-L FMEA/CIL documentation. When possible, assessment issues were discussed and resolved with the NASA subsystem managers. Unresolved issues were elevated to the Orbiter and GFE Projects Office manager, Configuration Control Board (CCB), or Program Requirements Control Board (PRCB) for further resolution. The most important Orbiter assessment finding was the previously unknown stuck autopilot push-button criticality 1/1 failure mode. The worst case effect could cause loss of crew/vehicle when the microwave landing system is not active. It is concluded that NASA and Prime Contractor Post 51-L FMEA/CIL documentation assessed by IOA is believed to be technically accurate and complete. All CIL issues were resolved. No FMEA issues remain that have safety implications. Consideration should be given, however, to upgrading NSTS 22206 with definitive ground rules which more clearly spell out the limits of redundancy.

Cardiometabolic risk in polycystic ovary syndrome.

PubMed

Bajuk Studen, Katica; Pfeifer, Marija

2018-05-29

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder in women of reproductive age. Besides hyperandrogenism, oligomenorrhea and fertility issues, it is associated with a high prevalence of metabolic disorders and cardiovascular risk factors. Several genetic polymorphisms have been identified for possible associations with cardiometabolic derangements in PCOS. Different PCOS phenotypes differ significantly in their cardiometabolic risk which is worsening with severity of androgen excess. Due to methodological difficulties longer time-scale data about cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in PCOS and about possible beneficial effects of different treatment interventions is missing leaving many issues regarding cardiovascular risk unresolved.

Advantages and Challenges of Radiative Liquid Lithium Divertor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ono, Masayuki

2017-10-01

Steady-state fusion power plant designs present major divertor technology challenges, including high divertor heat flux both in steady-state and during transients. In addition to these concerns, there are the unresolved technology issues of long term dust accumulation and associated tritium inventory and safety issues. The application of lithium (Li) in NSTX resulted in improved H-mode confinement, H-mode power threshold reduction, and reduction in the divertor peak heat flux while maintaining essentially Li-free core plasma operation even during H-modes. These promising results in NSTX and related modeling calculations motivated the radiative liquid Li divertor (RLLD) concept and its variant, the active liquid Li divertor concept (ARLLD), taking advantage of the enhanced Li radiation in relatively poorly confined divertor plasmas. It has been suggested that radiation-based liquid lithium (LL) divertor concepts with a modest Li-loop could provide a possible solution for the outstanding fusion reactor technology issues such as divertor heat flux mitigation and real time dust removal, while potentially improving the reactor plasma performance. Laboratory tests are also planned to investigate the Li-T recover efficiency and other relevant research topics of the RLLD. This work supported by DoE Contract No. DE-AC02-09CH11466.

Towards an internal model in pilot training.

PubMed

Braune, R J; Trollip, S R

1982-10-01

Optimal decision making requires an information seeking behavior which reflects the comprehension of the overall system dynamics. Research in the area of human monitors in man-machine systems supports the notion of an internal model with built-in expectancies. It is doubtful that the current approach to pilot training helps develop this internal model in the most efficient way. But this is crucial since the role of the pilot is changing to a systems' manager and decision maker. An extension of the behavioral framework of pilot training might help to prepare the pilot better for the increasingly complex flight environment. This extension is based on the theoretical model of schema theory, which evolved out of psychological research. The technological advances in aircraft simulators and in-flight performance measurement devices allow investigation of the still-unresolved issues.

Individual Differences, Intelligence, and Behavior Analysis

PubMed Central

Williams, Ben; Myerson, Joel; Hale, Sandra

2008-01-01

Despite its avowed goal of understanding individual behavior, the field of behavior analysis has largely ignored the determinants of consistent differences in level of performance among individuals. The present article discusses major findings in the study of individual differences in intelligence from the conceptual framework of a functional analysis of behavior. In addition to general intelligence, we discuss three other major aspects of behavior in which individuals differ: speed of processing, working memory, and the learning of three-term contingencies. Despite recent progress in our understanding of the relations among these aspects of behavior, numerous issues remain unresolved. Researchers need to determine which learning tasks predict individual differences in intelligence and which do not, and then identify the specific characteristics of these tasks that make such prediction possible. PMID:18831127

Integration of collinear-type doubly unresolved counterterms in NNLO jet cross sections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Duca, Vittorio; Somogyi, Gábor; Trócsányi, Zoltán

2013-06-01

In the context of a subtraction method for jet cross sections at NNLO accuracy in the strong coupling, we perform the integration over the two-particle factorised phase space of the collinear-type contributions to the doubly unresolved counterterms. We present the final result as a convolution in colour space of the Born cross section and of an insertion operator, which is written in terms of master integrals that we expand in the dimensional regularisation parameter.

A subtraction scheme for computing QCD jet cross sections at NNLO: integrating the subtraction terms I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somogyi, Gábor; Trócsányi, Zoltán

2008-08-01

In previous articles we outlined a subtraction scheme for regularizing doubly-real emission and real-virtual emission in next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) calculations of jet cross sections in electron-positron annihilation. In order to find the NNLO correction these subtraction terms have to be integrated over the factorized unresolved phase space and combined with the two-loop corrections. In this paper we perform the integration of all one-parton unresolved subtraction terms.

A subtraction scheme for computing QCD jet cross sections at NNLO: integrating the doubly unresolved subtraction terms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somogyi, Gábor

2013-04-01

We finish the definition of a subtraction scheme for computing NNLO corrections to QCD jet cross sections. In particular, we perform the integration of the soft-type contributions to the doubly unresolved counterterms via the method of Mellin-Barnes representations. With these final ingredients in place, the definition of the scheme is complete and the computation of fully differential rates for electron-positron annihilation into two and three jets at NNLO accuracy becomes feasible.

Comparing Pleasure and Pain: The Fundamental Mathematical Equivalence of Reward Gain and Shock Reduction under Variable Interval Schedules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mallpress, Dave E. W.; Fawcett, Tim W.; McNamara, John M.; Houston, Alasdair I.

2012-01-01

The relationship between positive and negative reinforcement and the symmetry of Thorndike's law of effect are unresolved issues in operant psychology. Here we show that, for a given pattern of responding on variable interval (VI) schedules with the same programmed rate of food rewards (positive reinforcement VI) or electric shocks (negative…

Equity for Cities in School Finance Reform: A Case for an "Equal Educational Offering" Standard in Public Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silard, John; And Others

In this study, focus is upon the question of the standard for educational expenditure rather than on the alternative taxing methods for securing school district funding equalization. Chapter I begins by examining the major issues vital to urban education which the "Serrano" principle leaves unresolved. Then in Chapter II, particular elements of…

Unresolved Issues and New Challenges in Teaching English to Young Learners: The Case of South Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garton, Sue

2014-01-01

The introduction of languages, especially English, into the primary curriculum around the world has been one of the major language-in-education policy developments in recent years. In countries where English has been compulsory for a number of years, the question arises as to what extent the numerous and well-documented challenges faced by the…

Balancing Communities, Cultures, and Conflict: Lessons Learned From the East Ramapo School District Legal Battle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ober, Patrick; Decker, Janet R.

2016-01-01

This case illustrates why future school leaders must be prepared to handle complex legal and political issues that commonly arise in school districts today. We discuss a long-standing and unresolved legal battle between a Hasidic Jewish community and the public school district in East Ramapo, New York. In particular, we examine the difficulties…

Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matthaeus, W. H.; Goldstein, M. L.

1983-01-01

Recent work in describing the solar wind as an MHD turbulent fluid has shown that the magnetic fluctuations are adequately described as time stationary and to some extent as spatially homogeneous. Spectra of the three rugged invariants of incompressible MHD are the principal quantities used to characterize the velocity and magnetic field fluctuations. Unresolved issues concerning the existence of actively developing turbulence are discussed.

The Oedipus Complex as Observed in Work with Couples and Their Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Lisa

2004-01-01

In work with couples where there is a child referred to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, there are opportunities to observe and to work with unresolved Oedipal issues brought by the parents to the task of creating a family. These conflicts can be seen enacted by the child or children, either internally or externally. Examples are…

Teaching Mathematical Problem-Solving with the Brain in Mind: How Can Opening a Closed Problem Help?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambrus, András

2014-01-01

In the international literature, increasing numbers of articles and books are published about teaching and learning, with the brain in mind. For a long time, I have been sceptical about this question. However, seeing many unresolved issues in the teaching and learning of mathematics, I slowly started to study the relevant literature and have…

Department of the Army Cost Analysis Manual

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-05-01

SECTION I - AUTOMATED COST ESTIMATING INTEGRATED TOOLS ( ACEIT ) ................................................................179 SECTION II - AUTOMATED...Management & Comptroller) endorsed the Automated Cost Estimating Integrated Tools ( ACEIT ) model and since it is widely used to prepare POEs, CCAs and...CRB IPT (in ACEIT ) will be the basis for information contained in the CAB. Any remaining unresolved issues from the IPT process will be raised at the

Canadian Policy--First Nation Involvement in the Funding and the Politics of Post-Secondary Education: How Much Is Enough?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lanceley, Darlene

For Canada Natives, the unresolved issue of postsecondary education as a treaty right is at the center of discord in relation to budget constraints. The government's fiduciary responsibilities have devolved to First Nations administration, which allows for greater tribal control over the economics of individual First Nations and jurisdiction for…

An Overview of School Dropout in Central America: Unresolved Issues and New Challenges for Education Progress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adelman, Melissa A.; Székely, Miguel

2017-01-01

School dropout is a growing concern in Central America, and in Latin America as a whole, because of its consequences for economic productivity, the inclusiveness of growth, social cohesion, and increasing youth risks. This paper utilizes more than two decades of household survey data to construct a systematic overview of school dropout at the…

Eating disorders in adolescence: attachment issues from a developmental perspective

PubMed Central

Gander, Manuela; Sevecke, Kathrin; Buchheim, Anna

2015-01-01

In the present article we review findings from an emerging body of research on attachment issues in adolescents with eating disorders from a developmental perspective. Articles for inclusion in this review were identified from PsychINFO (1966–2013), Sciencedirect (1970–2013), Psychindex (1980–2013), and Pubmed (1980–2013). First, we will outline the crucial developmental changes in the attachment system and discuss how they might be related to the early onset of the disease. Then we will report on the major results from attachment studies using self-report and narrative instruments in that age group. Studies with a developmental approach on attachment will be analyzed in more detail. The high incidence of the unresolved attachment pattern in eating disorder samples is striking, especially for patients with anorexia nervosa. Interestingly, this predominance of the unresolved category was also found in their mothers. To date, these transgenerational aspects are still poorly understood and therefore represent an exciting research frontier. Future studies that include larger adolescent samples and provide a more detailed description including symptom severity and comorbidity would contribute to a better understanding of this complex and painful condition. PMID:26321974

Thyrotropin receptor mutations and thyroid hyperfunctioning adenomas ten years after their first discovery: unresolved questions.

PubMed

Arturi, F; Scarpelli, D; Coco, A; Sacco, R; Bruno, R; Filetti, S; Russo, D

2003-04-01

Ten years after the first description of activating mutations in the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) gene in sporadic autonomous hyperfunctioning thyroid adenomas, there is general agreement in assigning a major pathogenic role of this genetic abnormality, acting via the constitutive activation of the cAMP pathway, in both the growth and functional characteristic of these tumours. From the beginning, however, the pathophysiological and clinical relevance of somatic TSHR mutations has been debated and some arguments still exist against a fully causative role of these mutations and the practical value of detecting these mutations for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of thyroid hot nodules. Some major issues will be examined herein, including (a) the frequency of TSHR alterations in various reports showing that the genetic abnormality underlying the pathogenesis of a substantial subset of thyroid tumours has yet to be identified; (b) the limitations of the present experimental models, which suggest greater caution in the interpretation of in vitro results; (c) the still unresolved question of absence of genotype-phenotype correlation. Clarification of these issues may hopefully provide new and useful tools for improving the clinical management of this disease.

The infant incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit: unresolved issues and future developments.

PubMed

Antonucci, Roberto; Porcella, Annalisa; Fanos, Vassilios

2009-01-01

Since the 19th century, devices termed incubators were developed to maintain thermal stability in low birth weight (LBW) and sick newborns, thus improving their chances of survival. Remarkable progress has been made in the production of infant incubators, which are currently highly technological devices. However, they still need to be improved in many aspects. Regarding the temperature and humidity control, future incubators should minimize heat loss from the neonate and eddies around him/her. An unresolved issue is exposure to high noise levels in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Strategies aimed at modifying the behavior of NICU personnel, along with structural improvements in incubator design, are required to reduce noise exposure. Light environment should be taken into consideration in designing new models of incubators. In fact, ambient NICU illumination may cause visual pathway sequelae or possibly retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), while premature exposure to continuous lighting may adversely affect the rest-activity patterns of the newborn. Accordingly, both the use of incubator covers and circadian lighting in the NICU might attenuate these effects. The impact of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on infant health is still unclear. However, future incubators should be designed to minimize the EMF exposure of the newborn.

Vitamin D supplementation for osteoporosis in older adults: can we make it help better?

PubMed

Dong, C-H; Gao, Q-M; Wang, Z-M; Wang, A-M; Zhen, P

2016-11-01

With the increase of the average age of our population, the incidence of diseases specific for older adults has been increasing. One of such diseases is osteoporosis. The true incidence of osteoporosis is unknown. But the estimates indicate that this disease affects wide proportions of the population, ranging in millions or even ten millions in large countries like the United States. As this poses a significant burden on the health care system, interventions that could prevent or treat this condition are in the focus of clinical research. Vitamin D, the determinant of bone health, has been tested in clinical studies as the agent to treat osteoporosis. Despite the progress, there is still some controversy about the targeted blood levels of vitamin D, most efficient way to supplement this vitamin, and clinical efficacy of this supplementation in the elderly.In the present review, we will highlight the metabolism of vitamin D and the aforementioned unresolved issues, as well as review the recent interventional studies on vitamin D supplementation. In the present review, we will highlight the metabolism of vitamin D and the aforementioned unresolved issues, as well as review the recent interventional studies on vitamin D supplementation.

Partially-Averaged Navier Stokes Model for Turbulence: Implementation and Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Girimaji, Sharath S.; Abdol-Hamid, Khaled S.

2005-01-01

Partially-averaged Navier Stokes (PANS) is a suite of turbulence closure models of various modeled-to-resolved scale ratios ranging from Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) to Navier-Stokes (direct numerical simulations). The objective of PANS, like hybrid models, is to resolve large scale structures at reasonable computational expense. The modeled-to-resolved scale ratio or the level of physical resolution in PANS is quantified by two parameters: the unresolved-to-total ratios of kinetic energy (f(sub k)) and dissipation (f(sub epsilon)). The unresolved-scale stress is modeled with the Boussinesq approximation and modeled transport equations are solved for the unresolved kinetic energy and dissipation. In this paper, we first present a brief discussion of the PANS philosophy followed by a description of the implementation procedure and finally perform preliminary evaluation in benchmark problems.

Space station human productivity study. Volume 5: Management plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

The 67 Management Plans represent recommended study approaches for resolving 108 of the 305 Issues which were identified. Each study Management Plan is prepared in three formats: Management Plan Overview (lists the subsumed Issues, study background, and related overview information); Study Plan (details the study approach by tasks, lists special needs, and describes expected study products); Schedule-Task Flow (provides a time-lined schedule for the study tasks and resource requirements). The Management Relationships Matrix, included in this volume, shows the data input-output relationships among all recommended studies. A listing is also included which cross-references the unresolved requirements to Issues to management plans. A glossary of all abbreviations utilized is provided.

Prospective Assessment of Neurocognition in Future Gulf-deployed and Gulf-nondeployed Military Personnel: A Pilot Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

increased emotional distress but with advantaged simple reactiontime. Unit cohesion buffers the adverse effects of early life events on PTSD prior to...motor speed), and emotional (e.g., mood) behaviors thought to reflect neural integrity. Unresolved issues include whether subjective...including neurobehavioral and emotional functioning, (b) examine the impact of deployment-related stress and environmental exposures on

Implicit Learning in the Crowd: Investigating the Role of Awareness in the Acquisition of L2 Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerz, Elma; Wiechmann, Daniel; Riedel, Florian B.

2017-01-01

A growing field of research has made use of a semiartificial language paradigm to investigate the role of awareness in L2 acquisition. A central and empirically still unresolved issue in this field concerns the possibility of learning implicitly, that is, without intention to learn and without awareness of what has been learned. Up until now,…

Exercise Ventilatory Limitation: The Role Of Expiratory Flow Limitation

PubMed Central

Babb, Tony G.

2012-01-01

Ventilatory limitation to exercise remains an important unresolved clinical issue; as a result, many individuals misinterpret the effects of expiratory flow limitation as an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Expiratory flow limitation is not all-or-none; approaching maximal expiratory flow can have important effects not only on ventilatory capacity but also on breathing mechanics, ventilatory control, and possibly exertional dyspnea and exercise intolerance. PMID:23038244

The Effectiveness of Instructor Personalized and Formative Feedback Provided by Instructor in an Online Setting: Some Unresolved Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Planar, Dolors; Moya, Soledad

2016-01-01

Formative feedback has great potential for teaching and learning in online undergraduate programmes. There is a large number of courses where the main source of feedback is provided by the instructor. This is particularly seen in subjects where assessments are designed based on specific activities which are the same for all students, and where the…

Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Bench to Bedside

PubMed Central

Schilling, Joel D.; Mann, Douglas L.

2012-01-01

The study of diabetic cardiomyopathy (diabetic CM) is an area of significant interest given the strong association between diabetes and the risk of heart failure. Many unanswered questions remain regarding the clinical definition and pathogenesis of this metabolic cardiomyopathy. This article reviews the current understanding of diabetic CM with a particular emphasis on the unresolved issues that have limited translation of scientific discovery to patient bedside. PMID:22999244

Mean Length of Utterance in Children with Specific Language Impairment and in Younger Control Children Shows Concurrent Validity and Stable and Parallel Growth Trajectories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Mabel L.; Redmond, Sean M.; Hoffman, Lesa

2006-01-01

Purpose: Although mean length of utterance (MLU) is a useful benchmark in studies of children with specific language impairment (SLI), some empirical and interpretive issues are unresolved. The authors report on 2 studies examining, respectively, the concurrent validity and temporal stability of MLU equivalency between children with SLI and…

Teacher Collaboration Praxis: Conflicts, Borders, and Ideologies from a Micropolitical Perspective (La práctica colaborativa entre docentes: conflictos, fronteras e ideologías desde una perspectiva micropolítica)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keranen, Nancy; Encinas Prudencio, Fátima

2014-01-01

This paper looks at a feature of teacher collaboration within Achinstein's (2002) micropolitics of collaboration but from an intrapersonal perspective. Results discussed feature issues of conflict, borders, and ideologies within each participating teacher rather than between teachers. Unresolved or unacknowledged intrapersonal conflict might lead…

Character Building or Subversive Consequences of Employment during High School: Causal Effects Based on Propensity Score Models for Categorical Treatments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagengast, Benjamin; Marsh, Herbert W.; Chiorri, Carlo; Hau, Kit-Tai

2014-01-01

The present study revisited the unresolved issue of the long-term effects of part-time working intensity during high school on students' achievement, participation in postsecondary education, time allocation, and work-related values and expectations. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (N = 14,654), the effects of part-time…

Heart Failure: From Research to Clinical Practice.

PubMed

Islam, Md Shahidul

2018-01-01

"Heart failure: from research to clinical practice", a collection of selected reviews, which comes out also as a book, covers essentially all important aspects of heart failure, including the pathogenesis, clinical features, biomarkers, imaging techniques, medical treatment and surgical treatments, use of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and palliative care. The reviews include essential background information, state of the art, critical and in-depth analysis, and directions for future researches for elucidation of the unresolved issues. Everyone interested in heart failure is expected to find this compilation helpful for a deeper understanding of some of the complex issues.

Pilot workload and fatigue: A critical survey of concepts and assessment techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gartner, W. B.; Murphy, M. R.

1976-01-01

The principal unresolved issues in conceptualizing and measuring pilot workload and fatigue are discussed. These issues are seen as limiting the development of more useful working concepts and techniques and their application to systems engineering and management activities. A conceptual analysis of pilot workload and fatigue, an overview and critique of approaches to the assessment of these phenomena, and a discussion of current trends in the management of unwanted workload and fatigue effects are presented. Refinements and innovations in assessment methods are recommended for enhancing the practical significance of workload and fatigue studies.

Fundamental issues in the geology and geophysics of venus.

PubMed

Solomon, S C; Head, J W

1991-04-12

A number of important and currently unresolved issues in the global geology and geophysics of Venus will be addressable with the radar imaging, altimetry, and gravity measurements now forthcoming from the Magellan mission. Among these are the global volcanic flux and the rate of formation of new crust; the global heat flux and its regional variations; the relative importance of localized hot spots and linear centers of crustal spreading to crustal formation and tectonics; and the planform of mantle convection on Venus and the nature of the interactions among interior convective flow, near-surface deformation and magmatism.

Rule extraction from minimal neural networks for credit card screening.

PubMed

Setiono, Rudy; Baesens, Bart; Mues, Christophe

2011-08-01

While feedforward neural networks have been widely accepted as effective tools for solving classification problems, the issue of finding the best network architecture remains unresolved, particularly so in real-world problem settings. We address this issue in the context of credit card screening, where it is important to not only find a neural network with good predictive performance but also one that facilitates a clear explanation of how it produces its predictions. We show that minimal neural networks with as few as one hidden unit provide good predictive accuracy, while having the added advantage of making it easier to generate concise and comprehensible classification rules for the user. To further reduce model size, a novel approach is suggested in which network connections from the input units to this hidden unit are removed by a very straightaway pruning procedure. In terms of predictive accuracy, both the minimized neural networks and the rule sets generated from them are shown to compare favorably with other neural network based classifiers. The rules generated from the minimized neural networks are concise and thus easier to validate in a real-life setting.

Designing Efficient Self-Diagnosis Activities in the Physics Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safadi, Rafi'

2017-12-01

Self-diagnosis (SD) activities require students to self-diagnose their solutions to problems that they solved on their own. This involves identifying where they went wrong and then explaining the nature of their errors—why they went wrong—aided by some form of support. Worked examples (WEs) are often used to support students in SD activities. A WE is a step-by-step demonstration of how to solve a problem. One unresolved issue is why students fail to exploit WEs in SD exercises. Yerushalmi et al., for instance, provided students with written WEs and asked them to self-diagnose their solutions with respect to these WEs. These authors found no correlation between students' SD performance and their subsequent problem-solving performance on transfer problems, suggesting that students had only superficially exploited the written WEs. The aim of this article is to describe a new SD activity that was developed to prompt students to effectively use written WEs when self-diagnosing, and to examine its effectiveness in advancing students' learning in physics.

Identifying ethical issues of the Department of the Army civilian and Army Nurse Corps certified registered nurse anesthetists.

PubMed

Jenkins, Constance L; Elliott, Aaron R; Harris, Janet R

2006-08-01

The purposes of this study were to identify the ethical issues Department of the Army civilian and Army Nurse Corps certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) encountered in their anesthesia practice and how disturbed they were by these issues. This descriptive study used a secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional survey of Army Nurse Corps officers and Department of the Army civilian registered nurses (N = 5,293). The CRNA subset (n = 97) was obtained from questionnaires that indicated a primary practice setting as anesthesia. The most frequently occurring ethical issue identified was conflict in the nurse-physician relationship, whereas the most disturbing issue was working with incompetent/impaired colleagues. Unresolved ethical conflicts can negatively influence the nurses' morale, leading to avoidance of the issue and contributing to burnout. Identifying the ethical issues and disturbance level experienced by CRNAs should contribute to the development of an ethics education program that addresses issues encountered in CRNA practice.

Can we improve the performance and reporting of investigator-initiated clinical trials? Rheumatoid arthritis as an example.

PubMed

Landewé, Robert B M; Smolen, Josef S; Weinblatt, Michael E; Emery, Paul; Dougados, Maxime; Fleischmann, Roy; Aletaha, Daniel; Kavanaugh, Arthur; van der Heijde, Désirée

2014-10-01

Investigator-initiated trials, some of which have been referred to as comparative effectiveness trials, pragmatic trials, or strategy trials, are sometimes considered to be of greater clinical importance than industry-driven trials, because they address important but unresolved clinical questions that differ from the questions asked in industry-driven trials. Regulatory authorities have provided methodological guidance for industry-driven trials for the approval of new treatments, but such guidance is less clear for investigator-initiated trials. The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) task force for the update of the recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis has critically looked at the methodological quality and conduct of many investigator-initiated trials, and has identified a number of concerns. In this Viewpoint paper, we highlight commonly encountered issues that are discussed using examples of well-known investigator-initiated trials. These issues cover three themes: (1) design choice (superiority vs non-inferiority designs); (2) statistical power and (3) convenience reporting. Since we acknowledge the importance of investigator-initiated research, we also propose a shortlist of points-to-consider when designing, performing and reporting investigator-initiated trials. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

High Performance Distributed Computing in a Supercomputer Environment: Computational Services and Applications Issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Williams T. C.; Simon, Horst D.

1994-01-01

This tutorial proposes to be a practical guide for the uninitiated to the main topics and themes of high-performance computing (HPC), with particular emphasis to distributed computing. The intent is first to provide some guidance and directions in the rapidly increasing field of scientific computing using both massively parallel and traditional supercomputers. Because of their considerable potential computational power, loosely or tightly coupled clusters of workstations are increasingly considered as a third alternative to both the more conventional supercomputers based on a small number of powerful vector processors, as well as high massively parallel processors. Even though many research issues concerning the effective use of workstation clusters and their integration into a large scale production facility are still unresolved, such clusters are already used for production computing. In this tutorial we will utilize the unique experience made at the NAS facility at NASA Ames Research Center. Over the last five years at NAS massively parallel supercomputers such as the Connection Machines CM-2 and CM-5 from Thinking Machines Corporation and the iPSC/860 (Touchstone Gamma Machine) and Paragon Machines from Intel were used in a production supercomputer center alongside with traditional vector supercomputers such as the Cray Y-MP and C90.

Development of Anti-Loosening Performance of Hyper Lock Nut

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishiyama, Shuji; Migita, Hiroaki; Kataoka, Mitumasa; Nakasaki, Nobuyuki; Murano, Kohshi

Bolted joints are widely used in mechanical structures as they allow easy disassembly for maintenance without high cost. However, vibration-induced loosening due to dynamic loading remains a long-unresolved issue. We have developed a new type of nut named the hyper lock nut (HLN) that offers anti-loosening performance without a complicated tightening process and tools. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of joints bolted with the HLN, and tightening behavior was analyzed using the three-dimensional finite element method. The analytical results were compared with the experimental results for the HLN, and close qualitative agreement was observed between the two with respect to displacement, tightening force and tightening torque. We found a number of new aspects and plus points for joints bolted with the HLN in comparison to those fastened with JIS standard nuts. It was found that the tightening torque of the HLN is higher than that of JIS standard nuts, and that satisfactory anti-loosening performance can be realized through the thread contact force at the slit region and the angular face of the bearing surface.

Unresolved mourning, supernatural beliefs and dissociation: a mediation analysis.

PubMed

Thomson, Paula; Jaque, S Victoria

2014-01-01

Unresolved mourning is marked by disorganized behavior and states of mind. In this study, we speculated that pathological dissociation would mediate the effects of unresolved mourning on supernatural beliefs. This hypothesis was determined based on findings that indicate an association between higher levels of dissociation, stronger beliefs in the supernatural and unresolved mourning. We examined two groups of participants, one classified as non-unresolved (non-U) (n = 56) and the other as unresolved (n = 26) (U) with respect to past loss/trauma as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Two self-report instruments were administered to measure supernatural beliefs and dissociation. As hypothesized, the multivariate analysis of variance indicated mean differences between the two groups. The unresolved group had greater belief in the supernatural and more pathological dissociative processes. The mediation analysis demonstrated that pathological dissociation fully mediated the effects of unresolved mourning on supernatural beliefs.

Results of arthroscopic treatment in unresolved Osgood-Schlatter disease in athletes.

PubMed

Circi, Esra; Beyzadeoglu, Tahsin

2017-02-01

In this study we aimed to determine outcomes following arthroscopic ossicle excision in athletes with unresolved Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD). Arthroscopy was performed on 11 patients (11 knees) with OSD between September 2008 and November 2014. Surgical treatment inclusion criteria were determined as: failure of conservative treatment; isolated pain over the tibial tubercle and distal patellar tendon; pain limiting sporting performance at a competitive level. All patients had a documented history of OSD; the mean duration of persistent pain over the tibial tubercle was 15.5 months. The mean age was 23 years. The mean follow-up period was 66.1 months. The mean latency in returning to sports related training activities after the surgery was 6.7 weeks. The mean Kujala patello-femoral score improved from 82.9 points pre-operatively, to 98.5 points at the final follow-up (p < 0.01). The mean Lysholm knee scale score was 87.5 points in the pre-operative period, increasing to a score of 96.9 points at final follow-up (p < 0.01). The mean Tegner activity level score was 7.5 in the pre-operative period, increasing to 8.5 post-operatively (p < 0.01). We investigated the functional outcomes after arthroscopic treatment of unresolved OSD in athletes. All athletes with OSD showed satisfactory functional recovery following arthroscopic treatment. All patients were able to return to the same level of athletic activity. Arthroscopic surgery for unresolved OSD has the major advantage of faster recovery and avoiding damage to the patellar tendon.

Integrative dimensions of psychotherapy training.

PubMed

Greben, Daniel H

2004-04-01

This paper investigates the influence of integrative factors on psychotherapy education. The broad relevance of integrative psychotherapy to residency training and continuing mental health education is discussed. Following a review of the existing literature on the education of integrative psychotherapists, the article systematically examines the integrative and pedagogic issues to be considered in planning psychotherapy training informed by integrative principles. The integrative issues are organized into 5 categories: attitudinal set, knowledge base, clinical techniques and skills, developmental tasks and challenges, and systemic institutional factors. The educational issues can be divided into 4 categories: content, format and process, sequence, and faculty development. Brief descriptions of actual educational interventions illustrate the implementation of such ideas. Specific recommendations are made regarding the development of integrative educational initiatives and future study of unresolved questions.

Bigeye Bomb: Unresolved Development Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-11

the lethal agent formed inside the Bigeye bomb) at the purity or equivalent- biotoxicity level required by the Test and Eval- uation Master Plan (TEMP...during the 5 through 30-second period after mixing starts, with- out specifying either wheit the required purity or equivalent biotoxicity level should...revision of the purity or equivalent biotoxicity requirement. However, we believe that a bomb that produces lethal agent at the required purity level for 1

Calcium in the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis: EMAS clinical guide.

PubMed

Cano, Antonio; Chedraui, Peter; Goulis, Dimitrios G; Lopes, Patrice; Mishra, Gita; Mueck, Alfred; Senturk, Levent M; Simoncini, Tommaso; Stevenson, John C; Stute, Petra; Tuomikoski, Pauliina; Rees, Margaret; Lambrinoudaki, Irene

2018-01-01

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a highly prevalent disease. Prevention through lifestyle measures includes an adequate calcium intake. Despite the guidance provided by scientific societies and governmental bodies worldwide, many issues remain unresolved. To provide evidence regarding the impact of calcium intake on the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis and critically appraise current guidelines. Literature review and consensus of expert opinion. The recommended daily intake of calcium varies between 700 and 1200mg of elemental calcium, depending on the endorsing source. Although calcium can be derived either from the diet or supplements, the former source is preferred. Intake below the recommended amount may increase fragility fracture risk; however, there is no consistent evidence that calcium supplementation at, or above, recommended levels reduces risk. The addition of vitamin D may minimally reduce fractures, mainly among institutionalised people. Excessive intake of calcium, defined as higher than 2000mg/day, can be potentially harmful. Some studies demonstrated harm even at lower dosages. An increased risk for cardiovascular events, urolithiasis and even fractures has been found in association with excessive calcium intake, but this issue remains unresolved. In conclusion, an adequate intake of calcium is recommended for general bone health. Excessive calcium intake seems of no benefit, and could possibly be harmful. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Show me the money: the implications of Schedule H.

PubMed

Salinsky, Eileen

2009-04-21

Responding to policymakers' concerns, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) implemented significant new hospital community benefit reporting under Schedule H of its revised Form 990, the return used by tax-exempt organizations. This issue brief considers the policy implications of the quantitative and qualitative information that hospitals are now mandated to report through Schedule H, including the costs associated with charity care, bad debt, and the unreimbursed costs of Medicaid and Medicare. The paper examines unresolved issues related to the new reporting requirements, such as controversies regarding the scope of Schedule H, and considers the potential for these reports to influence IRS oversight activities, legislative action, and hospital policies and practices.

High-rise housing in the city of Samara: the first steps on the path to sustainable development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vavilova, Tatiana Ya.; Makeeva, Elena Yu.

2018-03-01

This paper outlines theoretical background of high-rise housing and discusses its design experience. It particularly focuses on environmental, social and economic aspects which are among crucial sustainable development issues. The authors dwell upon the implementation of innovative solutions that meet principles and goals of sustainable development and take construction objects built in Samara (which is one of the largest metropolises in Russia) as an example. The research also investigates the quality of project designs and reveals techniques corresponding to the "green standards". It considers the issues of practicing high-rise building construction in specific urban conditions and identifies unresolved architectural problems.

Auditory subliminal stimulation: a re-examination.

PubMed

Urban, M J

1992-04-01

Unconscious or subliminal perception has historically been a thorny issue in psychology. It has been the subject of debate and experimentation since the turn of the century. While psychologists now agree that the phenomenon of visual subliminal stimulation is real, disagreement continues over the effects of such stimulation as well as to its existence in other sensory modalities, notably the auditory. The present paper provides an overview of unresolved issues in auditory subliminal stimulation which explains much of the difficulty that has been encountered in experimental work in this area. A context is proposed for considering the effects of auditory subliminal stimulation and an overview of current investigations in this field is provided.

CrossTalk proposal: Heat acclimatization does improve performance in a cool condition.

PubMed

Minson, Christopher T; Cotter, James D

2016-01-15

We believe available data support the thesis that HA can improve performance in cool conditions, and perhaps with less expense and fewer side-effects than hypoxia (Dempsey & Morgan, 2015), but its utility is unresolved and may be modest or absent in some settings and individuals. A few key issues are becoming clear, however. First, HA must be of sufficient stimulus and duration, with key evidence indicating longer is better. Second, individual variability in response to HA as an ergogenic aid needs to be considered. Third, key training aspects such as speed and intensity may need to be maintained, and ideally performed in a cooler environment to maximize gains and minimize fatigue (including the effects of matched absolute versus relative work rates on adaptations). Alternatively, passive heating should be considered (e.g. immediately after training). Fourth, there is no evidence that HA impairs cool weather performance, and thus HA is a useful strategy when the competitive environmental conditions are potentially hot or unknown. Fifth, much remains unknown about ideal timing for competition following HA and its decay. Lastly, an ergogenic effect of HA has yet to be studied in truly elite athletes.

On Retirement of Physicians

PubMed Central

Levy, Roy

1986-01-01

This article takes a look at retirement in general, and the implications for physicians in particular. The recent application of the principles in the Canadian Charter of Rights has raised some unresolved issues for those doctors with contractual employment. They may no longer have mandatory retirement at age 65. Problems can and do arise when self-employed physicians defer retirement from active practice indefinitely. The evaluation of older physicians' competence is explored, and some suggestions offered. PMID:21267269

Model documentation Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution Model of the National Energy Modeling System. Volume 1

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

NONE

1996-02-26

The Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution Model (NGTDM) of the National Energy Modeling System is developed and maintained by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting. This report documents the archived version of the NGTDM that was used to produce the natural gas forecasts presented in the Annual Energy Outlook 1996, (DOE/EIA-0383(96)). The purpose of this report is to provide a reference document for model analysts, users, and the public that defines the objectives of the model, describes its basic approach, and provides detail on the methodology employed. Previously this report represented Volume I of amore » two-volume set. Volume II reported on model performance, detailing convergence criteria and properties, results of sensitivity testing, comparison of model outputs with the literature and/or other model results, and major unresolved issues.« less

SWCD: a sliding window and self-regulated learning-based background updating method for change detection in videos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Işık, Şahin; Özkan, Kemal; Günal, Serkan; Gerek, Ömer Nezih

2018-03-01

Change detection with background subtraction process remains to be an unresolved issue and attracts research interest due to challenges encountered on static and dynamic scenes. The key challenge is about how to update dynamically changing backgrounds from frames with an adaptive and self-regulated feedback mechanism. In order to achieve this, we present an effective change detection algorithm for pixelwise changes. A sliding window approach combined with dynamic control of update parameters is introduced for updating background frames, which we called sliding window-based change detection. Comprehensive experiments on related test videos show that the integrated algorithm yields good objective and subjective performance by overcoming illumination variations, camera jitters, and intermittent object motions. It is argued that the obtained method makes a fair alternative in most types of foreground extraction scenarios; unlike case-specific methods, which normally fail for their nonconsidered scenarios.

Conceptual design of a laser fusion power plant. Part I. An integrated facility

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

Not Available

This study is a new preliminary conceptual design and economic analysis of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) power plant performed by Bechtel under the direction of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The purpose of a new conceptual design is to examine alternatives to the LLNL HYLIFE power plant and to incorporate information from the recent liquid metal cooled power plant conceptual design study (CDS) into the reactor system and balance of plant design. A key issue in the design of a laser fusion power plant is the degree of symmetry in the illumination of the target that will be requiredmore » for a proper burn. Because this matter is expected to remain unresolved for some time, another purpose of this study is to determine the effect of symmetry requirements on the total plant size, layout, and cost.« less

Agent based model of effects of task allocation strategies in flat organizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobkowicz, Pawel

2016-09-01

A common practice in many organizations is to pile the work on the best performers. It is easy to implement by the management and, despite the apparent injustice, appears to be working in many situations. In our work we present a simple agent based model, constructed to simulate this practice and to analyze conditions under which the overall efficiency of the organization (for example measured by the backlog of unresolved issues) breaks down, due to the cumulative effect of the individual overloads. The model confirms that the strategy mentioned above is, indeed, rational: it leads to better global results than an alternative one, using equal workload distribution among all workers. The presented analyses focus on the behavior of the organizations close to the limit of the maximum total throughput and provide results for the growth of the unprocessed backlog in several situations, as well as suggestions related to avoiding such buildup.

Midcingulate Motor Map and Feedback Detection: Converging Data from Humans and Monkeys

PubMed Central

Procyk, Emmanuel; Wilson, Charles R. E.; Stoll, Frederic M.; Faraut, Maïlys C. M.; Petrides, Michael; Amiez, Céline

2016-01-01

The functional and anatomical organization of the cingulate cortex across primate species is the subject of considerable and often confusing debate. The functions attributed to the midcingulate cortex (MCC) embrace, among others, feedback processing, pain, salience, action-reward association, premotor functions, and conflict monitoring. This multiplicity of functional concepts suggests either unresolved separation of functional contributions or integration and convergence. We here provide evidence from recent experiments in humans and from a meta-analysis of monkey data that MCC feedback-related activity is generated in the rostral cingulate premotor area by specific body maps directly related to the modality of feedback. As such, we argue for an embodied mechanism for adaptation and exploration in MCC. We propose arguments and precise tools to resolve the origins of performance monitoring signals in the medial frontal cortex, and to progress on issues regarding homology between human and nonhuman primate cingulate cortex. PMID:25217467

A review on the current issues and barriers of Industrialised Building System (IBS) adoption in Malaysia’s construction industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amin, M. A. Mohd; Abas, N. H.; Shahidan, S.; Rahmat, M. H.; Suhaini, N. A.; Nagapan, S.; Rahim, R. Abdul

2017-11-01

Malaysia considers the construction industry as one of the main contributors to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, there are some unresolved issues arising from the ongoing and widespread adoption of the conventional method of construction such as the resultant fragmentation of the industry itself; delays in production and delivery time of unnecessary wastages and lack of sustainability practice. Malaysian Government has been continuously encouraging the industry to use, partly or if not wholly, the Industrialized Building System (IBS), which is considered to be an important part of sustainable construction initiative. IBS was introduced to Malaysia as the solution to issues related to dependencies of foreign workers, raising demand for affordable accommodations and improving image, quality and productivity of construction industry. However, the IBS adoption in Malaysia remains low. This paper presents the review of the current issues and barriers of IBS adoption in Malaysian construction industry.

Position statement--altitude training for improving team-sport players' performance: current knowledge and unresolved issues.

PubMed

Girard, Olivier; Amann, Markus; Aughey, Robert; Billaut, François; Bishop, David J; Bourdon, Pitre; Buchheit, Martin; Chapman, Robert; D'Hooghe, Michel; Garvican-Lewis, Laura A; Gore, Christopher J; Millet, Grégoire P; Roach, Gregory D; Sargent, Charli; Saunders, Philo U; Schmidt, Walter; Schumacher, Yorck O

2013-12-01

Despite the limited research on the effects of altitude (or hypoxic) training interventions on team-sport performance, players from all around the world engaged in these sports are now using altitude training more than ever before. In March 2013, an Altitude Training and Team Sports conference was held in Doha, Qatar, to establish a forum of research and practical insights into this rapidly growing field. A round-table meeting in which the panellists engaged in focused discussions concluded this conference. This has resulted in the present position statement, designed to highlight some key issues raised during the debates and to integrate the ideas into a shared conceptual framework. The present signposting document has been developed for use by support teams (coaches, performance scientists, physicians, strength and conditioning staff) and other professionals who have an interest in the practical application of altitude training for team sports. After more than four decades of research, there is still no consensus on the optimal strategies to elicit the best results from altitude training in a team-sport population. However, there are some recommended strategies discussed in this position statement to adopt for improving the acclimatisation process when training/competing at altitude and for potentially enhancing sea-level performance. It is our hope that this information will be intriguing, balanced and, more importantly, stimulating to the point that it promotes constructive discussion and serves as a guide for future research aimed at advancing the bourgeoning body of knowledge in the area of altitude training for team sports.

Position statement—altitude training for improving team-sport players’ performance: current knowledge and unresolved issues

PubMed Central

Girard, Olivier; Amann, Markus; Aughey, Robert; Billaut, François; Bishop, David J; Bourdon, Pitre; Buchheit, Martin; Chapman, Robert; D'Hooghe, Michel; Garvican-Lewis, Laura A; Gore, Christopher J; Millet, Grégoire P; Roach, Gregory D; Sargent, Charli; Saunders, Philo U; Schmidt, Walter; Schumacher, Yorck O

2013-01-01

Despite the limited research on the effects of altitude (or hypoxic) training interventions on team-sport performance, players from all around the world engaged in these sports are now using altitude training more than ever before. In March 2013, an Altitude Training and Team Sports conference was held in Doha, Qatar, to establish a forum of research and practical insights into this rapidly growing field. A round-table meeting in which the panellists engaged in focused discussions concluded this conference. This has resulted in the present position statement, designed to highlight some key issues raised during the debates and to integrate the ideas into a shared conceptual framework. The present signposting document has been developed for use by support teams (coaches, performance scientists, physicians, strength and conditioning staff) and other professionals who have an interest in the practical application of altitude training for team sports. After more than four decades of research, there is still no consensus on the optimal strategies to elicit the best results from altitude training in a team-sport population. However, there are some recommended strategies discussed in this position statement to adopt for improving the acclimatisation process when training/competing at altitude and for potentially enhancing sea-level performance. It is our hope that this information will be intriguing, balanced and, more importantly, stimulating to the point that it promotes constructive discussion and serves as a guide for future research aimed at advancing the bourgeoning body of knowledge in the area of altitude training for team sports. PMID:24282213

Developing a Performance Measurement System for University Central Administrative Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arena, Marika; Arnaboldi, Michela; Azzone, Giovanni; Carlucci, Paola

2009-01-01

Central administrative services have recently received increasing attention from practitioners and academics due to the challenging need to both manage scarce resources and provide high-quality services. In this context, performance measurement systems (PMSs) may assume a central role, although an unresolved debate remains on the claimed benefits…

Key Topics for High-Lift Research: A Joint Wind Tunnel/Flight Test Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fisher, David; Thomas, Flint O.; Nelson, Robert C.

1996-01-01

Future high-lift systems must achieve improved aerodynamic performance with simpler designs that involve fewer elements and reduced maintenance costs. To expeditiously achieve this, reliable CFD design tools are required. The development of useful CFD-based design tools for high lift systems requires increased attention to unresolved flow physics issues. The complex flow field over any multi-element airfoil may be broken down into certain generic component flows which are termed high-lift building block flows. In this report a broad spectrum of key flow field physics issues relevant to the design of improved high lift systems are considered. It is demonstrated that in-flight experiments utilizing the NASA Dryden Flight Test Fixture (which is essentially an instrumented ventral fin) carried on an F-15B support aircraft can provide a novel and cost effective method by which both Reynolds and Mach number effects associated with specific high lift building block flows can be investigated. These in-flight high lift building block flow experiments are most effective when performed in conjunction with coordinated ground based wind tunnel experiments in low speed facilities. For illustrative purposes three specific examples of in-flight high lift building block flow experiments capable of yielding a high payoff are described. The report concludes with a description of a joint wind tunnel/flight test approach to high lift aerodynamics research.

Status of NO sub x control for coal-fired power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Teixeira, D. P.

1978-01-01

The status of technologies for controlling emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from coal-fired power plants is reviewed. A discussion of current technology as well as future NOx control approaches is presented. Advanced combustion approaches are included as well as post-combustion alternatives such as catalytic and noncatalytic ammonia-bases systems and wet scrubbing. Special emphasis is given to unresolved development issues as they relate to practical applications on coal-fired power plants.

MCNP/X TRANSPORT IN THE TABULAR REGIME

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

HUGHES, H. GRADY

2007-01-08

The authors review the transport capabilities of the MCNP and MCNPX Monte Carlo codes in the energy regimes in which tabular transport data are available. Giving special attention to neutron tables, they emphasize the measures taken to improve the treatment of a variety of difficult aspects of the transport problem, including unresolved resonances, thermal issues, and the availability of suitable cross sections sets. They also briefly touch on the current situation in regard to photon, electron, and proton transport tables.

Shock and Awe. Achieving Rapid Dominance

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-09-01

par- adox of the issue of planning for a long - versus -short war in a nuclear world remained unresolved. 4 Shock and AweMobilization, as in World War...world and are likely to remain so for a long time to come. Why then, many will ask, should we examine and even propose major excursions and...after battle. Today, x we believe that an unusual opportunity exists to determine whether or not this long -sought strategic goal of affecting the

Understanding Cultural Landmines in the Balkans: How the Land and Its History Have Kept a People at War

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-10-01

property , forcible eviction of entire villages, widespread rape and torture, and massacres of innocent women, children, and the elderly BALKANS-1 6...and Italy also have unresolved issues dating from World War II over property and ethnic minority rights. Serbia and Montenegro also dispute Croatia’s...positions (Jayne, 1910). Dating from the Ottoman occupation, Moslem nobles and landlords held all land other than gardens and residential properties

The P-38 Lightning Aircraft: Lessons Learned for Future Weapon Systems Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

PMBOK TEL \\ u.s. WER List of ~cronyms iv Brake Horse Power Design-Build Team District of Columbia Department of Defense Department of...record. Despite unresolved issues like the flap and brake system problems and limited test hours, on 11 February 1939, Lieutenant Kelsey flew the XP-38...engine, giving the P-3 8 engines a 1425 brake horse power (BHP)22 rating. However, limitations of the integral wing leading edge intercoolers23 could

A rederivation of the conformal anomaly for spin-{\\frac{1}{2}}

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godazgar, Hadi; Nicolai, Hermann

2018-05-01

We rederive the conformal anomaly for spin- fermions by a genuine Feynman graph calculation, which has not been available so far. Although our calculation merely confirms a result that has been known for a long time, the derivation is new, and thus furnishes a method to investigate more complicated cases (in particular concerning the significance of the quantum trace of the stress tensor in non-conformal theories) where there remain several outstanding and unresolved issues.

Implementing advanced nurse practitioner roles in acute care: an evaluation of organizational change.

PubMed

Cummings, Greta G; Fraser, Kim; Tarlier, Denise S

2003-03-01

Medical shortages are seen as the driving force behind the recent implementation of the advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) role in some Canadian hospitals. The authors analyzed the implementation of the ANP role in one tertiary care teaching hospital from the organizational change perspective. Despite successful implementation, issues of role definition, scope of practice boundaries, and staff reactions remain unresolved. Recommendations are discussed for implementing ANP roles in other acute care facilities.

A biologic perspective on sexual orientation.

PubMed

Pillard, R C; Bailey, J M

1995-03-01

Sexual orientation may be defined as the sustained erotic attraction to members of one's own gender, the opposite gender, or both--homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual, respectively. Interest in sexual orientation is as old as the science of psychology, yet many fundamental issues remain unresolved. This article reviews research in the development and psychopathology of sexual orientation as well as the results of family and twin studies. Research in genetic linkage, sex hormones, and brain differences also is discussed.

The Image of the 1967 War in Israeli History Textbooks as Test Case: Studying an Active Past in a Protracted Regional Conflict

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yogev, Esther

2012-01-01

This article seeks to shed light on the dilemma facing history education in regions beset by a protracted, and as yet unresolved ethno-political conflict. The article will examine this issue by means of a unique test case that observes a dramatic war event in Israeli textbooks. The event in question is the Six-Day War of 1967 and the study of its…

How Do Individuals Develop Alcohol Use Disorder After Bariatric Surgery? A Grounded Theory Exploration.

PubMed

Yoder, Ruth; MacNeela, Padraig; Conway, Ronan; Heary, Caroline

2018-03-01

Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for severe obesity. However, following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery, a small minority of patients develop new-onset alcohol use disorder (AUD), the aetiology of which is poorly understood. The aim is to construct a theory to explain the development of AUD among a sample of individuals who reported problematic drinking following RYGB. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight RYGB patients diagnosed with AUD attending a multi-disciplinary outpatient weight management service at a public hospital in the Republic of Ireland. A constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to analyse interview transcripts. Participants' main concern was identified as 'unresolved psychological issues' which were managed by 'external coping mechanisms', namely, 'eating to cope'. After RYGB, comfort eating was no longer possible to the same extent. Following a 'honeymoon period', participants' need for an external coping mechanism resurfaced. 'Filling the void' provides a framework to explain how participants managed the symptoms of their unresolved psychological issues through 'behavioural substitution', that is, drinking alcohol instead of eating. The theoretical framework of 'filling the void' adds to contemporary research that conceptualises AUD behavioural substitution as 'addiction transfer' by describing the process by which the phenomenon occurs as well as the characteristics of participants. The clinical implication of this research is to advocate for a reshaping of treatment of RYGB patients, with increased psychological input following surgery.

The ethics of human volunteer studies involving experimental exposure to pesticides: unanswered dilemmas

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

The controversy about the use of data from human volunteer studies involving experimental exposure to pesticides as part of regulatory risk assessment has been widely discussed, but the complex and interrelated scientific and ethical issues remain largely unresolved. This discussion paper, generated by authors who comprised a workgroup of the ICOH Scientific Committee on Rural Health, reviews the use of human experimental studies in regulatory risk assessment for pesticides with a view to advancing the debate as to when, if ever, such studies might be ethically justifiable. The discussion is based on three elements: (a) a review of discussion papers on the topic of human testing of pesticides and the positions adopted by regulatory agencies in developed countries; (b) an analysis of published and unpublished studies involving human testing with pesticides, both in the peer-reviewed literature and in the JMPR database; and (c) application of an ethical analysis to the problem. The paper identifies areas of agreement which include general principles that may provide a starting point on which to base criteria for judgements as to the ethical acceptability of such studies. However, the paper also highlights ongoing unresolved differences of opinion inherent in ethical analysis of contentious issues, which we propose should form a starting point for further debate and the development of guidelines to achieve better resolution of this matter. PMID:20718963

TESTING WIND AS AN EXPLANATION FOR THE SPIN PROBLEM IN THE CONTINUUM-FITTING METHOD

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

You, Bei; Czerny, Bożena; Sobolewska, Małgosia

2016-04-20

The continuum-fitting method is one of the two most advanced methods of determining the black hole spin in accreting X-ray binary systems. There are, however, still some unresolved issues with the underlying disk models. One of these issues manifests as an apparent decrease in spin for increasing source luminosity. Here, we perform a few simple tests to establish whether outflows from the disk close to the inner radius can address this problem. We employ four different parametric models to describe the wind and compare these to the apparent decrease in spin with luminosity measured in the sources LMC X-3 andmore » GRS 1915+105. Wind models in which parameters do not explicitly depend on the accretion rate cannot reproduce the spin measurements. Models with mass accretion rate dependent outflows, however, have spectra that emulate the observed ones. The assumption of a wind thus effectively removes the artifact of spin decrease. This solution is not unique; the same conclusion can be obtained using a truncated inner disk model. To distinguish among the valid models, we will need high-resolution X-ray data and a realistic description of the Comptonization in the wind.« less

Unresolved issues in the understanding of the pathogenesis of local tissue damage induced by snake venoms.

PubMed

Gutiérrez, José María; Rucavado, Alexandra; Escalante, Teresa; Herrera, Cristina; Fernández, Julián; Lomonte, Bruno; Fox, Jay W

2018-06-15

Snakebite envenoming by viperid species, and by some elapids, is characterized by a complex pattern of tissue damage at the anatomical site of venom injection. In severe cases, tissue destruction may be so extensive as to lead to permanent sequelae, with serious pathophysiological, social and psychological consequences. Significant advances have been performed in the study of venom-induced tissue damage, including identification and characterization of the toxins involved, insights into the mechanisms of action of venoms and toxins, and study of tissue responses to venom-induced injury. Nevertheless, much remains to be known and understood on the pathogenesis of these alterations. This review focuses on some of the pending issues in the topic of snake venom-induced local tissue damage. The traditional 'reductionist' approach, which has predominated in the study of snake venoms and their actions, needs to be complemented by more integrative and holistic perspectives aimed at capturing the complexity of these pathological alterations. Future advances in the study of these topics will certainly pave the way for innovative therapeutic interventions, with the goal of reducing the impact of this aspect of snakebite envenoming. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attachment theory: progress and future directions.

PubMed

Fearon, R M Pasco; Roisman, Glenn I

2017-06-01

Attachment is a key subfield in the area of parenting and parent-child relationships research. In this brief overview, we summarise what we consider to be the state-of-the-art of attachment research, focusing primarily on the nature and significance of attachment in infancy and early childhood. We review 4 major topics that are central issues in the scientific literature on attachment: (1) the role of the environment in the development of attachment, (2) the intergenerational transmission of patterns of attachment, (3) the stability of attachment patterns through early adulthood, and (4) the role of attachment in adjustment and maladjustment. We conclude by highlighting several critical unresolved issues and priorities for future research. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of metric change on safety in the workplace for selected occupations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lefande, J. M.; Pokorney, J. L.

1982-04-01

The study assesses the potential safety issues of metric conversion in the workplace. A purposive sample of 35 occupations based on injury and illnesses indexes were assessed. After an analysis of workforce population, hazard analysis and measurement sensitivity of the occupations, jobs were analyzed to identify potential safety hazards by industrial hygienists, safety engineers and academia. The study's major findings were as follows: No metric hazard experience was identified. An increased exposure might occur when particular jobs and their job tasks are going the transition from customary measurement to metric measurement. Well planned metric change programs reduce hazard potential. Metric safety issues are unresolved in the aviation industry.

From Cases to Capacity? A Critical Reflection on the Role of ‘Ethical Dilemmas’ in the Development of Dual-Use Governance

PubMed Central

Edwards, Brett; Revill, James; Bezuidenhout, Louise

2016-01-01

The dual-use issue is often framed as a series of paralyzing ‘dilemmas’ facing the scientific community as well as institutions which support innovation. While this conceptualization of the dual-use issue can be useful in certain contexts (such as in awareness-raising and as part of educational activities directed at the scientific community) its usefulness is more limited when reflecting on the governance and politics of the dual-use issue. Within this paper, key shortcomings of the dilemma framing are outlined. It is argued that many of the issues raised in the most recent debates about ‘dual-use’ bird flu research remain unresolved. This includes questions about the trajectories of certain lines of research, as well as broader trends in the practice and governance of science. This leads to difficult questions about current approaches to the dual-use issue within the US, as well as internationally. PMID:23703451

Long-Term Soft Denture Lining Materials

PubMed Central

Chladek, Grzegorz; Żmudzki, Jarosław; Kasperski, Jacek

2014-01-01

Long-term soft denture lining (LTSDL) materials are used to alleviate the trauma associated with wearing complete dentures. Despite their established clinical efficacy, the use of LTSDLs has been limited due to the unfavorable effects of the oral environment on some of their mechanical and performance characteristics. The unresolved issue of LTSDL colonization by Candida albicans is particularly problematic. Silicone-based LTSDL (SLTSDL) materials, which are characterized by more stable hardness, sorption and solubility than acrylic-based LTSDLs (ALTSDLs), are currently the most commonly used LTSDLs. However, SLTSDLs are more prone to debonding from the denture base. Moreover, due to their limitations, the available methods for determining bond strength do not fully reflect the actual stability of these materials under clinical conditions. SLTSDL materials exhibit favorable viscoelastic properties compared with ALTSDLs. Furthermore, all of the lining materials exhibit an aging solution-specific tendency toward discoloration, and the available cleansers are not fully effective and can alter the mechanical properties of LTSDLs. Future studies are needed to improve the microbiological resistance of LTSDLs, as well as some of their performance characteristics. PMID:28788163

Independence screening for high dimensional nonlinear additive ODE models with applications to dynamic gene regulatory networks.

PubMed

Xue, Hongqi; Wu, Shuang; Wu, Yichao; Ramirez Idarraga, Juan C; Wu, Hulin

2018-05-02

Mechanism-driven low-dimensional ordinary differential equation (ODE) models are often used to model viral dynamics at cellular levels and epidemics of infectious diseases. However, low-dimensional mechanism-based ODE models are limited for modeling infectious diseases at molecular levels such as transcriptomic or proteomic levels, which is critical to understand pathogenesis of diseases. Although linear ODE models have been proposed for gene regulatory networks (GRNs), nonlinear regulations are common in GRNs. The reconstruction of large-scale nonlinear networks from time-course gene expression data remains an unresolved issue. Here, we use high-dimensional nonlinear additive ODEs to model GRNs and propose a 4-step procedure to efficiently perform variable selection for nonlinear ODEs. To tackle the challenge of high dimensionality, we couple the 2-stage smoothing-based estimation method for ODEs and a nonlinear independence screening method to perform variable selection for the nonlinear ODE models. We have shown that our method possesses the sure screening property and it can handle problems with non-polynomial dimensionality. Numerical performance of the proposed method is illustrated with simulated data and a real data example for identifying the dynamic GRN of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Potential benefits of plant diversity on vegetated roofs: a literature review.

PubMed

Cook-Patton, Susan C; Bauerle, Taryn L

2012-09-15

Although vegetated green roofs can be difficult to establish and maintain, they are an increasingly popular method for mitigating the negative environmental impacts of urbanization. Most green roof development has focused on maximizing green roof performance by planting one or a few drought-tolerant species. We present an alternative approach, which recognizes green roofs as dynamic ecosystems and employs a diversity of species. We draw links between the ecological and green roof literature to generate testable predictions about how increasing plant diversity could improve short- and long-term green roof functioning. Although we found few papers that experimentally manipulated diversity on green roofs, those that did revealed ecological dynamics similar to those in more natural systems. However, there are many unresolved issues. To improve overall green roof performance, we should (1) elucidate the links among plant diversity, structural complexity, and green roof performance, (2) describe feedback mechanisms between plant and animal diversity on green roofs, (3) identify species with complementary traits, and (4) determine whether diverse green roof communities are more resilient to disturbance and environmental change than less diverse green roofs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dispersed storage and generation case studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bahrami, K.; Stallkamp, J. A.; Walton, A.

1980-01-01

Three installations utilizing separate dispersed storage and generation (DSG) technologies were investigated. Each of the systems is described in costs and control. Selected institutional and environmental issues are discussed, including life cycle costs. No unresolved technical, environmental, or institutional problems were encountered in the installations. The wind and solar photovoltaic DSG were installed for test purposes, and appear to be presently uneconomical. However, a number of factors are decreasing the cost of DSG relative to conventional alternatives, and an increased DSG penetration level may be expected in the future.

The structural changes in the bone tissue and regional lymph nodes when using bone cement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhukov, D. V.; Zajdman, A. M.; Prohorenko, V. M.; Ustikova, N. V.

2017-09-01

In orthopedics bone cement is used to replace defects. However, it is known that it possesses toxic properties, due to its composition monomer methyl methacrylate. There are some unresolved issues, in particular its local action, not investigated reaction of the immune system to respond to any fluctuations of endoecological equilibrium. All this helps to explain not only the intraoperative complications such as acute heart and lung failure, but also many deferred pathological processes, complications in the postoperative period.

Blueprint for Change: Research on Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Report of the National Advisory Mental Health Council's Workgroup on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Intervention Development and Deployment. Executive Summary and Recommendations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Inst. of Mental Health (DHHS), Bethesda, MD.

Much has been learned about the identification and treatment of mental illness in children, but issues remain unresolved. Many of the traditional service models do not meet the needs of today's children. There is a shortage of evidence-based treatment and much of the evidence that does exist is not being used. Key findings in neuroscience,…

DWI at MR Enterography for Evaluating Bowel Inflammation in Crohn Disease.

PubMed

Park, Seong Ho

2016-07-01

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review regarding DWI enterography used for evaluating Crohn disease and to summarize the relevant evidence. Active bowel inflammation in Crohn disease causes restricted diffusion on MR enterography with DWI. Enterographic DWI to evaluate Crohn disease is increasingly drawing attention for both academic research and clinical practice and has shown potential as a quantitative tool for assessing bowel inflammation. DWI enterography also has multiple unresolved issues and limitations.

A Review: Advances on Absorption of Heavy Metals in the Waste Water by Biochar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hao; Xie, Anbin; You, Shaohong

2018-01-01

Biochar as a new type of adsorbent, its physical and chemical characteristics and adsorption of heavy metal has been widely studied. Based on the current studies, the article reviewed the main characteristics of biochar, its influencing factors (preparation temperature, feed stocks, functional group et.) on adsorption of heavy metals in water and its mechanism of adsorption (ion exchange adsorption, complexation, precipitation sedimentation et.). Briefly summarize unresolved issues for potential applications of biochar in the future.

Conversion of Low Quality Waste Heat to Electric Power with Small-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Engine/Generator Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

Allan Robichaux, DPW PWD GTMO and the management and staff of the GTMO on site contractor , Centerra. Page Intentionally Left Blank ii Table of...operations and maintenance contractor to ensure that data transfers are completed as required. Figure 4 shows the location of the ORC installation on MUSE...this issue with telephone support from CRM’s controls contractor (Winn-Marion, W-M); however, the problem remained unresolved as of Sept. 1 when

Electron-impact electronic-state excitation of para-benzoquinone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, D. B.; da Costa, R. F.; Kossoski, F.; Varella, M. T. do N.; Bettega, M. H. F.; Ferreira da Silva, F.; Limão-Vieira, P.; García, G.; Lima, M. A. P.; White, R. D.; Brunger, M. J.

2018-03-01

Angle resolved electron energy loss spectra (EELS) for para-benzoquinone (C6H4O2) have been recorded for incident electron energies of 20, 30, and 40 eV. Measured differential cross sections (DCSs) for electronic band features, composed of a combination of energetically unresolved electronic states, are subsequently derived from those EELS. Where possible, the obtained DCSs are compared with those calculated using the Schwinger multichannel method with pseudopotentials. These calculations were performed using a minimum orbital basis single configuration interaction framework at the static exchange plus polarisation level. Here, quite reasonable agreement between the experimental cross sections and the theoretical cross sections for the summation of unresolved states was observed.

Si Nanocrystal-Embedded SiO x nanofoils: Two-Dimensional Nanotechnology-Enabled High Performance Li Storage Materials.

PubMed

Yoo, Hyundong; Park, Eunjun; Bae, Juhye; Lee, Jaewoo; Chung, Dong Jae; Jo, Yong Nam; Park, Min-Sik; Kim, Jung Ho; Dou, Shi Xue; Kim, Young-Jun; Kim, Hansu

2018-05-02

Silicon (Si) based materials are highly desirable to replace currently used graphite anode for lithium ion batteries. Nevertheless, its usage is still a big challenge due to poor battery performance and scale-up issue. In addition, two-dimensional (2D) architectures, which remain unresolved so far, would give them more interesting and unexpected properties. Herein, we report a facile, cost-effective, and scalable approach to synthesize Si nanocrystals embedded 2D SiO x nanofoils for next-generation lithium ion batteries through a solution-evaporation-induced interfacial sol-gel reaction of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSiO 1.5 , HSQ). The unique nature of the thus-prepared centimeter scale 2D nanofoil with a large surface area enables ultrafast Li + insertion and extraction, with a reversible capacity of more than 650 mAh g -1 , even at a high current density of 50 C (50 A g -1 ). Moreover, the 2D nanostructured Si/SiO x nanofoils show excellent cycling performance up to 200 cycles and maintain their initial dimensional stability. This superior performance stems from the peculiar nanoarchitecture of 2D Si/SiO x nanofoils, which provides short diffusion paths for lithium ions and abundant free space to effectively accommodate the huge volume changes of Si during cycling.

Review of first trial responses in balance control: influence of vestibular loss and Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Allum, J H J; Tang, K-S; Carpenter, M G; Oude Nijhuis, L B; Bloem, B R

2011-04-01

The reaction to an unexpected balance disturbance is unpracticed, often startling and frequently associated with falls. This everyday situation can be reproduced in an experimental setting by exposing standing humans to sudden, unexpected and controlled movements of a support surface. In this review, we focus on the responses to the very first balance perturbation, the so-called first trial reactions (FTRs). Detailed analysis of FTRs may have important implications, both for clinical practice (providing new insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying accidental falls in real life) and for understanding human physiology (what triggers and mediates these FTRs, and what is the relation to startle responses?). Several aspects of the FTRs have become clear. FTRs are characterized by an exaggerated postural reaction, with large EMG responses and co-contracting muscles in multiple body segments. This balance reaction is associated with marked postural instability (greater body sway to the perturbation). When the same perturbation is repeated, the size of the postural response habituates and the instability disappears. Other issues about FTRs remain largely unresolved, and these are addressed here. First, the functional role of FTRs is discussed. It appears that FTRs produce primarily increased trunk flexion during the multi-segmental response to postural perturbations, thus producing instability. Second, we consider which sensory signals trigger and modulate FTRs, placing specific emphasis on the role of vestibular signals. Surprisingly, vestibular signals appear to have no triggering role, but vestibular loss leads to excessive upper body FTRs due to loss of the normal modulatory influence. Third, we address the question whether startle-like responses are contributing to FTRs triggered by proprioceptive signals. We explain why this issue is still unresolved, mainly because of methodological difficulties involved in separating FTRs from 'pure' startle responses. Fourth, we review new work about the influence of perturbation direction on FTRs. Recent work from our group shows that the largest FTRs are obtained for toe-up support surface rotations which perturb the COM in the posterior direction. This direction corresponds to the directional preponderance for falls seen both in the balance laboratory and in daily life. Finally, we briefly touch upon clinical diagnostic issues, addressing whether FTRs (as opposed to habituated responses) could provide a more ecologically valid perspective of postural instability in patients compared to healthy subjects. We conclude that FTRs are an important source of information about human balance performance, both in health and disease. Future studies should no longer discard FTRs, but routinely include these in their analyses. Particular emphasis should be placed on the link between FTRs and everyday balance performance (including falls), and on the possible role played by startle reactions in triggering or modulating FTRs. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

From Training to Organizational Behavior: A Mediation Model through Absorptive and Innovative Capacities

PubMed Central

Yáñez-Araque, Benito; Hernández-Perlines, Felipe; Moreno-Garcia, Juan

2017-01-01

The training of human resources improves business performance: myth or reality? While the literature has extensively addressed this issue, the transfer that occurs from training to performance still remains unresolved. The present study suggests an empirical solution to this gap, through a multiple mediation model of dynamic capabilities. Accordingly, the study makes a major contribution to the effectiveness of an organizational-level training: the “true” relationship between training and performance is mediated by absorptive and innovative capacities. It is difficult from training to directly affect the results: it must be done through a chain of intermediate variables. Training can be argued to be indirectly related to performance, through absorptive capacity in the first place, and innovative capacity in the second, sequentially in this order (three-path mediated effect). Of all immediate relationships received by performance, its explained variance is achieved partly via absorptive capacity and partly via innovation. The direct relationship through training is not significant and only explains a small percentage of the variance in performance. These results have been corroborated by combining two methods of analysis: PLS-SEM and fsQCA, using data from an online survey. This dual methodology in the study of the same phenomenon allows overcoming the limitations of each method, which would not have been possible with a single methodological approach, and confirming the findings obtained by any of them. PMID:28966599

From Training to Organizational Behavior: A Mediation Model through Absorptive and Innovative Capacities.

PubMed

Yáñez-Araque, Benito; Hernández-Perlines, Felipe; Moreno-Garcia, Juan

2017-01-01

The training of human resources improves business performance: myth or reality? While the literature has extensively addressed this issue, the transfer that occurs from training to performance still remains unresolved. The present study suggests an empirical solution to this gap, through a multiple mediation model of dynamic capabilities. Accordingly, the study makes a major contribution to the effectiveness of an organizational-level training: the "true" relationship between training and performance is mediated by absorptive and innovative capacities. It is difficult from training to directly affect the results: it must be done through a chain of intermediate variables. Training can be argued to be indirectly related to performance, through absorptive capacity in the first place, and innovative capacity in the second, sequentially in this order (three-path mediated effect). Of all immediate relationships received by performance, its explained variance is achieved partly via absorptive capacity and partly via innovation. The direct relationship through training is not significant and only explains a small percentage of the variance in performance. These results have been corroborated by combining two methods of analysis: PLS-SEM and fsQCA, using data from an online survey. This dual methodology in the study of the same phenomenon allows overcoming the limitations of each method, which would not have been possible with a single methodological approach, and confirming the findings obtained by any of them.

Research Collaboration in a Communication Rights Campaign: Lessons Learned.

PubMed

Ryan, Charlotte

2018-01-01

In building public support for social change, activists in communities of color routinely approach broader audiences via news media. Communities of color, however, routinely face disparities that limit their access to media including local news media outlets. This lack of access mirrors inequalities in political, social, and economic arenas and can slow public awareness campaigns to address disparities in health, environmental, and other quality-of-life issues. I describe two community-based collaborative action research studies that documented and challenged how local television newscasts underrepresented and misrepresented three communities of color in Boston. The linkage between communication rights and campaigns to address quality-of-life issues is presented, as well as unresolved challenges in the collaborative research process. The study has implications for environmental health campaigns.

Autonomy and Task Performance: Explaining the Impact of Grades on Intrinsic Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulfrey, Caroline; Darnon, Celine; Butera, Fabrizio

2013-01-01

The use of grades to motivate constitutes an unresolved theoretical controversy. In 2 experiments carried out with different age groups and academic tracks, a standard-grade condition was compared with a condition in which differential scoring engendered higher grades and with a no-grade condition. The relative power of task performance and task…

X-ray fluorescence microscopy artefacts in elemental maps of topologically complex samples: Analytical observations, simulation and a map correction method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Billè, Fulvio; Kourousias, George; Luchinat, Enrico; Kiskinova, Maya; Gianoncelli, Alessandra

2016-08-01

XRF spectroscopy is among the most widely used non-destructive techniques for elemental analysis. Despite the known angular dependence of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), topological artefacts remain an unresolved issue when using X-ray micro- or nano-probes. In this work we investigate the origin of the artefacts in XRF imaging of topologically complex samples, which are unresolved problems in studies of organic matter due to the limited travel distances of low energy XRF emission from the light elements. In particular we mapped Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK293T) cells. The exemplary results with biological samples, obtained with a soft X-ray scanning microscope installed at a synchrotron facility were used for testing a mathematical model based on detector response simulations, and for proposing an artefact correction method based on directional derivatives. Despite the peculiar and specific application, the methodology can be easily extended to hard X-rays and to set-ups with multi-array detector systems when the dimensions of surface reliefs are in the order of the probing beam size.

Uncertainty and dispersion in air parcel trajectories near the tropical tropopause

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergman, John; Jensen, Eric; Pfister, Leonhard; Bui, Thoapaul

2016-04-01

The Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) is important as the gateway to the stratosphere for chemical constituents produced at the Earth's surface. As such, understanding the processes that transport air through the upper tropical troposphere is important for a number of current scientific issues such as the impact of stratospheric water vapor on the global radiative budget and the depletion of ozone by both anthropogenically- and naturally-produced halocarbons. Compared to the lower troposphere, transport in the TTL is relatively unaffected by turbulent motion. Consequently, Lagrangian particle models are thought to provide reasonable estimates of parcel pathways through the TTL. However, there are complications that make trajectory analyses difficult to interpret; uncertainty in the wind data used to drive these calculations and trajectory dispersion being among the most important. These issues are examined using ensembles of backward air parcel trajectories that are initially tightly grouped near the tropical tropopause using three approaches: A Monte Carlo ensemble, in which different members use identical resolved wind fluctuations but different realizations of stochastic, multi-fractal simulations of unresolved winds, perturbed initial location ensembles, in which members use identical resolved wind fields but initial locations are displaced 2° in latitude and longitude, and a multi-model ensemble that uses identical initial conditions but different resolved wind fields and/or trajectory formulations. Comparisons among the approaches distinguish, to some degree, physical dispersion from that due to data uncertainty and the impact of unresolved wind fluctuations from that of resolved variability.

How does disclosing countertransference affect perceptions of the therapist and the session?

PubMed

Yeh, Yun-Jy; Hayes, Jeffrey A

2011-12-01

Therapist self-disclosure has been theorized and found to have both positive and negative effects. These effects depend, in part, on the nature of the disclosure. This study sought to examine the differential effects of therapist disclosures of more and less resolved countertransference issues on perceptions of therapists and therapy sessions. Using an analogue method, undergraduate participants (N = 116) were randomly assigned to watch one of two videos in which a therapist disclosed personal issues that were relatively resolved or relatively unresolved. As hypothesized, therapist disclosure of issues that were more resolved caused the therapist to be rated as more attractive and trustworthy and instilled greater hope than therapist disclosure of less resolved issues. The type of therapist disclosure, however, did not affect ratings of the expertness of the therapist, the depth or smoothness of the session, or the perceived universality between client and therapist. Implications of the results for the judicious use of self-disclosure are discussed.

Current issues relating to psychosocial job strain and cardiovascular disease research.

PubMed

Theorell, T; Karasek, R A

1996-01-01

The authors comment on recent reviews of cardiovascular job strain research by P. L. Schnall and P. A. Landsbergis (1994), and by T. S. Kristensen (1995), which conclude that job strain as defined by the demand-control model (the combination of contributions of low job decision latitudes and high psychological job demands) is confirmed as a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in a large majority of studies. Lack of social support at work appears to further increase risk. Several still-unresolved research questions are examined in light of recent studies: (a) methodological issues related to use of occupational aggregate estimations and occupational career aggregate assessments, use of standard scales for job analysis and recall bias issues in self-reporting; (b) confounding factors and differential strengths of association by subgroups in job strain-cardiovascular disease analyses with respect to social class, gender, and working hours; and (c) review of results of monitoring job strain-blood pressure associations and associated methodological issues.

Ethical and Clinical Considerations at the Intersection of Functional Neuroimaging and Disorders of Consciousness.

PubMed

Byram, Adrian C; Lee, Grace; Owen, Adrian M; Ribary, Urs; Stoessl, A Jon; Townson, Andrea; Illes, Judy

2016-10-01

Recent neuroimaging research on disorders of consciousness provides direct evidence of covert consciousness otherwise not detected clinically in a subset of severely brain-injured patients. These findings have motivated strategic development of binary communication paradigms, from which researchers interpret voluntary modulations in brain activity to glean information about patients' residual cognitive functions and emotions. The discovery of such responsiveness raises ethical and legal issues concerning the exercise of autonomy and capacity for decisionmaking on matters such as healthcare, involvement in research, and end of life. These advances have generated demands for access to the technology against a complex background of continued scientific advancement, questions about just allocation of healthcare resources, and unresolved legal issues. Interviews with professionals whose work is relevant to patients with disorders of consciousness reveal priorities concerning further basic research, legal and policy issues, and clinical considerations.

Patterns of Drug Distribution: Implications and Issues#

PubMed Central

Johnson, Bruce D.

2007-01-01

This article delineates various patterns of illicit sales of drugs, especially at the retail (and near-retail) level, addressing a variety of central issues about drug sales and distribution documented during the past 30 years, including: a) the links between drug consumption and drug distribution activities; b) the various distribution roles; c) various levels of the distribution hierarchy; d) types of retail and wholesale markets; e) the association of drug distribution with nondrug associated criminality and violence. The article also will address the implications of drug distribution: whether various public policies such as supply reduction and source interdiction affect illicit drug markets, and how policing strategies and various law enforcement strategies can influence the involvement of individual participation in drug distribution activities. The overlooked contribution of treatment for “drug abuse” to reducing drug sales and distribution activities also will be considered as will other critical unresolved issues. PMID:14582578

Patterns of drug distribution: implications and issues.

PubMed

Johnson, Bruce D

2003-01-01

This article delineates various patterns of illicit sales of drugs, especially at the retail (and near-retail) level, addressing a variety of central issues about drug sales and distribution documented during the past 30 years. including: a) the links between drug consumption and drug distribution activities; b) the various distribution roles; c) various levels of the distribution hierarchy; d) types of retail and wholesale markets; e) the association of drug distribution with nondrug associated criminality and violence. The article also will address the implications of drug distribution: whether various public policies such as supply reduction and source interdiction affect illicit drug markets, and how policing strategies and various law enforcement strategies can influence the involvement of individual participation in drug distribution activities. The overlooked contribution of treatment for "drug abuse" to reducing drug sales and distribution activities also will be considered as will other critical unresolved issues.

Chronic hyperkalemia in non-dialysis CKD: controversial issues in nephrology practice.

PubMed

De Nicola, Luca; Di Lullo, Luca; Paoletti, Ernesto; Cupisti, Adamasco; Bianchi, Stefano

2018-06-07

Chronic hyperkalemia is a major complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) that occurs frequently, heralds poor prognosis, and necessitates careful management by the nephrologist. Current strategies aimed at prevention and treatment of hyperkalemia are still suboptimal, as evidenced by the relatively high prevalence of hyperkalemia in patients under stable nephrology care, and even in the ideal setting of randomized trials where best treatment and monitoring are mandatory. The aim of this review was to identify and discuss a range of unresolved issues related to the management of chronic hyperkalemia in non-dialysis CKD. The following topics of clinical interest were addressed: diagnosis, relationship with main comorbidities of CKD, therapy with inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, efficacy of current dietary and pharmacological treatment, and the potential role of the new generation of potassium binders. Opinion-based answers are provided for each of these controversial issues.

Challenges in Scale-Resolving Simulations of turbulent wake flows with coherent structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, Filipe S.; Eça, Luís; Vaz, Guilherme; Girimaji, Sharath S.

2018-06-01

The objective of this work is to investigate the challenges encountered in Scale-Resolving Simulations (SRS) of turbulent wake flows driven by spatially-developing coherent structures. SRS of practical interest are expressly intended for efficiently computing such flows by resolving only the most important features of the coherent structures and modelling the remainder as stochastic field. The success of SRS methods depends upon three important factors: i) ability to identify key flow mechanisms responsible for the generation of coherent structures; ii) determine the optimum range of resolution required to adequately capture key elements of coherent structures; and iii) ensure that the modelled part is comprised nearly exclusively of fully-developed stochastic turbulence. This study considers the canonical case of the flow around a circular cylinder to address the aforementioned three key issues. It is first demonstrated using experimental evidence that the vortex-shedding instability and flow-structure development involves four important stages. A series of SRS computations of progressively increasing resolution (decreasing cut-off length) are performed. An a priori basis for locating the origin of the coherent structures development is proposed and examined. The criterion is based on the fact that the coherent structures are generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. The most important finding is that the key aspects of coherent structures can be resolved only if the effective computational Reynolds number (based on total viscosity) exceeds the critical value of the KH instability in laminar flows. Finally, a quantitative criterion assessing the nature of the unresolved field based on the strain-rate ratio of mean and unresolved fields is examined. The two proposed conditions and rationale offer a quantitative basis for developing "good practice" guidelines for SRS of complex turbulent wake flows with coherent structures.

The Structural Consequences of Big Data-Driven Education.

PubMed

Zeide, Elana

2017-06-01

Educators and commenters who evaluate big data-driven learning environments focus on specific questions: whether automated education platforms improve learning outcomes, invade student privacy, and promote equality. This article puts aside separate unresolved-and perhaps unresolvable-issues regarding the concrete effects of specific technologies. It instead examines how big data-driven tools alter the structure of schools' pedagogical decision-making, and, in doing so, change fundamental aspects of America's education enterprise. Technological mediation and data-driven decision-making have a particularly significant impact in learning environments because the education process primarily consists of dynamic information exchange. In this overview, I highlight three significant structural shifts that accompany school reliance on data-driven instructional platforms that perform core school functions: teaching, assessment, and credentialing. First, virtual learning environments create information technology infrastructures featuring constant data collection, continuous algorithmic assessment, and possibly infinite record retention. This undermines the traditional intellectual privacy and safety of classrooms. Second, these systems displace pedagogical decision-making from educators serving public interests to private, often for-profit, technology providers. They constrain teachers' academic autonomy, obscure student evaluation, and reduce parents' and students' ability to participate or challenge education decision-making. Third, big data-driven tools define what "counts" as education by mapping the concepts, creating the content, determining the metrics, and setting desired learning outcomes of instruction. These shifts cede important decision-making to private entities without public scrutiny or pedagogical examination. In contrast to the public and heated debates that accompany textbook choices, schools often adopt education technologies ad hoc. Given education's crucial impact on individual and collective success, educators and policymakers must consider the implications of data-driven education proactively and explicitly.

In-Space Internet-Based Communications for Space Science Platforms Using Commercial Satellite Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerczewski, Robert J.; Bhasin, Kul B.; Fabian, Theodore P.; Griner, James H.; Kachmar, Brian A.; Richard, Alan M.

1999-01-01

The continuing technological advances in satellite communications and global networking have resulted in commercial systems that now can potentially provide capabilities for communications with space-based science platforms. This reduces the need for expensive government owned communications infrastructures to support space science missions while simultaneously making available better service to the end users. An interactive, high data rate Internet type connection through commercial space communications networks would enable authorized researchers anywhere to control space-based experiments in near real time and obtain experimental results immediately. A space based communications network architecture consisting of satellite constellations connecting orbiting space science platforms to ground users can be developed to provide this service. The unresolved technical issues presented by this scenario are the subject of research at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Assessment of network architectures, identification of required new or improved technologies, and investigation of data communications protocols are being performed through testbed and satellite experiments and laboratory simulations.

Figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention.

PubMed

Kimchi, Ruth; Peterson, Mary A

2008-07-01

The question of whether or not figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention is unresolved. Early theorists assumed it can, but the evidence is scant and open to alternative interpretations. Recent research indicating that attention can influence figure-ground segmentation raises the question anew. We examined this issue by asking participants to perform a demanding change-detection task on a small matrix presented on a task-irrelevant scene of alternating regions organized into figures and grounds by convexity. Independently of any change in the matrix, the figure-ground organization of the scene changed or remained the same. Changes in scene organization produced congruency effects on target-change judgments, even though, when probed with surprise questions, participants could report neither the figure-ground status of the region on which the matrix appeared nor any change in that status. When attending to the scene, participants reported figure-ground status and changes to it highly accurately. These results clearly demonstrate that figure-ground segmentation can occur without focal attention.

School-based assessment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Atkins, M S; Pelham, W E

1991-04-01

Schools are uniquely situated to provide information relevant to the assessment and treatment of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) across a variety of tasks, settings, and observers. The importance of the school setting to the assessment and treatment of ADHD has resulted in the development of numerous measures appropriate for such assessment, but few guidelines for their use. The purpose of this article is to describe school-based assessment procedures and their relationship to ADHD. These procedures include teacher rating measures, direct observations in classrooms and on playgrounds, peer rating and sociometric measures, and permanent product measures such as academic performance. It is recommended that school-based assessment of ADHD involve the concurrent use of multiple measures to assess adequately the wide variety of symptoms associated with this disorder. It is further recommended that assessment serve the purpose of determining treatment efficacy to avoid unwarranted preoccupation with diagnostic issues that are as yet unresolved. The components of a comprehensive school-based assessment of ADHD are described, and their relationship to school-based treatment is discussed.

A new statistical model for subgrid dispersion in large eddy simulations of particle-laden flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muela, Jordi; Lehmkuhl, Oriol; Pérez-Segarra, Carles David; Oliva, Asensi

2016-09-01

Dispersed multiphase turbulent flows are present in many industrial and commercial applications like internal combustion engines, turbofans, dispersion of contaminants, steam turbines, etc. Therefore, there is a clear interest in the development of models and numerical tools capable of performing detailed and reliable simulations about these kind of flows. Large Eddy Simulations offer good accuracy and reliable results together with reasonable computational requirements, making it a really interesting method to develop numerical tools for particle-laden turbulent flows. Nonetheless, in multiphase dispersed flows additional difficulties arises in LES, since the effect of the unresolved scales of the continuous phase over the dispersed phase is lost due to the filtering procedure. In order to solve this issue a model able to reconstruct the subgrid velocity seen by the particles is required. In this work a new model for the reconstruction of the subgrid scale effects over the dispersed phase is presented and assessed. This innovative methodology is based in the reconstruction of statistics via Probability Density Functions (PDFs).

Midcingulate Motor Map and Feedback Detection: Converging Data from Humans and Monkeys.

PubMed

Procyk, Emmanuel; Wilson, Charles R E; Stoll, Frederic M; Faraut, Maïlys C M; Petrides, Michael; Amiez, Céline

2016-02-01

The functional and anatomical organization of the cingulate cortex across primate species is the subject of considerable and often confusing debate. The functions attributed to the midcingulate cortex (MCC) embrace, among others, feedback processing, pain, salience, action-reward association, premotor functions, and conflict monitoring. This multiplicity of functional concepts suggests either unresolved separation of functional contributions or integration and convergence. We here provide evidence from recent experiments in humans and from a meta-analysis of monkey data that MCC feedback-related activity is generated in the rostral cingulate premotor area by specific body maps directly related to the modality of feedback. As such, we argue for an embodied mechanism for adaptation and exploration in MCC. We propose arguments and precise tools to resolve the origins of performance monitoring signals in the medial frontal cortex, and to progress on issues regarding homology between human and nonhuman primate cingulate cortex. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Contact engineering for 2D materials and devices.

PubMed

Schulman, Daniel S; Arnold, Andrew J; Das, Saptarshi

2018-05-08

Over the past decade, the field of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials has surged, promising a new platform for studying diverse physical phenomena that are scientifically intriguing and technologically relevant. Contacts are the communication links between these 2D materials and the three-dimensional world for probing and harnessing their exquisite electronic properties. However, fundamental challenges related to contacts often limit the ultimate performance and potential of 2D materials and devices. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the basic understanding and importance of contacts to 2D materials and various strategies for engineering and improving them. In particular, we elucidate the phenomenon of Fermi level pinning at the metal/2D contact interface, the Schottky versus Ohmic nature of the contacts and various contact engineering approaches including interlayer contacts, phase engineered contacts, and basal versus edge plane contacts, among others. Finally, we also discuss some of the relatively under-addressed and unresolved issues, such as contact scaling, and conclude with a future outlook.

Cell-Type-Specific Transcriptome Analysis in the Drosophila Mushroom Body Reveals Memory-Related Changes in Gene Expression.

PubMed

Crocker, Amanda; Guan, Xiao-Juan; Murphy, Coleen T; Murthy, Mala

2016-05-17

Learning and memory formation in Drosophila rely on a network of neurons in the mushroom bodies (MBs). Whereas numerous studies have delineated roles for individual cell types within this network in aspects of learning or memory, whether or not these cells can also be distinguished by the genes they express remains unresolved. In addition, the changes in gene expression that accompany long-term memory formation within the MBs have not yet been studied by neuron type. Here, we address both issues by performing RNA sequencing on single cell types (harvested via patch pipets) within the MB. We discover that the expression of genes that encode cell surface receptors is sufficient to identify cell types and that a subset of these genes, required for sensory transduction in peripheral sensory neurons, is not only expressed within individual neurons of the MB in the central brain, but is also critical for memory formation. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dielectronic Recombination In Active Galactic Nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lukic, D. V.; Schnell, M.; Savin, D. W.; Altun, Z.; Badnell, N.; Brandau, C.; Schmidt, E. W.; Mueller, A.; Schippers, S.; Sprenger, F.;

Pithy Review on Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks and Least Routing Time Opportunistic Technique in WSN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salman Arafath, Mohammed; Rahman Khan, Khaleel Ur; Sunitha, K. V. N.

2018-01-01

Nowadays due to most of the telecommunication standard development organizations focusing on using device-to-device communication so that they can provide proximity-based services and add-on services on top of the available cellular infrastructure. An Oppnets and wireless sensor network play a prominent role here. Routing in these networks plays a significant role in fields such as traffic management, packet delivery etc. Routing is a prodigious research area with diverse unresolved issues. This paper firstly focuses on the importance of Opportunistic routing and its concept then focus is shifted to prime aspect i.e. on packet reception ratio which is one of the highest QoS Awareness parameters. This paper discusses the two important functions of routing in wireless sensor networks (WSN) namely route selection using least routing time algorithm (LRTA) and data forwarding using clustering technique. Finally, the simulation result reveals that LRTA performs relatively better than the existing system in terms of average packet reception ratio and connectivity.

From Unresolved Anger to Sadness: Identifying Physiological Correlates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rochman, Daniel; Diamond, Gary M.

2008-01-01

This study was designed to identify physiological correlates of unresolved anger and sadness, and the shift between these emotions, in a context similar to that of emotion-focused, experiential psychotherapy. Twenty-seven university students reporting unresolved anger toward an attachment figure were induced to experience and express unresolved…

A Structural Approach to Unresolved Mourning in Single Parent Family Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fulmer, Richard H.

1983-01-01

Considers the mother's depression as a special problem in therapy of single-parent families, resulting from unresolved mourning maintained by the family system. Offers reasons why the single-parent family's structure seems inherently vulnerable to unresolved mourning. Suggests techniques of Structural Family Therapy to facilitate mourning in such…

A Comprehensive Study of Data Collection Schemes Using Mobile Sinks in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Khan, Abdul Waheed; Abdullah, Abdul Hanan; Anisi, Mohammad Hossein; Bangash, Javed Iqbal

2014-01-01

Recently sink mobility has been exploited in numerous schemes to prolong the lifetime of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Contrary to traditional WSNs where sensory data from sensor field is ultimately sent to a static sink, mobile sink-based approaches alleviate energy-holes issues thereby facilitating balanced energy consumption among nodes. In mobility scenarios, nodes need to keep track of the latest location of mobile sinks for data delivery. However, frequent propagation of sink topological updates undermines the energy conservation goal and therefore should be controlled. Furthermore, controlled propagation of sinks' topological updates affects the performance of routing strategies thereby increasing data delivery latency and reducing packet delivery ratios. This paper presents a taxonomy of various data collection/dissemination schemes that exploit sink mobility. Based on how sink mobility is exploited in the sensor field, we classify existing schemes into three classes, namely path constrained, path unconstrained, and controlled sink mobility-based schemes. We also organize existing schemes based on their primary goals and provide a comparative study to aid readers in selecting the appropriate scheme in accordance with their particular intended applications and network dynamics. Finally, we conclude our discussion with the identification of some unresolved issues in pursuit of data delivery to a mobile sink. PMID:24504107

What do consumer surveys and experiments reveal and conceal about consumer preferences for genetically modified foods?

PubMed

Colson, Gregory; Rousu, Matthew C

2013-01-01

Assessing consumer perceptions and willingness to pay for genetically modified (GM) foods has been one of the most active areas of empirical research in agricultural economics. Researchers over the past 15 years have delivered well over 100 estimates of consumers' willingness to pay for GM foods using surveys and experimental methods. In this review, we explore a number of unresolved issues related to three questions that are critical when considering the sum of the individual contributions that constitute the evidence on consumer preferences for GM foods.

The ethics of human gene transfer.

PubMed

Kimmelman, Jonathan

2008-03-01

Almost 20 years since the first gene-transfer trial was carried out in humans, the field has made significant advances towards clinical application. Nevertheless, it continues to face numerous unresolved ethical challenges--among them are the question of when to initiate human testing, the acceptability of germline modification and whether the technique should be applied to the enhancement of traits. Although such issues have precedents in other medical contexts, they take on a different character in gene transfer, in part because of the scientific uncertainty and the social context of innovation.

The Most Critical Unresolved Issues Associated with Race, Ethnicity, Culture, and Substance Use

PubMed Central

Unger, Jennifer B.

2015-01-01

This paper discusses the limitations of previous research on race, ethnicity, culture, and substance use. The study offers the following recommendations for future research in this area: (1) move beyond simple comparisons of mutually exclusive groups, (2) focus on the meaning of an ethnic label to the individual, (3) consider the complex interactions between an individual’s cultural identity and the cultural context, (4) understand and acknowledge the researcher’s inherent biases, and (5) translate research findings into practice and policy change. PMID:22217334

Patchwork plagiarism--a jigsaw of stolen puzzle pieces.

PubMed

Supak Smolcić, Vesna; Bilić-Zulle, Lidija

2013-01-01

Plagiarism remains at the top in terms of interest to the scientific community. In its many vicious forms, patchwork plagiarism is characterized by numerous unresolved issues and often passes "below the radar" of editors and reviewers. The problem of detecting the complexity of misconduct has been partially resolved by plagiarism detection software. However, interpretation of relevant reports is not always obvious or easy. This article deals with plagiarism in general and patchwork plagiarism in particular, as well as related problems that editors must deal with to maintain the integrity of scientific journals.

Archetype and object: primary deintegration and primary love in analytical play therapy with young children.

PubMed

Peery, J Craig

2002-07-01

Jungian and post-Jungian theory of the development of the child's psyche is reviewed. A discrimination between primary and secondary deintegration is suggested. Post-Freudian theory regarding primary object relations is integrated with the Jungian model. The two approaches can contribute synergistically to inform and advance play therapy with young children. Patients from widely diverse cultural backgrounds use their relationship with the therapist as a helpful person (object), and engage in archetypal material from the collective unconscious, to help them work on and through their unresolved emotional issues.

The pulmonary physician in critical care * 4: Nosocomial pneumonia.

PubMed

Ewig, S; Bauer, T; Torres, A

2002-04-01

Much progress has been made in the understanding of nosocomial pneumonia but important issues in diagnosis and treatment remain unresolved. The controversy over diagnostic tools should be closed. Instead, every effort should be made to increase our ability to make valid clinical predictions about the presence of ventilator associated pneumonia and to establish criteria to guide restricting empirical antimicrobial treatment without causing patient harm. More emphasis must be put on local infection control measures such as routine surveillance of pathogens, definition of controlled policies of antimicrobial treatment, and effective implementation of strategies of prevention.

Analyses of group sequential clinical trials.

PubMed

Koepcke, W

1989-12-01

In the first part of this article the methodology of group sequential plans is reviewed. After introducing the basic definition of such plans the main properties are shown. At the end of this section three different plans (Pocock, O'Brien-Fleming, Koepcke) are compared. In the second part of the article some unresolved issues and recent developments in the application of group sequential methods to long-term controlled clinical trials are discussed. These include deviation from the assumptions, life table methods, multiple-arm clinical trials, multiple outcome measures, and confidence intervals.

Change in attachment states of mind of women with binge-eating disorder.

PubMed

Maxwell, Hilary; Tasca, Giorgio A; Grenon, Renee; Ritchie, Kerri; Bissada, Hany; Balfour, Louise

2017-11-01

Insecure and unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind may impact affect regulation and interpersonal functioning that contribute to binge eating in women with binge-eating disorder (BED). Group psychological treatment may facilitate changes from insecure to secure and from unresolved-disorganized to non-unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind. This study used attachment theory to understand better the psychopathology of BED and co-morbid overweight status and to understand better the treatment response of patients with BED who receive group psychotherapy. Women with BED attended group psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy and completed the Adult Attachment Interview pretreatment and 6 months posttreatment. Matched samples of overweight women without BED and normal-weight women without BED completed the Adult Attachment Interview at 1 time point. Women with BED had significantly higher rates of preoccupied and unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind compared to normal-weight women without BED and had similar rates of insecure and unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind compared to overweight women without BED. Of the women with BED who had an insecure and/or unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind at pretreatment, about 60% demonstrated clinically relevant changes to secure and to non-unresolved/disorganized states of mind at 6 months post group psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy. Results indicated that some women with BED may benefit from interventions that help them regulate hyperactivated affect and create coherent narratives. Both women with BED and overweight women without BED may benefit from treatments that help them develop more adaptive affect regulation strategies related to unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Statistical power and utility of meta-analysis methods for cross-phenotype genome-wide association studies.

PubMed

Zhu, Zhaozhong; Anttila, Verneri; Smoller, Jordan W; Lee, Phil H

2018-01-01

Advances in recent genome wide association studies (GWAS) suggest that pleiotropic effects on human complex traits are widespread. A number of classic and recent meta-analysis methods have been used to identify genetic loci with pleiotropic effects, but the overall performance of these methods is not well understood. In this work, we use extensive simulations and case studies of GWAS datasets to investigate the power and type-I error rates of ten meta-analysis methods. We specifically focus on three conditions commonly encountered in the studies of multiple traits: (1) extensive heterogeneity of genetic effects; (2) characterization of trait-specific association; and (3) inflated correlation of GWAS due to overlapping samples. Although the statistical power is highly variable under distinct study conditions, we found the superior power of several methods under diverse heterogeneity. In particular, classic fixed-effects model showed surprisingly good performance when a variant is associated with more than a half of study traits. As the number of traits with null effects increases, ASSET performed the best along with competitive specificity and sensitivity. With opposite directional effects, CPASSOC featured the first-rate power. However, caution is advised when using CPASSOC for studying genetically correlated traits with overlapping samples. We conclude with a discussion of unresolved issues and directions for future research.

Conflicts in the operating theatre.

PubMed

Booij, Leo H D J

2007-04-01

Quality and safety of healthcare depend on team performance. Conflicts decrease team performance. A number of studied factors involved in the development and solution of conflicts are discussed. An operating team consists of individuals, with specific roles requiring specific expertise and skills, performing interdependent tasks with patient treatment as a common goal. Teams are prone to conflicts: a dispute, disagreement or difference of opinion related to patient management, requiring some decision or action. Many factors determine the character of the conflicts, and these vary between different countries, hospitals and teams. Factors include culture, professional social status, personality of members, etc. Conflicts can induce innovation, but can also result in job dissatisfaction. They even can affect the functioning of the hospital. On average, four conflicts can be observed per operation, which are mostly solved immediately. Communication in an open atmosphere is a major issue in dealing with conflicts. If conflicts are unresolved they grow into relationship conflicts, which are difficult to handle. Understanding the factors that contribute to the conflict is important for mediators. Most conflicts arise about theatre management, case acceptation, unexpected changes in the team or incapability of one of its members. There are many possible inductors of conflicts. Conflicts should be immediately resolved by open communication and respectful discussion.

77 FR 42788 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-20

... Unresolved Account Balances in the Exchange's Online Comparison System July 16, 2012. Pursuant to Section 19... assigning the contra party to unresolved account balances in the Exchange's Online Comparison System. The... maker (``DMM'') unit as the contra party for any unresolved omnibus account balances in the Exchange's...

An experimental and theoretical investigation into the electronically excited states of para-benzoquinone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, D. B.; Limão-Vieira, P.; Mendes, M.; Jones, N. C.; Hoffmann, S. V.; da Costa, R. F.; Varella, M. T. do N.; Bettega, M. H. F.; Blanco, F.; García, G.; Ingólfsson, O.; Lima, M. A. P.; Brunger, M. J.

2017-05-01

We report on a combination of experimental and theoretical investigations into the structure of electronically excited para-benzoquinone (pBQ). Here synchrotron photoabsorption measurements are reported over the 4.0-10.8 eV range. The higher resolution obtained reveals previously unresolved pBQ spectral features. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations are used to interpret the spectrum and resolve discrepancies relating to the interpretation of the Rydberg progressions. Electron-impact energy loss experiments are also reported. These are combined with elastic electron scattering cross section calculations performed within the framework of the independent atom model-screening corrected additivity rule plus interference (IAM-SCAR + I) method to derive differential cross sections for electronic excitation of key spectral bands. A generalized oscillator strength analysis is also performed, with the obtained results demonstrating that a cohesive and reliable quantum chemical structure and cross section framework has been established. Within this context, we also discuss some issues associated with the development of a minimal orbital basis for the single configuration interaction strategy to be used for our high-level low-energy electron scattering calculations that will be carried out as a subsequent step in this joint experimental and theoretical investigation.

An overview of permeable reactive barriers for in situ sustainable groundwater remediation.

PubMed

Obiri-Nyarko, Franklin; Grajales-Mesa, S Johana; Malina, Grzegorz

2014-09-01

Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are one of the innovative technologies widely accepted as an alternative to the 'pump and treat' (P&T) for sustainable in situ remediation of contaminated groundwater. The concept of the technology involves the emplacement of a permeable barrier containing reactive materials across the flow path of the contaminated groundwater to intercept and treat the contaminants as the plume flows through it under the influence of the natural hydraulic gradient. Since the invention of PRBs in the early 1990s, a variety of materials has been employed to remove contaminants including heavy metals, chlorinated solvents, aromatic hydrocarbons, and pesticides. Contaminant removal is usually accomplished via processes such as adsorption, precipitation, denitrification and biodegradation. Despite wide acknowledgment, there are still unresolved issues about long term-performance of PRBs, which have somewhat affected their acceptability and full-scale implementation. The current paper presents an overview of the PRB technology, which includes the state of art, the merits and limitations, the reactive media used so far, and the mechanisms employed to transform or immobilize contaminants. The paper also looks at the design, construction and the long-term performance of PRBs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurocysticercosis: Diagnostic problems & current therapeutic strategies

PubMed Central

Rajshekhar, Vedantam

2016-01-01

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the most common single cause of seizures/epilepsy in India and several other endemic countries throughout the world. It is also the most common parasitic disease of the brain caused by the cestode Taenia solium or pork tapeworm. The diagnosis of NCC and the tapeworm carrier (taeniasis) can be relatively inaccessible and expensive for most of the patients. In spite of the introduction of several new immunological tests, neuroimaging remains the main diagnostic test for NCC. The treatment of NCC is also mired in controversy although, there is emerging evidence that albendazole (a cysticidal drug) may be beneficial for patients by reducing the number of seizures and hastening the resolution of live cysts. Currently, there are several diagnostic and management issues which remain unresolved. This review will highlight some of these issues. PMID:28139530

How couples manage interracial and intercultural differences: implications for clinical practice.

PubMed

Seshadri, Gita; Knudson-Martin, Carmen

2013-01-01

This study focused on how couples managed their interracial and intercultural differences. To understand their experiences, a qualitative grounded theory analysis was used (n=17). Analysis revealed that couples experienced most issues as cultural issues; race only occurred during their interactions with "others." They appeared to organize their responses according to four relationship structures: Integrated, Singularly Assimilated, Coexisting, and Unresolved. Couples in each of these structures managed daily process through four sets of relationship strategies: (a) creating a "we," (b) framing differences, (c) emotional maintenance, and (d) positioning in relationship to familial and societal context. These findings are a step toward a strength-based and research-informed education and clinical interventions for this population. Video Abstract. © 2012 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

The patient who believes and the analyst who does not (1).

PubMed

Lijtmaer, Ruth M

2009-01-01

A patient's religious beliefs and practices challenge the clinical experience and self-knowledge of the analyst owing to a great complexity of factors, and often take the form of the analyst's resistances and countertransference reactions to spiritual and religious issues. The analyst's feelings about the patient's encounters with religion and other forms of healing experiences may result in impasses and communication breakdown for a variety of reasons. These reasons include the analyst's own unresolved issues around her role as a psychoanalyst-which incorporates in some way psychoanalysis's views of religious belief-and these old conflicts may be irritated by the religious themes expressed by the patient. Vignettes from the treatments of two patients provide examples of the analyst's countertransference conflicts, particularly envy in the case of a therapist who is an atheist.

Status, sale and patenting of human genetic material: an international survey.

PubMed

Knoppers, B M

1999-05-01

Following a decade of debate, the European Directive on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on July 6, 1998. The Directive constitutes a legal and social policy landmark in biotechnology, taking an explicit position on the contentious issue of the patentability of higher life forms. It fails, however, to provide definitive statements on the legal status of human genetic material or the possibility of personal financial gain in relation to such material. An overview of the international, regional and national positions (as found in laws and official policy statements) on the status, commodification and patentability of human genetic material indicates that, although the Directive represents a consolidation of opinions, many issues remain unresolved.

[Empowerment and health promotion programming].

PubMed

Laverack, G

2008-12-01

Health promotion often presents a tension between "bottom up" and "top down" programming. "Bottom-up" is associated with community empowerment and begins on issues of concern to particular groups or individuals and regards an increase in overall control as an important element of the health outcome. "Top-down" is associated with disease prevention efforts and begins by seeking to involve beneficiaries on issues defined by health agencies. It regards improvements in health behaviours or bio-medical indicators as the important outcome and community empowerment is viewed simply as a means to the end of health behaviour change. The tension between these two approaches is not unresolvable, and this article presents a framework, the "parallel-track", intended to assist health promotion practitioners to systematically accommodate community empowerment goals within "top-down" health programming.

Perception of the pitch of unresolved harmonics by 3- and 7-month-old human infants.

PubMed

Lau, Bonnie K; Werner, Lynne A

2014-08-01

Three-month-olds discriminate resolved harmonic complexes on the basis of missing fundamental (MF) pitch. In view of reported difficulty in discriminating unresolved complexes at 7 months and striking changes in the organization of the auditory system during early infancy, infants' ability to discriminate unresolved complexes is of some interest. This study investigated the ability of 3-month-olds, 7-month-olds, and adults to discriminate the pitch of unresolved harmonic complexes using an observer-based method. Stimuli were MF complexes bandpass filtered with a -12 dB/octave slope, combined in random phase, presented at 70 dB sound pressure level (SPL) for 650 ms with a 50 ms rise/fall with a pink noise at 65 dB SPL. The conditions were (1) "LOW" unresolved harmonics (2500-4500 Hz) based on MFs of 160 and 200 Hz and (2) "HIGH" unresolved harmonics (4000-6000 Hz) based on MFs of 190 and 200 Hz. To demonstrate MF discrimination, participants had to ignore spectral changes in complexes with the same fundamental and respond only when the fundamental changed. Nearly all infants tested categorized complexes by MF pitch suggesting discrimination of pitch extracted from unresolved harmonics by 3 months. Adults also categorized the complexes by MF pitch, although musically trained adults were more successful than musically untrained adults.

Components of the Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stecker, Floyd W.; Venters, Tonia M.

2011-01-01

We present new theoretical estimates of the relative contributions of unresolved blazars and star-forming galaxies to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) and discuss constraints on the contributions from alternative mechanisms such as dark matter annihilation and truly diffuse gamma-ray production. We find that the Fermi source count data do not rule out a scenario in which the EGB is dominated by emission from unresolved blazars, though unresolved star-forming galaxies may also contribute significantly to the background, within order-of-magnitude uncertainties. In addition, we find that the spectrum of the unresolved star-forming galaxy contribution cannot explain the EGB spectrum found by EGRET at energies between 50 and 200 MeV, whereas the spectrum of unresolved flat spectrum radio quasars, when accounting for the energy-dependent effects of source confusion, could be consistent with the combined spectrum of the low-energy EGRET EGB measurements and the Fermi-Large Area Telescope EGB measurements.

Evaluation of neutron total and capture cross sections on 99Tc in the unresolved resonance region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Katabuchi, Tatsuya

2017-09-01

Long-lived fission product Technetium-99 is one of the most important radioisotopes for nuclear transmutation. The reliable nuclear data are indispensable for a wide energy range up to a few MeV, in order to develop environmental load reducing technology. The statistical analyses of resolved resonances were performed by using the truncated Porter-Thomas distribution, coupled-channels optical model, nuclear level density model and Bayes' theorem on conditional probability. The total and capture cross sections were calculated by a nuclear reaction model code CCONE. The resulting cross sections have statistical consistency between the resolved and unresolved resonance regions. The evaluated capture data reproduce those recently measured at ANNRI of J-PARC/MLF above resolved resonance region up to 800 keV.

Comparing the incomparable? A systematic review of competing techniques for converting descriptive measures of health status into QALY-weights.

PubMed

Mortimer, Duncan; Segal, Leonie

2008-01-01

Algorithms for converting descriptive measures of health status into quality-adjusted life year (QALY)--weights are now widely available, and their application in economic evaluation is increasingly commonplace. The objective of this study is to describe and compare existing conversion algorithms and to highlight issues bearing on the derivation and interpretation of the QALY-weights so obtained. Systematic review of algorithms for converting descriptive measures of health status into QALY-weights. The review identified a substantial body of literature comprising 46 derivation studies and 16 studies that provided evidence or commentary on the validity of conversion algorithms. Conversion algorithms were derived using 1 of 4 techniques: 1) transfer to utility regression, 2) response mapping, 3) effect size translation, and 4) "revaluing" outcome measures using preference-based scaling techniques. Although these techniques differ in their methodological/theoretical tradition, data requirements, and ease of derivation and application, the available evidence suggests that the sensitivity and validity of derived QALY-weights may be more dependent on the coverage and sensitivity of measures and the disease area/patient group under evaluation than on the technique used in derivation. Despite the recent proliferation of conversion algorithms, a number of questions bearing on the derivation and interpretation of derived QALY-weights remain unresolved. These unresolved issues suggest directions for future research in this area. In the meantime, analysts seeking guidance in selecting derived QALY-weights should consider the validity and feasibility of each conversion algorithm in the disease area and patient group under evaluation rather than restricting their choice to weights from a particular derivation technique.

Global-scale Ionospheric Outflow: Major Processes and Unresolved Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liemohn, M. W.; Welling, D. T.; Ilie, R.; Khazanov, G. V.; Jahn, J. M.; Zou, S.; Ganushkina, N. Y.; Valek, P. W.; Elliott, H. A.; Gilchrist, B. E.; Hoegy, W. R.; Glocer, A.

2016-12-01

Outflow from the ionosphere is a major source of plasma to the magnetosphere. Its presence, especially that of ions heavier than He+, mass loads the magnetosphere and changes reconnection rates, current system configurations, plasma wave excitation and wave-particle interactions. It even impacts the propagation of information. We present a brief overview of the major processes and scientific history of this field. There are still major gaps, however, in our understanding of the global-scale nature of ionospheric outflow. We discuss these unresolved problems highlighting the leading questions still outstanding on this topic. First and foremost, since the measurements of ionospheric outflow have largely come from individual satellites and sounding rockets, the processes are best known on the local level, while the spatial distribution of outflow has never been simultaneously measured on more global scales. The spatial coherence and correlation of outflow across time and space have not been quantified. Furthermore, the composition of the outflow is often only measured at a coarse level of H+, He+, and O+, neglecting other species such as N+ or moleculars. However, resolving O+ from N+, as is customary in planetary research, aids in revealing the physics and altitude dependence of the energization processes in the ionosphere. Similarly, fine-resolution velocity space measurements of ionospheric outflow have been limited, yet such observations can also reveal energization processes driving the outflow. A final unresolved issue to mention is magnetically conjugate outflow and the full extent of hemispherically asymmetric outflow fluxes or fluence. Each of these open questions have substantial ramifications for magnetospheric physics; their resolution could yield sweeping changes in our understanding of nonlinear feedback and cross-scale physical interactions, magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, and geospace system-level science.

The use of fault reporting of medical equipment to identify latent design flaws.

PubMed

Flewwelling, C J; Easty, A C; Vicente, K J; Cafazzo, J A

2014-10-01

Poor device design that fails to adequately account for user needs, cognition, and behavior is often responsible for use errors resulting in adverse events. This poor device design is also often latent, and could be responsible for "No Fault Found" (NFF) reporting, in which medical devices sent for repair by clinical users are found to be operating as intended. Unresolved NFF reports may contribute to incident under reporting, clinical user frustration, and biomedical engineering technologist inefficacy. This study uses human factors engineering methods to investigate the relationship between NFF reporting frequency and device usability. An analysis of medical equipment maintenance data was conducted to identify devices with a high NFF reporting frequency. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews and heuristic evaluations were performed in order to identify potential usability issues. Finally, usability testing was conducted in order to validate that latent usability related design faults result in a higher frequency of NFF reporting. The analysis of medical equipment maintenance data identified six devices with a high NFF reporting frequency. Semi-structured interviews, heuristic evaluations and usability testing revealed that usability issues caused a significant portion of the NFF reports. Other factors suspected to contribute to increased NFF reporting include accessory issues, intermittent faults and environmental issues. Usability testing conducted on three of the devices revealed 23 latent usability related design faults. These findings demonstrate that latent usability related design faults manifest themselves as an increase in NFF reporting and that devices containing usability related design faults can be identified through an analysis of medical equipment maintenance data. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Public/Private Partnership behind the Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation: Its Origins, Challenges, and Unresolved Issues

PubMed Central

Knickman, James R; Stone, Robyn I

2007-01-01

objective To discuss why and how the Cash and Counseling Demonstration came to be designed, implemented, and evaluated through a partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Principal Findings This public/private partnership was created by two colleagues who were motivated by the need for funding to conduct a large-scale demonstration and evaluation, the prestige that both organizations brought to the project, the ability to draw on both organizations' experience and expertise, and the potential to maximize flexibility in the design and implementation of the demonstration. The partnership, which has lasted over a decade and has supported two generations of Cash and Counseling programs, overcame several challenges including getting approval for the project through their respective bureaucracies, managing the decision making process and the ongoing program across the two organizations, dealing with leadership and staff turnover, and reaching consensus on how to apportion credit for the success of the program. Several unresolved issues remain, including how the program gets operationalized within each state, how case management is addressed within the context of a consumer-directed model like Cash and Counseling, how quality is assured in this type of program, and how the Internal Revenue Service views and treats Cash and Counseling and other consumer-directed programs. Conclusion This public/private partnership is an illustration of how public dollars can be leveraged effectively to examine a pressing policy issue and to produce information that can be translated into better policy and practice. The ASPE/RWJF collaboration made it possible to develop, test, and expand a policy-oriented demonstration project that has become a pivotal strategy in most states' efforts to build their home and community-based service systems. PMID:17244288

Optimisation of chromatographic resolution using objective functions including both time and spectral information.

PubMed

Torres-Lapasió, J R; Pous-Torres, S; Ortiz-Bolsico, C; García-Alvarez-Coque, M C

2015-01-16

The optimisation of the resolution in high-performance liquid chromatography is traditionally performed attending only to the time information. However, even in the optimal conditions, some peak pairs may remain unresolved. Such incomplete resolution can be still accomplished by deconvolution, which can be carried out with more guarantees of success by including spectral information. In this work, two-way chromatographic objective functions (COFs) that incorporate both time and spectral information were tested, based on the peak purity (analyte peak fraction free of overlapping) and the multivariate selectivity (figure of merit derived from the net analyte signal) concepts. These COFs are sensitive to situations where the components that coelute in a mixture show some spectral differences. Therefore, they are useful to find out experimental conditions where the spectrochromatograms can be recovered by deconvolution. Two-way multivariate selectivity yielded the best performance and was applied to the separation using diode-array detection of a mixture of 25 phenolic compounds, which remained unresolved in the chromatographic order using linear and multi-linear gradients of acetonitrile-water. Peak deconvolution was carried out using the combination of orthogonal projection approach and alternating least squares. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cell therapy for heart failure: a comprehensive overview of experimental and clinical studies, current challenges, and future directions.

PubMed

Sanganalmath, Santosh K; Bolli, Roberto

2013-08-30

Despite significant therapeutic advances, the prognosis of patients with heart failure (HF) remains poor, and current therapeutic approaches are palliative in the sense that they do not address the underlying problem of the loss of cardiac tissue. Stem cell-based therapies have the potential to fundamentally transform the treatment of HF by achieving what would have been unthinkable only a few years ago-myocardial regeneration. For the first time since cardiac transplantation, a therapy is being developed to eliminate the underlying cause of HF, not just to achieve damage control. Since the initial report of cell therapy (skeletal myoblasts) in HF in 1998, research has proceeded at lightning speed, and numerous preclinical and clinical studies have been performed that support the ability of various stem cell populations to improve cardiac function and reduce infarct size in both ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. Nevertheless, we are still at the dawn of this therapeutic revolution. Many important issues (eg, mechanism(s) of action of stem cells, long-term engraftment, optimal cell type(s), and dose, route, and frequency of cell administration) remain to be resolved, and no cell therapy has been conclusively shown to be effective. The purpose of this article is to critically review the large body of work performed with respect to the use of stem/progenitor cells in HF, both at the experimental and clinical levels, and to discuss current controversies, unresolved issues, challenges, and future directions. The review focuses specifically on chronic HF; other settings (eg, acute myocardial infarction, refractory angina) are not discussed.

Personal Health, Person-centred Health and Personalised Medicine - Concepts, Consumers, Confusion and Challenges in the Informatics World.

PubMed

Rigby, M

2012-01-01

To define and assess 'Consumer Health Informatics' and related emergent issues in an era of new media and of personalisation of care, and from this to define what actions need to be taken to optimise benefits and address risks. Definition of key concepts; review of health personalisation, emergent health information and communication technologies and knowledge sources available to citizens and social media; and identification of unresolved issues threatening optimal use of each. A structured review supported by citations and examples. Several new aspects of consumer health informatics are emerging, including new knowledge sources, feedback on treatments and care providers, on-line videos, and a new generation of patient experience sites including those which are for profit and seek to influence treatment paradigms. Not just the information usage, but also the potential social challenges and malicious abuses, are global issues, and also transcend the traditional health community and thus should be addressed in partnership with other global agencies.

Vertebrate Reservoirs of Arboviruses: Myth, Synonym of Amplifier, or Reality?

PubMed Central

Kuno, Goro; Mackenzie, John S.; Plyusnin, Alexander; Gubler, Duane J.

2017-01-01

The rapid succession of the pandemic of arbovirus diseases, such as dengue, West Nile fever, chikungunya, and Zika fever, has intensified research on these and other arbovirus diseases worldwide. Investigating the unique mode of vector-borne transmission requires a clear understanding of the roles of vertebrates. One major obstacle to this understanding is the ambiguity of the arbovirus definition originally established by the World Health Organization. The paucity of pertinent information on arbovirus transmission at the time contributed to the notion that vertebrates played the role of reservoir in the arbovirus transmission cycle. Because this notion is a salient feature of the arbovirus definition, it is important to reexamine its validity. This review addresses controversial issues concerning vertebrate reservoirs and their role in arbovirus persistence in nature, examines the genesis of the problem from a historical perspective, discusses various unresolved issues from multiple points of view, assesses the present status of the notion in light of current knowledge, and provides options for a solution to resolve the issue. PMID:28703771

Vertebrate Reservoirs of Arboviruses: Myth, Synonym of Amplifier, or Reality?

PubMed

Kuno, Goro; Mackenzie, John S; Junglen, Sandra; Hubálek, Zdeněk; Plyusnin, Alexander; Gubler, Duane J

2017-07-13

The rapid succession of the pandemic of arbovirus diseases, such as dengue, West Nile fever, chikungunya, and Zika fever, has intensified research on these and other arbovirus diseases worldwide. Investigating the unique mode of vector-borne transmission requires a clear understanding of the roles of vertebrates. One major obstacle to this understanding is the ambiguity of the arbovirus definition originally established by the World Health Organization. The paucity of pertinent information on arbovirus transmission at the time contributed to the notion that vertebrates played the role of reservoir in the arbovirus transmission cycle. Because this notion is a salient feature of the arbovirus definition, it is important to reexamine its validity. This review addresses controversial issues concerning vertebrate reservoirs and their role in arbovirus persistence in nature, examines the genesis of the problem from a historical perspective, discusses various unresolved issues from multiple points of view, assesses the present status of the notion in light of current knowledge, and provides options for a solution to resolve the issue.

Allocation of attention during pursuit of large objects is no different than during fixation.

PubMed

Watamaniuk, Scott N J; Heinen, Stephen J

2015-01-01

Attention allocation during pursuit of a spot is usually characterized as asymmetric with more attention placed ahead of the target than behind it. However, attention is symmetrically allocated across larger pursuit stimuli. An unresolved issue is how tightly attention is constrained on large stimuli during pursuit. Although some work shows it is tightly locked to the fovea, other work shows it is allocated flexibly. To investigate this, we had observers perform a character identification task on large pursuit stimuli composed of arrays of five, nine, or 15 characters spaced between 0.6° and 4.0° apart. Initially, the characters were identical, but at a random time, they all changed briefly, rendering one of them unique. Observers identified the unique character. Consistent with previous literature, attention appeared narrow and symmetric around the pursuit target for tightly spaced (0.6°) characters. Increasing spacing dramatically expanded the attention scope, presumably by mitigating crowding. However, when we controlled for crowding, performance was limited by set size, suffering more for eccentric targets. Interestingly, the same limitations on attention allocation were observed with stationary and pursued stimuli-evidence that attention operates similarly during fixation and pursuit of a stimulus that extends into the periphery. The results suggest that attention is flexibly allocated during pursuit, but performance is limited by crowding and set size. In addition, performing the identification task did not hurt pursuit performance, further evidence that pursuit of large stimuli is relatively inattentive.

Cutaneous electrical stimulation treatment in unresolved facial nerve paralysis: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Hyvärinen, Antti; Tarkka, Ina M; Mervaala, Esa; Pääkkönen, Ari; Valtonen, Hannu; Nuutinen, Juhani

2008-12-01

The purpose of this study was to assess clinical and neurophysiological changes after 6 mos of transcutaneous electrical stimulation in patients with unresolved facial nerve paralysis. A pilot case series of 10 consecutive patients with chronic facial nerve paralysis either of idiopathic origin or because of herpes zoster oticus participated in this open study. All patients received below sensory threshold transcutaneous electrical stimulation for 6 mos for their facial nerve paralysis. The intervention consisted of gradually increasing the duration of electrical stimulation of three sites on the affected area for up to 6 hrs/day. Assessments of the facial nerve function were performed using the House-Brackmann clinical scale and neurophysiological measurements of compound motor action potential distal latencies on the affected and nonaffected sides. Patients were tested before and after the intervention. A significant improvement was observed in the facial nerve upper branch compound motor action potential distal latency on the affected side in all patients. An improvement of one grade in House-Brackmann scale was observed and some patients also reported subjective improvement. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation treatment may have a positive effect on unresolved facial nerve paralysis. This study illustrates a possibly effective treatment option for patients with the chronic facial paresis with no other expectations of recovery.

Conflict management: a primer for doctors in training.

PubMed

Saltman, D C; O'Dea, N A; Kidd, M R

2006-01-01

Conflict in the health arena is a growing concern and is well recognised for doctors in training. Its most extreme expression, workplace violence is on the increase. There is evidence that many conflicts remain unsatisfactorily resolved or unresolved, and result in ongoing issues for staff morale. This paper describes the nature of conflict in the health care system and identifies the difference between conflict and disagreement. Using a conflict resolution model, strategies for dealing with conflict as it arises are explored and tips are provided on how to effectively manage conflict to a satisfactory resolution for all parties.

Advances in molecular-based diagnostics in meeting crop biosecurity and phytosanitary issues.

PubMed

Schaad, Norman W; Frederick, Reid D; Shaw, Joe; Schneider, William L; Hickson, Robert; Petrillo, Michael D; Luster, Douglas G

2003-01-01

Awareness of crop biosecurity and phytosanitation has been heightened since 9/11 and the unresolved anthrax releases in October 2001. Crops are highly vulnerable to accidental or deliberate introductions of crop pathogens from outside U.S. borders. Strategic thinking about protection against deliberate or accidental release of a plant pathogen is an urgent priority. Rapid detection will be the key to success. This review summarizes recent progress in the development of rapid real-time PCR protocols and evaluates their effectiveness in a proposed nationwide network of diagnostic laboratories that will facilitate rapid diagnostics and improved communication.

Neutron star binaries, pulsars and burst sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lamb, F. K.

1981-01-01

Unresolved issues involving neutron star binaries, pulsars, and burst sources are described. Attention is drawn to the types of observations most likely to resolve them. Many of these observations are likely to be carried out during the next decade by one or more missions that have been approved or proposed. Flux measurements with an imaging detector and broad-band spectroscopic studies in the energy range 30-150 keV are discussed. The need for soft X-ray and X-ray observations with an instrument which has arcminute angular resolution and an effective area substantially greater than of ROSAT or EXOSAT is also discussed.

Patchwork plagiarism – a jigsaw of stolen puzzle pieces

PubMed Central

Smolčić, Vesna Šupak; Bilić-Zulle, Lidija

2013-01-01

Plagiarism remains at the top in terms of interest to the scientific community. In its many vicious forms, patchwork plagiarism is characterized by numerous unresolved issues and often passes “below the radar” of editors and reviewers. The problem of detecting the complexity of misconduct has been partially resolved by plagiarism detection software. However, interpretation of relevant reports is not always obvious or easy. This article deals with plagiarism in general and patchwork plagiarism in particular, as well as related problems that editors must deal with to maintain the integrity of scientific journals. PMID:23457762

Conflict management: a primer for doctors in training

PubMed Central

Saltman, D C; O'Dea, N A; Kidd, M R

2006-01-01

Conflict in the health arena is a growing concern and is well recognised for doctors in training. Its most extreme expression, workplace violence is on the increase. There is evidence that many conflicts remain unsatisfactorily resolved or unresolved, and result in ongoing issues for staff morale. This paper describes the nature of conflict in the health care system and identifies the difference between conflict and disagreement. Using a conflict resolution model, strategies for dealing with conflict as it arises are explored and tips are provided on how to effectively manage conflict to a satisfactory resolution for all parties. PMID:16397073

Genes, cells, and biobanks: Yes, there’s still a consent problem

PubMed Central

Murdoch, Blake

2017-01-01

From a research perspective, the interest in biobanking continues to intensify. Governments and industry have invested heavily in biobanks, as exemplified by initiatives like the United Kingdom Biobank and United States' Precision Medicine Initiative. But despite this enthusiasm, many profound legal and ethical challenges remain unresolved. Indeed, there continues to be disagreements about how best to obtain consent and the degree and nature of control that research participants retain over donated samples and health information. Emerging social trends—including concerns about commercialization and perceived rights of continuing control (“biorights”)—seem likely to intensify these issues. PMID:28742850

Multigrid techniques for unstructured meshes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mavriplis, D. J.

1995-01-01

An overview of current multigrid techniques for unstructured meshes is given. The basic principles of the multigrid approach are first outlined. Application of these principles to unstructured mesh problems is then described, illustrating various different approaches, and giving examples of practical applications. Advanced multigrid topics, such as the use of algebraic multigrid methods, and the combination of multigrid techniques with adaptive meshing strategies are dealt with in subsequent sections. These represent current areas of research, and the unresolved issues are discussed. The presentation is organized in an educational manner, for readers familiar with computational fluid dynamics, wishing to learn more about current unstructured mesh techniques.

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

Hattrick-Simpers, Jason R.; Gregoire, John M.; Kusne, A. Gilad

With their ability to rapidly elucidate composition-structure-property relationships, high-throughput experimental studies have revolutionized how materials are discovered, optimized, and commercialized. It is now possible to synthesize and characterize high-throughput libraries that systematically address thousands of individual cuts of fabrication parameter space. An unresolved issue remains transforming structural characterization data into phase mappings. This difficulty is related to the complex information present in diffraction and spectroscopic data and its variation with composition and processing. Here, we review the field of automated phase diagram attribution and discuss the impact that emerging computational approaches will have in the generation of phase diagrams andmore » beyond.« less

The marginalisation of Indigenous students within school mathematics and the math wars: seeking resolutions within ethical spaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, Gale L.; Chernoff, Egan J.

2013-03-01

In mathematics education, there are (at least) two seemingly disparate and unethical issues that have been allowed to continue unresolved for decades: the math wars (traditional versus reform teaching and learning of mathematics) and the marginalisation of Indigenous students within K-12 mathematics. Willie Ermine, an Indigenous scholar, has proposed the use of ethical spaces to explore and analyse occurrences of unethical situations arising between the "intersection of Indigenous law and Canadian Legal systems" (Ermine, Indigenous Law Journal 6(1):193-203, 2007). This paper brings Ermine's notion of ethical spaces to the field of mathematics education research as the theoretical framework for analysing the aforementioned issues. The result of this analysis is a potential single theoretical resolution to both dilemmas that can also serve as a significant factor in the processes of decolonisation.

Can temporal fine structure represent the fundamental frequency of unresolved harmonics?

PubMed

Oxenham, Andrew J; Micheyl, Christophe; Keebler, Michael V

2009-04-01

At least two modes of pitch perception exist: in one, the fundamental frequency (F0) of harmonic complex tones is estimated using the temporal fine structure (TFS) of individual low-order resolved harmonics; in the other, F0 is derived from the temporal envelope of high-order unresolved harmonics that interact in the auditory periphery. Pitch is typically more accurate in the former than in the latter mode. Another possibility is that pitch can sometimes be coded via the TFS from unresolved harmonics. A recent study supporting this third possibility [Moore et al. (2006a). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119, 480-490] based its conclusion on a condition where phase interaction effects (implying unresolved harmonics) accompanied accurate F0 discrimination (implying TFS processing). The present study tests whether these results were influenced by audible distortion products. Experiment 1 replicated the original results, obtained using a low-level background noise. However, experiments 2-4 found no evidence for the use of TFS cues with unresolved harmonics when the background noise level was raised, or the stimulus level was lowered, to render distortion inaudible. Experiment 5 measured the presence and phase dependence of audible distortion products. The results provide no evidence that TFS cues are used to code the F0 of unresolved harmonics.

Unresolved trauma in mothers: intergenerational effects and the role of reorganization

PubMed Central

Iyengar, Udita; Kim, Sohye; Martinez, Sheila; Fonagy, Peter; Strathearn, Lane

2014-01-01

A mother's unresolved trauma may interfere with her ability to sensitively respond to her infant, thus affecting the development of attachment in her own child, and potentially contributing to the intergenerational transmission of trauma. One novel construct within the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM) coding of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is “reorganization,” a process whereby speakers are actively changing their understanding of past and present experiences and moving toward attachment security. We conducted a study of mothers with unresolved trauma, exploring their own attachment classification, attachment outcomes of their children, and the potential effects of reorganization on child attachment. Forty-seven first-time mothers participated in the AAI during pregnancy, and returned with their child at 11 months to assess child attachment using the Strange Situation Procedure. Mothers with and without unresolved trauma were compared. We found that mothers with unresolved trauma had insecure attachment themselves and were more likely to have infants with insecure attachment. However, the one exception was that all of the mothers with unresolved trauma who were reorganizing toward secure attachment had infants with secure attachment. These preliminary findings suggest that mothers who are reorganizing may be able to more sensitively respond to their child's cues, contributing to the development of secure attachment. While our results need to be replicated in a larger cohort, this study is the first to explore the construct of reorganization and its potential relationship with child attachment. If confirmed in future studies, it may provide clinical insight into the intergenerational transmission of insecure attachment within the context of unresolved trauma. PMID:25225490

Patient and public involvement: what next for the NHS?

PubMed

Hogg, Christine N L

2007-06-01

Patient and public involvement is the cornerstone of the 'patient-led' National Health Service (NHS). Though the UK has had state sponsored arrangements for patient and public involvement since 1974, they have become fragmented and unstable. Patients' forums and the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health replaced community health councils (CHCs) and their national association in England in 2003, but now will be replaced by local involvement networks (LINks) and the Commission will be abolished in 2007. This study provides an overview of research on the effectiveness of arrangements for patient and public involvement and reviews the debates about accountability, independence, ensuring consistency of performance, representation and how arrangements for the NHS fit within the wider agenda of citizenship and renewal of democracy. It explores key themes and areas for learning to inform the debate about how LINks might work effectively to improve the health of local people, in particular addressing issues of equity, representation and citizen engagement. The proposed LINks provide the opportunity to integrate patient and public involvement into wider initiatives for local democracy and citizen engagement. But debates and key issues about user and public involvement in the 1970s remain current and unresolved. If the new LINks are to succeed where forums and CHCs are considered to have failed, the strengths and weakness of both need to be understood and addressed.

Plant-module for autonomous space-support (p-mass).

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luttges, M. W.; Stodieck, L.; Hoehn, A.

1994-01-01

A wide variety of technical and science questions arise when attempting to envision the long-term support of plants, algae and bacteria in space. Currently, spaceflight data remain elusive since there are no U.S. carriers for investigating either the germane technical or scientific issues. The first flight of the Commercial Experiment Transporter (COMET) will provide a nominal 30 day orbital opportunity to evlauate such issues. The P-Mass is a small payload that is designed to meet the mass (40 lbs), Volume (1.5cu. ft.), and power (120 W0 constraints of one of several COMET payloads while enabling flight evaluations of plants, algae and bacteria. Various biological sub-systems have been similarly evaluated. Through a variety of sensors coupled with color video, the P-Mass performance and the supported biological systems will be compared for terrestrial controls versus spaceflight materials. This small, low cost payload should return valuable regarding the requirements for hardware and biological systems needed to move toward biogenerative life support systems in space. In addition, it should be possible to accurately identify major unresolved difficulties that may arise in the long-term, this generic spaceflight capability should enable a variety of plant research programs focused on the use of microgravity to modulate and exploit plant products for commercial applications ranging from new agricultural products to pharmacological feedstocks and new controlled agricultural strategies.

Ethics, policy, and educational issues in genetic testing.

PubMed

Williams, Janet K; Skirton, Heather; Masny, Agnes

2006-01-01

Analyze ethics, public policy, and education issues that arise in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) when genomic information acquired as a result of genetic testing is introduced into healthcare services. Priorities in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues Research Program include privacy, integration of genetic services into clinical health care, and educational preparation of the nursing workforce. These constructs are used to examine health policies in the US and UK, and professional interactions of individuals and families with healthcare providers. Individual, family, and societal goals may conflict with current healthcare practices and policies when genetic testing is done. Current health policies do not fully address these concerns. Unresolved issues include protection of privacy of individuals while considering genetic information needs of family members, determination of appropriate monitoring of genetic tests, addressing genetic healthcare discrepancies, and assuring appropriate nursing workforce preparation. Introduction of genetic testing into health care requires that providers are knowledgeable regarding ethical, policy, and practice issues in order to minimize risk for harm, protect the rights of individuals and families, and consider societal context in the management of genetic test results. Understanding of these issues is a component of genetic nursing competency that must be addressed at all levels of nursing education.

NPTFit: A Code Package for Non-Poissonian Template Fitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra-Sharma, Siddharth; Rodd, Nicholas L.; Safdi, Benjamin R.

2017-06-01

We present NPTFit, an open-source code package, written in Python and Cython, for performing non-Poissonian template fits (NPTFs). The NPTF is a recently developed statistical procedure for characterizing the contribution of unresolved point sources (PSs) to astrophysical data sets. The NPTF was first applied to Fermi gamma-ray data to provide evidence that the excess of ˜GeV gamma-rays observed in the inner regions of the Milky Way likely arises from a population of sub-threshold point sources, and the NPTF has since found additional applications studying sub-threshold extragalactic sources at high Galactic latitudes. The NPTF generalizes traditional astrophysical template fits to allow for the ability to search for populations of unresolved PSs that may follow a given spatial distribution. NPTFit builds upon the framework of the fluctuation analyses developed in X-ray astronomy, thus it likely has applications beyond those demonstrated with gamma-ray data. The NPTFit package utilizes novel computational methods to perform the NPTF efficiently. The code is available at http://github.com/bsafdi/NPTFit and up-to-date and extensive documentation may be found at http://nptfit.readthedocs.io.

181Ta(n ,γ ) cross section and average resonance parameter measurements in the unresolved resonance region from 24 to 1180 keV using a filtered-beam technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDermott, B. J.; Blain, E.; Daskalakis, A.; Thompson, N.; Youmans, A.; Choun, H. J.; Steinberger, W.; Danon, Y.; Barry, D. P.; Block, R. C.; Epping, B. E.; Leinweber, G.; Rapp, M. R.

2017-07-01

A new array of four Deuterated Benzene (C6D6 ) detectors has been installed at the Gaerttner Linear Accelerator Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for the purpose of measuring neutron capture cross sections in the keV region. Measurements were performed on samples of 181Ta in the unresolved resonance region (URR) using a filtered-beam technique, by which a 30 cm iron filter was placed in a white-spectrum neutron beam to remove all time-dependent γ -ray background and all neutrons except those transmitted through resonance-potential interference "windows" in the iron. The resulting filtered beam was effectively a quasimonoenergetic neutron source, which was used for performing measurements on isotopes with narrow level spacings in the URR. The capture cross-section results obtained for two thicknesses of tantalum are in agreement with those documented in the JEFF-3.2 library, as are the average resonance parameters obtained via a fit to the data using the sammy-fitacs code.

Designing nacre-like materials for simultaneous stiffness, strength and toughness: Optimum materials, composition, microstructure and size

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barthelat, Francois

2014-12-01

Nacre, bone and spider silk are staggered composites where inclusions of high aspect ratio reinforce a softer matrix. Such staggered composites have emerged through natural selection as the best configuration to produce stiffness, strength and toughness simultaneously. As a result, these remarkable materials are increasingly serving as model for synthetic composites with unusual and attractive performance. While several models have been developed to predict basic properties for biological and bio-inspired staggered composites, the designer is still left to struggle with finding optimum parameters. Unresolved issues include choosing optimum properties for inclusions and matrix, and resolving the contradictory effects of certain design variables. Here we overcome these difficulties with a multi-objective optimization for simultaneous high stiffness, strength and energy absorption in staggered composites. Our optimization scheme includes material properties for inclusions and matrix as design variables. This process reveals new guidelines, for example the staggered microstructure is only advantageous if the tablets are at least five times stronger than the interfaces, and only if high volume concentrations of tablets are used. We finally compile the results into a step-by-step optimization procedure which can be applied for the design of any type of high-performance staggered composite and at any length scale. The procedure produces optimum designs which are consistent with the materials and microstructure of natural nacre, confirming that this natural material is indeed optimized for mechanical performance.

Impact of Virtual Environments on Sensorimotor Coordination and User Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harm, Deborah L.; Taylor, Laura C.; Kennedy, Robert S.; Reschke, Millard F.

2011-01-01

One critical unresolved issue related to the safe use of virtual environments (VEs) is maladaptive sensorimotor coordination following exposure to VEs. Moving visual displays used in VEs, especially in the absence of concordant vestibular signals leads to adaptive responses during VE exposure, but maladaptive responses following return to the normal environment. In the current set of investigations, we examined the effect of HMD and dome VE displays on eye-head-hand coordination, gaze holding and postural equilibrium. Subjects (61) performed a navigation and a pick and place task. Further, we compared 30 min and 60 min exposures across 3 days (each separated by 1 day). A subset of these results will be presented. In general, we found significant decrements in all three measures following exposure to the VEs. In addition, we found that these disturbances generally recovered within 1-2 hrs and decreased across days. These findings suggest the need for post-VE monitoring of sensorimotor coordination and for developing a set of recommendations for users concerning activities that are safe to engage in following use of a VE.

Athletes and blood clots: individualized, intermittent anticoagulation management.

PubMed

Berkowitz, J N; Moll, S

2017-06-01

Essentials Athletes on anticoagulants are typically prohibited from participation in contact sports. Short-acting anticoagulants allow for reconsideration of this precedent. An individualized pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics study can aid patient-specific management. Many challenges and unresolved issues exist regarding such tailored intermittent dosing. Athletes with venous thromboembolism (VTE) are typically prohibited from participating in contact sports during anticoagulation therapy, but such mandatory removal from competition can cause psychological and financial detriments for athletes and overlooks patient autonomy. The precedent of compulsory removal developed when options for anticoagulation therapy were more limited, but medical advances now allow for rethinking of the management of athletes with VTE. We propose a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of athletes who participate in contact sports and require anticoagulation. A personalized pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics study of a direct oral anticoagulant can be performed for an athlete, which can inform the timing of medication dosing. Managed carefully, this can allow athletic participation when plasma drug concentration is minimal (minimizing bleeding risk) and prompt resumption of treatment after the risk of bleeding sufficiently normalizes (maximizing therapeutic time). © 2017 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Actin and Endocytosis in Budding Yeast

PubMed Central

Goode, Bruce L.; Eskin, Julian A.; Wendland, Beverly

2015-01-01

Endocytosis, the process whereby the plasma membrane invaginates to form vesicles, is essential for bringing many substances into the cell and for membrane turnover. The mechanism driving clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) involves > 50 different protein components assembling at a single location on the plasma membrane in a temporally ordered and hierarchal pathway. These proteins perform precisely choreographed steps that promote receptor recognition and clustering, membrane remodeling, and force-generating actin-filament assembly and turnover to drive membrane invagination and vesicle scission. Many critical aspects of the CME mechanism are conserved from yeast to mammals and were first elucidated in yeast, demonstrating that it is a powerful system for studying endocytosis. In this review, we describe our current mechanistic understanding of each step in the process of yeast CME, and the essential roles played by actin polymerization at these sites, while providing a historical perspective of how the landscape has changed since the preceding version of the YeastBook was published 17 years ago (1997). Finally, we discuss the key unresolved issues and where future studies might be headed. PMID:25657349

Hand controller commonality evaluation process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stuart, Mark A.; Bierschwale, John M.; Wilmington, Robert P.; Adam, Susan C.; Diaz, Manuel F.; Jensen, Dean G.

1993-01-01

Hand controller selection for NASA's Orbiter and Space Station Freedom is an important area of human-telerobot interface design and evaluation. These input devices will control remotely operated systems that include large crane-like manipulators (e.g., Remote Manipulator System or RMS), smaller, more dexterous manipulators (e.g., Flight Telerobotic Servicer or FTS), and free flyers (e.g., Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle or OMV). Candidate hand controller configurations for these systems vary in many ways: shape, size, number of degrees-of-freedom (DOF), operating modes, provision of force reflection, range of movement, and 'naturalness' of use. Unresolved design implementation issues remain, including such topics as how the current Orbiter RMS rotational and translational rate hand controllers compare with the proposed Space Station Freedom hand controllers, the advantages that position hand controllers offer for these applications, and whether separate hand controller configurations are required for each application. Since previous studies contain little empirical hand controller task performance data, a controlled study is needed that tests Space Station Freedom candidate hand controllers during representative tasks. This study also needs to include anthropometric and biomechanical considerations.

Re-visiting the tympanic membrane vicinity as core body temperature measurement site

PubMed Central

Gan, Chee Wee; Liang, Wenyu

2017-01-01

Core body temperature (CBT) is an important and commonly used indicator of human health and endurance performance. A rise in baseline CBT can be attributed to an onset of flu, infection or even thermoregulatory failure when it becomes excessive. Sites which have been used for measurement of CBT include the pulmonary artery, the esophagus, the rectum and the tympanic membrane. Among them, the tympanic membrane is an attractive measurement site for CBT due to its unobtrusive nature and ease of measurement facilitated, especially when continuous CBT measurements are needed for monitoring such as during military, occupational and sporting settings. However, to-date, there are still polarizing views on the suitability of tympanic membrane as a CBT site. This paper will revisit a number of key unresolved issues in the literature and also presents, for the first time, a benchmark of the middle ear temperature against temperature measurements from other sites. Results from experiments carried out on human and primate subjects will be presented to draw a fresh set of insights against the backdrop of hypotheses and controversies. PMID:28414722

Re-visiting the tympanic membrane vicinity as core body temperature measurement site.

PubMed

Yeoh, Wui Keat; Lee, Jason Kai Wei; Lim, Hsueh Yee; Gan, Chee Wee; Liang, Wenyu; Tan, Kok Kiong

2017-01-01

Core body temperature (CBT) is an important and commonly used indicator of human health and endurance performance. A rise in baseline CBT can be attributed to an onset of flu, infection or even thermoregulatory failure when it becomes excessive. Sites which have been used for measurement of CBT include the pulmonary artery, the esophagus, the rectum and the tympanic membrane. Among them, the tympanic membrane is an attractive measurement site for CBT due to its unobtrusive nature and ease of measurement facilitated, especially when continuous CBT measurements are needed for monitoring such as during military, occupational and sporting settings. However, to-date, there are still polarizing views on the suitability of tympanic membrane as a CBT site. This paper will revisit a number of key unresolved issues in the literature and also presents, for the first time, a benchmark of the middle ear temperature against temperature measurements from other sites. Results from experiments carried out on human and primate subjects will be presented to draw a fresh set of insights against the backdrop of hypotheses and controversies.

Fulleropyrrolidinium Iodide As an Efficient Electron Transport Layer for Air-Stable Planar Perovskite Solar Cells.

PubMed

Huang, Jiabin; Yu, Xuegong; Xie, Jiangsheng; Li, Chang-Zhi; Zhang, Yunhai; Xu, Dikai; Tang, Zeguo; Cui, Can; Yang, Deren

2016-12-21

Organic-inorganic halide perovskite solar cells have attracted great attention in recent years. But there are still a lot of unresolved issues related to the perovskite solar cells such as the phenomenon of anomalous hysteresis characteristics and long-term stability of the devices. Here, we developed a simple three-layered efficient perovskite device by replacing the commonly employed PCBM electrical transport layer with an ultrathin fulleropyrrolidinium iodide (C 60 -bis) in an inverted p-i-n architecture. The devices with an ultrathin C 60 -bis electronic transport layer yield an average power conversion efficiency of 13.5% and a maximum efficiency of 15.15%. Steady-state photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements show that the high performance is attributed to the efficient blocking of holes and high extraction efficiency of electrons by C 60 -bis, due to a favorable energy level alignment between the CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 and the Ag electrodes. The hysteresis effect and stability of our perovskite solar cells with C 60 -bis become better under indoor humidity conditions.

Error due to unresolved scales in estimation problems for atmospheric data assimilation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janjic, Tijana

The error arising due to unresolved scales in data assimilation procedures is examined. The problem of estimating the projection of the state of a passive scalar undergoing advection at a sequence of times is considered. The projection belongs to a finite- dimensional function space and is defined on the continuum. Using the continuum projection of the state of a passive scalar, a mathematical definition is obtained for the error arising due to the presence, in the continuum system, of scales unresolved by the discrete dynamical model. This error affects the estimation procedure through point observations that include the unresolved scales. In this work, two approximate methods for taking into account the error due to unresolved scales and the resulting correlations are developed and employed in the estimation procedure. The resulting formulas resemble the Schmidt-Kalman filter and the usual discrete Kalman filter, respectively. For this reason, the newly developed filters are called the Schmidt-Kalman filter and the traditional filter. In order to test the assimilation methods, a two- dimensional advection model with nonstationary spectrum was developed for passive scalar transport in the atmosphere. An analytical solution on the sphere was found depicting the model dynamics evolution. Using this analytical solution the model error is avoided, and the error due to unresolved scales is the only error left in the estimation problem. It is demonstrated that the traditional and the Schmidt- Kalman filter work well provided the exact covariance function of the unresolved scales is known. However, this requirement is not satisfied in practice, and the covariance function must be modeled. The Schmidt-Kalman filter cannot be computed in practice without further approximations. Therefore, the traditional filter is better suited for practical use. Also, the traditional filter does not require modeling of the full covariance function of the unresolved scales, but only modeling of the covariance matrix obtained by evaluating the covariance function at the observation points. We first assumed that this covariance matrix is stationary and that the unresolved scales are not correlated between the observation points, i.e., the matrix is diagonal, and that the values along the diagonal are constant. Tests with these assumptions were unsuccessful, indicating that a more sophisticated model of the covariance is needed for assimilation of data with nonstationary spectrum. A new method for modeling the covariance matrix based on an extended set of modeling assumptions is proposed. First, it is assumed that the covariance matrix is diagonal, that is, that the unresolved scales are not correlated between the observation points. It is postulated that the values on the diagonal depend on a wavenumber that is characteristic for the unresolved part of the spectrum. It is further postulated that this characteristic wavenumber can be diagnosed from the observations and from the estimate of the projection of the state that is being estimated. It is demonstrated that the new method successfully overcomes previously encountered difficulties.

Army-NASA aircrew/aircraft integration program. Phase 5: A3I Man-Machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) software concept document

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banda, Carolyn; Bushnell, David; Chen, Scott; Chiu, Alex; Neukom, Christian; Nishimura, Sayuri; Prevost, Michael; Shankar, Renuka; Staveland, Lowell; Smith, Greg

1992-01-01

This is the Software Concept Document for the Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) being developed as part of Phase V of the Army-NASA Aircrew/Aircraft Integration (A3I) Progam. The approach taken in this program since its inception in 1984 is that of incremental development with clearly defined phases. Phase 1 began in 1984 and subsequent phases have progressed at approximately 10-16 month intervals. Each phase of development consists of planning, setting requirements, preliminary design, detailed design, implementation, testing, demonstration and documentation. Phase 5 began with an off-site planning meeting in November, 1990. It is expected that Phase 5 development will be complete and ready for demonstration to invited visitors from industry, government and academia in May, 1992. This document, produced during the preliminary design period of Phase 5, is intended to record the top level design concept for MIDAS as it is currently conceived. This document has two main objectives: (1) to inform interested readers of the goals of the MIDAS Phase 5 development period, and (2) to serve as the initial version of the MIDAS design document which will be continuously updated as the design evolves. Since this document is written fairly early in the design period, many design issues still remain unresolved. Some of the unresolved issues are mentioned later in this document in the sections on specific components. Readers are cautioned that this is not a final design document and that, as the design of MIDAS matures, some of the design ideas recorded in this document will change. The final design will be documented in a detailed design document published after the demonstrations.

Assessing 1D Atmospheric Solar Radiative Transfer Models: Interpretation and Handling of Unresolved Clouds.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barker, H. W.; Stephens, G. L.; Partain, P. T.; Bergman, J. W.; Bonnel, B.; Campana, K.; Clothiaux, E. E.; Clough, S.; Cusack, S.; Delamere, J.; Edwards, J.; Evans, K. F.; Fouquart, Y.; Freidenreich, S.; Galin, V.; Hou, Y.; Kato, S.; Li, J.;  Mlawer, E.;  Morcrette, J.-J.;  O'Hirok, W.;  Räisänen, P.;  Ramaswamy, V.;  Ritter, B.;  Rozanov, E.;  Schlesinger, M.;  Shibata, K.;  Sporyshev, P.;  Sun, Z.;  Wendisch, M.;  Wood, N.;  Yang, F.

2003-08-01

The primary purpose of this study is to assess the performance of 1D solar radiative transfer codes that are used currently both for research and in weather and climate models. Emphasis is on interpretation and handling of unresolved clouds. Answers are sought to the following questions: (i) How well do 1D solar codes interpret and handle columns of information pertaining to partly cloudy atmospheres? (ii) Regardless of the adequacy of their assumptions about unresolved clouds, do 1D solar codes perform as intended?One clear-sky and two plane-parallel, homogeneous (PPH) overcast cloud cases serve to elucidate 1D model differences due to varying treatments of gaseous transmittances, cloud optical properties, and basic radiative transfer. The remaining four cases involve 3D distributions of cloud water and water vapor as simulated by cloud-resolving models. Results for 25 1D codes, which included two line-by-line (LBL) models (clear and overcast only) and four 3D Monte Carlo (MC) photon transport algorithms, were submitted by 22 groups. Benchmark, domain-averaged irradiance profiles were computed by the MC codes. For the clear and overcast cases, all MC estimates of top-of-atmosphere albedo, atmospheric absorptance, and surface absorptance agree with one of the LBL codes to within ±2%. Most 1D codes underestimate atmospheric absorptance by typically 15-25 W m-2 at overhead sun for the standard tropical atmosphere regardless of clouds.Depending on assumptions about unresolved clouds, the 1D codes were partitioned into four genres: (i) horizontal variability, (ii) exact overlap of PPH clouds, (iii) maximum/random overlap of PPH clouds, and (iv) random overlap of PPH clouds. A single MC code was used to establish conditional benchmarks applicable to each genre, and all MC codes were used to establish the full 3D benchmarks. There is a tendency for 1D codes to cluster near their respective conditional benchmarks, though intragenre variances typically exceed those for the clear and overcast cases. The majority of 1D codes fall into the extreme category of maximum/random overlap of PPH clouds and thus generally disagree with full 3D benchmark values. Given the fairly limited scope of these tests and the inability of any one code to perform extremely well for all cases begs the question that a paradigm shift is due for modeling 1D solar fluxes for cloudy atmospheres.

RH-LLW Disposal Facility Project CD-2/3 to Design/Build Proposal Reconciliation Report

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

Annette L. Schafer

2012-06-01

A reconciliation plan was developed and implemented to address potential gaps and responses to gaps between the design/build vendor proposals and the Critical Decision-2/3 approval request package for the Remote-Handled Low Level Waste Disposal Facility Project. The plan and results of the plan implementation included development of a reconciliation team comprised of subject matter experts from Battelle Energy Alliance and the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office, identification of reconciliation questions, reconciliation by the team, identification of unresolved/remaining issues, and identification of follow-up actions and subsequent approvals of responses. The plan addressed the potential for gaps to exist in themore » following areas: • Department of Energy Order 435.1, “Radioactive Waste Management,” requirements, including the performance assessment, composite analysis, monitoring plan, performance assessment/composite analysis maintenance plan, and closure plan • Environmental assessment supporting the National Environmental Policy Act • Nuclear safety • Safeguards and security • Emplacement operations • Requirements for commissioning • General project implementation. The reconciliation plan and results of the plan implementation are provided in a business-sensitive project file. This report provides the reconciliation plan and non-business sensitive summary responses to identified gaps.« less

"Flash" dance: how speed modulates percieved duration in dancers and non-dancers.

PubMed

Sgouramani, Helena; Vatakis, Argiro

2014-03-01

Speed has been proposed as a modulating factor on duration estimation. However, the different measurement methodologies and experimental designs used have led to inconsistent results across studies, and, thus, the issue of how speed modulates time estimation remains unresolved. Additionally, no studies have looked into the role of expertise on spatiotemporal tasks (tasks requiring high temporal and spatial acuity; e.g., dancing) and susceptibility to modulations of speed in timing judgments. In the present study, therefore, using naturalistic, dynamic dance stimuli, we aimed at defining the role of speed and the interaction of speed and experience on time estimation. We presented videos of a dancer performing identical ballet steps in fast and slow versions, while controlling for the number of changes present. Professional dancers and non-dancers performed duration judgments through a production and a reproduction task. Analysis revealed a significantly larger underestimation of fast videos as compared to slow ones during reproduction. The exact opposite result was true for the production task. Dancers were significantly less variable in their time estimations as compared to non-dancers. Speed and experience, therefore, affect the participants' estimates of time. Results are discussed in association to the theoretical framework of current models by focusing on the role of attention. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Sound Radiation by Unresolved Scales of Motion in Computational Aeroacoustics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rubinstein, Robert; Zhou, Ye

1999-01-01

Evaluation of the sound sources in a high Reynolds number turbulent flow requires time-accurate resolution of an extremely large number of scales of motion. Direct numerical simulations will therefore remain infeasible for the forseeable future: although current large eddy simulation methods can resolve the largest scales of motion accurately the, they must leave some scales of motion unresolved. A priori studies show that acoustic power can be underestimated significantly if the contribution of these unresolved scales is simply neglected. In this paper, the problem of evaluating the sound radiation properties of the unresolved, subgrid-scale motions is approached in the spirit of the simplest subgrid stress models: the unresolved velocity field is treated as isotropic turbulence with statistical descriptors, evaluated from the resolved field. The theory of isotropic turbulence is applied to derive formulas for the total power and the power spectral density of the sound radiated by a filtered velocity field. These quantities are compared with the corresponding quantities for the unfiltered field for a range of filter widths and Reynolds numbers.

Numerical prediction of turbulent oscillating flow and associated heat transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koehler, W. J.; Patankar, S. V.; Ibele, W. E.

1991-01-01

A crucial point for further development of engines is the optimization of its heat exchangers which operate under oscillatory flow conditions. It has been found that the most important thermodynamic uncertainties in the Stirling engine designs for space power are in the heat transfer between gas and metal in all engine components and in the pressure drop across the heat exchanger components. So far, performance codes cannot predict the power output of a Stirling engine reasonably enough if used for a wide variety of engines. Thus, there is a strong need for better performance codes. However, a performance code is not concerned with the details of the flow. This information must be provided externally. While analytical relationships exist for laminar oscillating flow, there has been hardly any information about transitional and turbulent oscillating flow, which could be introduced into the performance codes. In 1986, a survey by Seume and Simon revealed that most Stirling engine heat exchangers operate in the transitional and turbulent regime. Consequently, research has since focused on the unresolved issue of transitional and turbulent oscillating flow and heat transfer. Since 1988, the University of Minnesota oscillating flow facility has obtained experimental data about transitional and turbulent oscillating flow. However, since the experiments in this field are extremely difficult, lengthy, and expensive, it is advantageous to numerically simulate the flow and heat transfer accurately from first principles. Work done at the University of Minnesota on the development of such a numerical simulation is summarized.

A matter of time: improvement of visual temporal processing during training-induced restoration of light detection performance

PubMed Central

Poggel, Dorothe A.; Treutwein, Bernhard; Sabel, Bernhard A.; Strasburger, Hans

2015-01-01

The issue of how basic sensory and temporal processing are related is still unresolved. We studied temporal processing, as assessed by simple visual reaction times (RT) and double-pulse resolution (DPR), in patients with partial vision loss after visual pathway lesions and investigated whether vision restoration training (VRT), a training program designed to improve light detection performance, would also affect temporal processing. Perimetric and campimetric visual field tests as well as maps of DPR thresholds and RT were acquired before and after a 3 months training period with VRT. Patient performance was compared to that of age-matched healthy subjects. Intact visual field size increased during training. Averaged across the entire visual field, DPR remained constant while RT improved slightly. However, in transition zones between the blind and intact areas (areas of residual vision) where patients had shown between 20 and 80% of stimulus detection probability in pre-training visual field tests, both DPR and RT improved markedly. The magnitude of improvement depended on the defect depth (or degree of intactness) of the respective region at baseline. Inter-individual training outcome variability was very high, with some patients showing little change and others showing performance approaching that of healthy controls. Training-induced improvement of light detection in patients with visual field loss thus generalized to dynamic visual functions. The findings suggest that similar neural mechanisms may underlie the impairment and subsequent training-induced functional recovery of both light detection and temporal processing. PMID:25717307

The American Indian Holocaust: healing historical unresolved grief.

PubMed

Brave Heart, M Y; DeBruyn, L M

1998-01-01

American Indians experienced massive losses of lives, land, and culture from European contact and colonization resulting in a long legacy of chronic trauma and unresolved grief across generations. This phenomenon, labeled historical unresolved grief, contributes to the current social pathology of high rates of suicide, homicide, domestic violence, child abuse, alcoholism and other social problems among American Indians. The present paper describes the concept of historical unresolved grief and historical trauma among American Indians, outlining the historical as well as present social and political forces which exacerbate it. The abundant literature on Jewish Holocaust survivors and their children is used to delineate the intergenerational transmission of trauma, grief, and the survivor's child complex. Interventions based on traditional American Indian ceremonies and modern western treatment modalities for grieving and healing of those losses are described.

The sigh of the oppressed: The palliative effects of ideology are stronger for people living in highly unequal neighbourhoods.

PubMed

Sengupta, Nikhil K; Greaves, Lara M; Osborne, Danny; Sibley, Chris G

2017-09-01

Ideologies that legitimize status hierarchies are associated with increased well-being. However, which ideologies have 'palliative effects', why they have these effects, and whether these effects extend to low-status groups remain unresolved issues. This study aimed to address these issues by testing the effects of the ideology of Symbolic Prejudice on well-being among low- and high-status ethnic groups (4,519 Europeans and 1,091 Māori) nested within 1,437 regions in New Zealand. Results showed that Symbolic Prejudice predicted increased well-being for both groups, but that this relationship was stronger for those living in highly unequal neighbourhoods. This suggests that it is precisely those who have the strongest need to justify inequality that accrue the most psychological benefit from subscribing to legitimizing ideologies. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

The nitrogen-vacancy colour centre in diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doherty, Marcus W.; Manson, Neil B.; Delaney, Paul; Jelezko, Fedor; Wrachtrup, Jörg; Hollenberg, Lloyd C. L.

2013-07-01

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) colour centre in diamond is an important physical system for emergent quantum technologies, including quantum metrology, information processing and communications, as well as for various nanotechnologies, such as biological and sub-diffraction limit imaging, and for tests of entanglement in quantum mechanics. Given this array of existing and potential applications and the almost 50 years of NV research, one would expect that the physics of the centre is well understood, however, the study of the NV centre has proved challenging, with many early assertions now believed false and many remaining issues yet to be resolved. This review represents the first time that the key empirical and ab initio results have been extracted from the extensive NV literature and assembled into one consistent picture of the current understanding of the centre. As a result, the key unresolved issues concerning the NV centre are identified and the possible avenues for their resolution are examined.

Unresolved issues in excimer laser corneal surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trokel, Stephen L.

1991-06-01

More than one hundred fifty clinical excimer laser units designed for corneal surgery have been developed and sold commercially. Manufacturers include Meditec Lasers in Germany, Summit Engineering, Taunton Technologies, and Visx in the United States, and Synthelabo in France. Furthermore a number of prototypes have been built in the USSR and other countries which are being investigated for their clinical use. While in the United States and Canada, substantial regulation of these devices has limited their distribution and use, sales in other parts of the world have been restricted only by market forces. Early clinical successes have created an enthusiasm for this new technology. In spite of this, substantial technical issues remain uncertain and have not been carefully studied. Indeed we have accepted certain parameters for on an almost serendipitous, empirical basis. It is a proper time to pause and consider the bases for these laser techniques.

Integrating positive psychology into health-related quality of life research.

PubMed

Park, Crystal L

2015-07-01

Positive psychology is an increasingly influential force in theory and research within psychology and many related fields, including behavioral medicine, sociology, and public health. This article aims to review the ways in which positive psychology and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) research currently interface and to suggest fruitful future directions. This article reviews the basic elements of positive psychology and provides an overview of conceptual and empirical links between positive psychology and HRQOL. The role of one central aspect of positive psychology (meaning) within HRQOL is highlighted, and unresolved issues (e.g., lack of definitional clarity) are discussed. Some research on HRQOL has taken a positive psychology perspective, demonstrating the usefulness of taking a positive psychology approach. However, many areas await integration. Once conceptual and methodological issues are resolved, positive psychology may profitably inform many aspects of HRQOL research and, perhaps, clinical interventions to promote HRQOL as well.

End of FY2014 Report - Filter Measurement System for Nuclear Material Storage Canisters (Including Altitude Correction for Filter Pressure Drop)

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

Moore, Murray E.; Reeves, Kirk Patrick

2015-02-24

Two LANL FTS (Filter Test System ) devices for nuclear material storage canisters are fully operational. One is located in PF-4 ( i.e. the TA-55 FTS) while the other is located at the Radiation Protection Division’s Aerosol Engineering Facility ( i.e. the TA-3 FTS). The systems are functionally equivalent , with the TA-3 FTS being the test-bed for new additions and for resolving any issues found in the TA-55 FTS. There is currently one unresolved issue regarding the TA-55 FTS device. The canister lid clamp does not give a leak tight seal when testing the 1 QT (quart) or 2more » QT SAVY lids. An adapter plate is being developed that will ensure a correct test configuration when the 1 or 2 QT SAVY lid s are being tested .« less

Highlights of the study of energy release in flares

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rust, D. M.; Batchelor, D. A.

1987-01-01

From February 26 to March 1, 1979, 32 solar flare investigators attended a workshop at Cambridge, MA to define objectives and devise a scientific program for the study of energy release in flares (SERF) during the coming solar maximum. Herein, some major results of the ensuing five-year effort to observe and understand the flare energy release process and its effects (energetic particle production, coronal and chromospheric heating, electromagnetic radiations, and mass motions and ejections) are reviewed. The central issue - what processes store and release the energy liberated in flares - remains unresolved except in the most general terms (e.g., it is generally agreed that the energy is stored in sheared or stressed magnetic fields and released by field annihilation during some MHD instability). Resolving that issue is still one of the most important goals in solar physics, but the advances during the SERF program have brought it closer.

Ensemble Kalman filters for dynamical systems with unresolved turbulence

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

Grooms, Ian, E-mail: grooms@cims.nyu.edu; Lee, Yoonsang; Majda, Andrew J.

Ensemble Kalman filters are developed for turbulent dynamical systems where the forecast model does not resolve all the active scales of motion. Coarse-resolution models are intended to predict the large-scale part of the true dynamics, but observations invariably include contributions from both the resolved large scales and the unresolved small scales. The error due to the contribution of unresolved scales to the observations, called ‘representation’ or ‘representativeness’ error, is often included as part of the observation error, in addition to the raw measurement error, when estimating the large-scale part of the system. It is here shown how stochastic superparameterization (amore » multiscale method for subgridscale parameterization) can be used to provide estimates of the statistics of the unresolved scales. In addition, a new framework is developed wherein small-scale statistics can be used to estimate both the resolved and unresolved components of the solution. The one-dimensional test problem from dispersive wave turbulence used here is computationally tractable yet is particularly difficult for filtering because of the non-Gaussian extreme event statistics and substantial small scale turbulence: a shallow energy spectrum proportional to k{sup −5/6} (where k is the wavenumber) results in two-thirds of the climatological variance being carried by the unresolved small scales. Because the unresolved scales contain so much energy, filters that ignore the representation error fail utterly to provide meaningful estimates of the system state. Inclusion of a time-independent climatological estimate of the representation error in a standard framework leads to inaccurate estimates of the large-scale part of the signal; accurate estimates of the large scales are only achieved by using stochastic superparameterization to provide evolving, large-scale dependent predictions of the small-scale statistics. Again, because the unresolved scales contain so much energy, even an accurate estimate of the large-scale part of the system does not provide an accurate estimate of the true state. By providing simultaneous estimates of both the large- and small-scale parts of the solution, the new framework is able to provide accurate estimates of the true system state.« less

CO activation pathways and the mechanism of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

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

Ojeda, Manuel; Nabar, Rahul P.; Nilekar, Anand U.

2010-06-15

Unresolved mechanistic details of monomer formation in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) and of its oxygen rejection routes are addressed here by combining kinetic and theoretical analyses of elementary steps on representative Fe and Co surfaces saturated with chemisorbed CO. These studies provide experimental and theoretical evidence for hydrogen-assisted CO activation as the predominant kinetically-relevant step on Fe and Co catalysts at conditions typical of FTS practice. H2 and CO kinetic effects on FTS rates and oxygen rejection selectivity (as H2O or CO2) and density functional theory estimates of activation barriers and binding energies are consistent with H-assisted CO dissociation, but notmore » with the previously accepted kinetic relevance of direct CO dissociation and chemisorbed carbon hydrogenation elementary steps. H-assisted CO dissociation removes O-atoms as H2O, while direct dissociation forms chemisorbed oxygen atoms that desorb as CO2. Direct CO dissociation routes are minor contributors to monomer formation on Fe and may become favored at high temperatures on alkali-promoted catalysts, but not on Co catalysts, which remove oxygen predominantly as H2O because of the preponderance of Hassisted CO dissociation routes. The merging of experiment and theory led to the clarification of persistent mechanistic issues previously unresolved by separate experimental and theoretical inquiries.« less

Ebola epidemic of 2014-2015: unresolved ethical issues.

PubMed

Garbuglia, Anna Rosa

2016-01-01

Some ethical aspects of the management of the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone which started in January 2014, have been questionable. First, as regards the prevention of the spread of the virus, the necessary epidemiological investigations on the origin of the infection were not carried out adequately and this did not help to curb the spread of the disease. A disparity has been observed between the western and African countries' access to the treatment of patients; this infringes on the principle of equality. This paper also focuses on how the Global Public Goods for Health principle was not fully respected in the management of the epidemic.

Intermittent fasting and cardiovascular disease: current evidence and unresolved questions.

PubMed

Tinsley, Grant M; Horne, Benjamin D

2018-01-01

Intermittent fasting has produced a variety of beneficial health effects in animal models, although high-quality research in humans has been limited. This special report examines current evidences for intermittent fasting in humans, discusses issues that require further examination, and recommends new research that can improve the knowledge base in this emerging research area. While potentially useful for health improvement, intermittent fasting requires further study prior to widespread implementation for health purposes. Randomized, longer-term studies are needed to determine whether using intermittent fasting as a lifestyle rather than a diet is feasible and beneficial for the health of some members of the human population.

Magnetotail Reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrukovich, A.; Artemyev, A.; Nakamura, R.

Reconnection is the key process responsible for the magnetotail dynamics. Driven reconnection in the distant tail is not sufficient to support global magnetospheric convection and the near Earth neutral line spontaneously forms to restore the balance. Mechanisms of initiation of such near-Earth magnetotail reconnection still represent one of major unresolved issues in space physics. We review the progress in this topic during the last decade. Recent theoretical advances suggest several variants of overcoming the famous tearing stability problem. Multipoint spacecraft observations reveal detailed structure of pre-onset current sheet of and reconnection zone down to ion larmor scale, supporting the importance of unstable state development through internal magnetotail reconfiguration.

From experimental systems to evolutionary biology: an impossible journey?

PubMed

Morange, Michel

2013-01-01

The historical approach to the sciences has undergone a sea change during recent decades. Maybe the major contribution of Hans-Jörg Rheinberger to this movement was his demonstration of the importance of experimental systems, and of their transformations, in the development of the sciences. To describe these transformations, Hans-Jörg borrows metaphors from evolutionary biology. I want to argue that evolutionary biologists can find in these recent historical studies plenty of models and concepts to address unresolved issues in their discipline. At a time when transdisciplinarity is highly praised, it is useful to provide a precise description of the obstacles that have so far prevented this exchange.

Methodological considerations in service use assessment for children and youth with mental health conditions; issues for economic evaluation.

PubMed

Woolderink, M; Lynch, F L; van Asselt, A D I; Beecham, J; Evers, S M A A; Paulus, A T G; van Schayck, C P

2015-05-01

Economic evaluations are increasingly used in decision-making. Accurate measurement of service use is critical to economic evaluation. This qualitative study, based on expert interviews, aims to identify best approaches to service use measurement for child mental health conditions, and to identify problems in current methods. Results suggest considerable agreement on strengths (e.g., availability of accurate instruments to measure service use) and weaknesses, (e.g., lack of unit prices for services outside the health sector) or alternative approaches to service use measurement. Experts also identified some unresolved problems, for example the lack of uniform definitions for some mental health services.

Cross-validation and hypothesis testing in neuroimaging: An irenic comment on the exchange between Friston and Lindquist et al.

PubMed

Reiss, Philip T

2015-08-01

The "ten ironic rules for statistical reviewers" presented by Friston (2012) prompted a rebuttal by Lindquist et al. (2013), which was followed by a rejoinder by Friston (2013). A key issue left unresolved in this discussion is the use of cross-validation to test the significance of predictive analyses. This note discusses the role that cross-validation-based and related hypothesis tests have come to play in modern data analyses, in neuroimaging and other fields. It is shown that such tests need not be suboptimal and can fill otherwise-unmet inferential needs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Controlling and policing substance use(rs).

PubMed

White, Tony

2002-01-01

Controlling drug use--a dynamic, global, politicalized process--is reviewed in terms of selected types of drugs, "natural levels" of drug demand and use, drug markets and the drug market environment, types of traffickers, illicit drug trade profits, approaches to drug control ("War on Drugs", "Zero Tolerance" programs and policies, "normalizing" and legalizing selected drugs), including UN's then relatively recent "Balanced Approach" and facets of drug law enforcement (drug prices and purity levels and values of drug seizures), including various rarely noted benefits to intervention programs and control agents. Unresolved issues and needed "tools" are noted while considering the implications of the first UN's World Drug Report data.

Knowledge-based approach for generating target system specifications from a domain model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gomaa, Hassan; Kerschberg, Larry; Sugumaran, Vijayan

1992-01-01

Several institutions in industry and academia are pursuing research efforts in domain modeling to address unresolved issues in software reuse. To demonstrate the concepts of domain modeling and software reuse, a prototype software engineering environment is being developed at George Mason University to support the creation of domain models and the generation of target system specifications. This prototype environment, which is application domain independent, consists of an integrated set of commercial off-the-shelf software tools and custom-developed software tools. This paper describes the knowledge-based tool that was developed as part of the environment to generate target system specifications from a domain model.

On the linguistic status of ‘agreement’ in sign languages

PubMed Central

LILLO-MARTIN, DIANE; MEIER, RICHARD P.

2013-01-01

In signed languages, the arguments of verbs can be marked by a system of verbal modification that has been termed “agreement” (more neutrally, “directionality”). Fundamental issues regarding directionality remain unresolved and the phenomenon has characteristics that call into question its analysis as agreement. We conclude that directionality marks person in American Sign Language, and the ways person marking interacts with syntactic phenomena are largely analogous to morpho-syntactic properties of familiar agreement systems. Overall, signed languages provide a crucial test for how gestural and linguistic mechanisms can jointly contribute to the satisfaction of fundamental aspects of linguistic structure. PMID:23495262

The object and the dream: Mark Rothko.

PubMed

Turco, Ronald

2002-01-01

An exploration of unconscious determinants provides useful insights in considering Mark Rothko's creativity and behavioral characteristics. A basic focus is the issue of childhood loss and unresolved grief. The studies of Martha Wolfenstein on preadolescent and childhood parent loss are paramount in considering Rothko the man. Rothko, as a result of early losses, was predisposed to recurrent depressions and bouts of anger which created difficulties in his intimate relationships. Rothko evidenced a lifelong mistrust of male authority figures which may also account for his antipathy toward psychoanalysis. His psychological life was complicated by his experiences of institutionalized anti-Semitism which further diminished his trust in others.

Social Media Channels in Health Care Research and Rising Ethical Issues.

PubMed

Azer, Samy A

2017-11-01

Social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have been used as tools in health care research, opening new horizons for research on health-related topics (e.g., the use of mobile social networking in weight loss programs). While there have been efforts to develop ethical guidelines for internet-related research, researchers still face unresolved ethical challenges. This article investigates some of the risks inherent in social media research and discusses how researchers should handle challenges related to confidentiality, privacy, and consent when social media tools are used in health-related research. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Single realization stochastic FDTD for weak scattering waves in biological random media.

PubMed

Tan, Tengmeng; Taflove, Allen; Backman, Vadim

2013-02-01

This paper introduces an iterative scheme to overcome the unresolved issues presented in S-FDTD (stochastic finite-difference time-domain) for obtaining ensemble average field values recently reported by Smith and Furse in an attempt to replace the brute force multiple-realization also known as Monte-Carlo approach with a single-realization scheme. Our formulation is particularly useful for studying light interactions with biological cells and tissues having sub-wavelength scale features. Numerical results demonstrate that such a small scale variation can be effectively modeled with a random medium problem which when simulated with the proposed S-FDTD indeed produces a very accurate result.

Single realization stochastic FDTD for weak scattering waves in biological random media

PubMed Central

Tan, Tengmeng; Taflove, Allen; Backman, Vadim

2015-01-01

This paper introduces an iterative scheme to overcome the unresolved issues presented in S-FDTD (stochastic finite-difference time-domain) for obtaining ensemble average field values recently reported by Smith and Furse in an attempt to replace the brute force multiple-realization also known as Monte-Carlo approach with a single-realization scheme. Our formulation is particularly useful for studying light interactions with biological cells and tissues having sub-wavelength scale features. Numerical results demonstrate that such a small scale variation can be effectively modeled with a random medium problem which when simulated with the proposed S-FDTD indeed produces a very accurate result. PMID:27158153

Attachment stability and the emergence of unresolved representations during adolescence.

PubMed

Aikins, Julie Wargo; Howes, Carollee; Hamilton, Claire

2009-09-01

This 15-year longitudinal study examined the stability of attachment representations from infancy to adolescence and investigated the emergence of unresolved representations during adolescence in a sample of 47 16-year-olds. Attachment was assessed at 12 months using the Strange Situation Procedure, at 4 years using the modified Strange Situation Procedure, and again at 16 years with the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP). The emergence of unresolved classifications in adolescence (AAP) was associated with higher rates of negative life events, low levels of early mother-child relationship security (an aggregate measure of the 12-month and 4-year measures), negative teacher-child relationship experiences in middle childhood, and low early adolescent friendship quality. The results support the growing body of evidence suggesting that changes in attachment are lawful, while adding to the growing understanding of the emergence of unresolved attachment representations.

Experiment Evaluation of Bifurcation in Sands

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alshibi, Khalid A.; Sture, Stein

2000-01-01

The basic principles of bifurcation analysis have been established by several investigators, however several issues remain unresolved, specifically how do stress level, grain size distribution, and boundary conditions affect general bifurcation phenomena in pressure sensitive and dilatant materials. General geometrical and kinematics conditions for moving surfaces of discontinuity was derived and applied to problems of instability of solids. In 1962, the theoretical framework of bifurcation by studying the acceleration waves in elasto-plastic (J2) solids were presented. Bifurcation analysis for more specific forms of constitutive behavior was examined by studying localization in pressure-sensitive, dilatant materials, however, analyses were restricted to plane deformation states only. Bifurcation analyses were presented and applied to predict shear band formations in sand under plane strain condition. The properties of discontinuous bifurcation solutions for elastic-plastic solids under axisymmetric and plane strain loading conditions were studied. The study focused on theory, but also references and comparisons to experiments were made. The current paper includes a presentation of a summary of bifurcation analyses for biaxial and triaxial (axisymmetric) loading conditions. The Coulomb model is implemented using incremental piecewise scheme to predict the constitutive relations and shear band inclination angles. Then, a comprehensive evaluation of bifurcation phenomena is presented based on data from triaxial experiments performed under microgravity conditions aboard the Space Shuttle under very low effective confining pressure (0.05 to 1.30 kPa), in which very high peak friction angles (47 to 75 degrees) and dilatancy angles (30 to 31 degrees) were measured. The evaluation will be extended to include biaxial experiments performed on the same material under low (10 kPa) and moderate (100 kPa) confining pressures. A comparison between the behavior under biaxial and triaxial loading conditions will be presented, and related issues concerning influence of confining pressure will be discussed.

Survey on Security Issues in Cloud Computing and Associated Mitigation Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhadauria, Rohit; Sanyal, Sugata

2012-06-01

Cloud Computing holds the potential to eliminate the requirements for setting up of high-cost computing infrastructure for IT-based solutions and services that the industry uses. It promises to provide a flexible IT architecture, accessible through internet for lightweight portable devices. This would allow multi-fold increase in the capacity or capabilities of the existing and new software. In a cloud computing environment, the entire data reside over a set of networked resources, enabling the data to be accessed through virtual machines. Since these data-centers may lie in any corner of the world beyond the reach and control of users, there are multifarious security and privacy challenges that need to be understood and taken care of. Also, one can never deny the possibility of a server breakdown that has been witnessed, rather quite often in the recent times. There are various issues that need to be dealt with respect to security and privacy in a cloud computing scenario. This extensive survey paper aims to elaborate and analyze the numerous unresolved issues threatening the cloud computing adoption and diffusion affecting the various stake-holders linked to it.

State-Space Analysis of Granger-Geweke Causality Measures with Application to fMRI.

PubMed

Solo, Victor

2016-05-01

The recent interest in the dynamics of networks and the advent, across a range of applications, of measuring modalities that operate on different temporal scales have put the spotlight on some significant gaps in the theory of multivariate time series. Fundamental to the description of network dynamics is the direction of interaction between nodes, accompanied by a measure of the strength of such interactions. Granger causality and its associated frequency domain strength measures (GEMs) (due to Geweke) provide a framework for the formulation and analysis of these issues. In pursuing this setup, three significant unresolved issues emerge. First, computing GEMs involves computing submodels of vector time series models, for which reliable methods do not exist. Second, the impact of filtering on GEMs has never been definitively established. Third, the impact of downsampling on GEMs has never been established. In this work, using state-space methods, we resolve all these issues and illustrate the results with some simulations. Our analysis is motivated by some problems in (fMRI) brain imaging, to which we apply it, but it is of general applicability.

State-Space Analysis of Granger-Geweke Causality Measures with Application to fMRI

PubMed Central

Solo, Victor

2017-01-01

The recent interest in the dynamics of networks and the advent, across a range of applications, of measuring modalities that operate on different temporal scales have put the spotlight on some significant gaps in the theory of multivariate time series. Fundamental to the description of network dynamics is the direction of interaction between nodes, accompanied by a measure of the strength of such interactions. Granger causality and its associated frequency domain strength measures (GEMs) (due to Geweke) provide a framework for the formulation and analysis of these issues. In pursuing this setup, three significant unresolved issues emerge. First, computing GEMs involves computing submodels of vector time series models, for which reliable methods do not exist. Second, the impact of filtering on GEMs has never been definitively established. Third, the impact of downsampling on GEMs has never been established. In this work, using state-space methods, we resolve all these issues and illustrate the results with some simulations. Our analysis is motivated by some problems in (fMRI) brain imaging, to which we apply it, but it is of general applicability. PMID:26942749

NPTFit: A Code Package for Non-Poissonian Template Fitting

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

Mishra-Sharma, Siddharth; Rodd, Nicholas L.; Safdi, Benjamin R., E-mail: smsharma@princeton.edu, E-mail: nrodd@mit.edu, E-mail: bsafdi@mit.edu

We present NPTFit, an open-source code package, written in Python and Cython, for performing non-Poissonian template fits (NPTFs). The NPTF is a recently developed statistical procedure for characterizing the contribution of unresolved point sources (PSs) to astrophysical data sets. The NPTF was first applied to Fermi gamma-ray data to provide evidence that the excess of ∼GeV gamma-rays observed in the inner regions of the Milky Way likely arises from a population of sub-threshold point sources, and the NPTF has since found additional applications studying sub-threshold extragalactic sources at high Galactic latitudes. The NPTF generalizes traditional astrophysical template fits to allowmore » for the ability to search for populations of unresolved PSs that may follow a given spatial distribution. NPTFit builds upon the framework of the fluctuation analyses developed in X-ray astronomy, thus it likely has applications beyond those demonstrated with gamma-ray data. The NPTFit package utilizes novel computational methods to perform the NPTF efficiently. The code is available at http://github.com/bsafdi/NPTFit and up-to-date and extensive documentation may be found at http://nptfit.readthedocs.io.« less

Evidence for Unresolved Exoplanet-hosting Binaries in Gaia DR2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Daniel F.

2018-05-01

This note describes an effort to detect additional stellar sources in known transiting exoplanet (TEP) systems, which are unresolved or barely resolved in the Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) catalogue. The presence of multiple unresolved stars in photometric and spectroscopic observations of a transiting planetary system biases measurements of the planet's radius, mass, and atmospheric conditions. In addition to the effect on individual planetary systems, the presence of unresolved stars across the sample of known exoplanets biases our overall understanding of planetary systems, due to the systematic underestimation of both masses and radii. This work uses the Astrometric Goodness of Fit in the Along-Scan direction (GOF_AL) and the Astrometric Excess Noise as indicators of poorly-resolved binaries. Many known close binaries in the exoplanet host star sample have highly significant GOF_AL and Astrometric Excess Noise values, such as WASP-20AB with Astrometric Excess Noise significant at $4720\\sigma$ and GOF_AL=124.

Cybersickness Following Repeated Exposure to DOME and HMD Virtual Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, Laura C.; Harm, Deborah L.; Kennedy, Robert S.; Reschke, Millard F.; Loftin, R. Bowen

2011-01-01

Virtual environments (VE) offer unique training opportunities, including training astronauts to preadapt them to the novel sensory conditions of microgravity. However, one unresolved issue with VE use is the occurrence of cybersickness during and following exposure to VE systems. Most individuals adapt and become less ill with repeated interaction with VEs. The goal of this investigation was to compare motion sickness symptoms (MSS) produced by dome and head-mounted (HMD) displays and to examine the effects of repeated exposures on MSS. Sixty-one subjects participated in the study. Three experimental sessions were performed each separated by one day. The subjects performed a navigation and pick and place task in either a dome or HMD VE. MSS were measured using a Simulator Sickness Questionnaire before, immediately after, and at 1, 2, 4 and 6 hours following exposure to the VEs. MSS data were normalized by calculating the natural log of each score and an analysis of variance was performed. We observed significant main effects for day and time and a significant day by time interaction for total sickness and for each of the subscales, nausea, oculomotor and disorientation. However, there was no significant main effect for device. In conclusion, subjects reported a large increase in MSS immediately following exposure to both the HMD and dome, followed by a rapid recovery across time. Sickness severity also decreased over days, which suggests that subjects become dual-adapted over time making VE training a viable pre-flight countermeasure for space motion sickness.

28 CFR 42.610 - Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints. 42.610 Section 42.610 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NONDISCRIMINATION; EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY; POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Procedures for Complaints of Employment Discrimination Filed...

The Nature of the Unresolved Extragalactic Cosmic Soft X-Ray Background

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cappelluti, N.; Ranalli, P.; Roncarelli, M.; Arevalo, P.; Zamorani, G.; Comastri, A.; Gilli, R.; Rovilos, E.; Vignali, C.; Allevato, V.;

Identifying attachment ruptures underlying severe music performance anxiety in a professional musician undertaking an assessment and trial therapy of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP).

PubMed

Kenny, Dianna T; Arthey, Stephen; Abbass, Allan

2016-01-01

Kenny has proposed that severe music performance anxiety that is unresponsive to usual treatments such as cognitive-behaviour therapy may be one manifestation of unresolved attachment ruptures in early life. Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy specifically targets early relationship trauma. Accordingly, a trial of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy with severely anxious musicians was implemented to assess whether resolution of attachment ruptures resulted in clinically significant relief from music performance anxiety. Volunteer musicians participating in a nationally funded study were screened for MPA severity. Those meeting the critical cut-off score on the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory were offered a trial of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. In this paper, we present the theoretical foundations and rationale for the treatment approach, followed by sections of a verbatim transcript and process analysis of the assessment phase of treatment that comprised a 3-h trial therapy session. The 'case' was a professional orchestral musician (male, aged 55) who had suffered severe music performance anxiety over the course of his entire career, which spanned more than 30 years at the time he presented for treatment following his failure to secure a position at audition. The participant was able to access the pain, rage and grief associated with unresolved attachment ruptures with both parents that demonstrated the likely nexus between early attachment trauma and severe music performance anxiety. Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy is a potentially cost-effective treatment for severe music performance anxiety. Further research using designs with higher levels of evidence are required before clinical recommendations can be made for the use of this therapy with this population.

Measures of GCM Performance as Functions of Model Parameters Affecting Clouds and Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, C.; Mu, Q.; Sen, M.; Stoffa, P.

2002-05-01

This abstract is one of three related presentations at this meeting dealing with several issues surrounding optimal parameter and uncertainty estimation of model predictions of climate. Uncertainty in model predictions of climate depends in part on the uncertainty produced by model approximations or parameterizations of unresolved physics. Evaluating these uncertainties is computationally expensive because one needs to evaluate how arbitrary choices for any given combination of model parameters affects model performance. Because the computational effort grows exponentially with the number of parameters being investigated, it is important to choose parameters carefully. Evaluating whether a parameter is worth investigating depends on two considerations: 1) does reasonable choices of parameter values produce a large range in model response relative to observational uncertainty? and 2) does the model response depend non-linearly on various combinations of model parameters? We have decided to narrow our attention to selecting parameters that affect clouds and radiation, as it is likely that these parameters will dominate uncertainties in model predictions of future climate. We present preliminary results of ~20 to 30 AMIPII style climate model integrations using NCAR's CCM3.10 that show model performance as functions of individual parameters controlling 1) critical relative humidity for cloud formation (RHMIN), and 2) boundary layer critical Richardson number (RICR). We also explore various definitions of model performance that include some or all observational data sources (surface air temperature and pressure, meridional and zonal winds, clouds, long and short-wave cloud forcings, etc...) and evaluate in a few select cases whether the model's response depends non-linearly on the parameter values we have selected.

Large-scale outflows in luminous QSOs revisited. The impact of beam smearing on AGN feedback efficiencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husemann, B.; Scharwächter, J.; Bennert, V. N.; Mainieri, V.; Woo, J.-H.; Kakkad, D.

2016-10-01

Context. Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is thought to play an important role in quenching star formation in galaxies. However, the efficiency with which AGN dissipate their radiative energy into the ambient medium remains strongly debated. Aims: Enormous observational efforts have been made to constrain the energetics of AGN feedback by mapping the kinematics of the ionized gas on kpc scale. We study how the observed kinematics and inferred energetics are affected by beam smearing of a bright unresolved narrow-line region (NLR) due to seeing. Methods: We re-analyse optical integral-field spectroscopy of a sample of twelve luminous unobscured quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) (0.4

Quasi parton distributions and the gradient flow

DOE PAGES

Monahan, Christopher; Orginos, Kostas

2017-03-22

We propose a new approach to determining quasi parton distribution functions (PDFs) from lattice quantum chromodynamics. By incorporating the gradient flow, this method guarantees that the lattice quasi PDFs are finite in the continuum limit and evades the thorny, and as yet unresolved, issue of the renormalization of quasi PDFs on the lattice. In the limit that the flow time is much smaller than the length scale set by the nucleon momentum, the moments of the smeared quasi PDF are proportional to those of the lightfront PDF. Finally, we use this relation to derive evolution equations for the matching kernelmore » that relates the smeared quasi PDF and the light-front PDF.« less

Quasi parton distributions and the gradient flow

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

Monahan, Christopher; Orginos, Kostas

We propose a new approach to determining quasi parton distribution functions (PDFs) from lattice quantum chromodynamics. By incorporating the gradient flow, this method guarantees that the lattice quasi PDFs are finite in the continuum limit and evades the thorny, and as yet unresolved, issue of the renormalization of quasi PDFs on the lattice. In the limit that the flow time is much smaller than the length scale set by the nucleon momentum, the moments of the smeared quasi PDF are proportional to those of the lightfront PDF. Finally, we use this relation to derive evolution equations for the matching kernelmore » that relates the smeared quasi PDF and the light-front PDF.« less

For Richer, for Poorer: Money as a Topic of Marital Conflict in the Home

PubMed Central

Papp, Lauren M.; Cummings, E. Mark; Goeke-Morey, Marcie C.

2011-01-01

Guided by a family stress perspective, we examined the hypothesis that discussing money would be associated with the handling of marital conflict in the home. Analyses were based on dyadic hierarchical linear modeling of 100 husbands’ and 100 wives’ diary reports of 748 conflict instances. Contrary to findings from previous laboratory-based surveys, spouses did not rate money as the most frequent source of marital conflict in the home. However, compared to non-money issues, marital conflicts about money were more pervasive, problematic, and recurrent, and remained unresolved, despite including more attempts at problem solving. Implications for professionals who assist couples in managing their relationships and family finances are discussed. PMID:22162622

Tornadogenesis via squall line and supercell interaction revisited - The 15 November 1989 Huntsville tornado

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodman, Steven J.; Knupp, Kevin R.

1990-01-01

A case study analyzing the environmental setting and storm system morphology that provides observational evidence of a mechanism involving the interaction of a gust front with a preexisting mesocyclone is presented. This case serves to reemphasize the existence of a high conditional probability of tornado occurrence, given the merger of a gust front (or storm outflow) with a moderate to strong thunderstorm ahead of it. The resultant data serve to illustrate some important unresolved issues relevant to the severe weather warning system that involve the present and planned local warning and network radars, and future algorithms that might intelligently integrate other data sources and models with the radar data.

Tungsten dust remobilization under steady-state and transient plasma conditions

DOE PAGES

Ratynskaia, S.; Tolias, P.; De Angeli, M.; ...

2016-11-22

Remobilization is one of the most prominent unresolved fusion dust-relevant issues, strongly related to the lifetime of dust in plasma-wetted regions, the survivability of dust on hot plasma-facing surfaces and the formation of dust accumulation sites. A systematic cross-machine study has been initiated to investigate the remobilization of tungsten micron-size dust from tungsten surfaces implementing a newly developed technique based on controlled pre-adhesion by gas dynamics methods. It has been utilized in a number of devices and has provided new insights on remobilization under steady-state and transient conditions. In conclusion, the experiments are interpreted with contact mechanics theory and heatmore » conduction models.« less

History of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

PubMed

Hessel, Eugene A

2015-06-01

The development of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), thereby permitting open-heart surgery, is one of the most important advances in medicine in the 20th century. Many currently practicing cardiac anesthesiologists, cardiac surgeons, and perfusionists are unaware of how recently it came into use (60 years) and how much the practice of CPB has changed during its short existence. In this paper, the development of CPB and the many changes and progress that has taken place over this brief period of time, making it a remarkably safe endeavor, are reviewed. The many as yet unresolved questions are also identified, which sets the stage for the other papers in this issue of this journal. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal, dynamic and compositional aspects of the core-forming Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stevenson, D. J.

1985-01-01

Core formation is the most important and singular differentiation event in the history of a terrestrial planet. It almost certainly involved the downward migration of a partially or wholly molten iron alloy through a silicate and oxide mantle, and was contemporaneous with accretion. Several important, unresolved issues which have implications for mantle and core geochemistry, the thermal history of the Earth, and the origin of geomagnetism are addressed: whether the early Earth was molten; whether core formation involved low or high pressure geochemistry, or both; early Earth mantle homogenization; whether equilibration established between core forming material and the mantle through which it migrated; and how much iron is stranded and unable to reach the core.

Perspective: Composition–structure–property mapping in high-throughput experiments: Turning data into knowledge

DOE PAGES

Hattrick-Simpers, Jason R.; Gregoire, John M.; Kusne, A. Gilad

2016-05-26

With their ability to rapidly elucidate composition-structure-property relationships, high-throughput experimental studies have revolutionized how materials are discovered, optimized, and commercialized. It is now possible to synthesize and characterize high-throughput libraries that systematically address thousands of individual cuts of fabrication parameter space. An unresolved issue remains transforming structural characterization data into phase mappings. This difficulty is related to the complex information present in diffraction and spectroscopic data and its variation with composition and processing. Here, we review the field of automated phase diagram attribution and discuss the impact that emerging computational approaches will have in the generation of phase diagrams andmore » beyond.« less

For Richer, for Poorer: Money as a Topic of Marital Conflict in the Home.

PubMed

Papp, Lauren M; Cummings, E Mark; Goeke-Morey, Marcie C

2009-02-01

Guided by a family stress perspective, we examined the hypothesis that discussing money would be associated with the handling of marital conflict in the home. Analyses were based on dyadic hierarchical linear modeling of 100 husbands' and 100 wives' diary reports of 748 conflict instances. Contrary to findings from previous laboratory-based surveys, spouses did not rate money as the most frequent source of marital conflict in the home. However, compared to non-money issues, marital conflicts about money were more pervasive, problematic, and recurrent, and remained unresolved, despite including more attempts at problem solving. Implications for professionals who assist couples in managing their relationships and family finances are discussed.

Multijunction cells for concentrators: Technology prospects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferber, R. R. (Compiler); Costogue, E. N. (Compiler); Shimada, K. (Compiler)

1984-01-01

Development of high-efficiency multijunction solar cells for concentrator applications is a key step in achieving the goals of the U.S. Department of Energy National Photovoltaics Program. This report summarizes findings of an issue study conducted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Photovoltaic Analysis and Integration Center, with the assistance of the Solar Energy Research Institute and Sandia National laboratoies, which surveyed multijunction cell research for concentrators undertaken by federal agencies and by private industry. The team evaluated the potentials of research activities sponsored by DOE and by corporate funding to achieve projected high-efficiency goals and developed summary statements regarding industry expectations. Recommendations are made for the direction of future work to address specific unresolved aspects of multijunction cell technology.

USMC Ground Surveillance Robot (GSR): Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harmon, S. Y.

1987-02-01

This paper describes the design of an autonomous vehicle and the lessons learned during the implementation of that complex robot. The major problems encountered to which solutions were found include sensor processing bandwidth limitations, coordination of the interactions between major subsystems, sensor data fusion and system knowledge representation. Those problems remaining unresolved include system complexity management, the lack of powerful system monitoring and debugging tools, exploratory implementation of a complex system and safety and testing issues. Many of these problems arose from working with underdeveloped and continuously evolving technology and will probably be resolved as the technological resources mature and stabilize. Unfortunately, other problems will continue to plague developers throughout the evolution of autonomous system technology.

Pediatric surgeons and anesthesiologists expand the dialogue on the neurotoxicity question, rationale for early and delayed surgeries, and practice changes while awaiting definitive evidence.

PubMed

Byrne, Mary W; Casale, Pasquale; Garzon, Maria; Hyman, Joshua E; Lin, Albert Y; Lynch, Lisa R; Schleien, Charles L; Stylianos, Steven

2014-10-01

The Pediatric Anesthesia NeuroDevelopment Assessment team at Columbia University Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology convened its fourth biennial Symposium to address unresolved issues concerning potential neurotoxic effects of anesthetic agents and sedatives on young children and to assess study findings to date. Dialogue initiated at the third Symposium was continued between anesthesiologists, researchers, and a panel of expert pediatric surgeons representing general surgery and dermatology, orthopedic, and urology specialties. The panel explored the need to balance benefits of early surgery using improved technologies against potential anesthetic risks, practice changes while awaiting definitive answers, and importance of continued interprofessional dialogue.

The Oxford Questions on the foundations of quantum physics

PubMed Central

Briggs, G. A. D.; Butterfield, J. N.; Zeilinger, A.

2013-01-01

The twentieth century saw two fundamental revolutions in physics—relativity and quantum. Daily use of these theories can numb the sense of wonder at their immense empirical success. Does their instrumental effectiveness stand on the rock of secure concepts or the sand of unresolved fundamentals? Does measuring a quantum system probe, or even create, reality or merely change belief? Must relativity and quantum theory just coexist or might we find a new theory which unifies the two? To bring such questions into sharper focus, we convened a conference on Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality. Some issues remain as controversial as ever, but some are being nudged by theory's secret weapon of experiment. PMID:24062626

Wind shear detection. Forward-looking sensor technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bracalente, E. M. (Compiler); Delnore, V. E. (Compiler)

1987-01-01

A meeting took place at NASA Langley Research Center in February 1987 to discuss the development and eventual use of forward-looking remote sensors for the detection and avoidance of wind shear by aircraft. The participants represented industry, academia, and government. The meeting was structured to provide first a review of the current FAA and NASA wind shear programs, then to define what really happens to the airplane, and finally to give technology updates on the various types of forward-looking sensors. This document is intended to informally record the essence of the technology updates (represented here through unedited duplication of the vugraphs used), and the floor discussion following each presentation. Also given are key issues remaining unresolved.

The Oxford Questions on the foundations of quantum physics.

PubMed

Briggs, G A D; Butterfield, J N; Zeilinger, A

2013-09-08

The twentieth century saw two fundamental revolutions in physics-relativity and quantum. Daily use of these theories can numb the sense of wonder at their immense empirical success. Does their instrumental effectiveness stand on the rock of secure concepts or the sand of unresolved fundamentals? Does measuring a quantum system probe, or even create, reality or merely change belief? Must relativity and quantum theory just coexist or might we find a new theory which unifies the two? To bring such questions into sharper focus, we convened a conference on Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality. Some issues remain as controversial as ever, but some are being nudged by theory's secret weapon of experiment.

Safety evaluation report on Tennessee Valley Authority: Browns Ferry Nuclear Performance Plan

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

Not Available

1991-01-01

This safety evaluation report (SER) was prepared by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and represents the second and last supplement (SSER 2) to the staff's original SER published as Volume 3 of NUREG-1232 in April 1989. Supplement 1 of Volume 3 of NUREG-1232 (SSER 1) was published in October 1989. Like its predecessors, SSER 2 is composed of numerous safety evaluations by the staff regarding specific elements contained in the Browns Ferry Nuclear Performance Plan (BFNPP), Volume 3 (up to and including Revision 2), submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (BFN).more » The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant consists of three boiling-water reactors (BWRs) at a site in Limestone County, Alabama. The BFNPP describes the corrective action plans and commitments made by TVA to resolve deficiencies with its nuclear programs before the startup of Unit 2. The staff has inspected and will continue to inspect TVA's implementation of these BFNPP corrective action plans that address staff concerns about TVA's nuclear program. SSER 2 documents the NRC staff's safety evaluations and conclusions for those elements of the BFNPP that were not previously addressed by the staff or that remained open as a result of unresolved issues identified by the staff in previous SERs and inspections.« less

Development and preliminary validation of a self-report measure of psychopathic personality traits in noncriminal populations.

PubMed

Lilienfeld, S O; Andrews, B P

1996-06-01

Research on psychopathology has been hindered by persisting difficulties and controversies regarding its assessment. The primary goals of this set of studies were to (a) develop, and initiate the construct validation of, a self-report measure that assesses the major personality traits of psychopathy in noncriminal populations and (b) clarify the nature of these traits via an exploratory approach to test construction. This measure, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), was developed by writing items to assess a large number of personality domains relevant to psychopathy and performing successive item-level factor analyses and revisions on three undergraduate samples. The PPI total score and its eight subscales were found to possess satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. In four studies with undergraduates, the PPI and its subscales exhibited a promising pattern of convergent and discriminant validity with self-report, psychiatric interview, observer rating, and family history data. In addition, the PPI total score demonstrated incremental validity relative to several commonly used self-report psychopathy-related measures. Future construct validation studies, unresolved conceptual issues regarding the assessment of psychopathy, and potential research uses of the PPI are outlined.

RIDES: Robust Intrusion Detection System for IP-Based Ubiquitous Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Amin, Syed Obaid; Siddiqui, Muhammad Shoaib; Hong, Choong Seon; Lee, Sungwon

2009-01-01

The IP-based Ubiquitous Sensor Network (IP-USN) is an effort to build the “Internet of things”. By utilizing IP for low power networks, we can benefit from existing well established tools and technologies of IP networks. Along with many other unresolved issues, securing IP-USN is of great concern for researchers so that future market satisfaction and demands can be met. Without proper security measures, both reactive and proactive, it is hard to envisage an IP-USN realm. In this paper we present a design of an IDS (Intrusion Detection System) called RIDES (Robust Intrusion DEtection System) for IP-USN. RIDES is a hybrid intrusion detection system, which incorporates both Signature and Anomaly based intrusion detection components. For signature based intrusion detection this paper only discusses the implementation of distributed pattern matching algorithm with the help of signature-code, a dynamically created attack-signature identifier. Other aspects, such as creation of rules are not discussed. On the other hand, for anomaly based detection we propose a scoring classifier based on the SPC (Statistical Process Control) technique called CUSUM charts. We also investigate the settings and their effects on the performance of related parameters for both of the components. PMID:22412321

RIDES: Robust Intrusion Detection System for IP-Based Ubiquitous Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Amin, Syed Obaid; Siddiqui, Muhammad Shoaib; Hong, Choong Seon; Lee, Sungwon

2009-01-01

The IP-based Ubiquitous Sensor Network (IP-USN) is an effort to build the "Internet of things". By utilizing IP for low power networks, we can benefit from existing well established tools and technologies of IP networks. Along with many other unresolved issues, securing IP-USN is of great concern for researchers so that future market satisfaction and demands can be met. Without proper security measures, both reactive and proactive, it is hard to envisage an IP-USN realm. In this paper we present a design of an IDS (Intrusion Detection System) called RIDES (Robust Intrusion DEtection System) for IP-USN. RIDES is a hybrid intrusion detection system, which incorporates both Signature and Anomaly based intrusion detection components. For signature based intrusion detection this paper only discusses the implementation of distributed pattern matching algorithm with the help of signature-code, a dynamically created attack-signature identifier. Other aspects, such as creation of rules are not discussed. On the other hand, for anomaly based detection we propose a scoring classifier based on the SPC (Statistical Process Control) technique called CUSUM charts. We also investigate the settings and their effects on the performance of related parameters for both of the components.

Adaptive Changes in Sensorimotor Coordination and Motion Sickness Following Repeated Exposures to Virtual Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harm, D. L.; Taylor, L. C.; Bloomberg, J. J.

2007-01-01

Virtual environments offer unique training opportunities, particularly for training astronauts and preadapting them to the novel sensory conditions of microgravity. Two unresolved human factors issues in virtual reality (VR) systems are: 1) potential "cybersickness", and 2) maladaptive sensorimotor performance following exposure to VR systems. Interestingly, these aftereffects are often quite similar to adaptive sensorimotor responses observed in astronauts during and/or following space flight. Initial interpretation of novel sensory information may be inappropriate and result in perceptual errors. Active exploratory behavior in a new environment, with resulting feedback and the formation of new associations between sensory inputs and response outputs, promotes appropriate perception and motor control in the new environment. Thus, people adapt to consistent, sustained alterations of sensory input such as those produced by microgravity, unilateral labyrinthectomy and experimentally produced stimulus rearrangements. The purpose of this research was to compare disturbances in sensorimotor coordination produced by dome and head-mounted virtual environment displays and to examine the effects of exposure duration, and repeated exposures to VR systems. The first study examined disturbances in balance control, and the second study examined disturbances in eye-head-hand (EHH) and eye-head coordination.

The role of both parents’ attachment pattern in understanding childhood obesity

PubMed Central

Mazzeschi, Claudia; Pazzagli, Chiara; Laghezza, Loredana; Radi, Giulia; Battistini, Dalila; De Feo, Pierpaolo

2014-01-01

Within the research area on the determinants of childhood obesity, a relatively new approach is the use of attachment theory to explore the mechanisms underlying children’s obesity risk, especially considered as emotion regulation strategies in parent–child relationship. Few are the empirical researches that have addressed this issue. The empirical investigations have used self-report measures to assess adult attachment. In attachment studies, the use of interview methods and/or performance-based instruments is advised to evaluate the entire range of possible adult attachment patterns and comprehensively explain the emotional strategies, correlates, and consequences of individual differences in attachment system functioning. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which both parents’ attachment patterns serve as self-regulative mechanisms related to childhood overweight/obesity by the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) in a sample of 44 mothers and fathers of children referred for obesity. Insecure attachment was found as a risk factor both for mothers and fathers. Also unresolved/disorganization was found to play a significant role in childhood obesity. The role of father’s attachment was explored and findings suggested considering it in etiology and treatment of childhood obesity. PMID:25120507

Modelling turbulent boundary layer flow over fractal-like multiscale terrain using large-eddy simulations and analytical tools.

PubMed

Yang, X I A; Meneveau, C

2017-04-13

In recent years, there has been growing interest in large-eddy simulation (LES) modelling of atmospheric boundary layers interacting with arrays of wind turbines on complex terrain. However, such terrain typically contains geometric features and roughness elements reaching down to small scales that typically cannot be resolved numerically. Thus subgrid-scale models for the unresolved features of the bottom roughness are needed for LES. Such knowledge is also required to model the effects of the ground surface 'underneath' a wind farm. Here we adapt a dynamic approach to determine subgrid-scale roughness parametrizations and apply it for the case of rough surfaces composed of cuboidal elements with broad size distributions, containing many scales. We first investigate the flow response to ground roughness of a few scales. LES with the dynamic roughness model which accounts for the drag of unresolved roughness is shown to provide resolution-independent results for the mean velocity distribution. Moreover, we develop an analytical roughness model that accounts for the sheltering effects of large-scale on small-scale roughness elements. Taking into account the shading effect, constraints from fundamental conservation laws, and assumptions of geometric self-similarity, the analytical roughness model is shown to provide analytical predictions that agree well with roughness parameters determined from LES.This article is part of the themed issue 'Wind energy in complex terrains'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Explicit Global Simulation of Gravity Waves up to the Lower Thermosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, E.

2016-12-01

At least for short-term simulations, middle atmosphere general circulation models (GCMs) can be run with sufficiently high resolution in order to describe a good part of the gravity wave spectrum explicitly. Nevertheless, the parameterization of unresolved dynamical scales remains an issue, especially when the scales of parameterized gravity waves (GWs) and resolved GWs become comparable. In addition, turbulent diffusion must always be parameterized along with other subgrid-scale dynamics. A practical solution to the combined closure problem for GWs and turbulent diffusion is to dispense with a parameterization of GWs, apply a high spatial resolution, and to represent the unresolved scales by a macro-turbulent diffusion scheme that gives rise to wave damping in a self-consistent fashion. This is the approach of a few GCMs that extend from the surface to the lower thermosphere and simulate a realistic GW drag and summer-to-winter-pole residual circulation in the upper mesosphere. In this study we describe a new version of the Kuehlungsborn Mechanistic general Circulation Model (KMCM), which includes explicit (though idealized) computations of radiative transfer and the tropospheric moisture cycle. Particular emphasis is spent on 1) the turbulent diffusion scheme, 2) the attenuation of resolved GWs at critical levels, 3) the generation of GWs in the middle atmosphere from body forces, and 4) GW-tidal interactions (including the energy deposition of GWs and tides).

Searching for Unresolved Binary Brown Dwarfs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albretsen, Jacob; Stephens, Denise

2007-10-01

There are currently L and T brown dwarfs (BDs) with errors in their classification of +/- 1 to 2 spectra types. Metallicity and gravitational differences have accounted for some of these discrepancies, and recent studies have shown unresolved binary BDs may offer some explanation as well. However limitations in technology and resources often make it difficult to clearly resolve an object that may be binary in nature. Stephens and Noll (2006) identified statistically strong binary source candidates from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) that were apparently unresolved using model point-spread functions for single and binary sources. The HST archive contains numerous observations of BDs using the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) that have never been rigorously analyzed for binary properties. Using methods developed by Stephens and Noll (2006), BD observations from the HST data archive are being analyzed for possible unresolved binaries. Preliminary results will be presented. This technique will identify potential candidates for future observations to determine orbital information.

A call for theory to support the use of causal-formative indicators: A commentary on Bollen and Diamantopoulos (2017).

PubMed

Hardin, Andrew

2017-09-01

In this issue, Bollen and Diamantopoulos (2017) defend causal-formative indicators against several common criticisms leveled by scholars who oppose their use. In doing so, the authors make several convincing assertions: Constructs exist independently from their measures; theory determines whether indicators cause or measure latent variables; and reflective and causal-formative indicators are both subject to interpretational confounding. However, despite being a well-reasoned, comprehensive defense of causal-formative indicators, no single article can address all of the issues associated with this debate. Thus, Bollen and Diamantopoulos leave a few fundamental issues unresolved. For example, how can researchers establish the reliability of indicators that may include measurement error? Moreover, how should researchers interpret disturbance terms that capture sources of influence related to both the empirical definition of the latent variable and to the theoretical definition of the construct? Relatedly, how should researchers reconcile the requirement for a census of causal-formative indicators with the knowledge that indicators are likely missing from the empirically estimated latent variable? This commentary develops 6 related research questions to draw attention to these fundamental issues, and to call for future research that can lead to the development of theory to guide the use of causal-formative indicators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Care at End of Life Influences Grief: A Nationwide Long-Term Follow-Up among Young Adults Who Lost a Brother or Sister to Childhood Cancer.

PubMed

Lövgren, Malin; Sveen, Josefin; Nyberg, Tommy; Eilegård Wallin, Alexandra; Prigerson, Holly G; Steineck, Gunnar; Kreicbergs, Ulrika

2018-02-01

A majority of cancer-bereaved siblings report long-term unresolved grief, thus it is important to identify factors that may contribute to resolving their grief. To identify modifiable or avoidable family and care-related factors associated with unresolved grief among siblings two to nine years post loss. This is a nationwide Swedish postal survey. Study-specific questions and the standardized instrument Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Primary outcome was unresolved grief, and family and care-related factors were used as predictors. Cancer-bereaved sibling (N = 174) who lost a brother/sister to childhood cancer during 2000-2007 in Sweden (participation rate 73%). Seventy-three were males and 101 females. The age of the siblings at time of loss was 12-25 years and at the time of the survey between 19 and 33 years. Several predictors for unresolved grief were identified: siblings' perception that it was not a peaceful death [odds ratio (OR): 9.86, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.39-40.65], limited information given to siblings the last month of life (OR: 5.96, 95% CI: 1.87-13.68), information about the impending death communicated the day before it occurred (OR: 2.73, 95% CI: 1.02-7.33), siblings' avoidance of the doctors (OR: 3.22, 95% CI: 0.75-13.76), and lack of communication with family (OR: 2.86, 95% CI: 1.01-8.04) and people outside the family about death (OR: 5.07, 95% CI: 1.64-15.70). Depressive symptoms (OR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.12-1.45) and time since loss (two to four years: OR: 10.36, 95% CI: 2.87-37.48 and five to seven years: OR: 8.36, 95% CI: 2.36-29.57) also predicted unresolved grief. Together, these predictors explained 54% of the variance of unresolved grief. Siblings' perception that it was not a peaceful death and poor communication with family, friends, and healthcare increased the risk for unresolved grief among the siblings.

Classification of spatially unresolved objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nalepka, R. F.; Horwitz, H. M.; Hyde, P. D.; Morgenstern, J. P.

1972-01-01

A proportion estimation technique for classification of multispectral scanner images is reported that uses data point averaging to extract and compute estimated proportions for a single average data point to classify spatial unresolved areas. Example extraction calculations of spectral signatures for bare soil, weeds, alfalfa, and barley prove quite accurate.

Qualitative and quantitative assessment of Unresolved Complex Mixture in PM2.5 of Bakersfield, CA.

EPA Science Inventory

The 2010 CalNex (California Nexus) field experiment offered an opportunity for detailed characterization of atmospheric particulate carbon composition and sources in Bakersfield, CA. In the current study, the authors describe and employ a new protocol for reporting unresolved com...

Approach to the hemodialysis patient with an abnormal serum bicarbonate concentration.

PubMed

Lisawat, Panupong; Gennari, F John

2014-07-01

We present a patient receiving hemodialysis with a persistently high serum bicarbonate concentration to illustrate the evaluation and management issues for patients with both high (>25 mEq/L) and low (<20 mEq/L) pretreatment values. Patients with high serum bicarbonate concentrations typically are malnourished and have low rates of endogenous acid production. Evaluation should begin with assessment of whether an acute and potentially reversible cause of metabolic alkalosis is present. If not, management should be directed at treating malnutrition. By contrast, patients with low predialysis serum bicarbonate concentrations, in the absence of an acute and reversible cause, may benefit from increasing the level by an adjustment in dialysate bicarbonate concentration. However, the level at which one should intervene and to what extent serum bicarbonate concentration should be increased are unresolved issues. Whether such an intervention will reduce mortality risk has not been determined. Copyright © 2014 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Signal Transduction: From the Atomic Age to the Post-Genomic Era

PubMed Central

Thorner, Jeremy; Hunter, Tony; Cantley, Lewis C.; Sever, Richard

2014-01-01

We have come a long way in the 55 years since Edmond Fischer and the late Edwin Krebs discovered that the activity of glycogen phosphorylase is regulated by reversible protein phosphorylation. Many of the fundamental molecular mechanisms that operate in biological signaling have since been characterized and the vast web of interconnected pathways that make up the cellular signaling network has been mapped in considerable detail. Nonetheless, it is important to consider how fast this field is still moving and the issues at the current boundaries of our understanding. One must also appreciate what experimental strategies have allowed us to attain our present level of knowledge. We summarize here some key issues (both conceptual and methodological), raise unresolved questions, discuss potential pitfalls, and highlight areas in which our understanding is still rudimentary. We hope these wide-ranging ruminations will be useful to investigators who carry studies of signal transduction forward during the rest of the 21st century. PMID:25359498

The brain-computer interface cycle.

PubMed

van Gerven, Marcel; Farquhar, Jason; Schaefer, Rebecca; Vlek, Rutger; Geuze, Jeroen; Nijholt, Anton; Ramsey, Nick; Haselager, Pim; Vuurpijl, Louis; Gielen, Stan; Desain, Peter

2009-08-01

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have attracted much attention recently, triggered by new scientific progress in understanding brain function and by impressive applications. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the various steps in the BCI cycle, i.e., the loop from the measurement of brain activity, classification of data, feedback to the subject and the effect of feedback on brain activity. In this article we will review the critical steps of the BCI cycle, the present issues and state-of-the-art results. Moreover, we will develop a vision on how recently obtained results may contribute to new insights in neurocognition and, in particular, in the neural representation of perceived stimuli, intended actions and emotions. Now is the right time to explore what can be gained by embracing real-time, online BCI and by adding it to the set of experimental tools already available to the cognitive neuroscientist. We close by pointing out some unresolved issues and present our view on how BCI could become an important new tool for probing human cognition.

The American Indian Holocaust: Healing Historical Unresolved Grief.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse; DeBruyn, Lemyra M.

1998-01-01

Argues for the existence of historical unresolved grief among American Indians. Outlines the historical legacy of war, genocide, and boarding schools resulting in intergenerational trauma and a host of associated social problems. Suggests healing strategies that integrate modern and traditional approaches to healing at the individual, family, and…

29 CFR 1691.10 - Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Section 1691.10 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION... ASSISTANCE § 1691.10 Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints. (a) Upon EEOC's transmittal of a reasonable cause determination and notice of failure of conciliation under § 1691.9(b)(2) of this regulation, the...

29 CFR 1691.10 - Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Section 1691.10 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION... ASSISTANCE § 1691.10 Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints. (a) Upon EEOC's transmittal of a reasonable cause determination and notice of failure of conciliation under § 1691.9(b)(2) of this regulation, the...

29 CFR 1691.10 - Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Section 1691.10 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION... ASSISTANCE § 1691.10 Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints. (a) Upon EEOC's transmittal of a reasonable cause determination and notice of failure of conciliation under § 1691.9(b)(2) of this regulation, the...

29 CFR 1691.10 - Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Section 1691.10 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION... ASSISTANCE § 1691.10 Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints. (a) Upon EEOC's transmittal of a reasonable cause determination and notice of failure of conciliation under § 1691.9(b)(2) of this regulation, the...

29 CFR 1691.10 - Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Section 1691.10 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION... ASSISTANCE § 1691.10 Agency enforcement of unresolved complaints. (a) Upon EEOC's transmittal of a reasonable cause determination and notice of failure of conciliation under § 1691.9(b)(2) of this regulation, the...

Broadband Scattering from Sand and Sand/Mud Sediments with Extensive Environmental Characterization

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-30

experiment , extensive envi- ronmental characterization was also performed to support data/model comparisons for both experimental efforts. The site...mechanisms, potentially addressing questions left unresolved from the previous sediment acoustics experiments , SAX99 and SAX04. This work was also to provide...environmental characterization to support the analysis of data collected during the Target and Reverberation Experiment in 2013 (TREX13) as well as

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Intensive Care Unit: A Dialogue on Core Ethical Issues

PubMed Central

Goligher, Ewan C.; Ely, E. Wesley; Sulmasy, Daniel P.; Bakker, Jan; Raphael, John; Volandes, Angelo E.; Patel, Bhavesh M.; Payne, Kate; Hosie, Annmarie; Churchill, Larry; White, Douglas B.; Downar, James

2016-01-01

Objective Many patients are admitted to the intensive care unit at or near the end of their lives. Consequently, the increasingly common debate regarding physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia (PAS/E) holds implications for the practice of critical care medicine. The objective of this manuscript is to explore core ethical issues related to PAS/E from the perspective of healthcare professionals and ethicists on both sides of the debate. Synthesis We identified four issues highlighting the key areas of ethical tension central to evaluating PAS/E in medical practice: (1) the benefit or harm of death itself, (2) the relationship between PAS/E and withholding or withdrawing life support, (3) the morality of a physician deliberately causing death, and (4) the management of conscientious objection related to PAS/E in the critical care setting. We present areas of common ground as well as important unresolved differences. Conclusions We reached differing positions on the first three core ethical questions and achieved significant agreement on how critical care clinicians should manage conscientious objections related to PAS/E. The alternative positions presented in this paper may serve to promote open and informed dialogue within the critical care community. PMID:28098622

Proceedings of the Hydrokinetic and Wave Energy Technologies Technical and Environmental Issues Workshop

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

None

2006-03-01

Renewable energy technologies offer the promise of non-polluting alternatives to fossil and nuclear-fueled power plants to meet growing demand for electrical energy. Two emerging categories of renewable energy technologies, hydrokinetic and wave energy conversion devices, offer ways to tap the energy of moving water without impoundment (dams) or diversion required by many conventional hydroelectric facilities. These technologies include devices designed for deployment in natural streams, tidal estuaries, ocean currents, and constructed waterways, as well as devices designed to capture the energy of ocean waves. On October 26-28, 2005, 54 representatives from government, non-governmental organizations, and private business met to (1)more » identify the varieties of hydrokinetic energy and wave technology devices, their stages of development, and the projected cost to bring each to market; (2) identify where these technologies can best operate; (3) identify the potential environmental issues associated with these technologies and possible mitigation measures; (4) develop a list of research needs and/or practical solutions to address unresolved environmental issues. These workshop proceedings include detailed summaries of the 24 presentations made and the discussions that followed.« less

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the ICU: A Dialogue on Core Ethical Issues.

PubMed

Goligher, Ewan C; Ely, E Wesley; Sulmasy, Daniel P; Bakker, Jan; Raphael, John; Volandes, Angelo E; Patel, Bhavesh M; Payne, Kate; Hosie, Annmarie; Churchill, Larry; White, Douglas B; Downar, James

2017-02-01

Many patients are admitted to the ICU at or near the end of their lives. Consequently, the increasingly common debate regarding physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia holds implications for the practice of critical care medicine. The objective of this article is to explore core ethical issues related to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia from the perspective of healthcare professionals and ethicists on both sides of the debate. We identified four issues highlighting the key areas of ethical tension central to evaluating physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in medical practice: 1) the benefit or harm of death itself, 2) the relationship between physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia and withholding or withdrawing life support, 3) the morality of a physician deliberately causing death, and 4) the management of conscientious objection related to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the critical care setting. We present areas of common ground and important unresolved differences. We reached differing positions on the first three core ethical questions and achieved unanimity on how critical care clinicians should manage conscientious objections related to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. The alternative positions presented in this article may serve to promote open and informed dialogue within the critical care community.

Unresolved Loss, a Risk Factor for Offspring, Predicts Event-Related Potential Responses to Death-Related Imagery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bahm, Naomi I. Gribneau; Simon-Thomas, Emiliana R.; Main, Mary; Hesse, Erik

2017-01-01

This study investigates whether individual differences in attachment status can be detected by electrophysiological responses to loss-themed pictures. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was used to identify discourse/reasoning lapses during the discussion of loss experiences via death that place speakers in the Unresolved/disorganized AAI…

Development of an Art Psychotherapy Model for the Prevention and Treatment of Unresolved Grief during Midlife.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turetsky, Cheryl J.; Hays, Ronald E.

2003-01-01

Presents an integrated model as an appropriate intervention to enable mourning and creativity and thus help in the prevention and treatment of unresolved grief in midlife. Two examples of this model in art-psychotherapy group treatment are provided. (Contains 53 references, 1 table, and 2 figures.) (GCP)

Unresolved Attachment, PTSD, and Dissociation in Women with Childhood Abuse Histories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stovall-McClough, K. Chase; Cloitre, Marylene

2006-01-01

The primary objective of this study was to examine unresolved trauma as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview and current psychiatric symptoms, focusing on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociation, in a group of adult female childhood abuse survivors. The authors examined psychiatric symptoms and attachment representations in a…

Observation of Unresolved Features in the Microwave Sky

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kowitt, M. S.; Cheng, E. S.; Cottingham, D. A.; Fixsen, D. J.; Silverberg, R. F.; Inman, C. A.; Meyer, S. S.; Puchalla, J. L.; Ruhl, J. E.; Page, L. A.

1994-12-01

We report on the detection of unresolved features in broadband observations from 5.6 to 22.5 cm(-1) with a 0\\fdg5 beam by the Medium Scale Anisotropy Measurement (Cheng et al. 1994, ApJ, 422, L37). Spectra for the features will be presented, along with a discussion of their possible origin.

47 CFR 73.810 - Third adjacent channel complaint and license modification procedure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... LPFM station's remedial efforts. (d) In the event that the number of unresolved complaints plus the... interference is traceable to the LPFM station. (e) If the number of unresolved and disputed complaints exceeds...) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Low Power FM Broadcast Stations (LPFM) § 73.810 Third...

47 CFR 73.810 - Third adjacent channel complaint and license modification procedure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... LPFM station's remedial efforts. (d) In the event that the number of unresolved complaints plus the... interference is traceable to the LPFM station. (e) If the number of unresolved and disputed complaints exceeds...) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Low Power FM Broadcast Stations (LPFM) § 73.810 Third...

47 CFR 73.810 - Third adjacent channel complaint and license modification procedure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... LPFM station's remedial efforts. (d) In the event that the number of unresolved complaints plus the... interference is traceable to the LPFM station. (e) If the number of unresolved and disputed complaints exceeds...) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Low Power FM Broadcast Stations (LPFM) § 73.810 Third...

Speckle imaging of active galactic nuclei: NGC 1068 and NGC 4151

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebstein, Steven Michael

High resolution images of NGC 1068 and NGC 4151 in the 5007 A line and the nearby continuum produced from data taken with the PAPA photon counting imaging detector using the technique of speckle imaging are presented. The images show an unresolved core of 5007 A emission in the middle of an extended emission region. The extended emission tends to lie alongside the subarcsecond radio structure. In NGC 4151, the extended emission comes from a nearly linear structure extending on both sides of the unresolved core. In NGC 1068, the extended emission is concentrated in lobes lying to the unresolved core but the emission is concentrated in lobes lying to either side of the major axis. The continuum of NGC 4151 is spatially unresolved. The continuum of NGC 1068 is extended approx. 1 in to the SW of the center of the 5007 A emission. Certain aspects of the PAPA detector are discussed, including the variable threshold discriminators that track the image intensifier pulse height and the camera artifacts. The data processing is described in detail.

New Theoretical Estimates of the Contribution of Unresolved Star-Forming Galaxies to the Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background (EGB) as Measured by EGRET and the Fermi-LAT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Venters, Tonia M.

2011-01-01

We present new theoretical estimates of the contribution of unresolved star-forming galaxies to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) as measured by EGRET and the Fermi-LAT. We employ several methods for determining the star-forming galaxy contribution the the EGB, including a method positing a correlation between the gamma-ray luminosity of a galaxy and its rate of star formation as calculated from the total infrared luminosity, and a method that makes use of a model of the evolution of the galaxy gas mass with cosmic time. We find that depending on the model, unresolved star-forming galaxies could contribute significantly to the EGB as measured by the Fermi-LAT at energies between approx. 300 MeV and approx. few GeV. However, the overall spectrum of unresolved star-forming galaxies can explain neither the EGRET EGB spectrum at energies between 50 and 200 MeV nor the Fermi-LAT EGB spectrum at energies above approx. few GeV.

Mechanism of the αβ Conformational Change in F1-ATPase after ATP Hydrolysis: Free-Energy Simulations

PubMed Central

Ito, Yuko; Ikeguchi, Mitsunori

2015-01-01

One of the motive forces for F1-ATPase rotation is the conformational change of the catalytically active β subunit due to closing and opening motions caused by ATP binding and hydrolysis, respectively. The closing motion is accomplished in two steps: the hydrogen-bond network around ATP changes and then the entire structure changes via B-helix sliding, as shown in our previous study. Here, we investigated the opening motion induced by ATP hydrolysis using all-atom free-energy simulations, combining the nudged elastic band method and umbrella sampling molecular-dynamics simulations. Because hydrolysis requires residues in the α subunit, the simulations were performed with the αβ dimer. The results indicate that the large-scale opening motion is also achieved by the B-helix sliding (in the reverse direction). However, the sliding mechanism is different from that of ATP binding because sliding is triggered by separation of the hydrolysis products ADP and Pi. We also addressed several important issues: 1), the timing of the product Pi release; 2), the unresolved half-closed β structure; and 3), the ADP release mechanism. These issues are fundamental for motor function; thus, the rotational mechanism of the entire F1-ATPase is also elucidated through this αβ study. During the conformational change, conserved residues among the ATPase proteins play important roles, suggesting that the obtained mechanism may be shared with other ATPase proteins. When combined with our previous studies, these results provide a comprehensive view of the β-subunit conformational change that drives the ATPase. PMID:25564855

Fistulizing Crohn's disease: Diagnosis and management.

PubMed

Gecse, Krisztina; Khanna, Reena; Stoker, Jaap; Jenkins, John T; Gabe, Simon; Hahnloser, Dieter; D'Haens, Geert

2013-06-01

Fistulizing Crohn's disease represents an evolving, yet unresolved, issue for multidisciplinary management. Perianal fistulas are the most frequent findings in fistulizing Crohn's disease. While enterocutaneous fistulas are rare, they are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Detailed evaluation of the fistula tract by advanced imaging techniques is required to determine the most suitable management options. The fundamentals of perianal fistula management are to evaluate the complexity of the fistula tract, and exclude proctitis and associated abscess. The main goals of the treatment are abscess drainage, which is mandatory, before initiating immunosuppressive medical therapy, resolution of fistula discharge, preservation of continence and, in the long term, avoidance of proctectomy with permanent stoma. The management of enterocutaneous fistulas comprises of sepsis control, skin care, nutritional optimization and, if needed, delayed surgery.

Artificial organs: recent progress in artificial hearing and vision.

PubMed

Ifukube, Tohru

2009-01-01

Artificial sensory organs are a prosthetic means of sending visual or auditory information to the brain by electrical stimulation of the optic or auditory nerves to assist visually impaired or hearing-impaired people. However, clinical application of artificial sensory organs, except for cochlear implants, is still a trial-and-error process. This is because how and where the information transmitted to the brain is processed is still unknown, and also because changes in brain function (plasticity) remain unknown, even though brain plasticity plays an important role in meaningful interpretation of new sensory stimuli. This article discusses some basic unresolved issues and potential solutions in the development of artificial sensory organs such as cochlear implants, brainstem implants, artificial vision, and artificial retinas.

Care of the Chronically Ill at Home: An Unresolved Dilemma in Health Policy for the United States

PubMed Central

Buhler-Wilkerson, Karen

2007-01-01

The problems of caring for patients with disabling illnesses who neither get well nor die are not new. Such patients have always required assistance at home from family, benevolent volunteers, or paid caregivers. Despite two centuries of experimentation, however, no agreement exists concerning the balance between the public and private resources to be allocated through state funding, private insurance, and family contributions for the daily and routine care at home for chronically ill persons of all ages. This article examines these issues and the unavoidable tensions between fiscal reality and legitimate need. It also uses historical and policy analyses to explain why home care has never become the cornerstone for caring for the chronically ill. PMID:18070332

Chapter 3. A multidimensional model for narrative analysis of substance use-related dependency.

PubMed

Larsson, Sam; von Braun, Therese; Lilja, John

2013-11-01

This chapter examines the possibilities and limitations of using a narrative method as a framework within a multidimensional model for exploring and analyzing the use and misuse of alcohol and drugs. It is posited that a multidimensional model, based on narrative reasoning, can give a more detailed and specific understanding of substance users, who represent a heterogeneous population of people, and of substance use-related dependency problems. Such a model describes and analyses the drug-use related problems in a manner that provides holistic and important information and knowledge about the person by contextual and situation interaction processes which are involved in the use/misuse of alcohol and drugs. Tentative conclusions and unresolved critical issues are considered.

What can we learn from fitness landscapes?

PubMed

Hartl, Daniel L

2014-10-01

A combinatorially complete data set consists of studies of all possible combinations of a set of mutant sites in a gene or mutant alleles in a genome. Among the most robust conclusions from these studies is that epistasis between beneficial mutations often shows a pattern of diminishing returns, in which favorable mutations are less fit when combined than would be expected. Another robust inference is that the number of adaptive evolutionary paths is often limited to a relatively small fraction of the theoretical possibilities, owing largely to sign epistasis requiring evolutionary steps that would entail a decrease in fitness. Here we summarize these and other results while also examining issues that remain unresolved and future directions that seem promising. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethics in American health 1: ethical approaches to health policy.

PubMed

Ruger, Jennifer Prah

2008-10-01

I trace the evolution of ethical approaches to health policy in the United States and examine a number of critical unresolved issues pertaining to the current set of frameworks. Several themes emerge. First, fair procedures claim more attention than substantive and procedural principles. Second, in the case of public deliberation, more focus has been placed on factors such as procedural mechanisms than on understanding how individuals and groups value different aspects of health and agree on health-related decisions. Third, the nation needs workable frameworks to guide collective choices about valuable social ends and their trade-offs; purely procedural strategies are limited in illuminating overarching health policy and ethics questions. There is a need to integrate consequential and procedural approaches to health ethics and policy.

Reconsidering reflexivity: introducing the case for intellectual entrepreneurship.

PubMed

Cutcliffe, John R

2003-01-01

In this article, the author reconsiders reflexivity and attempts to examine some unresolved issues by drawing particular attention to the relationship between reflexivity and certain related phenomena/processes: the researcher's a priori knowledge, values, beliefs; empathy within qualitative research; the presence and influence of the researcher's tacit knowledge, and May's "magic" in method. Given the limitations of some reflexive activity identified in this article, the author introduces the case for greater intellectual entrepreneurship within the context of qualitative research. He suggests that excessive emphasis on reflexive activity might inhibit intellectual entrepreneurship. Wherein intellectual entrepreneurship implies a conscious and deliberate attempt on the part of academics to explore the world of ideas boldly; to take more risks in theory development and to move away from being timid researchers.

Novel Tactile Sensor Technology and Smart Tactile Sensing Systems: A Review

PubMed Central

Ge, Chang; Wang, Z. Jane; Cretu, Edmond; Li, Xiaoou

2017-01-01

During the last decades, smart tactile sensing systems based on different sensing techniques have been developed due to their high potential in industry and biomedical engineering. However, smart tactile sensing technologies and systems are still in their infancy, as many technological and system issues remain unresolved and require strong interdisciplinary efforts to address them. This paper provides an overview of smart tactile sensing systems, with a focus on signal processing technologies used to interpret the measured information from tactile sensors and/or sensors for other sensory modalities. The tactile sensing transduction and principles, fabrication and structures are also discussed with their merits and demerits. Finally, the challenges that tactile sensing technology needs to overcome are highlighted. PMID:29149080

Brain responses to filled gaps.

PubMed

Hestvik, Arild; Maxfield, Nathan; Schwartz, Richard G; Shafer, Valerie

2007-03-01

An unresolved issue in the study of sentence comprehension is whether the process of gap-filling is mediated by the construction of empty categories (traces), or whether the parser relates fillers directly to the associated verb's argument structure. We conducted an event-related potentials (ERP) study that used the violation paradigm to examine the time course and spatial distribution of brain responses to ungrammatically filled gaps. The results indicate that the earliest brain response to the violation is an early left anterior negativity (eLAN). This ERP indexes an early phase of pure syntactic structure building, temporally preceding ERPs that reflect semantic integration and argument structure satisfaction. The finding is interpreted as evidence that gap-filling is mediated by structurally predicted empty categories, rather than directly by argument structure operations.

Setting the stage for habitable planets.

PubMed

Gonzalez, Guillermo

2014-02-21

Our understanding of the processes that are relevant to the formation and maintenance of habitable planetary systems is advancing at a rapid pace, both from observation and theory. The present review focuses on recent research that bears on this topic and includes discussions of processes occurring in astrophysical, geophysical and climatic contexts, as well as the temporal evolution of planetary habitability. Special attention is given to recent observations of exoplanets and their host stars and the theories proposed to explain the observed trends. Recent theories about the early evolution of the Solar System and how they relate to its habitability are also summarized. Unresolved issues requiring additional research are pointed out, and a framework is provided for estimating the number of habitable planets in the Universe.

ECASTAR: Energy conservation. An assessment of systems, technologies and requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

A methodology was presented for a systems approach to energy conservation actions and their potentials and impacts in the United States. Constraints affecting the approach were ranked, and the most important ones are the present economic and technical conditions. The following unresolved issues were identified: consumptive lifestyles vs. conservation ethic, environmental standards vs. energy conservation, capital availability, decentralization and vertical integration vs. centralization, fuel rich regions vs. fuel poor regions, supply vs. end use conservation, life cycle costing vs. initial cost, mandatory savings vs. voluntary savings, labor intensive vs. capital intensive, price control vs. free market. The following recommendations were made: provide action/impact assessment, establish regional energy centers, improve technology articulation with government, design total energy systems, utilize existing systems approach expertise.

Healthcare decisions: a review of children's involvement.

PubMed

Baston, Jenny

2008-04-01

Children's rights, their ability to consent to treatment and their involvement in healthcare decisions have received considerable attention in recent years. There is some evidence to suggest that when children are involved in the decision-making process, they retain a sense of control over their situation. However there are still unresolved issues related to a child's right to decide and nurses may be confused about the extent to which children can and should be involved in decision-making. A code of practice for involving children in decisions was first suggested in 2001 and there is still a need for a consistent, structured and robust method of ensuring that children are included in the decision-making process at all stages of their health care.

Setting the Stage for Habitable Planets

PubMed Central

Gonzalez, Guillermo

2014-01-01

Our understanding of the processes that are relevant to the formation and maintenance of habitable planetary systems is advancing at a rapid pace, both from observation and theory. The present review focuses on recent research that bears on this topic and includes discussions of processes occurring in astrophysical, geophysical and climatic contexts, as well as the temporal evolution of planetary habitability. Special attention is given to recent observations of exoplanets and their host stars and the theories proposed to explain the observed trends. Recent theories about the early evolution of the Solar System and how they relate to its habitability are also summarized. Unresolved issues requiring additional research are pointed out, and a framework is provided for estimating the number of habitable planets in the Universe. PMID:25370028

Stationarity: Wanted dead or alive?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lins, Larry F.; Cohn, Timothy A.

2011-01-01

Aligning engineering practice with natural process behavior would appear, on its face, to be a prudent and reasonable course of action. However, if we do not understand the long-term characteristics of hydroclimatic processes, how does one find the prudent and reasonable course needed for water management? We consider this question in light of three aspects of existing and unresolved issues affecting hydroclimatic variability and statistical inference: Hurst-Kolmogorov phenomena; the complications long-term persistence introduces with respect to statistical understanding; and the dependence of process understanding on arbitrary sampling choices. These problems are not easily addressed. In such circumstances, humility may be more important than physics; a simple model with well-understood flaws may be preferable to a sophisticated model whose correspondence to reality is uncertain.

Unresolved versus resolved: testing the validity of young simple stellar population models with VLT/MUSE observations of NGC 3603

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuncarayakti, H.; Galbany, L.; Anderson, J. P.; Krühler, T.; Hamuy, M.

2016-09-01

Context. Stellar populations are the building blocks of galaxies, including the Milky Way. The majority, if not all, extragalactic studies are entangled with the use of stellar population models given the unresolved nature of their observation. Extragalactic systems contain multiple stellar populations with complex star formation histories. However, studies of these systems are mainly based upon the principles of simple stellar populations (SSP). Hence, it is critical to examine the validity of SSP models. Aims: This work aims to empirically test the validity of SSP models. This is done by comparing SSP models against observations of spatially resolved young stellar population in the determination of its physical properties, that is, age and metallicity. Methods: Integral field spectroscopy of a young stellar cluster in the Milky Way, NGC 3603, was used to study the properties of the cluster as both a resolved and unresolved stellar population. The unresolved stellar population was analysed using the Hα equivalent width as an age indicator and the ratio of strong emission lines to infer metallicity. In addition, spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting using STARLIGHT was used to infer these properties from the integrated spectrum. Independently, the resolved stellar population was analysed using the colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) to determine age and metallicity. As the SSP model represents the unresolved stellar population, the derived age and metallicity were tested to determine whether they agree with those derived from resolved stars. Results: The age and metallicity estimate of NGC 3603 derived from integrated spectroscopy are confirmed to be within the range of those derived from the CMD of the resolved stellar population, including other estimates found in the literature. The result from this pilot study supports the reliability of SSP models for studying unresolved young stellar populations. Based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere under ESO programme 60.A-9344.

Delignified and Densified Cellulose Bulk Materials with Excellent Tensile Properties for Sustainable Engineering.

PubMed

Frey, Marion; Widner, Daniel; Segmehl, Jana S; Casdorff, Kirstin; Keplinger, Tobias; Burgert, Ingo

2018-02-07

Today's materials research aims at excellent mechanical performance in combination with advanced functionality. In this regard, great progress has been made in tailoring the materials by assembly processes in bottom-up approaches. In the field of wood-derived materials, nanocellulose research has gained increasing attention, and materials with advanced properties were developed. However, there are still unresolved issues concerning upscaling for large-scale applications. Alternatively, the sophisticated hierarchical scaffold of wood can be utilized in a top-down approach to upscale functionalization, and one can profit at the same time from its renewable nature, CO 2 storing capacity, light weight, and good mechanical performance. Nevertheless, for bulk wood materials, a wider multipurpose industrial use is so far impeded by concerns regarding durability, natural heterogeneity as well as limitations in terms of functionalization, processing, and shaping. Here, we present a novel cellulose bulk material concept based on delignification and densification of wood resulting in a high-performance material. A delignification process using hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid was optimized to delignify the entire bulk wooden blocks and to retain the highly beneficial structural directionality of wood. In a subsequent step, these cellulosic blocks were densified in a process combining compression and lateral shear to gain a very compact cellulosic material with entangled fibers while retaining unidirectional fiber orientation. The cellulose bulk materials obtained by different densification protocols were structurally, chemically, and mechanically characterized revealing superior tensile properties compared to native wood. Furthermore, after delignification, the cellulose bulk material can be easily formed into different shapes, and the delignification facilitates functionalization of the bioscaffold.

Cross-modal links among vision, audition, and touch in complex environments.

PubMed

Ferris, Thomas K; Sarter, Nadine B

2008-02-01

This study sought to determine whether performance effects of cross-modal spatial links that were observed in earlier laboratory studies scale to more complex environments and need to be considered in multimodal interface design. It also revisits the unresolved issue of cross-modal cuing asymmetries. Previous laboratory studies employing simple cues, tasks, and/or targets have demonstrated that the efficiency of processing visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli is affected by the modality, lateralization, and timing of surrounding cues. Very few studies have investigated these cross-modal constraints in the context of more complex environments to determine whether they scale and how complexity affects the nature of cross-modal cuing asymmetries. Amicroworld simulation of battlefield operations with a complex task set and meaningful visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli was used to investigate cuing effects for all cross-modal pairings. Significant asymmetric performance effects of cross-modal spatial links were observed. Auditory cues shortened response latencies for collocated visual targets but visual cues did not do the same for collocated auditory targets. Responses to contralateral (rather than ipsilateral) targets were faster for tactually cued auditory targets and each visual-tactile cue-target combination, suggesting an inhibition-of-return effect. The spatial relationships between multimodal cues and targets significantly affect target response times in complex environments. The performance effects of cross-modal links and the observed cross-modal cuing asymmetries need to be examined in more detail and considered in future interface design. The findings from this study have implications for the design of multimodal and adaptive interfaces and for supporting attention management in complex, data-rich domains.

An Image-based Micro-continuum Pore-scale Model for Gas Transport in Organic-rich Shale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, B.; Tchelepi, H.

2017-12-01

Gas production from unconventional source rocks, such as ultra-tight shales, has increased significantly over the past decade. However, due to the extremely small pores ( 1-100 nm) and the strong material heterogeneity, gas flow in shale is still not well understood and poses challenges for predictive field-scale simulations. In recent years, digital rock analysis has been applied to understand shale gas transport at the pore-scale. An issue with rock images (e.g. FIB-SEM, nano-/micro-CT images) is the so-called "cutoff length", i.e., pores and heterogeneities below the resolution cannot be resolved, which leads to two length scales (resolved features and unresolved sub-resolution features) that are challenging for flow simulations. Here we develop a micro-continuum model, modified from the classic Darcy-Brinkman-Stokes framework, that can naturally couple the resolved pores and the unresolved nano-porous regions. In the resolved pores, gas flow is modeled with Stokes equation. In the unresolved regions where the pore sizes are below the image resolution, we develop an apparent permeability model considering non-Darcy flow at the nanoscale including slip flow, Knudsen diffusion, adsorption/desorption, surface diffusion, and real gas effect. The end result is a micro-continuum pore-scale model that can simulate gas transport in 3D reconstructed shale images. The model has been implemented in the open-source simulation platform OpenFOAM. In this paper, we present case studies to demonstrate the applicability of the model, where we use 3D segmented FIB-SEM and nano-CT shale images that include four material constituents: organic matter, clay, granular mineral, and pore. In addition to the pore structure and the distribution of the material constituents, we populate the model with experimental measurements (e.g. size distribution of the sub-resolution pores from nitrogen adsorption) and parameters from the literature and identify the relative importance of different physics on gas production. Overall, the micro-continuum model provides a novel tool for digital rock analysis of organic-rich shale.

The Role Model Effect on Gender Equity: How are Female College Students Influenced by Female Teaching Assistants in Science?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebert, Darilyn

The gender gap of women in science is an important and unresolved issue in higher education and occupational opportunities. The present study was motivated by the fact that there are typically fewer females than males advancing in science, and therefore fewer female science instructor role models. This observation inspired the questions: Are female college students influenced in a positive way by female science teaching assistants (TAs), and if so how can their influence be measured? The study tested the hypothesis that female TAs act as role models for female students and thereby encourage interest and increase overall performance. To test this "role model" hypothesis, the reasoning ability and self-efficacy of a sample of 724 introductory college biology students were assessed at the beginning and end of the Spring 2010 semester. Achievement was measured by exams and course work. Performance of four randomly formed groups was compared: 1) female students with female TAs, 2) male students with female TAs, 3) female students with male TAs, and 4) male students with male TAs. Based on the role model hypothesis, female students with female TAs were predicted to perform better than female students with male TAs. However, group comparisons revealed similar performances across all four groups in achievement, reasoning ability and self-efficacy. The slight differences found between the four groups in student exam and coursework scores were not statistically significant. Therefore, the results did not support the role model hypothesis. Given that both lecture professors in the present study were males, and given that professors typically have more teaching experience, finer skills and knowledge of subject matter than do TAs, a future study that includes both female science professors and female TAs, may be more likely to find support for the hypothesis.

A Comparison of Unresolved Versus Resolved Status and Its Relationship to Behaviour in Maltreated Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webster, Linda; Hackett, Rachelle Kisst

2007-01-01

This exploratory investigation sought both to gain a better understanding of the mental representations of attachment in high-risk, maltreated adolescents and to explain how, if at all, unresolved attachment representations are related to behavioural maladjustment. Parent ratings, self-report ratings and attachment state of mind were obtained from…

NATURE OF UNRESOLVED COMPLEX MIXTURE IN SIZE-DISTRIBUTED EMISSIONS FROM RESIDENTIAL WOOD COMBUSTION AS MEASURED BY THERMAL DESORPTION-GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY

EPA Science Inventory

In this study, the unresolved complex mixture (UCM) in size resolved fine aerosol emissions from residential wood combustion (RWC) is examined. The aerosols are sorted by size in an electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI) and subsequently analyzed by thermal desorbtion/gas chroma...

Rapid radiation events in the family Ursidae indicated by likelihood phylogenetic estimation from multiple fragments of mtDNA.

PubMed

Waits, L P; Sullivan, J; O'Brien, S J; Ward, R H

1999-10-01

The bear family (Ursidae) presents a number of phylogenetic ambiguities as the evolutionary relationships of the six youngest members (ursine bears) are largely unresolved. Recent mitochondrial DNA analyses have produced conflicting results with respect to the phylogeny of ursine bears. In an attempt to resolve these issues, we obtained 1916 nucleotides of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from six gene segments for all eight bear species and conducted maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony analyses on all fragments separately and combined. All six single-region gene trees gave different phylogenetic estimates; however, only for control region data was this significantly incongruent with the results from the combined data. The optimal phylogeny for the combined data set suggests that the giant panda is most basal followed by the spectacled bear. The sloth bear is the basal ursine bear, and there is weak support for a sister taxon relationship of the American and Asiatic black bears. The sun bear is sister taxon to the youngest clade containing brown bears and polar bears. Statistical analyses of alternate hypotheses revealed a lack of strong support for many of the relationships. We suggest that the difficulties surrounding the resolution of the evolutionary relationships of the Ursidae are linked to the existence of sequential rapid radiation events in bear evolution. Thus, unresolved branching orders during these time periods may represent an accurate representation of the evolutionary history of bear species. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Solar Coronal UV Spectroscopy for Solar Wind and SEP Acceleration Investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moses, John Daniel; Ko, Yuan-Kuen; Laming, John Martin; Strachan, Leonard; Tun Beltran, Samuel

2015-04-01

Of all the new areas of solar physics opened by the landmark SOHO mission, the scientific discoveries of the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) are unique in both the importance of the new questions raised by these observations and the lack of subsequent investigations to resolve these questions. For example, the first direct evidence of wave-particle coupling as an acceleration mechanism for the solar wind was obtained from UVCS spectro-coronagraphic observations, yet the real limits on the ratio of the parallel to perpendicular ion temperatures (with respect to the magnetic field) in coronal holes and streamers is still unresolved. Another unresolved issue is the role of suprathermal seed particles in rapid diffusive shock acceleration of SEPs. Although the theory has been placed on firmer theoretical ground by recent in situ investigations, observations of these suprathermal particles in the corona was never conclusively obtained with UVCS.Any follow-on UV Spectro-coronagraph must possess two improvements over UVCS in order to address the questions raised during the SOHO mission: 1) increased effective aperture and 2) improved spectrographic contrast (i.e. reduced scattered light). Technological developments in optics, optical design, UV detectors, composite structures, cleanliness control and electronics make it possible to achieve the requisite improvements in a next-generation UV spectro-coronagraph within the constraints of an affordable mission. We discuss specific instrument and mission approaches developed over the last 5 years and the feasibility of implementing them within the next 5 years.

Solar Coronal UV Spectroscopy for Solar Wind and Sep Acceleration Investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moses, J. D.; Laming, J. M.; Ko, Y. K.; Strachan, L.

2014-12-01

Of all the new areas of solar physics opened by the landmark SOHO mission, the scientific discoveries of the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) are unique in both the importance of the new questions raised by these observations and the lack of subsequent investigations to resolve these questions. For example, the first direct evidence of wave-particle coupling as an acceleration mechanism for the solar wind was obtained from UVCS spectro-coronagraphic observations, yet the real limits on the ratio of the parallel to perpendicular ion temperatures (with respect to the magnetic field) in coronal holes and streamers is still unresolved. Another unresolved issue is the role of suprathermal seed particles in rapid diffusive shock acceleration of SEPs. Although the theory has been placed on firmer theoretical ground by recent in situinvestigations, observations of these suprathermal particles in the corona were never conclusively obtained with UVCS. Any follow-on UV Spectro-coronagraph must possess two improvements over UVCS in order to address the questions raised during the SOHO mission: 1) increased effective aperture and 2) improved spectrographic contrast (i.e. reduced scattered light). Technological developments in optics, optical design, UV detectors, composite structures, cleanliness control and electronics make it possible to achieve the requisite improvements in a next-generation UV spectro-coronagraph within the constraints of an affordable mission. We discuss specific instrument and mission approaches developed over the last 5 years and the feasibility of implementing them within the next 5 years.

A framework for testing and comparing binaural models.

PubMed

Dietz, Mathias; Lestang, Jean-Hugues; Majdak, Piotr; Stern, Richard M; Marquardt, Torsten; Ewert, Stephan D; Hartmann, William M; Goodman, Dan F M

2018-03-01

Auditory research has a rich history of combining experimental evidence with computational simulations of auditory processing in order to deepen our theoretical understanding of how sound is processed in the ears and in the brain. Despite significant progress in the amount of detail and breadth covered by auditory models, for many components of the auditory pathway there are still different model approaches that are often not equivalent but rather in conflict with each other. Similarly, some experimental studies yield conflicting results which has led to controversies. This can be best resolved by a systematic comparison of multiple experimental data sets and model approaches. Binaural processing is a prominent example of how the development of quantitative theories can advance our understanding of the phenomena, but there remain several unresolved questions for which competing model approaches exist. This article discusses a number of current unresolved or disputed issues in binaural modelling, as well as some of the significant challenges in comparing binaural models with each other and with the experimental data. We introduce an auditory model framework, which we believe can become a useful infrastructure for resolving some of the current controversies. It operates models over the same paradigms that are used experimentally. The core of the proposed framework is an interface that connects three components irrespective of their underlying programming language: The experiment software, an auditory pathway model, and task-dependent decision stages called artificial observers that provide the same output format as the test subject. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using a bias aware EnKF to account for unresolved structure in an unsaturated zone model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erdal, D.; Neuweiler, I.; Wollschläger, U.

2014-01-01

When predicting flow in the unsaturated zone, any method for modeling the flow will have to define how, and to what level, the subsurface structure is resolved. In this paper, we use the Ensemble Kalman Filter to assimilate local soil water content observations from both a synthetic layered lysimeter and a real field experiment in layered soil in an unsaturated water flow model. We investigate the use of colored noise bias corrections to account for unresolved subsurface layering in a homogeneous model and compare this approach with a fully resolved model. In both models, we use a simplified model parameterization in the Ensemble Kalman Filter. The results show that the use of bias corrections can increase the predictive capability of a simplified homogeneous flow model if the bias corrections are applied to the model states. If correct knowledge of the layering structure is available, the fully resolved model performs best. However, if no, or erroneous, layering is used in the model, the use of a homogeneous model with bias corrections can be the better choice for modeling the behavior of the system.

Key Scientific Issues in the Health Risk Assessment of Trichloroethylene

PubMed Central

Chiu, Weihsueh A.; Caldwell, Jane C.; Keshava, Nagalakshmi; Scott, Cheryl Siegel

2006-01-01

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a common environmental contaminant at hazardous waste sites and in ambient and indoor air. Assessing the human health risks of TCE is challenging because of its inherently complex metabolism and toxicity and the widely varying perspectives on a number of critical scientific issues. Because of this complexity, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drew upon scientific input and expertise from a wide range of groups and individuals in developing its 2001 draft health risk assessment of TCE. This scientific outreach, which was aimed at engaging a diversity of perspectives rather than developing consensus, culminated in 2000 with 16 state-of-the-science articles published together as an Environmental Health Perspectives supplement. Since that time, a substantial amount of new scientific research has been published that is relevant to assessing TCE health risks. Moreover, a number of difficult or controversial scientific issues remain unresolved and are the subject of a scientific consultation with the National Academy of Sciences coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and co-sponsored by a number of federal agencies, including the U.S. EPA. The articles included in this mini-monograph provide a scientific update on the most prominent of these issues: the pharmacokinetics of TCE and its metabolites, mode(s) of action and effects of TCE metabolites, the role of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor in TCE toxicity, and TCE cancer epidemiology. PMID:16966103

Issues impacting therapeutic outcomes in pediatric patients: an overview.

PubMed

Kalra, Atin; Goindi, Shishu

2014-01-01

The quest for achieving optimal therapeutic outcomes in pediatric patients has evaded the healthcare professionals for long and often lack of child specific dosage forms and the associated events that follow with it have been considered to be major contributor towards suboptimal outcomes. Consequently, there have been sustained efforts over the years to address this issue with the enactment of legislations like Best Pharmaceutical for Children Act (BPCA), Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) and Pediatric Regulation by European Union (EU) to incentivise the participation of pharmaceutical industry towards development of child friendly dosage forms. Initiatives taken in past by organisations like World Health Organisation (WHO) and Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) to spur the development of child friendly dosage forms has helped to address issues pertaining to management of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and malaria in pediatric patients. Present efforts aimed at developing child friendly dosage forms include oro-dispersible platforms including thin films and mini-tablets. Despite these leaps and advancements in developing better dosage forms for children, lower therapeutic outcomes in pediatric patients continue to remain an unresolved issue because of detrimental effects of additional factors such as parents understanding of label instructions and complexities involved in executing pediatric clinical studies thus requiring a concerted effort from pharmaceutical companies, academic researchers, parents and healthcare providers to work for better treatment outcomes in children.

The Contribution of z < or Approx. 6 Sources to the Spatial Coherence in the Unresolved Cosmic Near-Infrared and X-Ray Backgrounds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Helgason, K.; Cappelluti, N.; Hasinger, G.; Kashlinsky, A.; Ricotti, M.

2014-01-01

A spatial clustering signal has been established in Spitzer/IRAC measurements of the unresolved cosmic near-infrared background (CIB) out to large angular scales, approx. 1deg. This CIB signal, while significantly exceeding the contribution from the remaining known galaxies, was further found to be coherent at a highly statistically significant level with the unresolved soft cosmic X-ray background (CXB). This measurement probes the unresolved CXB to very faint source levels using deep near-IR source subtraction.We study contributions from extragalactic populations at low to intermediate redshifts to the measured positive cross-power signal of the CIB fluctuations with the CXB. We model the X-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs), normal galaxies, and hot gas residing in virialized structures, calculating their CXB contribution including their spatial coherence with all infrared emitting counterparts. We use a halo model framework to calculate the auto and cross-power spectra of the unresolved fluctuations based on the latest constraints of the halo occupation distribution and the biasing of AGNs, galaxies, and diffuse emission. At small angular scales (1), the 4.5microns versus 0.5-2 keV coherence can be explained by shot noise from galaxies and AGNs. However, at large angular scales (approx.10), we find that the net contribution from the modeled populations is only able to account for approx. 3% of the measured CIB×CXB cross-power. The discrepancy suggests that the CIB×CXB signal originates from the same unknown source population producing the CIB clustering signal out to approx. 1deg.

[Attachment Representation and Emotion Regulation in Patients with Burnout Syndrome].

PubMed

Söllner, Wolfgang; Behringer, Johanna; Böhme, Stephanie; Stein, Barbara; Reiner, Iris; Spangler, Gottfried

2016-06-01

Burnout describes a syndrome of exhaustion resulting from insufficient coping with work-related distress. We investigated if patients that are being clinically treated for burnout show insecure and unresolved attachment representation more often compared with healthy controls. 50 out of 60 consecutive burnout patients participated in the study. Mental representation of attachment was measured by using the Adult Attachment Interview. Additionally, we administered the Self Report Questionnaire to Assess Emotional Experience and Emotion Regulation and several burnout specific questionnaires. A population sample was used as control group. Burnout patients were classified as insecurely attached significantly more often than controls. Unresolved attachment status concerning loss or trauma was found significantly more often within the burnout sample. Patients with insecure attachment representation reported a lower subjective significance of work. Patients with avoidant insecure attachment showed more depersonalisation. Patients with unresolved loss/trauma reported less social support. They showed more passive-negative emotion experience and emotion regulation characterized by externalization. The results of the study suggest that an insecure or unresolved attachment representation might constitute an intrapersonal risk factor for the development of burnout syndrome. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Treating Unresolved Grief and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Orphaned Children in Tanzania: Group-based Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

PubMed Central

O’Donnell, Karen; Dorsey, Shannon; Gong, Wenfeng; Ostermann, Jan; Whetten, Rachel; Cohen, Judith A.; Itemba, Dafrosa; Manongi, Rachel; Whetten, Kathryn

2015-01-01

The study was designed to test the feasibility and child clinical outcomes for a group-based application of Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT) for orphaned children with unresolved grief in Moshi, Tanzania. Sixty-four orphaned children with at least mild symptoms of unresolved grief and/or traumatic stress and their guardians participated in the open trial. The evidence-based TF-CBT protocol was adapted for group delivery, resulting in 12 weekly sessions for child and guardians separately with conjoint activities and three individual visits. Using a task-sharing approach, the intervention was delivered by lay counselors with no prior mental health experience. Primary outcomes assessed were symptoms of unresolved grief and posttraumatic stress (PTS); secondary outcomes included symptoms of depression and overall behavioral adjustment. All assessments were conducted pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3- and 12-months after the end of treatment. Results showed improved scores on all outcomes post-treatment, sustained at 3 and 12 months. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) for baseline to post-treatment were 1.36 for child reported grief symptoms; 1.87 for child-reported PTS, and 1.15 for caregiver report of child PTS. PMID:25418514

Waiting for Brandon: How Readers Respond to Small Mysteries

PubMed Central

Gerrig, Richard J.; Love, Jessica; McKoon, Gail

2009-01-01

When readers experience narratives they often encounter small mysteries—questions that a text raises that are not immediately settled. In our experiments, participants read stories that introduced characters by proper names (e.g., “It’s just that Brandon hasn’t called in so long”). Resolved versions of the stories specified the functions those characters’ assumed in their narrative worlds with respect to the other characters (e.g., Brandon was identified as the speaker’s grandson); unresolved versions of the stories did not immediately provide that information. We predicted that characters whose functions were still unresolved would remain relatively accessible in the discourse representations. We tested that prediction in Experiments 1 and 2 by asking participants to indicate whether a name (e.g., Brandon) had appeared in the story. Participants responded most swiftly when the characters remained unresolved. In the latter experiments, we demonstrated that the presence of an unresolved character disrupted processing of information that followed that character’s introduction (Experiment 3) but not information that preceded that introduction (Experiment 4). These results support the general importance of providing a theoretical account of readers’ responses to narrative mysteries. PMID:20046984

A sibling adoption study of adult attachment: The influence of shared environment on attachment states of mind

PubMed Central

Caspers, Kristin; Yucuis, Rebecca; Troutman, Beth; Arndt, Stephan; Langbehn, Douglas

2009-01-01

This study extends existing research investigating sibling concordance on attachment by examining concordance for adult attachment in a sample of 126 genetically unrelated sibling pairs. The Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985; Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 2003) was used to assess states of mind with regard to attachment. The average age of the participants was 39 years old. The distribution of attachment classifications was independent of adoptive status. Attachment concordance rates were unassociated with gender concordance and sibling age difference. Concordance for autonomous/non-autonomous classifications was significant at 61% as was concordance for primary classifications at 53%. The concordance rate for not-unresolved/unresolved was non-significant at 67%. Our findings demonstrate similarity of working models of attachment between siblings independent of genetic relatedness between siblings and generations (i.e., parent and child). These findings extend previous research by further implicating shared environment as a major influence on sibling similarities on organized patterns of attachment in adulthood. The non-significant concordance for the unresolved classification suggests that unresolved loss or trauma may be less influenced by shared environment and more likely to be influenced by post-childhood experiences or genetic factors. PMID:18049934

Combining 3D Hydraulic Tomography with Tracer Tests for Improved Transport Characterization.

PubMed

Sanchez-León, E; Leven, C; Haslauer, C P; Cirpka, O A

2016-07-01

Hydraulic tomography (HT) is a method for resolving the spatial distribution of hydraulic parameters to some extent, but many details important for solute transport usually remain unresolved. We present a methodology to improve solute transport predictions by combining data from HT with the breakthrough curve (BTC) of a single forced-gradient tracer test. We estimated the three dimensional (3D) hydraulic-conductivity field in an alluvial aquifer by inverting tomographic pumping tests performed at the Hydrogeological Research Site Lauswiesen close to Tübingen, Germany, using a regularized pilot-point method. We compared the estimated parameter field to available profiles of hydraulic-conductivity variations from direct-push injection logging (DPIL), and validated the hydraulic-conductivity field with hydraulic-head measurements of tests not used in the inversion. After validation, spatially uniform parameters for dual-domain transport were estimated by fitting tracer data collected during a forced-gradient tracer test. The dual-domain assumption was used to parameterize effects of the unresolved heterogeneity of the aquifer and deemed necessary to fit the shape of the BTC using reasonable parameter values. The estimated hydraulic-conductivity field and transport parameters were subsequently used to successfully predict a second independent tracer test. Our work provides an efficient and practical approach to predict solute transport in heterogeneous aquifers without performing elaborate field tracer tests with a tomographic layout. © 2015, National Ground Water Association.

Astrophysical interpretation of the anisotropies in the unresolved gamma-ray background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ando, Shin'ichiro; Fornasa, Mattia; Fornengo, Nicolao; Regis, Marco; Zechlin, Hannes-S.

2017-06-01

Recently, a new measurement of the auto- and cross-correlation angular power spectrum (APS) of the isotropic gamma-ray background was performed, based on 81 months of data of the Fermi Large-Area Telescope (LAT). Here, we fit, for the first time, the new APS data with a model describing the emission of unresolved blazars. These sources are expected to dominate the anisotropy signal. The model we employ in our analysis reproduces well the blazars resolved by Fermi LAT. When considering the APS obtained by masking the sources listed in the 3FGL catalog, we find that unresolved blazars underproduce the measured APS below ˜1 GeV . Contrary to past results, this suggests the presence of a new contribution to the low-energy APS, with a significance of, at least, 5 σ . The excess can be ascribed to a new class of faint gamma-ray emitters. If we consider the APS obtained by masking the sources in the 2FGL catalog, there is no underproduction of the APS below 1 GeV, but the new source class is still preferred over the blazars-only scenario (with a significance larger than 10 σ ). The properties of the new source class and the level of anisotropies induced in the isotropic gamma-ray background are the same, independent of the APS data used. In particular, the new gamma-ray emitters must have a soft energy spectrum, with a spectral index ranging, approximately, from 2.7 to 3.2. This complicates their interpretation in terms of known sources, since, normally, star-forming and radio galaxies are observed with a harder spectrum. The new source class identified here is also expected to contribute significantly to the intensity of the isotropic gamma-ray background.

Investigating the physical and geometrical properties of the dusty torus in QSO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Paredes, M.; González-Martín, O.; Aretxaga, I.; Alonso-Herrero, A.

2017-07-01

Usining mid-IR high angular resolution (0.3 arcsec) data from CanariCam on the 10.4m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS we study the mid-IR nuclear emission of a nearby (z<0.1) sample of QSOs. The QSOs are selected with N-band flux (fN>0.02 Jy) and hard X-ray flux (fX(2-10 keV)>1043 erg s-1). From the analysis of this data we find that the mid-IR emission is unresolved at scales of a few hundred of pc. We use unresolved emission at H-band (e.g., Veilleux et al. 2009b) and the IRS-Spitzer spectrum (e.g., Schweitzer et al. 2006) to build near- to mid-IR unresolved spectral energy distribution (SEDs).

Ubiquitous Emergency Medical Service System Based on Wireless Biosensors, Traffic Information, and Wireless Communication Technologies: Development and Evaluation

PubMed Central

Tan, Tan-Hsu; Gochoo, Munkhjargal; Chen, Yung-Fu; Hu, Jin-Jia; Chiang, John Y.; Chang, Ching-Su; Lee, Ming-Huei; Hsu, Yung-Nian; Hsu, Jiin-Chyr

2017-01-01

This study presents a new ubiquitous emergency medical service system (UEMS) that consists of a ubiquitous tele-diagnosis interface and a traffic guiding subsystem. The UEMS addresses unresolved issues of emergency medical services by managing the sensor wires for eliminating inconvenience for both patients and paramedics in an ambulance, providing ubiquitous accessibility of patients’ biosignals in remote areas where the ambulance cannot arrive directly, and offering availability of real-time traffic information which can make the ambulance reach the destination within the shortest time. In the proposed system, patient’s biosignals and real-time video, acquired by wireless biosensors and a webcam, can be simultaneously transmitted to an emergency room for pre-hospital treatment via WiMax/3.5 G networks. Performances of WiMax and 3.5 G, in terms of initialization time, data rate, and average end-to-end delay are evaluated and compared. A driver can choose the route of the shortest time among the suggested routes by Google Maps after inspecting the current traffic conditions based on real-time CCTV camera streams and traffic information. The destination address can be inputted vocally for easiness and safety in driving. A series of field test results validates the feasibility of the proposed system for application in real-life scenarios. PMID:28117724

Ubiquitous Emergency Medical Service System Based on Wireless Biosensors, Traffic Information, and Wireless Communication Technologies: Development and Evaluation.

PubMed

Tan, Tan-Hsu; Gochoo, Munkhjargal; Chen, Yung-Fu; Hu, Jin-Jia; Chiang, John Y; Chang, Ching-Su; Lee, Ming-Huei; Hsu, Yung-Nian; Hsu, Jiin-Chyr

2017-01-21

This study presents a new ubiquitous emergency medical service system (UEMS) that consists of a ubiquitous tele-diagnosis interface and a traffic guiding subsystem. The UEMS addresses unresolved issues of emergency medical services by managing the sensor wires for eliminating inconvenience for both patients and paramedics in an ambulance, providing ubiquitous accessibility of patients' biosignals in remote areas where the ambulance cannot arrive directly, and offering availability of real-time traffic information which can make the ambulance reach the destination within the shortest time. In the proposed system, patient's biosignals and real-time video, acquired by wireless biosensors and a webcam, can be simultaneously transmitted to an emergency room for pre-hospital treatment via WiMax/3.5 G networks. Performances of WiMax and 3.5 G, in terms of initialization time, data rate, and average end-to-end delay are evaluated and compared. A driver can choose the route of the shortest time among the suggested routes by Google Maps after inspecting the current traffic conditions based on real-time CCTV camera streams and traffic information. The destination address can be inputted vocally for easiness and safety in driving. A series of field test results validates the feasibility of the proposed system for application in real-life scenarios.

On the classification of normally distributed neurons: an application to human dentate nucleus.

PubMed

Ristanović, Dušan; Milošević, Nebojša T; Marić, Dušica L

2011-03-01

One of the major goals in cellular neurobiology is the meaningful cell classification. However, in cell classification there are many unresolved issues that need to be addressed. Neuronal classification usually starts with grouping cells into classes according to their main morphological features. If one tries to test quantitatively such a qualitative classification, a considerable overlap in cell types often appears. There is little published information on it. In order to remove the above-mentioned shortcoming, we undertook the present study with the aim to offer a novel method for solving the class overlapping problem. To illustrate our method, we analyzed a sample of 124 neurons from adult human dentate nucleus. Among them we qualitatively selected 55 neurons with small dendritic fields (the small neurons), and 69 asymmetrical neurons with large dendritic fields (the large neurons). We showed that these two samples are normally and independently distributed. By measuring the neuronal soma areas of both samples, we observed that the corresponding normal curves cut each other. We proved that the abscissa of the point of intersection of the curves could represent the boundary between the two adjacent overlapping neuronal classes, since the error done by such division is minimal. Statistical evaluation of the division was also performed.

SpecOMS: A Full Open Modification Search Method Performing All-to-All Spectra Comparisons within Minutes.

PubMed

David, Matthieu; Fertin, Guillaume; Rogniaux, Hélène; Tessier, Dominique

2017-08-04

The analysis of discovery proteomics experiments relies on algorithms that identify peptides from their tandem mass spectra. The almost exhaustive interpretation of these spectra remains an unresolved issue. At present, an important number of missing interpretations is probably due to peptides displaying post-translational modifications and variants that yield spectra that are particularly difficult to interpret. However, the emergence of a new generation of mass spectrometers that provide high fragment ion accuracy has paved the way for more efficient algorithms. We present a new software, SpecOMS, that can handle the computational complexity of pairwise comparisons of spectra in the context of large volumes. SpecOMS can compare a whole set of experimental spectra generated by a discovery proteomics experiment to a whole set of theoretical spectra deduced from a protein database in a few minutes on a standard workstation. SpecOMS can ingeniously exploit those capabilities to improve the peptide identification process, allowing strong competition between all possible peptides for spectrum interpretation. Remarkably, this software resolves the drawbacks (i.e., efficiency problems and decreased sensitivity) that usually accompany open modification searches. We highlight this promising approach using results obtained from the analysis of a public human data set downloaded from the PRIDE (PRoteomics IDEntification) database.

G.A.M.E.: GPU-accelerated mixture elucidator.

PubMed

Schurz, Alioune; Su, Bo-Han; Tu, Yi-Shu; Lu, Tony Tsung-Yu; Lin, Olivia A; Tseng, Yufeng J

2017-09-15

GPU acceleration is useful in solving complex chemical information problems. Identifying unknown structures from the mass spectra of natural product mixtures has been a desirable yet unresolved issue in metabolomics. However, this elucidation process has been hampered by complex experimental data and the inability of instruments to completely separate different compounds. Fortunately, with current high-resolution mass spectrometry, one feasible strategy is to define this problem as extending a scaffold database with sidechains of different probabilities to match the high-resolution mass obtained from a high-resolution mass spectrum. By introducing a dynamic programming (DP) algorithm, it is possible to solve this NP-complete problem in pseudo-polynomial time. However, the running time of the DP algorithm grows by orders of magnitude as the number of mass decimal digits increases, thus limiting the boost in structural prediction capabilities. By harnessing the heavily parallel architecture of modern GPUs, we designed a "compute unified device architecture" (CUDA)-based GPU-accelerated mixture elucidator (G.A.M.E.) that considerably improves the performance of the DP, allowing up to five decimal digits for input mass data. As exemplified by four testing datasets with verified constitutions from natural products, G.A.M.E. allows for efficient and automatic structural elucidation of unknown mixtures for practical procedures. Graphical abstract .

The use of inulin in poultry feeding: a review.

PubMed

Bucław, M

2016-12-01

Since the European Union enforced the ban on antibiotic growth promoters in 2006, the research has been focused on natural feed additives which would have a proven positive impact on both production and animal health. Inulin is both the most commonly used and the most effective probiotic additive. The mechanism of inulin interactions with the avian body is complex, multidirectional and not fully understood. Despite a number of unresolved issues, many authors have demonstrated the positive impact of inulin on the host organism. Dietary supplementation of poultry feeding with inulin contributes to the modulation of intestinal microbiota through favouring a quick proliferation of beneficial Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains and inhibiting the growth of pathogenic microbes. There are indications that inulin-provoked changes in the host gut microbiota in poultry may alter the structure and histomorphology of the intestinal mucosa and improve its absorption capacity in poultry. It has also been demonstrated that inulin may affect the immune system and the systemic metabolism of minerals and lipids. The reports on inulin effects on the body and performance of poultry are often contradictory, as the effectiveness of this prebiotic is strongly dependent on the type and dose used, and the duration of its administration. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Invention Versus Direct Instruction: For Some Content, It's a Tie

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chase, Catherine C.; Klahr, David

2017-12-01

An important, but as yet unresolved pedagogical question is whether discovery-oriented or direct instruction methods lead to greater learning and transfer. We address this issue in a study with 101 fourth and fifth grade students that contrasts two distinct instructional methods. One is a blend of discovery and direct instruction called Invent-then-Tell (IT), and the other is a version of direct instruction called Tell-then-Practice (TP). The relative effectiveness of these methods is compared in the context of learning a critical inquiry skill—the control-of-variables strategy. Previous research has demonstrated the success of IT over TP for teaching deep domain structures, while other research has demonstrated the superiority of direct instruction for teaching simple experimental design, a domain-general inquiry skill. In the present study, students in both conditions made equally large gains on an immediate assessment of their application and conceptual understanding of experimental design, and they also performed similarly on a test of far transfer. These results were fairly consistent across school populations with various levels of prior achievement and socioeconomic status. Findings suggest that broad claims about the relative effectiveness of these two distinct methods should be conditionalized by particular instructional contexts, such as the type of knowledge being taught.

Osimertinib for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Sun, Jong-Mu; Lee, Se-Hoon; Ahn, Jin Seok; Park, Keunchil; Ahn, Myung-Ju

2017-02-01

The T790 M mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene is the most common mechanism underlying resistance to first- or second-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Osimertinib, a third-generation EGFR TKI, shows robust clinical efficacy in patients with T790 M-mutated lung cancer. Areas covered: We analyzed and reviewed clinical data for which patients who experienced acquired resistance to first- or second-generation EGFR TKIs. In addition, we briefly reviewed the potential role of osimertinib as a first-line therapy. Expert opinion: Osimertinib was recently licensed for use in NSCLC patients with acquired resistance to other EGFR TKIs due to a T790 M mutation. However, unresolved issues surrounding the optimal application of osimertinib remain, specifically the development of a plasma-based mutation test to overcome the difficulty of repeat biopsy, the efficacy of osimertinib for brain or leptomeningeal metastases, the development of resistance to osimertinib, and the use of osimertinib therapy as a first-line treatment. Many ongoing studies are currently exploring these issues.

Potential Impacts of Hydrokinetic and Wave Energy Conversion Technologies on Aquatic Environments

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

Čada, Glenn F.

2007-04-01

A new generation of hydropower technologies, the kinetic hydro and wave energy conversion devices, offers the possibility of generating electricity from the movements of water, without the need for dams and diversions. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 encouraged the development of these sources of renewable energy in the United States, and there is growing interest in deploying them globally. The technologies that would extract electricity from free-flowing streams, estuaries, and oceans have not been widely tested. Consequently, the U.S. Department of Energy convened a workshop to (1) identify the varieties of hydrokinetic energy and wave energy conversion devices andmore » their stages of development, (2) identify where these technologies can best operate, (3) identify the potential environmental issues associated with these technologies and possible mitigation measures, and (4) develop a list of research needs and/or practical solutions to address unresolved environmental issues. The article reviews the results of that workshop, focusing on potential effects on freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems, and we describe recent national and international developments.« less

Protecting indigenous rights. Guatemala.

PubMed

1996-01-01

Guatemala's recent ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention regarding indigenous and tribal peoples (1989, No. 169) represents a commitment to guarantee the rights of the country's majority Mayan population. Ratifying governments are obligated to respect the traditional values and land rights of tribal and indigenous peoples and to consult with them on any decisions affecting their economic or social development. Ratification of this Convention was a key element in an eight-part UN-sponsored negotiation aimed at ending the civil war in Guatemala. Efforts are underway to promote dialogue between organized civil society and government. Negotiations in May 1996, conducted with ILO assistance, resulted in a socioeconomic agreement under which Guatemala will increase social investment in education, undertake agrarian reform, and institute tripartite consultation on all major social and economic issues. However, two key issues in the peace negotiations--the role of the army in civil society and constitutional reform--remain unresolved. The final global peace accord is expected to be signed in September 1996. UN organizations are already working to mobilize international support for transforming these agreements into political and social realities for the Guatemalan people.

First-time viewers' comprehension of films: bridging shot transitions.

PubMed

Ildirar, Sermin; Schwan, Stephan

2015-02-01

Which perceptual and cognitive prerequisites must be met in order to be able to comprehend a film is still unresolved and a controversial issue. In order to gain some insights into this issue, our field experiment investigates how first-time adult viewers extract and integrate meaningful information across film cuts. Three major types of commonalities between adjacent shots were differentiated, which may help first-time viewers with bridging the shots: pictorial, causal, and conceptual. Twenty first-time, 20 low-experienced and 20 high-experienced viewers from Turkey were shown a set of short film clips containing these three kinds of commonalities. Film clips conformed also to the principles of continuity editing. Analyses of viewers' spontaneous interpretations show that first-time viewers indeed are able to notice basic pictorial (object identity), causal (chains of activity), as well as conceptual (links between gaze direction and object attention) commonalities between shots due to their close relationship with everyday perception and cognition. However, first-time viewers' comprehension of the commonalities is to a large degree fragile, indicating the lack of a basic notion of what constitutes a film. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Integration of Technology-based Behavioral Health Interventions in Substance Abuse and Addiction Services

PubMed Central

Ramsey, Alex

2015-01-01

The past decade has witnessed revolutionary changes to the delivery of health services, ushered in to a great extent by the introduction of electronic health record systems. More recently, a new class of technological advancements—technology-based behavioral health interventions, which involve the delivery of evidence-informed practices via computers, web-based applications, mobile phones, wearable sensors, or other technological platforms—has emerged and is primed to once again radically shift current models for behavioral healthcare. Despite the promise and potential of these new therapeutic approaches, a greater understanding of the impact of technology-based interventions on cornerstone issues of mental health and addiction services—namely access, quality, and cost—is needed. The current review highlights 1) relevant conceptual frameworks that guide this area of research, 2) key studies that inform the relevance of technology-based interventions for behavioral healthcare access, quality, and cost, 3) pressing methodological issues that require attention, 4) unresolved questions that warrant further investigation, and 5) practical implications that underscore important new directions for this emerging area of research. PMID:26161047

Integration of Technology-based Behavioral Health Interventions in Substance Abuse and Addiction Services.

PubMed

Ramsey, Alex

2015-08-01

The past decade has witnessed revolutionary changes to the delivery of health services, ushered in to a great extent by the introduction of electronic health record systems. More recently, a new class of technological advancements-technology-based behavioral health interventions, which involve the delivery of evidence-informed practices via computers, web-based applications, mobile phones, wearable sensors, or other technological platforms-has emerged and is primed to once again radically shift current models for behavioral healthcare. Despite the promise and potential of these new therapeutic approaches, a greater understanding of the impact of technology-based interventions on cornerstone issues of mental health and addiction services-namely access, quality, and cost -is needed. The current review highlights 1) relevant conceptual frameworks that guide this area of research, 2) key studies that inform the relevance of technology-based interventions for behavioral healthcare access, quality, and cost, 3) pressing methodological issues that require attention, 4) unresolved questions that warrant further investigation, and 5) practical implications that underscore important new directions for this emerging area of research.

Development of Low Density Flexible Carbon Phenolic Ablators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stackpole, Mairead; Thornton, Jeremy; Fan, Wendy; Agrawal, Parul; Doxtad, Evan; Gasch, Matt

2011-01-01

Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) was the enabling TPS material for the Stardust mission where it was used as a single piece heatshield. PICA has the advantages of low density (0.27g/cm3) coupled with efficient ablative capability at high heat fluxes. Under the Orion program, PICA was also shown to be capable of both ISS and lunar return missions however some unresolved issues remain for its application in a tiled configuration for the Orion-specific design. In particular, the problem of developing an appropriate gap filler resulted in the Orion program selecting AVCOAT as the primary heatshield material over PICA. We are currently looking at alternative architectures to yield flexible and more conformal carbon phenolic materials with comparable densities to PICA that will address some of the design issues faced in the application of a tiled PICA heat shield. These new materials are viable TPS candidates for upcoming NASA missions and as material candidates for private sector Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS). This presentation will discuss flexible alternatives to PICA and include preliminary mechanical and thermal properties as well as arc jet and LHMEL screening test results.

A Scopus-Based Analysis of Publication Activity in Kazakhstan from 2010 to 2015: Positive Trends, Concerns, and Possible Solutions.

PubMed

Yessirkepov, Marlen; Nurmashev, Bekaidar; Anartayeva, Mariya

2015-12-01

The article analyzes the publication activity of scientific authors from Kazakhstan based on Scopus and SCImago Journal & Country Rank data from 2010 to 2015. The number of indexed multidisciplinary and medical articles from the country has been steadily growing from 2011 onward and this can be due to the adoption of the new Law on Science in that year. Several regulatory legal acts have been issued in recent years aimed at improving the quality of local journals and the international recognition of academic degrees and titles. Publication activity of scientific authors from Kazakhstan was found to be higher than that from other countries in the Central Asian region. However, there are still many unresolved issues related to the English language barrier, lack of indexing status of local journals, and poor topical education on science writing and editing. As such, the number of articles published in 'predatory' journals remains sizable, and there are concerns over authors' negligence and plagiarism. The global solution to the discussed problems may be achieved by educating researchers, authors, reviewers, and editors.

Tensions among siblings in parent care.

PubMed

Lashewicz, Bonnie; Keating, Norah

2009-06-01

From a place of "genealogical equivalence" as children of their parents, siblings spend a lifetime developing separate identities. As parents near the end of their lives, issues of sibling equivalence are renegotiated in the face of equal obligations to provide care and equal entitlement to parent assets. In this paper, we hypothesize how unresolved issues of rivalry for parent affection/attention among siblings may be reasserted when parents need care. Data are drawn from a project about how parent care and assets are shared. In-depth interviews with three sibling groups experiencing conflict over sharing parent care and assets along with six Canadian legal case portrayals of disputes among siblings over how parent care and assets were shared are examined. Findings are that disputes occur when siblings perceive others as dominating parent care and assets through tactics such as separating the parent from other siblings and preventing other siblings from being engaged in decisions about care and assets. Discussion is focused on paradoxes faced by siblings given expectations for equity in parent relationships alongside perceived pre-eminence in care and asset decisions.

A Scopus-Based Analysis of Publication Activity in Kazakhstan from 2010 to 2015: Positive Trends, Concerns, and Possible Solutions

PubMed Central

Nurmashev, Bekaidar; Anartayeva, Mariya

2015-01-01

The article analyzes the publication activity of scientific authors from Kazakhstan based on Scopus and SCImago Journal & Country Rank data from 2010 to 2015. The number of indexed multidisciplinary and medical articles from the country has been steadily growing from 2011 onward and this can be due to the adoption of the new Law on Science in that year. Several regulatory legal acts have been issued in recent years aimed at improving the quality of local journals and the international recognition of academic degrees and titles. Publication activity of scientific authors from Kazakhstan was found to be higher than that from other countries in the Central Asian region. However, there are still many unresolved issues related to the English language barrier, lack of indexing status of local journals, and poor topical education on science writing and editing. As such, the number of articles published in 'predatory' journals remains sizable, and there are concerns over authors' negligence and plagiarism. The global solution to the discussed problems may be achieved by educating researchers, authors, reviewers, and editors. PMID:26713071

Slamming: Recent Progress in the Evaluation of Impact Pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, Frédéric; Ghidaglia, Jean-Michel

2018-01-01

Slamming, the violent impact between a liquid and solid, has been known to be important for a long time in the ship hydrodynamics community. More recently, applications ranging from the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in LNG carriers to the harvesting of wave energy with oscillating wave surge converters have led to renewed interest in the topic. The main reason for this renewed interest is that the extreme impact pressures generated during slamming can affect the integrity of the structures involved. Slamming fluid mechanics is challenging to describe, as much from an experimental viewpoint as from a numerical viewpoint, because of the large span of spatial and temporal scales involved. Even the physical mechanisms of slamming are challenging: What physical phenomena must be included in slamming models? An important issue deals with the practical modeling of slamming: Are there any simple models available? Are numerical models viable? What are the consequences for the design of structures? This article describes the loading processes involved in slamming, offers state-of-the-art results, and highlights unresolved issues worthy of further research.

Global Analysis, Interpretation and Modelling: An Earth Systems Modelling Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Berrien, III; Sahagian, Dork

1997-01-01

The Goal of the GAIM is: To advance the study of the coupled dynamics of the Earth system using as tools both data and models; to develop a strategy for the rapid development, evaluation, and application of comprehensive prognostic models of the Global Biogeochemical Subsystem which could eventually be linked with models of the Physical-Climate Subsystem; to propose, promote, and facilitate experiments with existing models or by linking subcomponent models, especially those associated with IGBP Core Projects and with WCRP efforts. Such experiments would be focused upon resolving interface issues and questions associated with developing an understanding of the prognostic behavior of key processes; to clarify key scientific issues facing the development of Global Biogeochemical Models and the coupling of these models to General Circulation Models; to assist the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process by conducting timely studies that focus upon elucidating important unresolved scientific issues associated with the changing biogeochemical cycles of the planet and upon the role of the biosphere in the physical-climate subsystem, particularly its role in the global hydrological cycle; and to advise the SC-IGBP on progress in developing comprehensive Global Biogeochemical Models and to maintain scientific liaison with the WCRP Steering Group on Global Climate Modelling.

New perspectives on neuronal development via microfluidic environments

PubMed Central

Millet, Larry J.; Gillette, Martha U.

2012-01-01

Understanding the signals that guide neuronal development and direct formation of axons, dendrites, and synapses during wiring of the brain is a fundamental challenge of developmental neuroscience. Discovering how local signals shape developing neurons has been impeded by the inability of conventional culture methods to interrogate micro-environments of complex neuronal cytoarchitectures, where different sub-domains encounter distinct chemical, physical, and fluidic features. Micro-fabrication techniques are enabling the creation of micro-environments tailored to neuronal structures and sub-domains, with unprecedented access and control. The design, fabrication, and properties of microfluidic devices offer significant advantages for addressing unresolved issues of neuronal development. These high-resolution approaches are poised to contribute new insights into mechanisms for restoring neuronal function and connectivity compromised by injury, stress, and neurodegeneration. PMID:23031246

Condensed matter physics of planets - Puzzles, progress and predictions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stevenson, D. J.

1984-01-01

Attention is given to some of the major unresolved issues concerned with the physics of planetary interiors. The important advances in observations, and experimental and theoretical investigations are briefly reviewed, and some areas for further study are identified, including: the characteristics of atomic and electronic degrees of freedom at the high pressures and temperatures typical of a condensed planetary core; the behavior of water at megabar pressures; and the nature of the core-alloy in the earth and in the core mantle phase boundary. Consideration is also given to the behavior of carbon at high pressures and temperatures in the presence of oxygen and hydrogen; the behavior of the volatile ice assemblage in Titan at pressures of 2-40 kbar; and the electrical conductivities of matter under planetary core conditions.

Evidence-based disease management: its role in cardiovascular risk reduction.

PubMed

Fanning, Etta L

2004-01-01

Cardiovascular disease remains the most pressing healthcare problem in the United States. Traditional risk factors--hypertension, obesity, and diabetes-are still unresolved issues; and new risk factors--pre-diabetes, insulin resistance, and pediatric and adolescent diabetes-have emerged. There is an urgent need to identify the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and address risk reduction with disease management and treatment for each factor, based on qualitative and quantitative approaches for developing the evidence base for public health action. The objectives of this paper are to review (i) the burden of cardiovascular illness-morbidity, mortality, and cost; (ii) risk factors and the emerging epidemic of adolescent obesity; (iii) the challenges of attaining target endpoints; and (iv) the attributes of a successful programmatic healthcare initiative for potential impact on cardiovascular care and, eventually, public health.

Ethics in American Health 1: Ethical Approaches to Health Policy

PubMed Central

2008-01-01

I trace the evolution of ethical approaches to health policy in the United States and examine a number of critical unresolved issues pertaining to the current set of frameworks. Several themes emerge. First, fair procedures claim more attention than substantive and procedural principles. Second, in the case of public deliberation, more focus has been placed on factors such as procedural mechanisms than on understanding how individuals and groups value different aspects of health and agree on health-related decisions. Third, the nation needs workable frameworks to guide collective choices about valuable social ends and their trade-offs; purely procedural strategies are limited in illuminating overarching health policy and ethics questions. There is a need to integrate consequential and procedural approaches to health ethics and policy. PMID:18703449

[Inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicinal authentication].

PubMed

Zhao, Zhong-zhen; Chen, Hu-biao; Xiao, Pei-gen; Guo, Ping; Liang, Zhi-tao; Hung, Fanny; Wong, Lai-lai; Brand, Eric; Liu, Jing

2015-09-01

Chinese medicinal authentication is fundamental for the standardization and globalization of Chinese medicine. The discipline of authentication addresses difficult issues that have remained unresolved for thousands of years, and is essential for preserving safety. Chinese medicinal authentication has both scientific and traditional cultural connotations; the use of scientific methods to elucidate traditional experience-based differentiation carries the legacy of Chinese medicine forward, and offers immediate practical significance and long-term scientific value. In this paper, a path of inheritance and innovation is explored through the scientific exposition of Chinese medicinal authentication, featuring a review of specialized publications, the establishment of a Chinese medicine specimen center and Chinese medicinal image databases, the expansion of authentication technologies, and the formation of a cultural project dedicated to the Compedium of Materia Medica.

Fistulizing Crohn’s disease: Diagnosis and management

PubMed Central

Gecse, Krisztina; Khanna, Reena; Stoker, Jaap; Jenkins, John T; Gabe, Simon; Hahnloser, Dieter

2013-01-01

Fistulizing Crohn’s disease represents an evolving, yet unresolved, issue for multidisciplinary management. Perianal fistulas are the most frequent findings in fistulizing Crohn’s disease. While enterocutaneous fistulas are rare, they are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Detailed evaluation of the fistula tract by advanced imaging techniques is required to determine the most suitable management options. The fundamentals of perianal fistula management are to evaluate the complexity of the fistula tract, and exclude proctitis and associated abscess. The main goals of the treatment are abscess drainage, which is mandatory, before initiating immunosuppressive medical therapy, resolution of fistula discharge, preservation of continence and, in the long term, avoidance of proctectomy with permanent stoma. The management of enterocutaneous fistulas comprises of sepsis control, skin care, nutritional optimization and, if needed, delayed surgery. PMID:24917961

New measures of mental state and behavior based on data collected from sensors, smartphones, and the Internet.

PubMed

Glenn, Tasha; Monteith, Scott

2014-12-01

With the rapid and ubiquitous acceptance of new technologies, algorithms will be used to estimate new measures of mental state and behavior based on digital data. The algorithms will analyze data collected from sensors in smartphones and wearable technology, and data collected from Internet and smartphone usage and activities. In the future, new medical measures that assist with the screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of psychiatric disorders will be available despite unresolved reliability, usability, and privacy issues. At the same time, similar non-medical commercial measures of mental state are being developed primarily for targeted advertising. There are societal and ethical implications related to the use of these measures of mental state and behavior for both medical and non-medical purposes.

Regulation of Body Temperature by the Nervous System.

PubMed

Tan, Chan Lek; Knight, Zachary A

2018-04-04

The regulation of body temperature is one of the most critical functions of the nervous system. Here we review our current understanding of thermoregulation in mammals. We outline the molecules and cells that measure body temperature in the periphery, the neural pathways that communicate this information to the brain, and the central circuits that coordinate the homeostatic response. We also discuss some of the key unresolved issues in this field, including the following: the role of temperature sensing in the brain, the molecular identity of the warm sensor, the central representation of the labeled line for cold, and the neural substrates of thermoregulatory behavior. We suggest that approaches for molecularly defined circuit analysis will provide new insight into these topics in the near future. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Protecting the Rights of School Children with Diabetes

PubMed Central

Wood, James M.

2013-01-01

School children with diabetes are facing increasing difficulties in receiving care during the school day. Despite theexistence of federal statutes ensuring their rights to a free, appropriate public education, many school districts throughout the country do little, if anything, to ensure that their condition is treated throughout the school day. The chronic shortage of school nurses has resulted in hardships on families, relatives, and friends to ensure that care, including insulin, is timely and appropriately provided. While many states have taken measures to provide care by unlicensed trained volunteers, efforts to accomplish this in California have resulted in prolonged litigation. A variety of nursing organizations oppose all efforts to train unlicensed volunteers, arguing that such is not permitted by California law. The issue is unresolved and currently pending in the California Supreme Court. PMID:23566990

“Cleansing” anatomical collections: The politics of removing specimens from German anatomical and medical collections 1988–92

PubMed Central

Weindling, Paul

2015-01-01

SUMMARY In 1989–90 an intense debate erupted in the Federal Republic of Germany over the status of anatomical specimens from the period of National Socialism. Pressure was brought on the German universities and research institutes to remove body parts. The solution was deemed rapid burial of all specimens whose provenance was in doubt. A range of options was considered, and the eventual decision to bury cremated remains was deemed the best way to draw a line under an uncomfortable past of Nazi medical atrocities. The aim was to achieve closure on this issue by a rapid “cleansing” of collections. However, identification of victims was left unresolved amidst the heated debates at the time. PMID:22445542

Successful Treatment of Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia in a 10-Year-Catatonic Patient by Augmentation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

PubMed Central

Chen, Mei-Jung; Huang, Shiau-Shian; Juang, Kai-Dih; Chan, Chin-Hong

2015-01-01

Abstract Although catatonia is a well defined syndrome, the treatment of chronic catatonia remains an unresolved issue. Here, we report a successful treatment of a 30-year-old patient with treatment-resistant catatonic schizophrenia in 10 years by augmentation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). We present a 30-year-old man with treatment-resistant catatonic schizophrenia who failed to respond to the treatment of benzodiazepines and antipsychotics for 10 years. He markedly improved after taking SSRIs. Now, he does not hold odd postures and begins to talk and show more facial expressions. We postulate that the therapeutic effect is related to the enhancement of 5-HT neurotransmission. SSRIs can be a considerable choice to treat chronic catatonia. PMID:25929916

Successful treatment of treatment-resistant schizophrenia in a 10-year-catatonic patient by augmentation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: a case report.

PubMed

Chen, Mei-Jung; Huang, Shiau-Shian; Juang, Kai-Dih; Chan, Chin-Hong

2015-05-01

Although catatonia is a well defined syndrome, the treatment of chronic catatonia remains an unresolved issue. Here, we report a successful treatment of a 30-year-old patient with treatment-resistant catatonic schizophrenia in 10 years by augmentation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).We present a 30-year-old man with treatment-resistant catatonic schizophrenia who failed to respond to the treatment of benzodiazepines and antipsychotics for 10 years. He markedly improved after taking SSRIs. Now, he does not hold odd postures and begins to talk and show more facial expressions.We postulate that the therapeutic effect is related to the enhancement of 5-HT neurotransmission. SSRIs can be a considerable choice to treat chronic catatonia.

The Concept of “Metaemotion”: What is There to Learn From Research on Metacognition?

PubMed Central

Norman, Elisabeth; Furnes, Bjarte

2014-01-01

We first present a selection of vignette examples from empirical psychological research to illustrate how the phenomenon of metaemotion (Gottman, Katz, & Hooven, 1996; Mendonça, 2013) is studied within different domains of psychology. We then present a theoretical distinction which has been made between three facets of metacognition, namely metacognitive experiences, metacognitive knowledge, and metacognitive strategies (e.g., Efklides, 2008; Flavell, 1979). Referring back to the vignette examples from metaemotion research, we argue that a similar distinction can be drawn between three facets of metaemotion, namely metaemotional experiences, metaemotional knowledge, and metaemotional strategies. We argue that this distinction clarifies some of the unresolved issues in metaemotion research, and therefore has important implications for the study of metaemotion, both methodologically and theoretically. PMID:27110281

A foundation for public health ethics at Tuskegee University in the 21st century.

PubMed

Warren, Rueben C; Tarver, Will L

2010-08-01

This commentary is a reflection on Tuskegee University's National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care on the health and ethical challenges of the 21st century. The Center has dedicated the last 10 years to addressing the unresolved biomedicine and public health issues and/or the ethical dilemmas that plague the nation's health. The authors believe that health disparities continue to worsen because the approach under-appreciates the ethical dilemma that plagues health policy and health disparities. The authors discuss synergies and the paradigmatic differences between science and medicine, religion, spirituality, and faith. They also discuss the importance of considering these relationships if improvements in the health of people of African descent are expected. The concept of Optimal Health is explored.

Flame spread across liquids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Howard D.; Miller, Fletcher; Schiller, David; Sirignano, William

1995-01-01

Recent reviews of our understanding of flame spread across liquids show that there are many unresolved issues regarding the phenomenology and causal mechanisms affecting ignition susceptibility, flame spread characteristics, and flame spread rates. One area of discrepancy is the effect of buoyancy in both the uniform and pulsating spread regimes. The approach we have taken to resolving the importance of buoyancy for these flames is: (1) normal gravity (1g) and microgravity (micro g) experiments; and (2) numerical modeling at different gravitational levels. Of special interest to this work, as discussed at the previous workshop, is the determination of whether, and under what conditions, pulsating spread occurs in micro g. Microgravity offers a unique ability to modify and control the gas-phase flow pattern by utilizing a forced air flow over the pool surface.

Investigating the role of future thinking in social problem solving.

PubMed

Noreen, Saima; Whyte, Katherine E; Dritschel, Barbara

2015-03-01

There is well-established evidence that both rumination and depressed mood negatively impact the ability to solve social problems. A preliminary stage of the social problem solving process may be the process of catapulting oneself forward in time to think about the consequences of a problem before attempting to solve it. The aim of the present study was to examine how thinking about the consequences of a social problem being resolved or unresolved prior to solving it influences the solution of the problem as a function of levels of rumination and dysphoric mood. Eighty six participants initially completed the Beck Depression Inventory- II (BDI-II) and the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). They were then presented with six social problems and generated consequences for half of the problems being resolved and half of the problems remaining unresolved. Participants then solved some of the problems, and following a delay, were asked to recall all of the consequences previously generated. Participants reporting higher levels of depressed mood and rumination were less effective at generating problem solutions. Specifically, those reporting higher levels of rumination produced less effective solutions for social problems that they had previously generated unresolved than resolved consequences. We also found that individuals higher in rumination, irrespective of depressed mood recalled more of the unresolved consequences in a subsequent memory test. As participants did not solve problems for scenarios where no consequences were generated, no baseline measure of problem solving was obtained. Our results suggest thinking about the consequences of a problem remaining unresolved may impair the generation of effective solutions in individuals with higher levels of rumination. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combination of binaural and harmonic masking release effects in the detection of a single component in complex tones.

PubMed

Klein-Hennig, Martin; Dietz, Mathias; Hohmann, Volker

2018-03-01

Both harmonic and binaural signal properties are relevant for auditory processing. To investigate how these cues combine in the auditory system, detection thresholds for an 800-Hz tone masked by a diotic (i.e., identical between the ears) harmonic complex tone were measured in six normal-hearing subjects. The target tone was presented either diotically or with an interaural phase difference (IPD) of 180° and in either harmonic or "mistuned" relationship to the diotic masker. Three different maskers were used, a resolved and an unresolved complex tone (fundamental frequency: 160 and 40 Hz) with four components below and above the target frequency and a broadband unresolved complex tone with 12 additional components. The target IPD provided release from masking in most masker conditions, whereas mistuning led to a significant release from masking only in the diotic conditions with the resolved and the narrowband unresolved maskers. A significant effect of mistuning was neither found in the diotic condition with the wideband unresolved masker nor in any of the dichotic conditions. An auditory model with a single analysis frequency band and different binaural processing schemes was employed to predict the data of the unresolved masker conditions. Sensitivity to modulation cues was achieved by including an auditory-motivated modulation filter in the processing pathway. The predictions of the diotic data were in line with the experimental results and literature data in the narrowband condition, but not in the broadband condition, suggesting that across-frequency processing is involved in processing modulation information. The experimental and model results in the dichotic conditions show that the binaural processor cannot exploit modulation information in binaurally unmasked conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Towards the reanalysis of void coefficients measurements at proteus for high conversion light water reactor lattices

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

Hursin, M.; Koeberl, O.; Perret, G.

2012-07-01

High Conversion Light Water Reactors (HCLWR) allows a better usage of fuel resources thanks to a higher breeding ratio than standard LWR. Their uses together with the current fleet of LWR constitute a fuel cycle thoroughly studied in Japan and the US today. However, one of the issues related to HCLWR is their void reactivity coefficient (VRC), which can be positive. Accurate predictions of void reactivity coefficient in HCLWR conditions and their comparisons with representative experiments are therefore required. In this paper an inter comparison of modern codes and cross-section libraries is performed for a former Benchmark on Void Reactivitymore » Effect in PWRs conducted by the OECD/NEA. It shows an overview of the k-inf values and their associated VRC obtained for infinite lattice calculations with UO{sub 2} and highly enriched MOX fuel cells. The codes MCNPX2.5, TRIPOLI4.4 and CASMO-5 in conjunction with the libraries ENDF/B-VI.8, -VII.0, JEF-2.2 and JEFF-3.1 are used. A non-negligible spread of results for voided conditions is found for the high content MOX fuel. The spread of eigenvalues for the moderated and voided UO{sub 2} fuel are about 200 pcm and 700 pcm, respectively. The standard deviation for the VRCs for the UO{sub 2} fuel is about 0.7% while the one for the MOX fuel is about 13%. This work shows that an appropriate treatment of the unresolved resonance energy range is an important issue for the accurate determination of the void reactivity effect for HCLWR. A comparison to experimental results is needed to resolve the presented discrepancies. (authors)« less

Liquid lithium loop system to solve challenging technology issues for fusion power plant

DOE PAGES

Ono, Masayuki; Majeski, Richard P.; Jaworski, Michael A.; ...

2017-07-12

Here, steady-state fusion power plant designs present major divertor technology challenges, including high divertor heat flux both in steady-state and during transients. In addition to these concerns, there are the unresolved technology issues of long term dust accumulation and associated tritium inventory and safety issues. It has been suggested that radiation-based liquid lithium (LL) divertor concepts with a modest lithium-loop could provide a possible solution for these outstanding fusion reactor technology issues, while potentially improving reactor plasma performance. The application of lithium (Li) in NSTX resulted in improved H-mode confinement, H-mode power threshold reduction, and reduction in the divertor peakmore » heat flux while maintaining essentially Li-free core plasma operation even during H-modes. These promising results in NSTX and related modeling calculations motivated the radiative liquid lithium divertor (RLLD) concept and its variant, the active liquid lithium divertor concept (ARLLD), taking advantage of the enhanced or non-coronal Li radiation in relatively poorly confined divertor plasmas. To maintain the LL purity in a 1 GW-electric class fusion power plant, a closed LL loop system with a modest circulating capacity of ~ 1 liter/second (l/sec) is envisioned. We examined two key technology issues: 1) dust or solid particle removal and 2) real time recovery of tritium from LL while keeping the tritium inventory level to an acceptable level. By running the LL-loop continuously, it can carry the dust particles and impurities generated in the vacuum vessel to the outside where the dust / impurities can be removed by relatively simple dust filter, cold trap and/or centrifugal separation systems. With ~ 1 l/sec LL flow, even a small 0.1% dust content by weight (or 0.5 g per sec) suggests that the LL-loop could carry away nearly 16 tons of dust per year. In a 1 GW-electric (or ~ 3 GW fusion power) fusion power plant, about 0.5 g / sec of tritium is needed to maintain the fusion fuel cycle assuming ~ 1 % fusion burn efficiency. It appears feasible to recover tritium (T) in real time from LL while maintaining an acceptable T inventory level. Laboratory tests are being conducted to investigate T recovery feasibility with the surface cold trap (SCT) concept.« less

Liquid lithium loop system to solve challenging technology issues for fusion power plant

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

Ono, Masayuki; Majeski, Richard P.; Jaworski, Michael A.

Here, steady-state fusion power plant designs present major divertor technology challenges, including high divertor heat flux both in steady-state and during transients. In addition to these concerns, there are the unresolved technology issues of long term dust accumulation and associated tritium inventory and safety issues. It has been suggested that radiation-based liquid lithium (LL) divertor concepts with a modest lithium-loop could provide a possible solution for these outstanding fusion reactor technology issues, while potentially improving reactor plasma performance. The application of lithium (Li) in NSTX resulted in improved H-mode confinement, H-mode power threshold reduction, and reduction in the divertor peakmore » heat flux while maintaining essentially Li-free core plasma operation even during H-modes. These promising results in NSTX and related modeling calculations motivated the radiative liquid lithium divertor (RLLD) concept and its variant, the active liquid lithium divertor concept (ARLLD), taking advantage of the enhanced or non-coronal Li radiation in relatively poorly confined divertor plasmas. To maintain the LL purity in a 1 GW-electric class fusion power plant, a closed LL loop system with a modest circulating capacity of ~ 1 liter/second (l/sec) is envisioned. We examined two key technology issues: 1) dust or solid particle removal and 2) real time recovery of tritium from LL while keeping the tritium inventory level to an acceptable level. By running the LL-loop continuously, it can carry the dust particles and impurities generated in the vacuum vessel to the outside where the dust / impurities can be removed by relatively simple dust filter, cold trap and/or centrifugal separation systems. With ~ 1 l/sec LL flow, even a small 0.1% dust content by weight (or 0.5 g per sec) suggests that the LL-loop could carry away nearly 16 tons of dust per year. In a 1 GW-electric (or ~ 3 GW fusion power) fusion power plant, about 0.5 g / sec of tritium is needed to maintain the fusion fuel cycle assuming ~ 1 % fusion burn efficiency. It appears feasible to recover tritium (T) in real time from LL while maintaining an acceptable T inventory level. Laboratory tests are being conducted to investigate T recovery feasibility with the surface cold trap (SCT) concept.« less

Liquid lithium loop system to solve challenging technology issues for fusion power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ono, M.; Majeski, R.; Jaworski, M. A.; Hirooka, Y.; Kaita, R.; Gray, T. K.; Maingi, R.; Skinner, C. H.; Christenson, M.; Ruzic, D. N.

2017-11-01

Steady-state fusion power plant designs present major divertor technology challenges, including high divertor heat flux both in steady-state and during transients. In addition to these concerns, there are the unresolved technology issues of long term dust accumulation and associated tritium inventory and safety issues. It has been suggested that radiation-based liquid lithium (LL) divertor concepts with a modest lithium-loop could provide a possible solution for these outstanding fusion reactor technology issues, while potentially improving reactor plasma performance. The application of lithium (Li) in NSTX resulted in improved H-mode confinement, H-mode power threshold reduction, and reduction in the divertor peak heat flux while maintaining essentially Li-free core plasma operation even during H-modes. These promising results in NSTX and related modeling calculations motivated the radiative liquid lithium divertor concept and its variant, the active liquid lithium divertor concept, taking advantage of the enhanced or non-coronal Li radiation in relatively poorly confined divertor plasmas. To maintain the LL purity in a 1 GW-electric class fusion power plant, a closed LL loop system with a modest circulating capacity of ~1 l s-1 is envisioned. We examined two key technology issues: (1) dust or solid particle removal and (2) real time recovery of tritium from LL while keeping the tritium inventory level to an acceptable level. By running the LL-loop continuously, it can carry the dust particles and impurities generated in the vacuum vessel to the outside where the dust/impurities can be removed by relatively simple dust filter, cold trap and/or centrifugal separation systems. With ~1 l s-1 LL flow, even a small 0.1% dust content by weight (or 0.5 g s-1) suggests that the LL-loop could carry away nearly 16 tons of dust per year. In a 1 GW-electric (or ~3 GW fusion power) fusion power plant, about 0.5 g s-1 of tritium is needed to maintain the fusion fuel cycle assuming ~1% fusion burn efficiency. It appears feasible to recover tritium (T) in real time from LL while maintaining an acceptable T inventory level. Laboratory tests are being conducted to investigate T recovery feasibility with the surface cold trap concept.

Special issue: Volcanic geology of the Azores Islands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nunes, João Carlos; Tilling, Robert I.; Sigvaldason, Gudmundur E.

2006-01-01

The volcanic islands making up the Azores Archipelago rise above sea from a prominent submarine topographic high (the “Azores Plateau”), marked by the 2000-m bathymetric contour. Specifically, the Azores Islands lie at the so-called “Azores Triple Junction” (ATJ), where the Eurasian, North American, and African (or Nubian) tectonic plates meet. In general terms, the ATJ is defined by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) separating the North American plate from the other two, and the Azores–Gibraltar fault zone separating the Eurasian and African plates. In addition, the existence of a mantle plume (“hotspot) beneath Azores Plateau has been inferred in many previous investigations. Not surprisingly, because of its distinctive plate-tectonics setting and attributes, the Azores Archipelago has been the site of intense research, serving as an ideal natural laboratory for scientific studies involving diverse disciplines, including geology, seismotectonics, climatology, ecology, and oceanography. Of course, a special field of interest and research is volcanology, with particular emphasis not only on the eruptive processes and products of the individual island volcanoes, but also of the volcanic and structural evolution of the ATJ and the “Azores Plateau” as a whole.There has been, and remains, considerable scientific debate about the dynamics of the ATJ, including the characterization of the nature and location of the involved plate boundaries, the determination of the sense and amount of plate motions, and the influence of the Azores hotspot on the involved three plates. At present, the basic nature of the ATJ is still not fully understood and the main unresolved issues are: where is the westernmost extent of Azores–Gibraltar fault zone? What is the nature of that extent? Is this fault zone a single, narrowly constricted linear boundary, or does it behave as a much larger, complex tectonic block (i.e., a “miniplate“ or “microplate”)? What is the size and location of the “Azores hot spot”? Is it fixed or moving?By way of background, with the aim of addressing at least the volcanological aspects of these unresolved scientific questions, a “Pico Island International Volcanological Meeting” has been convened three times in recent years (2001, 2002, and 2004). We originally were invited by Elsevier to produce a Special Issue of JVGR focusing on the main conclusions of the papers to be presented at 2002 Pico meeting. However, at the time, we believed that it would be more appropriate to have a Special Issue that would be broader in scope than the meeting itself and involve a greater number of potential contributors, by inviting all researchers in Portugal and abroad who have conducted geoscience studies in the Azores. Thus, this Special Issue contains contributions of those researchers who accepted our invitation to share with the global volcanologic community the findings and insights from their investigations of the Azores Islands and surrounding seafloor. The collection of papers in this Special Issue constitutes a representative sampling of the wide-ranging research conducted on the Azores Archipelago, on land and offshore. This sampling encompasses a variety of geological, geophysical, tomographical, petrologic–geochemical, geothermal studies, as well as assessments of natural hazards.

On the possibility of a place code for the low pitch of high-frequency complex tonesa

PubMed Central

Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten; Oxenham, Andrew J.

2012-01-01

Harmonics are considered unresolved when they interact with neighboring harmonics and cannot be heard out separately. Several studies have suggested that the pitch derived from unresolved harmonics is coded via temporal fine-structure cues emerging from their peripheral interactions. Such conclusions rely on the assumption that the components of complex tones with harmonic ranks down to at least 9 were indeed unresolved. The present study tested this assumption via three different measures: (1) the effects of relative component phase on pitch matches, (2) the effects of dichotic presentation on pitch matches, and (3) listeners' ability to hear out the individual components. No effects of relative component phase or dichotic presentation on pitch matches were found in the tested conditions. Large individual differences were found in listeners' ability to hear out individual components. Overall, the results are consistent with the coding of individual harmonic frequencies, based on the tonotopic activity pattern or phase locking to individual harmonics, rather than with temporal coding of single-channel interactions. However, they are also consistent with more general temporal theories of pitch involving the across-channel summation of information from resolved and/or unresolved harmonics. Simulations of auditory-nerve responses to the stimuli suggest potential benefits to a spatiotemporal mechanism. PMID:23231119

Labeling of trans fatty acid content in food, regulations and limits-the FDA view.

PubMed

Moss, Julie

2006-05-01

With the scientific evidence associating trans fatty acid (TFA) intake with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule that requires the declaration of the amount of TFA present in foods, including dietary supplements, on the nutrition label by January 1, 2006. The addition of TFA to the nutrition label will lead to the prevention of 600 to 1200 cases of CHD and 240-480 deaths each year saving Dollars 900 million to Dollars 1.8 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, and pain and suffering. For the purpose of nutrition labeling, TFA are defined as the sum of all unsaturated fatty acids that contain one or more isolated (i.e. non-conjugated) double bonds in a trans configuration. There are many issues that FDA has yet to resolve: (1) defining nutrient content claims for "free" and "reduced" levels of trans fat, (2) placing limits on the amount of TFA in conjunction with saturated fat limits for nutrient content claims, health claims, and disclosure and disqualifying levels, (3) a daily value, and (4) a possible footnote or disclosure statement to enhance consumer understanding of cholesterol raising lipids. FDA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) requesting comments on the unresolved issues. FDA will also be conducting consumer research to determine consumer understanding of various TFA labeling possibilities. Comments to the ANPR, results of consumer research and current science will be used by FDA to resolve these issues and to determine future rulemaking for TFA labeling.

Sound vibration signal processing for detection and identification detonation (knock) to optimize performance Otto engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sujono, A.; Santoso, B.; Juwana, W. E.

2016-03-01

Problems of detonation (knock) on Otto engine (petrol engine) is completely unresolved problem until now, especially if want to improve the performance. This research did sound vibration signal processing engine with a microphone sensor, for the detection and identification of detonation. A microphone that can be mounted is not attached to the cylinder block, that's high temperature, so that its performance will be more stable, durable and inexpensive. However, the method of analysis is not very easy, because a lot of noise (interference). Therefore the use of new methods of pattern recognition, through filtration, and the regression function normalized envelope. The result is quite good, can achieve a success rate of about 95%.

The Cost Effectiveness of Lubiprostone in Chronic Idiopathic Constipation.

PubMed

Pennington, Becky; Marriott, Emily-Ruth; Lichtlen, Peter; Akbar, Ayesha; Hatswell, Anthony J

2018-01-04

The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of lubiprostone, prucalopride, placebo and immediate referral to secondary care in chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) in an economic model that was used by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in developing guidance. We developed a cohort state-transition model to reflect the treatment pathway in CIC from the UK NHS and personal social services perspective. Time on treatment was determined by a treatment continuation rule using data from an indirect comparison and survival curves fitted to long-term data. Quality of life was defined by whether CIC was resolved or unresolved, using published values. Costs were determined by drug acquisition costs, invasive procedures and healthcare resource use (associated with resolved or unresolved CIC), using published UK sources. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. Over a 10-year time horizon, lubiprostone was more costly and more effective than placebo and immediate referral to secondary care, with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of £58,979 and £21,152. Lubiprostone dominated prucalopride in the base case and with a time horizon of 1 year. The main sensitivity for the comparison against placebo was the assumptions around placebo cost and efficacy. The main sensitivity for the comparison against prucalopride was the endpoint used in the indirect comparison. Lubiprostone may be cost effective compared with prucalopride or immediate referral but not compared with placebo in the base case. The implementation of the guidance issued by NICE should increase quality of life for patients with CIC and provide a further treatment option.

Use of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System in the formulation of a case of an adolescent refugee with PTSD.

PubMed

Gander, Manuela; Diamond, Diana; Buchheim, Anna; Sevecke, Kathrin

2018-03-16

Forced displacements and their psychosocial consequences in adolescent refugees and their families have received increasing attention in recent years. Although supportive family relations play a key role in buffering the impact of traumatization in adolescents, parental ability to provide such is often subject to extreme pressure. Under conditions of forced dislocation and fear, maladaptive interpersonal strategies in the parent-child relationships may develop, contributing to the onset of psychopathology. We explore new aspects of attachment-related issues for the understanding and treatment of adolescent refugees who have experienced multiple traumas in their childhood. We used a multimethod assessment battery including the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP), the Structured Clinical Interview, the Youth Self Report and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale in an adolescent boy with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our subject was an adolescent refugee from the Middle East who demonstrated an unresolved attachment when confronted with loss and fear. His responses on the AAP evoked aspects of insecure-unresolved attachment, including his belief that it is not safe to trust in attachment figures, his limited access to traumatic attachment experiences, his impaired ability to take concrete actions when dealing with threatening attachment situations and the unintentional role-reversal shed new light on our understanding of his traumatic experiences, family functioning and psychopathological symptoms. Our results demonstrate the utility of the AAP in an adolescent refugee with PTSD by expanding our knowledge of a diverse range of experiences across the interpersonal, cognitive, cultural and developmental contexts that formed the basis for an individualized treatment plan.

Corallite skeletal morphological variation in Hawaiian Porites lobata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisthammer, Kaho H.; Richmond, Robert H.

2018-06-01

Due to their high morphological plasticity and complex evolutionary history, the species boundaries of many reef-building corals are poorly understood. The skeletal structures of corals have traditionally been used for species identification, but these structures can be highly variable, and currently we lack knowledge regarding the extent of morphological variation within species. Porites species are notorious for their taxonomic difficulties, both morphologically and genetically, and currently there are several unresolved species complexes in the Pacific. Despite its ubiquitous presence and broad use in coral research, Porites lobata belongs to one such unresolved species complex. To understand the degree of intraspecific variation in skeletal morphology, 120 corallites from the Hawaiian P. lobata were examined. A subset of samples from two genetically differentiated populations from contrasting high- and low-stress environments in Maunalua Bay, Hawaii, were then quantitatively analyzed using multivariate morphometrics. Our observations revealed high intraspecific variation in corallite morphology, as well as significant morphological differences between the two populations of P. lobata. Additionally, significant correlation was found between the morphological and genetic distances calculated from approximately 18,000 loci generated from restriction site-associated DNA sequencing. The unique morphological characters observed from the genetically differentiated population under environmental stress suggest that these characters may have adaptive values, but how such traits relate to fitness and how much plasticity they can exhibit remain to be determined by future studies. Relatively simple morphometric analyses used in our study can be useful in clarifying the existing ambiguity in skeletal architecture, thus contributing to resolving species issues in corals.

Natural history of Homo erectus.

PubMed

Antón, Susan C

2003-01-01

Our view of H. erectus is vastly different today than when Pithecanthropus erectus was described in 1894. Since its synonimization into Homo, views of the species and its distribution have varied from a single, widely dispersed, polytypic species ultimately ancestral to all later Homo, to a derived, regional isolate ultimately marginal to later hominin evolution. A revised chronostratigraphic framework and recent work bearing either directly or indirectly on reconstructions of life-history patterns are reviewed here and, together with a review of the cranial and postcranial anatomy of H. erectus, are used to generate a natural history of the species. Here I argue that H. erectus is a hominin, notable for its increased body size, that originates in the latest Pliocene/earliest Pleistocene of Africa and quickly disperses into Western and Eastern Asia. It is also an increasingly derived hominin with several regional morphs sustained by intermittent isolation, particularly in Southeast Asia. This view differs from several current views, most especially that which recognizes only a single hominin species in the Pleistocene, H. sapiens, and those which would atomize H. erectus into a multiplicity of taxa. Following Jolly ([2001] Yrbk Phys Anthropol 44:177-204), the regional morphs of H. erectus may be productively viewed as geographically replacing allotaxa, rather than as the focus of unresolvable species debates. Such a view allows us to focus on the adaptations and biology of local groups, including questions of biogeographic isolation and local adaptation. A number of issues remain unresolved, including the significance of diversity in size and shape in the early African and Georgian records. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Reflecting on ethical and legal issues in wildlife disease.

PubMed

McCallum, Hamish; Hocking, Barbara Ann

2005-08-01

Disease in wildlife raises a number of issues that have not been widely considered in the bioethical literature. However, wildlife disease has major implications for human welfare. The majority of emerging human infectious diseases are zoonotic: this is, they occur in humans by cross-species transmissions from animal hosts. Managing these diseases often involves balancing concerns with human health against animal welfare and conservation concerns. Many infectious diseases of domestic animals are shared with wild animals, although it is often unclear whether the infection spills over from wild animals to domestic animals or vice versa. Culling is the standard means of managing such diseases, bringing economic considerations, animal welfare and conservation into conflict. Infectious diseases are also major threatening processes in conservation biology and their appropriate management by culling, vaccination or treatment raises substantial animal ethics issues. One particular issue of great significance in Australia is an ongoing research program to develop genetically modified pathogens to control vertebrate pests including rabbits, foxes and house mice. Release of any self-replicating GMO vertebrate pathogen gives rise to a whole series of ethical questions. We briefly review current Australian legal responses to these problems. Finally, we present two unresolved problems of general importance that are exemplified by wildlife disease. First, to what extent can or should 'bioethics' be broadened beyond direct concerns with human welfare to animal welfare and environmental welfare? Second, how should the irreducible uncertainty of ecological systems be accounted for in ethical decision making?

Research on the cognitively impaired: lessons and warnings from the emergency research debate.

PubMed

Karlawish, J H; Sachs, G A

1997-04-01

To demonstrate that the recent events in emergency research have broad implications for the conduct of human subjects research with the cognitively impaired. This essay illustrates the similarities between the two kinds of research and suggests how understanding these similarities might help to resolve issues in human subjects research on the cognitively impaired. A review of pertinent journal articles, books, regulations, and court cases. The emergency research controversy resulted in large part because of conflicting interpretations of arguably inadequate research regulations. The proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations include advance informed consent, a broad role for family in approving a subject's participation, replacement of a threshold of permissible risk, called minimal risk, with a more sensible balancing of risks and benefits, and a role for the community in research approval. The current state of research on the cognitively impaired suggests that many of the same problems exist now that existed in emergency research before the FDA issued its proposed regulations. The ongoing case of T.D. et al. vs N.Y. State Office of Mental Health suggest that unless steps are taken similar to those taken in emergency research, much of clinical research on the cognitively impaired could cease. Representatives of the government, medicine, and the public must recognize the unresolved issues and inadequate regulations relating to research on the cognitively impaired. The proposed FDA regulations for emergency research may provide guidance for a settlement of these issues.

Evaluating and Improving Wind Forecasts over South China: The Role of Orographic Parameterization in the GRAPES Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Shuixin; Chen, Zitong; Xu, Daosheng; Zhang, Yanxia

2018-06-01

Unresolved small-scale orographic (SSO) drags are parameterized in a regional model based on the Global/Regional Assimilation and Prediction System for the Tropical Mesoscale Model (GRAPES TMM). The SSO drags are represented by adding a sink term in the momentum equations. The maximum height of the mountain within the grid box is adopted in the SSO parameterization (SSOP) scheme as compensation for the drag. The effects of the unresolved topography are parameterized as the feedbacks to the momentum tendencies on the first model level in planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization. The SSOP scheme has been implemented and coupled with the PBL parameterization scheme within the model physics package. A monthly simulation is designed to examine the performance of the SSOP scheme over the complex terrain areas located in the southwest of Guangdong. The verification results show that the surface wind speed bias has been much alleviated by adopting the SSOP scheme, in addition to reduction of the wind bias in the lower troposphere. The target verification over Xinyi shows that the simulations with the SSOP scheme provide improved wind estimation over the complex regions in the southwest of Guangdong.

Binary Systems and the Initial Mass Function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malkov, O. Yu.

2017-07-01

In the present paper we discuss advantages and disadvantages of binary stars, which are important for star formation history determination. We show that to make definite conclusions of the initial mass function shape, it is necessary to study binary population well enough to correct the luminosity function for unresolved binaries; to construct the mass-luminosity relation based on wide binaries data, and to separate observational mass functions of primaries, of secondaries, and of unresolved binaries.

Distinguishing dark matter from unresolved point sources in the Inner Galaxy with photon statistics

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

Lee, Samuel K.; Lisanti, Mariangela; Safdi, Benjamin R., E-mail: samuelkl@princeton.edu, E-mail: mlisanti@princeton.edu, E-mail: bsafdi@princeton.edu

2015-05-01

Data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope suggests that there is an extended excess of GeV gamma-ray photons in the Inner Galaxy. Identifying potential astrophysical sources that contribute to this excess is an important step in verifying whether the signal originates from annihilating dark matter. In this paper, we focus on the potential contribution of unresolved point sources, such as millisecond pulsars (MSPs). We propose that the statistics of the photons—in particular, the flux probability density function (PDF) of the photon counts below the point-source detection threshold—can potentially distinguish between the dark-matter and point-source interpretations. We calculate the flux PDFmore » via the method of generating functions for these two models of the excess. Working in the framework of Bayesian model comparison, we then demonstrate that the flux PDF can potentially provide evidence for an unresolved MSP-like point-source population.« less

Radio supernovae and super star clusters in the circumnuclear region of NGC 1365

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindblad, P. O.; Kristen, H.

Groundbased optical and VLA observations have shown that the nucleus of the barred Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 1365 is surrounded by a number of star forming regions, or "hot spots", as well as a number of resolved and unresolved continuum radio sources. HST/FOC observations reveal that the nucleus is surrounded by a ring of very compact unresolved sources of the kind that have been discovered in a number of other galaxies, and that have been assumed to be very compact young globular star clusters. The hot spots are resolved into groups of such compact sources. VLA observations at lambda = 2 cm, where the resolution approaches that of HST, reveals that the brightest unresolved radio source at 2 cm, which has been assumed to be a radio supernova, coincides with one of the compact HST sources. The implications of this will be discussed.

Contributions of clinical disconnections and unresolved conflict to failures in intrapartum safety

PubMed Central

Lyndon, Audrey; Zlatnik, Marya G.; Maxfield, David G.; Lewis, Annie; McMillan, Chase; Kennedy, Holly Powell

2014-01-01

Objective To explore clinician perspectives on whether they experience difficulty resolving patient-related concerns or observe problems with the performance or behavior of colleagues involved in intrapartum care. Design Qualitative descriptive study of physician, nursing, and midwifery professional association members. Participants and Setting Participants (N=1932) were drawn from the membership lists of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM), and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM). Methods Email survey with multiple choice and free text responses. Descriptive statistics and inductive thematic analysis were used to characterize the data. Results Forty-seven percent of participants reported experiencing situations in which patients were put at risk due to failure of team members to listen or respond to a concern. Thirty-seven percent reported unresolved concerns regarding another clinician’s performance. The overarching theme was clinical disconnection, which included disconnections between clinicians about patient needs and plans of care and disconnections between clinicians and administration about the support required to provide safe and appropriate clinical care. Lack of responsiveness to concerns by colleagues and administration contributed to resignation and defeatism among participants who had experienced such situations. Conclusion Despite encouraging progress in developing cultures of safety in individual centers and systems, significant work is needed to improve collaboration and reverse historic normalization of both systemic disrespect and overt disruptive behaviors in intrapartum care. PMID:24354506

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

Ono, M.; Jaworski, M. A.; Kaita, R.

Steady-state fusion reactor operation presents major divertor technology challenges, including high divertor heat flux both steady-state and transients. In addition to those issues, there are unresolved issues of long term dust accumulation and associated tritium inventory and safety issues. It has been suggested that radiative liquid lithium divertor concepts with a modest lithium-loop could provide a possible solution for these outstanding fusion reactor technology issues while potentially improving the reactor plasma performance. The application of lithium (Li) in NSTX resulted in improved H-mode confinement, H-mode power threshold reduction, and reduction in the divertor peak heat flux while maintaining essentially Li-freemore » core plasma operation even during H-modes. These promising results in NSTX and related modeling calculations motivated the radiative liquid lithium divertor (RLLD) concept and its variant, the active liquid lithium divertor concept (ARLLD), taking advantage of the enhanced Li radiation in relatively poorly confined divertor plasmas. It was estimated that only a few moles/sec of lithium injection would be needed to significantly reduce the divertor heat flux in a tokamak fusion power plant. By operating at lower temperatures ≤ 500°C than the first wall ~ 600 – 700°C, the LL-covered divertor chamber wall surfaces can serve as an effective particle pump, as impurities generally migrate toward lower temperature LL divertor surfaces. To maintain the LL purity, a closed LL loop system with a modest circulating capacity of ~ 1 liter/second (l/sec) is envisioned to sustain the steady-state operation of a 1 GW-electric class fusion power plant. By running the Li loop continuously, it can carry the dust particles and impurities generated in the vacuum vessel to outside where the dust / impurities are removed by relatively simple filter and cold/hot trap systems. Using a cold trap system, it can recover in tritium (T) in real time from LL at a rate of ~ 0.5 g / sec needed to sustain the fusion reaction while minimizing the T inventory issue. With an expected T fraction of ≤ 0.7 %, an acceptable level of T inventory can be achieved. In NSTX-U, preparations are now underway to elucidate the physics of Li plasma interactions with a number of Li application tools and Li radiation spectroscopic instruments. The NSTX-U Li evaporator which provides Li coating over the lower divertor plate, can offer important information on the RLLD concept, and the Li granule injector will test some of the key physics issue on the ARLLD concept. A LL-loop is also being prepared off line for prototyping future use on NSTX-U.« less

'Long-Cell Action' Corrosion: A Basic Mechanism Hidden Behind Components Degradation Issues in Nuclear Power Plants

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

Genn Saji

2006-07-01

In spite of industries' effort over the last 40 years, corrosion-related issues continue to be one of the largest unresolved problems for nuclear power plants worldwide. There are several types of strange corrosion phenomena from the point of view of our current understanding of corrosion science established in other fields. Some of these are IGSCC, PWSCC, AOA, and FAC (Erosion-Corrosion). Through studying and coping with diverse corrosion phenomena, the author believes that they share a common basis with respect to the assumed corrosion mechanism (e.g., 'local cell action' hypothesis). In general, local cell action is rarely severe since it producesmore » a fairly uniform corrosion. The 'long cell action' that transports electrons through structures far beyond the region of local cell corrosion activities has been identified as a basic mechanism in soil corrosion. If this mechanism is assumed in nuclear power plants, the structure becomes anodic in the area where the potential is less positive and cathodic where this potential is more positive. Metallic ions generated at anodic corrosion sites are transported to remote cathodic sites through the circulation of water and deposits as corrosion products. The SCC, FAC (E-C) and PWSCC occur in the anodic sites as the structure itself acts as a short-circuiting conductor between the two sites, the action is similar to a galvanic cell but in a very large scale. This situation is the same as a battery that has been short-circuited at the terminals. No apparent external potential difference exists between the two electrodes, but an electrochemical reaction is still taking place inside the battery cell with a large internal short current. In this example what is important is the potential difference between the local coolant and the surface of the structural material. Long cell action corrosion is likely enhancing the local cell action's anodic corrosion activities, such as SCC, FAC/E-C, and PWSCC. It tends to be more hazardous because of its localized nature compared with the local cell action corrosion. There exist various mechanisms (electrochemical cell configurations) that induce such potential differences, including: ionic concentration, aeration, temperature, flow velocity, radiation and corrosion potentials. In this paper, the author will discuss these potential differences and their relevance to the un-resolved corrosion issues in nuclear power plants. Due to the importance of this potential mechanism the author is calling for further verification experiments as a joint international project. (author)« less

Use of formwork systems in high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurakova, Oksana

2018-03-01

Erection of high quality buildings and structures within a reasonable time frame is the crucial factor for the competitiveness of any construction organization. The main material used in high-rise construction is insitu reinforced concrete. The technology of its use is directly related to the use of formwork systems. Formwork systems and formwork technologies basically determine the speed of construction and labor intensity of concreting operations. Therefore, it is also possible to achieve the goal of reducing the construction time and labor intensity of works performed by improving the technology of formwork systems use. Currently there are unresolved issues in the area of implementation of monolithic technology projects, and problems related to the selection of a formwork technology, high labor intensity of works, poor quality of materials and structures, etc. are the main ones. The article presents organizational and technological measures, by means of which introduction it is possible to shorten the duration of construction. A comparison of operations performed during formwork installation according to the conventional technology and taking into account the implemented organizational and technological measures is presented. The results of a comparative analysis of economic efficiency assessments are also presented on the example of a specific construction project before and after the implementation of the above mentioned measures. The study showed that introduction of the proposed organizational and technological model taking into account optimization of reinforcing and concreting works significantly improves the efficiency of a high-rise construction project. And further improvement of technologies for the use of insitu reinforced concrete is a promising direction in the construction of high-rise buildings.

Thermal Analysis of the Mound One Kilowatt Package

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

Or, Chuen T.

The Mound One Kilowatt (1 KW) package was designed for the shipment of plutonium (Pu-238) with not more than 1 kW total heat dissipation. To comply with regulations, the Mound 1 kW package has to pass all the requirements under Normal Conditions of Transport (NCT; 38 degrees C ambient temperature) and Hypothetical Accident Conditions (HAC; package engulfed in fire for 30 minutes). Analytical and test results were presented in the Safety Analysis Report for Packaging (SARP) for the Mound 1 kW package, revision 1, April 1991. Some issues remained unresolved in that revision. In March 1992, Fairchild Space and Defensemore » Corporation was commissioned by the Department of Energy to perform the thermal analyses. 3-D thermal models were created to perform the NCT and HAC analyses. Four shipping configurations in the SARP revision 3 were analyzed. They were: (1) The GPHS graphite impact shell (GIS) in the threaded product can (1000 W total heat generation); (2) The fueled clads in the welded product can (1000 W total heat generation); (3) The General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) module (750 W total heat generation); and (4) The Multi-Hundred Watt (MHW) spheres (810 W total heat generation). Results from the four cases show that the GIS or fuel clad in the product can is the worse case. The temperatures predicted under NCT and HAC in all four cases are within the design limits. The use of helium instead of argon as cover gas provides a bigger safety margin. There is a duplicate copy.« less

Seeking the chemical roots of darwinism: bridging between chemistry and biology.

PubMed

Pross, Addy

2009-08-24

Chemistry and biology are intimately connected sciences yet the chemistry-biology interface remains problematic and central issues regarding the very essence of living systems remain unresolved. In this essay we build on a kinetic theory of replicating systems that encompasses the idea that there are two distinct kinds of stability in nature-thermodynamic stability, associated with "regular" chemical systems, and dynamic kinetic stability, associated with replicating systems. That fundamental distinction is utilized to bridge between chemistry and biology by demonstrating that within the parallel world of replicating systems there is a second law analogue to the second law of thermodynamics, and that Darwinian theory may, through scientific reductionism, be related to that second law analogue. Possible implications of these ideas to the origin of life problem and the relationship between chemical emergence and biological evolution are discussed.

Strong fields and neutral particle magnetic moment dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Formanek, Martin; Evans, Stefan; Rafelski, Johann; Steinmetz, Andrew; Yang, Cheng-Tao

2018-07-01

Interaction of magnetic moment of point particles with external electromagnetic fields experiences unresolved theoretical and experimental discrepancies. In this work we point out several issues within relativistic quantum mechanics and QED and we describe effects related to a new covariant classical model of magnetic moment dynamics. Using this framework we explore the invariant acceleration experienced by neutral particles coupled to an external plane wave field through the magnetic moment: we study the case of ultrarelativistic Dirac neutrinos with magnetic moment in the range of 10‑11 to 10‑20 μ B; and we address the case of slowly moving neutrons. We explore how critical accelerations for neutrinos can be experimentally achieved in laser pulse interactions. The radiation of accelerated neutrinos can serve as an important test distinguishing between Majorana and Dirac nature of neutrinos.