77 FR 70178 - Application for the Transfer of Physical Assets

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-23

... of Physical Assets AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The... and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting... housing properties are not placed in physical, financial, or managerial jeopardy during a transfer of...

3 CFR 13652 - Executive Order 13652 of September 30, 2013. Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... sectors and their functional systems, physical assets, and cyber networks. “(a) Membership. The NIAC shall... critical infrastructure and their supporting functional systems, physical assets, and cyber networks, and...

Cyber-Physical Security Assessment (CyPSA) Toolset

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

Garcia, Luis; Patapanchala, Panini; Zonouz, Saman

CyPSA seeks to organize and gain insight into the diverse sets of data that a critical infrastructure provider must manage. Specifically CyPSA inventories, manages, and analyzes assets and relations among those assets. A variety of interfaces are provided. CyPSA inventories assets (both cyber and physical). This may include the cataloging of assets through a common interface. Data sources used to generate a catalogue of assets include PowerWorld, NPView, NMap Scans, and device configurations. Depending upon the role of the person using the tool the types of assets accessed as well as the data sources through which asset information is accessedmore » may vary. CyPSA allows practitioners to catalogue relations among assets and these may either be manually or programmatically generated. For example, some common relations among assets include the following: Topological Network Data: Which devices and assets are connected and how? Data sources for this kind of information include NMap scans, NPView topologies (via Firewall rule analysis). Security Metrics Outputs: The output of various security metrics such as overall exposure. Configure Assets:CyPSA may eventually include the ability to configure assets including relays and switches. For example, a system administrator would be able to configure and alter the state of a relay via the CyPSA interface. Annotate Assets: CyPSA also allows practitioners to manually and programmatically annotate assets. Sources of information with which to annotate assets include provenance metadata regarding the data source from which the asset was loaded, vulnerability information from vulnerability databases, configuration information, and the output of an analysis in general.« less

Application of quantum master equation for long-term prognosis of asset-prices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khrennikova, Polina

2016-05-01

This study combines the disciplines of behavioral finance and an extension of econophysics, namely the concepts and mathematical structure of quantum physics. We apply the formalism of quantum theory to model the dynamics of some correlated financial assets, where the proposed model can be potentially applied for developing a long-term prognosis of asset price formation. At the informational level, the asset price states interact with each other by the means of a ;financial bath;. The latter is composed of agents' expectations about the future developments of asset prices on the finance market, as well as financially important information from mass-media, society, and politicians. One of the essential behavioral factors leading to the quantum-like dynamics of asset prices is the irrationality of agents' expectations operating on the finance market. These expectations lead to a deeper type of uncertainty concerning the future price dynamics of the assets, than given by a classical probability theory, e.g., in the framework of the classical financial mathematics, which is based on the theory of stochastic processes. The quantum dimension of the uncertainty in price dynamics is expressed in the form of the price-states superposition and entanglement between the prices of the different financial assets. In our model, the resolution of this deep quantum uncertainty is mathematically captured with the aid of the quantum master equation (its quantum Markov approximation). We illustrate our model of preparation of a future asset price prognosis by a numerical simulation, involving two correlated assets. Their returns interact more intensively, than understood by a classical statistical correlation. The model predictions can be extended to more complex models to obtain price configuration for multiple assets and portfolios.

Measuring the strategic readiness of intangible assets.

PubMed

Kaplan, Robert S; Norton, David P

2004-02-01

Measuring the value of intangible assets such as company culture, knowledge management systems, and employees' skills is the holy grail of accounting. Executives know that these intangibles, being hard to imitate, are powerful sources of sustainable competitive advantage. If managers could measure them, they could manage the company's competitive position more easily and accurately. In one sense, the challenge is impossible. Intangible assets are unlike financial and physical resources in that their value depends on how well they serve the organizations that own them. But while this prevents an independent valuation of intangible assets, it also points to an altogether different approach for assessing their worth. In this article, the creators of the Balanced Scorecard draw on its tools and framework--in particular, a tool called the strategy map--to present a step-by-step way to determine "strategic readiness," which refers to the alignment of an organization's human, information, and organization capital with its strategy. In the method the authors describe, the firm identifies the processes most critical to creating and delivering its value proposition and determines the human, information, and organization capital the processes require. Some managers shy away from measuring intangible assets because they seem so subjective. But by using the systematic approaches set out in this article, companies can now measure what they want, rather than wanting only what they can currently measure.

77 FR 57105 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Application for the Transfer of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-17

... Information Collection: Comment Request; Application for the Transfer of Physical Assets AGENCY: Office of the... information: Title of Proposal: Application for the Transfer of Physical Assets. OMB Control Number, if... used to ensure that HUD multifamily housing properties are not placed in physical, financial, or...

End-of-life conversations and care: an asset-based model for community engagement.

PubMed

Matthiesen, Mary; Froggatt, Katherine; Owen, Elaine; Ashton, John R

2014-09-01

Public awareness work regarding palliative and end-of-life care is increasingly promoted within national strategies for palliative care. Different approaches to undertaking this work are being used, often based upon broader educational principles, but little is known about how to undertake such initiatives in a way that equally engages both the health and social care sector and the local communities. An asset-based community engagement approach has been developed that facilitates community-led awareness initiatives concerning end-of-life conversations and care by identifying and connecting existing skills and expertise. (1) To describe the processes and features of an asset-based community engagement approach that facilitates community-led awareness initiatives with a focus on end-of-life conversations and care; and (2) to identify key community-identified priorities for sustainable community engagement processes. An asset-based model of community engagement specific to end-of-life issues using a four-step process is described (getting started, coming together, action planning and implementation). The use of this approach, in two regional community engagement programmes, based across rural and urban communities in the northwest of England, is described. The assets identified in the facilitated community engagement process encompassed people's talents and skills, community groups and networks, government and non-government agencies, physical and economic assets and community values and stories. Five priority areas were addressed to ensure active community engagement work: information, outreach, education, leadership and sustainability. A facilitated, asset-based approach of community engagement for end-of-life conversations and care can catalyse community-led awareness initiatives. This occurs through the involvement of community and local health and social care organisations as co-creators of this change across multiple sectors in a sustainable way. This approach provides a framework for other communities seeking to engage with public awareness in end-of-life issues. 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.

25 CFR 224.138 - What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has caused imminent jeopardy to a physical...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... caused imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset? 224.138 Section 224.138 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN... TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.138 What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has caused imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset? If...

Custodial Methods and Procedures Manual. Third Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Donald R.

This manual discusses school facility cleaning and maintenance from the expanded perspective of work management, physical assets management, and resource management. Work management encompasses the organization of work and personnel, scheduling of daily or routine duties and tasks, and handling of demand work. Physical asset management includes…

Modifying Older Adults' Daily Sedentary Behaviour Using an Asset-based Solution: Views from Older Adults.

PubMed

Leask, Calum F; Sandlund, Marlene; Skelton, Dawn A; Tulle, Emmanuelle; Chastin, Sebastien Fm

2016-01-01

There is a growing public health focus on the promotion of successful and active ageing. Interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour (SB) in older adults are feasible and are improved by tailoring to individuals' context and circumstances. SB is ubiquitous; therefore part of the tailoring process is to ensure individuals' daily sedentary routine can be modified. The aim of this study was to understand the views of older adults and identify important considerations when creating a solution to modify daily sedentary patterns. This was a qualitative research study. Fifteen older adult volunteers (mean age = 78 years) participated in 1 of 4 focus groups to identify solutions to modify daily sedentary routine. Two researchers conducted the focus groups whilst a third took detailed fieldnotes on a flipchart to member check the findings. Data were recorded and analysed thematically. Participants wanted a solution with a range of options which could be tailored to individual needs and circumstances. The strategy suggested was to use the activities of daily routine and reasons why individuals already naturally interrupting their SB, collectively framed as assets. These assets were categorised into 5 sub-themes: physical assets (eg. standing up to reduce stiffness); psychological assets (eg. standing up to reduce feelings of guilt); interpersonal assets (eg. standing up to answer the phone); knowledge assets (eg. standing up due to knowing the benefits of breaking SB) and activities of daily living assets (eg. standing up to get a drink). This study provides important considerations from older adults' perspectives to modify their daily sedentary patterns. The assets identified by participants could be used to co-create a tailored intervention with older adults to reduce SB, which may increase effectiveness and adherence.

Development of an Asset Value Map for Disaster Risk Assessment in China by Spatial Disaggregation Using Ancillary Remote Sensing Data.

PubMed

Wu, Jidong; Li, Ying; Li, Ning; Shi, Peijun

2018-01-01

The extent of economic losses due to a natural hazard and disaster depends largely on the spatial distribution of asset values in relation to the hazard intensity distribution within the affected area. Given that statistical data on asset value are collected by administrative units in China, generating spatially explicit asset exposure maps remains a key challenge for rapid postdisaster economic loss assessment. The goal of this study is to introduce a top-down (or downscaling) approach to disaggregate administrative-unit level asset value to grid-cell level. To do so, finding the highly correlated "surrogate" indicators is the key. A combination of three data sets-nighttime light grid, LandScan population grid, and road density grid, is used as ancillary asset density distribution information for spatializing the asset value. As a result, a high spatial resolution asset value map of China for 2015 is generated. The spatial data set contains aggregated economic value at risk at 30 arc-second spatial resolution. Accuracy of the spatial disaggregation reflects redistribution errors introduced by the disaggregation process as well as errors from the original ancillary data sets. The overall accuracy of the results proves to be promising. The example of using the developed disaggregated asset value map in exposure assessment of watersheds demonstrates that the data set offers immense analytical flexibility for overlay analysis according to the hazard extent. This product will help current efforts to analyze spatial characteristics of exposure and to uncover the contributions of both physical and social drivers of natural hazard and disaster across space and time. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Adolescent Violence: The Protective Effects of Youth Assets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aspy, Cheryl B.; Oman, Roy F.; Vesely, Sara K.; McLeroy, Kenneth; Rodine, Sharon; Marshall, LaDonna

2004-01-01

The authors explored adolescent physical fighting and weapon carrying, using in-home interviews with 1,098 middle-high school students and their parents. Logistic regression analyses examined the relationship between youth assets and the risk behaviors while controlling for demographic information. Both demographic factors and assets were…

Asset tracking systems.

PubMed

2006-11-01

Asset tracking systems are used in healthcare to find objects--medical devices and other hospital equipment--and to record the physical location of those objects over time. Interest in asset tracking is growing daily, but the technology is still evolving, and so far very few systems have been implemented in hospitals. This situation is likely to change over the next few years, at which point many hospitals will be faced with choosing a system. We evaluated four asset tracking systems from four suppliers: Agility Healthcare Solutions, Ekahau, Radianse, and Versus Technology. We judged the systems' performance for two "levels" of asset tracking. The first level is basic locating--simply determining where in the facility an item can be found. This may be done because the equipment needs routine inspection and preventive maintenance or because it is required for recall purposes; or the equipment may be needed, often urgently, for clinical use. The second level, which is much more involved, is inventory optimization and workflow improvement. This entails analyzing asset utilization based on historical location data to improve the use, distribution, and processing of equipment. None of the evaluated products is ideal for all uses--each has strengths and weaknesses. In many cases, hospitals will have to select a product based on their specific needs. For example, they may need to choose between a supplier whose system is easy to install and a supplier whose tags have a long battery operating life.

Case Study Application of Determining End of Physical Life Using Survival Analysis (WERF Report INFR2R11b)

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract: This case study application provides discussion on a selected application of advanced concepts, included in the End of Asset Life Reinvestment decision-making process tool, using Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District (MMSD) pump and motor data sets. The tool provides s...

University of Alaska 1997 Facilities Inventory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alaska Univ., Fairbanks. Statewide Office of Institutional Research.

This facilities inventory report presents a comprehensive listing of physical assets owned and operated by the University of Alaska and includes, for each asset, data on average age, weighted average age, gross square footage, original total project funding, and the asset's plant investment value adjusted to the current year. Facilities are listed…

Involving Families and Communities in CSPAP Development Using Asset Mapping

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allar, Ishonté; Elliott, Eloise; Jones, Emily; Kristjansson, Alfgeir L.; Taliaferro, Andrea; Bulger, Sean M.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to asset mapping as a systematic approach to facilitating increased family and community involvement in comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAP). It includes a brief summary of the literature related to the importance of family and community in children's physical activity…

Surveillance system and method having parameter estimation and operating mode partitioning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bickford, Randall L. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A system and method for monitoring an apparatus or process asset including creating a process model comprised of a plurality of process submodels each correlative to at least one training data subset partitioned from an unpartitioned training data set and each having an operating mode associated thereto; acquiring a set of observed signal data values from the asset; determining an operating mode of the asset for the set of observed signal data values; selecting a process submodel from the process model as a function of the determined operating mode of the asset; calculating a set of estimated signal data values from the selected process submodel for the determined operating mode; and determining asset status as a function of the calculated set of estimated signal data values for providing asset surveillance and/or control.

Debt, investment and endowment accumulation: the case of not-for-profit hospitals.

PubMed

Gentry, William M

2002-09-01

Not-for-profit hospitals benefit from special tax rules that allow state authorities to issue tax-exempt bonds on their behalf, which may affect their investment and financing choices. Hospitals may respond by increasing their investment in physical assets; however, they may also engage in tax arbitrage by using the tax-exempt debt while maintaining endowment assets. The paper combines data from tax (information) returns and the annual survey of hospitals by the American Hospital Association for 1993-1996. Overall, the results are consistent with substantial tax planning by not-for-profit hospitals. Of the US$ 55.9 billion in tax-exempt liabilities of hospitals in 1996, as much as US$ 32.6 billion could have been eliminated if hospitals spent their endowments instead of borrowing. Furthermore, controlling for hospital size (in terms of revenues and operating assets), endowment assets are associated with a higher ratio of tax-exempt (or total) debt to operating assets. In contrast, endowment assets are not related to taxable debt suggesting that the effects of the endowment on borrowing are motivated by tax incentives. Investment and endowment accumulation regressions suggest that increases in debt increase both physical investment and endowment accumulation but these effects are concentrated among cash-rich hospitals for which the effects on endowment accumulation effects are larger than the effects on physical investment.

The Relationship between Media Use and Psychological and Physical Assets among Third- to Fifth-Grade Girls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Racine, Elizabeth F.; DeBate, Rita D.; Gabriel, Kelley P.; High, Robin R.

2011-01-01

Background: Media use is associated with an increased risk of chronic disease and reduced quality of life among children. This study examined the relationship between media use during discretionary hours after school and psychological and physical assets among preadolescent girls. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from a…

Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Generated Forces and Behavioral Representation (6th), Held in Orlando, Florida, on 23-25 July 1996

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-07-01

JIATFE employs a mixture of DoD and DLEA assets and sensors to conduct routine patrol operations and respond to changing intelligence assessments...to evolve. These changes range from changing protocol data unit (PDU) formats to introduction of new behaviors, such as infrared sensor management...load, sensors , damage assessment, and physical status. In addition, the PDC contains the processes for computing physical state changes such as

Leading beyond the bottom line: organizational assets for the new economy. 2.

PubMed

Schenke, R; Berkowitz, E; Gaintner, J R; Hickey, M E; Hodge, R H; Ludden, J; Randolph, L M

2000-01-01

Organizations are created to aggregate resources to accomplish some purpose, be it to provide health care, raise a family, or build cars. These resources are assets. A manager has a fiduciary responsibility, by practice, and, in many cases, by law, to make the best use of those assets. Traditionally, we've evaluated the use of assets through financial statements. The troublesome aspect of these financial statements is that they were designed to measure only those things that can be counted simply--financial and physical assets. But our world has moved from an industrial, manufacturing age to an information, service economy and we are learning that intangible assets are as powerful--potentially more powerful--in creating value as are tangible assets. Recognizing the intangible asset value of employees, customers, and the community is the challenge in this new service economy. Effective health care leaders need to leverage and manage all of an organization's assets.

System and Method for Monitoring Distributed Asset Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gorinevsky, Dimitry (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A computer-based monitoring system and monitoring method implemented in computer software for detecting, estimating, and reporting the condition states, their changes, and anomalies for many assets. The assets are of same type, are operated over a period of time, and outfitted with data collection systems. The proposed monitoring method accounts for variability of working conditions for each asset by using regression model that characterizes asset performance. The assets are of the same type but not identical. The proposed monitoring method accounts for asset-to-asset variability; it also accounts for drifts and trends in the asset condition and data. The proposed monitoring system can perform distributed processing of massive amounts of historical data without discarding any useful information where moving all the asset data into one central computing system might be infeasible. The overall processing is includes distributed preprocessing data records from each asset to produce compressed data.

An assessment of the association between asset ownership and intimate partner violence in Pakistan.

PubMed

Murshid, N S

2017-09-01

This study assessed the association between women's reports of asset ownership (home and land) and experience of three types of intimate partner violence (IPV): physical violence, emotional violence, and husbands' controlling behaviors. Population-based secondary analysis. This cross-sectional study used data from a sub-sample of 658 women from the nationally representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association between asset ownership and IPV. Results from logistic regressions indicated that when women owned assets their husbands were 2.3 times more likely to use controlling tactics (P < 0.001) which was mitigated only when women had a say in household decisions. Physical or emotional violence, however, was not significantly associated with women's asset ownership. The study findings highlight the importance of culture and context in policy implementation. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

25 CFR 224.137 - What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset? 224.137 Section 224.137 Indians... AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews... potential for harm to a physical trust asset? If, because of the tribe's noncompliance with Federal law or...

Inventory count strategies.

PubMed

Springer, W H

1996-02-01

An important principle of accounting is that asset inventory needs to be correctly valued to ensure that the financial statements of the institution are accurate. Errors is recording the value of ending inventory in one fiscal year result in errors to published financial statements for that year as well as the subsequent fiscal year. Therefore, it is important that accurate physical counts be periodically taken. It is equally important that any system being used to generate inventory valuation, reordering or management reports be based on consistently accurate on-hand balances. At the foundation of conducting an accurate physical count of an inventory is a comprehensive understanding of the process coupled with a written plan. This article presents a guideline of the physical count processes involved in a traditional double-count approach.

Assessing environmental assets for health promotion program planning: a practical framework for health promotion practitioners

PubMed Central

Springer, Andrew E.; Evans, Alexandra E.

2016-01-01

Conducting a health needs assessment is an important if not essential first step for health promotion planning. This paper explores how health needs assessments may be further strengthened for health promotion planning via an assessment of environmental assets rooted in the multiple environments (policy, information, social and physical environments) that shape health and behavior. Guided by a behavioral-ecological perspective- one that seeks to identify environmental assets that can influence health behavior, and an implementation science perspective- one that seeks to interweave health promotion strategies into existing environmental assets, we present a basic framework for assessing environmental assets and review examples from the literature to illustrate the incorporation of environmental assets into health program design. Health promotion practitioners and researchers implicitly identify and apply environmental assets in the design and implementation of health promotion interventions;this paper provides foundation for greater intentionality in assessing environmental assets for health promotion planning. PMID:27579254

Assessing environmental assets for health promotion program planning: a practical framework for health promotion practitioners.

PubMed

Springer, Andrew E; Evans, Alexandra E

2016-01-01

Conducting a health needs assessment is an important if not essential first step for health promotion planning. This paper explores how health needs assessments may be further strengthened for health promotion planning via an assessment of environmental assets rooted in the multiple environments (policy, information, social and physical environments) that shape health and behavior. Guided by a behavioral-ecological perspective- one that seeks to identify environmental assets that can influence health behavior, and an implementation science perspective- one that seeks to interweave health promotion strategies into existing environmental assets, we present a basic framework for assessing environmental assets and review examples from the literature to illustrate the incorporation of environmental assets into health program design. Health promotion practitioners and researchers implicitly identify and apply environmental assets in the design and implementation of health promotion interventions;this paper provides foundation for greater intentionality in assessing environmental assets for health promotion planning.

25 CFR 224.152 - Must the Secretary always reassume the activities upon a finding of imminent jeopardy to a...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... reassume the activities upon a finding of imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset? (a) The Secretary... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Must the Secretary always reassume the activities upon a finding of imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset? 224.152 Section 224.152 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN...

25 CFR 224.152 - Must the Secretary always reassume the activities upon a finding of imminent jeopardy to a...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... reassume the activities upon a finding of imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset? (a) The Secretary... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Must the Secretary always reassume the activities upon a finding of imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset? 224.152 Section 224.152 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN...

Positioning the Learning Asset Portfolio as a Key Component in an Organization's Enterprise Risk Management Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAliney, Peter J.

2009-01-01

This article presents a process for valuing a portfolio of learning assets used by line executives across industries to value traditional business assets. Embedded within the context of enterprise risk management, this strategic asset allocation process is presented step by step, providing readers the operational considerations to implement this…

Implementation of Total Asset Management at the University of Tasmania.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Matt

2002-01-01

Describes the implementation of total asset management (TAM) at the University of Tasmania to better link physical resources management with the university's strategic planning. Discusses TAM's principles, objectives, and future direction. (EV)

Development of a problem solving evaluation instrument; untangling of specific problem solving assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, Wendy Kristine

The purpose of my research was to produce a problem solving evaluation tool for physics. To do this it was necessary to gain a thorough understanding of how students solve problems. Although physics educators highly value problem solving and have put extensive effort into understanding successful problem solving, there is currently no efficient way to evaluate problem solving skill. Attempts have been made in the past; however, knowledge of the principles required to solve the subject problem are so absolutely critical that they completely overshadow any other skills students may use when solving a problem. The work presented here is unique because the evaluation tool removes the requirement that the student already have a grasp of physics concepts. It is also unique because I picked a wide range of people and picked a wide range of tasks for evaluation. This is an important design feature that helps make things emerge more clearly. This dissertation includes an extensive literature review of problem solving in physics, math, education and cognitive science as well as descriptions of studies involving student use of interactive computer simulations, the design and validation of a beliefs about physics survey and finally the design of the problem solving evaluation tool. I have successfully developed and validated a problem solving evaluation tool that identifies 44 separate assets (skills) necessary for solving problems. Rigorous validation studies, including work with an independent interviewer, show these assets identified by this content-free evaluation tool are the same assets that students use to solve problems in mechanics and quantum mechanics. Understanding this set of component assets will help teachers and researchers address problem solving within the classroom.

Building Energy Asset Score for Architects

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

Building Technologies Office

2015-01-01

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national standardized tool for evaluating the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily residential buildings. The Asset Score generates a simple energy efficiency rating that enables comparison among buildings, and identifies opportunities for users to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. It is web-based and free to use. This fact sheet discusses the value of the score for architects.

Health and Academic Achievement: Cumulative Effects of Health Assets on Standardized Test Scores Among Urban Youth in the United States*

PubMed Central

Ickovics, Jeannette R.; Carroll-Scott, Amy; Peters, Susan M.; Schwartz, Marlene; Gilstad-Hayden, Kathryn; McCaslin, Catherine

2014-01-01

Background The Institute of Medicine (2012) concluded that we must “strengthen schools as the heart of health.” To intervene for better outcomes in both health and academic achievement, identifying factors that impact children is essential. Study objectives are to (1) document associations between health assets and academic achievement, and (2) examine cumulative effects of these assets on academic achievement. Methods Participants include 940 students (grades 5 and 6) from 12 schools randomly selected from an urban district. Data include physical assessments, fitness testing, surveys, and district records. Fourteen health indicators were gathered including physical health (eg, body mass index [BMI]), health behaviors (eg, meeting recommendations for fruit/vegetable consumption), family environment (eg, family meals), and psychological well-being (eg, sleep quality). Data were collected 3-6 months prior to standardized testing. Results On average, students reported 7.1 health assets out of 14. Those with more health assets were more likely to be at goal for standardized tests (reading/writing/mathematics), and students with the most health assets were 2.2 times more likely to achieve goal compared with students with the fewest health assets (both p < .001). Conclusions Schools that utilize nontraditional instructional strategies to improve student health may also improve academic achievement, closing equity gaps in both health and academic achievement. PMID:24320151

Productivity-based approach to valuation of transportation infrastructure.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-10-01

Transportation infrastructure, a vital component to sustain economic prosperity, represents the largest public-owned : infrastructure asset in the U.S. With over a trillion invested dollars invested into long-lived physical assets such as : roads and...

Surveillance system and method having parameter estimation and operating mode partitioning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bickford, Randall L. (Inventor)

2003-01-01

A system and method for monitoring an apparatus or process asset including partitioning an unpartitioned training data set into a plurality of training data subsets each having an operating mode associated thereto; creating a process model comprised of a plurality of process submodels each trained as a function of at least one of the training data subsets; acquiring a current set of observed signal data values from the asset; determining an operating mode of the asset for the current set of observed signal data values; selecting a process submodel from the process model as a function of the determined operating mode of the asset; calculating a current set of estimated signal data values from the selected process submodel for the determined operating mode; and outputting the calculated current set of estimated signal data values for providing asset surveillance and/or control.

Space-weather assets developed by the French space-physics community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouillard, A. P.; Pinto, R. F.; Brun, A. S.; Briand, C.; Bourdarie, S.; Dudok De Wit, T.; Amari, T.; Blelly, P.-L.; Buchlin, E.; Chambodut, A.; Claret, A.; Corbard, T.; Génot, V.; Guennou, C.; Klein, K. L.; Koechlin, L.; Lavarra, M.; Lavraud, B.; Leblanc, F.; Lemorton, J.; Lilensten, J.; Lopez-Ariste, A.; Marchaudon, A.; Masson, S.; Pariat, E.; Reville, V.; Turc, L.; Vilmer, N.; Zucarello, F. P.

2016-12-01

We present a short review of space-weather tools and services developed and maintained by the French space-physics community. They include unique data from ground-based observatories, advanced numerical models, automated identification and tracking tools, a range of space instrumentation and interconnected virtual observatories. The aim of the article is to highlight some advances achieved in this field of research at the national level over the last decade and how certain assets could be combined to produce better space-weather tools exploitable by space-weather centres and customers worldwide. This review illustrates the wide range of expertise developed nationally but is not a systematic review of all assets developed in France.

Education Financial Management: Weak Internal Controls Led to Instances of Fraud and Other Improper Payments. Report to Congressional Requesters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calbom, Linda M.

This report to Congressional Requesters is concerned with internal control problems found in the U.S. Department of Education. Significant internal control weaknesses in the U.S. Department of Education's payment processes and poor physical control over its computer assets made the department vulnerable to (and in some cases resulted in) fraud,…

Building Energy Asset Score for Building Owners

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

Building Technologies Office

2015-01-01

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national standardized tool for evaluating the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily residential buildings. The Asset Score generates a simple energy efficiency rating that enables comparison among buildings, and identifies opportunities for users to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. It is web-based and free to use. This fact sheet discusses the value of the score for building owners.

Building Energy Asset Score for Real Estate Managers

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

Building Technologies Office

2015-01-01

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national standardized tool for evaluating the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily residential buildings. The Asset Score generates a simple energy efficiency rating that enables comparison among buildings, and identifies opportunities for users to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. It is web-based and free to use. This fact sheet discusses the value of the score for real estate managers.

49 CFR 15.5 - Sensitive security information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... sources and methods used to gather or develop threat information, including threats against cyber infrastructure. (8) Security measures. Specific details of aviation or maritime transportation security measures... infrastructure asset information. Any list identifying systems or assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital...

49 CFR 15.5 - Sensitive security information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... sources and methods used to gather or develop threat information, including threats against cyber infrastructure. (8) Security measures. Specific details of aviation or maritime transportation security measures... infrastructure asset information. Any list identifying systems or assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital...

49 CFR 15.5 - Sensitive security information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... sources and methods used to gather or develop threat information, including threats against cyber infrastructure. (8) Security measures. Specific details of aviation or maritime transportation security measures... infrastructure asset information. Any list identifying systems or assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital...

49 CFR 15.5 - Sensitive security information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... sources and methods used to gather or develop threat information, including threats against cyber infrastructure. (8) Security measures. Specific details of aviation or maritime transportation security measures... infrastructure asset information. Any list identifying systems or assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital...

Facility Benchmarking Trends in Tertiary Education - An Australian Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Kenn

2001-01-01

Presents how Australia's facility managers are responding to the growing impact of tertiary education participation and the increase in educational facility usage. Topics cover strategic asset management and the benchmarking of education physical assets and postsecondary institutions. (GR)

Building Energy Asset Score for State and Local Governments

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

Building Technologies Office

2015-01-01

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national standardized tool for evaluating the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily residential buildings. The Asset Score generates a simple energy efficiency rating that enables comparison among buildings, and identifies opportunities for users to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. It is web-based and free to use. This fact sheet discusses the value of the score for state and local governments.

The national strategy for the physical protection of critical infrastructures and key assets

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-02-01

This document defines the road ahead for a core mission area identified in the President's National Strategy for Homeland Security-reducing the Nation's vulnerability to acts of terrorism by protecting our critical infrastructures and key assets from...

Building Energy Asset Score for Utilities and Energy Efficiency Program Administrators

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

Building Technologies Office

2015-01-01

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national standardized tool for evaluating the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily residential buildings. The Asset Score generates a simple energy efficiency rating that enables comparison among buildings, and identifies opportunities for users to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. It is web-based and free to use. This fact sheet discusses the value of the score for utilities and energy efficiency program administrators.

ISO 55000: Creating an asset management system.

PubMed

Bradley, Chris; Main, Kevin

2015-02-01

In the October 2014 issue of HEJ, Keith Hamer, group vice-president, Asset Management & Engineering at Sodexo, and marketing director at Asset Wisdom, Kevin Main, argued that the new ISO 55000 standards present facilities managers with an opportunity to create 'a joined-up, whole lifecycle approach' to managing and delivering value from assets. In this article, Kevin Main and Chris Bradley, who runs various asset management projects, examine the process of creating an asset management system.

Cyber risk and privacy liability: a click in the right direction?

PubMed

McDonough, William J

2007-01-01

Cyber risk and privacy exposure exert an impact upon virtually every aspect of a healthcare organization (HCO)--assets, clinical operations, finances and reputation. Exposure is enterprise-wide and includes risk to both physical and non-physical assets in increasing degrees. The consequences of a cyber attack or privacy breach could be operationally and financially catastrophic, so an HCO's move toward an enterprise-wide approach at identifying and minimizing risk, cyber and privacy liability should be on the radar screen for risk managers and leadership.

Towards Ontology as Knowledge Representation for Intellectual Capital Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zadjabbari, B.; Wongthongtham, P.; Dillon, T. S.

For many years, physical asset indicators were the main evidence of an organization’s successful performance. However, the situation has changed after information technology revolution in the knowledge-based economy. Since 1980’s business performance has not been limited only to physical assets instead intellectual capital are increasingly playing a major role in business performance. In this paper, we utilize ontology as a tool for knowledge representation in the domain of intellectual capital measurement. The ontology classifies ways of intangible capital measurement.

What Constitutes Maintenance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, J. Thomas

2011-01-01

In most cases the facilities inventory of an educational institution is its largest fiscal asset. The physical plant or facilities management department is the steward for keeping that asset from becoming a liability. Its principal charge is to make sure that the building inventory maintains its ability to function as intended, that it is safe and…

The Buildings and Grounds Committee. Effective Committees. Board Basics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flinn, Ronald T.

1997-01-01

The committee on buildings and grounds of a college or university governing board is charged with the broad responsibility for overseeing an institution's physical assets: land, buildings, and equipment. Specific tasks include ensuring the adequacy and condition of capital assets, developing and periodically reviewing policies, advocating for new…

Selection of asset investment models by hospitals: examination of influencing factors, using Switzerland as an example.

PubMed

Eicher, Bernhard

2016-10-01

Hospitals are responsible for a remarkable part of the annual increase in healthcare expenditure. This article examines one of the major cost drivers, the expenditure for investment in hospital assets. The study, conducted in Switzerland, identifies factors that influence hospitals' investment decisions. A suggestion on how to categorize asset investment models is presented based on the life cycle of an asset, and its influencing factors defined based on transaction cost economics. The influence of five factors (human asset specificity, physical asset specificity, uncertainty, bargaining power, and privacy of ownership) on the selection of an asset investment model is examined using a two-step fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The research shows that outsourcing-oriented asset investment models are particularly favored in the presence of two combinations of influencing factors: First, if technological uncertainty is high and both human asset specificity and bargaining power of a hospital are low. Second, if assets are very specific, technological uncertainty is high and there is a private hospital with low bargaining power, outsourcing-oriented asset investment models are favored too. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, it can be demonstrated that investment decisions of hospitals do not depend on isolated influencing factors but on a combination of factors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Education Financial Management: Weak Internal Controls Led to Instances of Fraud and Other Improper Payments. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Select Education, Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calbom, Linda

This testimony summarizes a report generated by the U.S. General Accounting Office concerned with internal control problems found in the U.S. Department of Education. Significant internal control weaknesses in the U.S. Department of Education's payment processes and poor physical control over its computer assets made the department vulnerable to…

Banking System Reform in China: The Challenges of Moving Toward a Market-Oriented Economy

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

The gradual nature of China’s reform process has ensured 1 International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database , April 2006, World Trade...Liabilities (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) Forex reserves –373 Forex assets +373 Capital +373 (=US$ 45 billion) (=US...CCB Assets Liabilities Assets Liabilities (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) Forex assets –373 Forex assets +373 Capital

Assets, Challenges, and the Potential of Technology for Nutrition Education in Rural Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkinson, Nancy L.; Desmond, Sharon M.; Saperstein, Sandra L.; Billing, Amy S.; Gold, Robert S.; Tournas-Hardt, Amy

2010-01-01

Objective: To examine assets of and challenges to getting adequate nutrition and physical activity among low-income rural residents, and the potential for technology to provide health education. Methods: Environmental scans and community stakeholder interviews were conducted in 5 rural counties in Maryland. During environmental scans, stakeholders…

Getting past the dual logic: findings from a pilot asset mapping exercise in Sheffield, UK.

PubMed

South, Jane; Giuntoli, Gianfranco; Kinsella, Karina

2017-01-01

Asset-based approaches seek to identify and mobilise the personal, social and organisational resources available to communities. Asset mapping is a recognised method of gathering an inventory of neighbourhood assets and is underpinned by a fundamentally different logic to traditional needs assessments. The aim of this paper is to explore how asset mapping might be used as a tool for health improvement. It reports on a qualitative evaluation of a pilot asset mapping project carried out in two economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Sheffield, UK. The project involved community health champions working with two community organisations to identify assets linked to the health and wellbeing of their neighbourhoods. The evaluation was undertaken in 2012 after mapping activities had been completed. A qualitative design, using theory of change methodology, was used to explore assumptions between activities, mechanisms and outcomes. Semi structured interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of 11 stakeholders including champions, community staff and strategic partners. Thematic analysis was used and themes were identified on the process of asset mapping, the role of champions and the early outcomes for neighbourhoods and services. Findings showed that asset mapping was developmental and understandings grew as participatory activities were planned and implemented. The role of the champions was limited by numbers involved, nonetheless meaningful engagement occurred with residents which led to personal and social resources being identified. Most early outcomes were focused on the lead community organisations. There was less evidence of results feeding into wider planning processes because of the requirements for more quantifiable information. The paper discusses the importance of relational aspects of asset mapping both within communities and between communities and services. The conclusions are that it is insufficient to switch from the logic of needs to assets without building asset mapping as part of a broader planning process. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The concept of community poverty reduction in coastal area of Surabaya based on sustainable livelihood approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gai, A. M.; Soewarni, I.; M, M., Sir

2018-04-01

Multidimensional poverty becomes a trademark of fisherman community including the community in Surabaya. The fishermen in Surabaya belong to a society with quite apprehensive welfare in all aspects covering economy, social, and environment. Therefore, this research aims to organize poverty reduction concept in coastal area of Surabaya based on sustainable livelihood which assesses poverty through 5 (five) livelihood assets i.e. human asset, natural asset, social asset, physical asset, and financial asset. This research is a qualitative research using rationalistic approach with explorative, descriptive, and perspective nature. Primary data collected using Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) and secondary data collected through agency and literature survey. Purposive sampling was employed in getting the sample. Then, the data were analyzed using content analysis, statistics descriptive analysis, and delphi analysis. The results show that sustainable livelihood level in coastal area of Surabaya indicates the human asset is 65% at the SLA level and the lowest is social asset which is 20%, and financial asset is the most affecting factors of poverty in coastal area of Surabaya since the expense for fuel cannot be compared to the fish catched. Community empowerment is the concept proposed to overcome the poverty problems in coastal area of Surabaya.

Tracking Air Force Pallets Using RFID Technology: A Concept Study.

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-09-01

cost savings in terms of overall mission impact ( Horngren , 1994: 704-705). To illustrate the far-reaching control advantages of RF/ED, 3-3 the...estimate of $1,500,000 accounts only for the base pay labor costs directly associated with the physical process of opening and gathering information on...The total figure of $15,625,000 accounts only for estimated shipping costs of reordered assets. It does not account for the additional burden on the in

Leap Frog Digital Sensors and Definition, Integration & Testing FY 2003 Annual Report

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

Meitzler, Wayne D.; Ouderkirk, Steven J.; Shoemaker, Steven V.

2003-12-31

The objective of Leap Frog is to develop a comprehensive security tool that is transparent to the user community and more effective than current methods for preventing and detecting security compromises of critical physical and digital assets. Current security tools intrude on the people that interact with these critical assets by requiring them to perform additional functions or having additional visible sensors. Leap Frog takes security to the next level by being more effective and reducing the adverse impact on the people interacting with protected assets.

PID feedback controller used as a tactical asset allocation technique: The G.A.M. model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gandolfi, G.; Sabatini, A.; Rossolini, M.

2007-09-01

The objective of this paper is to illustrate a tactical asset allocation technique utilizing the PID controller. The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is widely applied in most industrial processes; it has been successfully used for over 50 years and it is used by more than 95% of the plants processes. It is a robust and easily understood algorithm that can provide excellent control performance in spite of the diverse dynamic characteristics of the process plant. In finance, the process plant, controlled by the PID controller, can be represented by financial market assets forming a portfolio. More specifically, in the present work, the plant is represented by a risk-adjusted return variable. Money and portfolio managers’ main target is to achieve a relevant risk-adjusted return in their managing activities. In literature and in the financial industry business, numerous kinds of return/risk ratios are commonly studied and used. The aim of this work is to perform a tactical asset allocation technique consisting in the optimization of risk adjusted return by means of asset allocation methodologies based on the PID model-free feedback control modeling procedure. The process plant does not need to be mathematically modeled: the PID control action lies in altering the portfolio asset weights, according to the PID algorithm and its parameters, Ziegler-and-Nichols-tuned, in order to approach the desired portfolio risk-adjusted return efficiently.

A Community-Powered, Asset-Based Approach to Intersectoral Urban Health System Planning in Chicago

PubMed Central

Vickery, Katherine Diaz; Choi, HwaJung; Makelarski, Jennifer; Matthews, Amber; Davis, Matthew

2016-01-01

Objectives. To describe, and provide a nomenclature and taxonomy for classifying, the economic sectors and functional assets that could be mobilized as partners in an intersectoral health system. Methods. MAPSCorps (Meaningful, Active, Productive Science in Service to Community) employed local youths to conduct a census of all operating assets (businesses and organizations) on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, in 2012. We classified assets by primary function into sectors and described asset and sector distribution and density per 100 000 population. We compared empirical findings with the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) conceptual representation and description of intersectoral health system partners. Results. Fifty-four youths mapped a 62-square-mile region over 6 weeks; we classified 8376 assets into 23 sectors. Sectors with the most assets were food (n = 1214; 230/100 000 population), trade services (n = 1113; 211/100 000), and religious worship (n = 974;185/100 000). Several large, health-relevant sectors (2499 assets) were identified in the region but not specified in the IOM’s representation. Governmental public health, central to the IOM concept, had no physical presence in the region. Conclusions. Local youths identified several thousand assets across a broad diversity of sectors that could partner in an intersectoral health system. Empirically informed iteration of the IOM concept will facilitate local translation and propagation. PMID:27552280

A pathway to a more sustainable water sector: sustainability-based asset management.

PubMed

Marlow, D R; Beale, D J; Burn, S

2010-01-01

The water sectors of many countries are faced with the need to address simultaneously two overarching challenges; the need to undertake effective asset management coupled with the broader need to evolve business processes so as to embrace sustainability principles. Research has thus been undertaken into the role sustainability principles play in asset management. As part of this research, a series of 25 in-depth interviews were undertaken with water sector professionals from around Australia. Drawing on the results of these interviews, this paper outlines the conceptual relationship between asset management and sustainability along with a synthesis of the relevant opinions voiced in the interviews. The interviews indicated that the participating water authorities have made a strong commitment to sustainability, but there is a need to facilitate change processes to embed sustainability principles into business as usual practices. Interviewees also noted that asset management and sustainability are interlinked from a number of perspectives, especially in the way decision making is undertaken with respect to assets and service provision. The interviews also provided insights into the research needed to develop a holistic sustainability-based asset management framework.

31 CFR 500.412 - Process vs. manufacture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Process vs. manufacture. 500.412... OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS Interpretations § 500.412 Process vs. manufacture. A commodity subject to § 500.204 remains subject howsoever it...

A Bayesian Belief Network of Threat Anticipation and Terrorist Motivations

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

Olama, Mohammed M; Allgood, Glenn O; Davenport, Kristen M

Recent events highlight the need for efficient tools for anticipating the threat posed by terrorists, whether individual or groups. Antiterrorism includes fostering awareness of potential threats, deterring aggressors, developing security measures, planning for future events, halting an event in process, and ultimately mitigating and managing the consequences of an event. To analyze such components, one must understand various aspects of threat elements like physical assets and their economic and social impacts. To this aim, we developed a three-layer Bayesian belief network (BBN) model that takes into consideration the relative threat of an attack against a particular asset (physical layer) asmore » well as the individual psychology and motivations that would induce a person to either act alone or join a terrorist group and commit terrorist acts (social and economic layers). After researching the many possible motivations to become a terrorist, the main factors are compiled and sorted into categories such as initial and personal indicators, exclusion factors, and predictive behaviors. Assessing such threats requires combining information from disparate data sources most of which involve uncertainties. BBN combines these data in a coherent, analytically defensible, and understandable manner. The developed BBN model takes into consideration the likelihood and consequence of a threat in order to draw inferences about the risk of a terrorist attack so that mitigation efforts can be optimally deployed. The model is constructed using a network engineering process that treats the probability distributions of all the BBN nodes within the broader context of the system development process.« less

How does money memorize social interactions? Understanding time-homogeneity in monetary systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braun, Dieter; Schmitt, Matthias; Schacker, Andreas

2013-03-01

Understanding how money shapes and memorizes our social interactions is central to modern life. There are many schools of thought on as to how monetary systems contribute to crises or boom/bust cycles and how monetary policy can try to avert them. We find that statistical physics gives a refreshing perspective. We analyze how credit mechanisms introduce non-locality and time-heterogeneity to the monetary memory. Motivated by an analogy to particle physics, locality and time-homogeneity can be imposed to monetary systems. As a result, a full reserve banking system is complemented with a bi-currency system of non-bank assets (``money'') and bank assets (``antimoney''). Payment can either be made by passing on money or by receiving antimoney. As a result, a free floating exchange rate between non-bank assets and bank assets is established. Interestingly, this monetary memory allows for credit creation by the simultaneous transfer of money and antimoney at a negotiated exchange rate. We analyze this novel mechanism of liquidity transfer in a model of random social interactions, yielding analytical results for all relevant distributions and the price of liquidity under the conditions of a fully transparent credit market.

Assessing and interpreting the benefits derived from implementing and using asset management systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-06-23

Interest in asset management has grown over the last two decades but agencies continue to be : concerned about the cost to develop and implement asset management processes. While originally : introduced as a tool for policy analysis, HERS-ST is free ...

22 CFR 72.13 - Effects to be taken into physical possession.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Effects to be taken into physical possession... § 72.13 Effects to be taken into physical possession. (a) A consular officer normally should take physical possession of articles such as the following: (1) Convertibles assets, such as currency, unused...

22 CFR 72.13 - Effects to be taken into physical possession.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Effects to be taken into physical possession... § 72.13 Effects to be taken into physical possession. (a) A consular officer normally should take physical possession of articles such as the following: (1) Convertibles assets, such as currency, unused...

Perceptions of community-based field workers on the effect of a longitudinal biomedical research project on their sustainable livelihoods.

PubMed

Moyo, Christabelle S; Francis, Joseph; Bessong, Pascal O

2017-03-17

Researchers involved in biomedical community-based projects rarely seek the perspectives of community fieldworkers, who are the 'foot soldiers' in such projects. Understanding the effect of biomedical research on community-based field workers could identify benefits and shortfalls that may be crucial to the success of community-based studies. The present study explored the perceptions of community-based field workers on the effect of the Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development Project" (MAL-ED) South Africa on their tangible and intangible capital which together comprise sustainable livelihoods. The study was conducted in Dzimauli community in Limpopo Province of South Africa between January-February 2016. The sustainable livelihoods framework was used to query community-based field workers' perspectives of both tangible assets such as income and physical assets and intangible assets such as social capital, confidence, and skills. Data were collected through twenty one individual in-depth interviews and one focus group discussion. Data were analysed using the Thematic Content Analysis approach supported by ATLAS.ti, version 7.5.10 software. All the field workers indicated that they benefitted from the MAL-ED South Africa project. The benefits included intangible assets such as acquisition of knowledge and skills, stronger social capital and personal development. Additionally, all indicated that MAL-ED South Africa provided them with the tangible assets of increased income and physical assets. Observations obtained from the focus group discussion and the community-based leaders concurred with the findings from the in-depth interviews. Additionally, some field workers expressed the desire for training in public relations, communication, problem solving and confidence building. The MAL-ED South Africa, biomedical research project, had positive effects on tangible and intangible assets that compose the sustainable livelihoods of community-based fieldworkers. However, the field workers expressed the need to acquire social skills to enable them carry out their duties more efficiently.

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

Building Technologies Office

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national standardized tool for evaluating the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily residential buildings. The Asset Score generates a simple energy efficiency rating that enables comparison among buildings, and identifies opportunities for users to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. It is web-based and free to use. This fact sheet discusses the value of the score for energy services companies, engineers and green building consultants.

Marine Corps IT Hardware: A Method for Categorizing and Determining Technology Refreshment Cycles

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

PPB&E Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution xiv ROI return on investment SABRS Standard Accounting, Budgeting and Reporting System...and manage IT assets are the Standard Accounting, Budgeting and Reporting System ( SABRS ), the Total Force Structure Management System (TFSMS), and...Defense Property Accountability System (DPAS). The TFSMS and DPAS systems account for the physical hardware assets, while SABRS accounts for costs

Mobile infostation network technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajappan, Gowri; Acharya, Joydeep; Liu, Hongbo; Mandayam, Narayan; Seskar, Ivan; Yates, Roy

2006-05-01

Inefficient use of network resources on the battlefield is a serious liability: if an asset communicates with the network command for data-a terrain map, for instance-it ties up the end-to-end network resources. When many such assets contend for data simultaneously, traffic is limited by the slowest link along the path from the network command to the asset. A better approach is for a local server, known as an infostation, to download data on an anticipated-need basis when the network load is low. The infostation can then dump data when needed to the assets over a high-speed wireless connection. The infostation serves the local assets over an OFDM-based wireless data link that has MIMO enhancements for high data rate and robustness. We aim for data rate in excess of 100 Mbps, spectral efficiency in excess of 5 bits/sec/Hz, and robustness to poor channel conditions and jammers. We propose an adaptive physical layer that determines power levels, modulation schemes, and the MIMO enhancements to use based on the channel state and the level of interference in the system. We also incorporate the idea of superuser: a user who is allowed preferential use of the high data rate link. We propose a MAC that allows for this priority-based bandwidth allocation scheme. The proposed infostation MAC is integrated tightly with the physical layer through a cross-layer design. We call the proposed infostation PHY, MAC, and network technology, collectively, as the Mobile Infostation Network Technology (MINT).

Ongoing Relative Performance Evaluation for a CO2 EOR Asset in a Worldwide Peer Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, C. F.; Li, X. S.; Wang, G. H.; Li, L.

2017-10-01

Abstract. Operators of a CO2 EOR asset need to know the relative performance level of their asset against its peers. The ongoing relative performance evaluation method is appropriate for this purpose. We first choose 52 CO2 assets around the world as the peer group, and then define the four ranking levels in terms of CO2consumption ratio. Only the final values of CO2consumption ratio for the group are obtained, and therefore cannot be used for an ongoing evaluation during a CO2 EOR asset’s life circle. Consequently, numerical reservoir simulation is employed to quantify the process values corresponding to the four ranking levels. Type curve plots are generated on the basis of the process values and utilized for the ongoing relative performance evaluation of a CO2 EOR asset in China.

The internalist perspective on inevitable arbitrage in financial markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuno, Koichiro

2003-06-01

Arbitrage as an inevitable component of financial markets is due to the robust interplay between the continuous and the discontinuous stochastic variables appearing in the underlying dynamics. We present empirical evidence of such an arbitrage through the laboratory experiment on a portfolio management in the Japan-United States financial markets over the last several years, under the condition that the asset allocation was updated every day over the entire period. The portfolio management addressing the foreign exchange, the stock, and the bond markets was accomplished as referring to and processing only those empirical data that have been complied by and made available from the monetary authorities and the relevant financial markets so far. The averaged annual yield of the portfolio counted in the denomination of US currency was slightly greater than the averaged yield of the same physical assets counted in the denomination of Japanese currency, indicating the occurrence of arbitrage pricing in the financial markets. Daily update of asset allocation was conducted as referring to the predictive movement internal to the dynamics such that monetary flow variables, that are discontinuously stochastic upon the act of measurement internal to the markets, generate monetary stock variables that turn out to be both continuously stochastic and robust in the effect.

Integrated cluster management at Manchester

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNab, Andrew; Forti, Alessandra

2012-12-01

We describe an integrated management system using third-party, open source components used in operating a large Tier-2 site for particle physics. This system tracks individual assets and records their attributes such as MAC and IP addresses; derives DNS and DHCP configurations from this database; creates each host's installation and re-configuration scripts; monitors the services on each host according to the records of what should be running; and cross references tickets with asset records and per-asset monitoring pages. In addition, scripts which detect problems and automatically remove hosts record these new states in the database which are available to operators immediately through the same interface as tickets and monitoring.

Spares Management : Optimizing Hardware Usage for the Space Shuttle Main Engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gulbrandsen, K. A.

1999-01-01

The complexity of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), combined with mounting requirements to reduce operations costs have increased demands for accurate tracking, maintenance, and projections of SSME assets. The SSME Logistics Team is developing an integrated asset management process. This PC-based tool provides a user-friendly asset database for daily decision making, plus a variable-input hardware usage simulation with complex logic yielding output that addresses essential asset management issues. Cycle times on critical tasks are significantly reduced. Associated costs have decreased as asset data quality and decision-making capability has increased.

Valuing physically and financially-induced flexibility in large-scale water resources systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tilmant, Amaury; Pina, Jasson; Côté, Pascal

2017-04-01

In a world characterized by rapid changes in terms of water demands and supplies, there is a growing and persistent need for institutional reforms that promote cross-sectoral, adaptive management processes and policies. Yet, in many regions throughout the world, the continued expansion of supply-side infrastructure is still perceived as the way to go despite the rising financial, social and environmental costs. This trend is further compounded by the risks posed by climate change; reservoir storage, for example, is still perceived as a key element of climate change adaptation strategies in many countries. There is a growing concern that such strategies may result in a rigidity trap whereby the physical and institutional infrastructure become inflexible and unable to adapt to changes because they are mutually reinforcing each other. However, several authors have recently advocated for adaptive, flexible, management techniques involving a more diversified portfolio of measures whose management is regularly updated as new information about supplies and demands becomes available. Despite being conceptually attractive, such a management approach presents several challenges to policy makers. One of them is the sheer amount of information that must be processed each time a management decision must be taken. To address this issue, we propose an optimization framework that can be used to determine the optimal management of a large portfolio of physical and financial assets using various hydro-climatic information. This optimization framework is illustrated with the management of a power system in Quebec involving various power stations, reservoirs, power and energy contracts as well as hydrologic and climatic data. The results can be used to assess the economic value of the flexibility induced by either the physical assets (power stations and reservoirs) or by the financial ones (contracts), an information we believe is important to highlight the benefits of adaptive management techniques.

Next Generation Parallelization Systems for Processing and Control of PDS Image Node Assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, R.

2017-06-01

We present next-generation parallelization tools to help Planetary Data System (PDS) Imaging Node (IMG) better monitor, process, and control changes to nearly 650 million file assets and over a dozen machines on which they are referenced or stored.

The transect of happiness and community’s capability in urbanizing Yogyakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pramono, RWD

2018-03-01

The idea of this paper is that happy-friendly city is it that able to support capability. In addition to factors affixed to an individual, an important element determining someone’s happiness is the quality of a place. This research tries to explain the role of quality of place formed by urbanization process by taking Yogyakarta case as the sample. The importance of variation of particular area caused by urbanization is revealed using transect method. This method showed the shifting gradation from the very center of the city that first experienced urbanization up to the peripheral that experienced it last. The initial result of this clustered-multistage random sampling shows a gradation in capability. It also describes the similar tendency regarding self-evaluation against happiness although not very clear. Further analysis is conducted to define influencing factors. They consist of 40 capability assets that belong to Individual Tangible Asset, Public Tangible Asset, Individual Intangible Asset, Social Institutional Asset, and Economic Institutional Asset. However, the focus of analysis will be on variables included in Public Tangible Asset, Social Institutional Asset, and Economic Institutional Asset called as place-attached assets.

Implementation of supply chain business application through business model canvas and waterfall framework collaborations for fish farmers SMEs in ulekan market bandung

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Priyadi, Y.; Prasetio, A.

2018-03-01

This research resulted in the development of e-SCM application, in small-scale group of fish farmers based on Open Source technology in Ulekan Market Bandung, by collaborating the implementation of e-SCM and Data Management. Then proceed with the application of supply chain business through collaboration Business Model Canvas and Waterfall Framework. For the design of business process reengineering in this activity, it produces a context diagram called e-SCM SME Fish consisting of five entities directly involved with the system, namely: fish shop supervisor, fish shop retailer, employees, fish farmers, and customers. Referring to the Context Diagram, decomposition process of Level 0 e-SCM SMEs Fish. The decomposition results in Data Flow Diagram Level 1 for four sub processes, namely: business partners, transactions, retailer stock, and documentation. Result of nine blocks on Business Model Canvas on e-SCM activity, its category consist of Priority 1, Priority 2, Direct, Indirect, Purchase/e-SCM, Transactional, Community, Asset Sale, Physical Asset, Human, Production, Strategic Alliance -competitors, Coopetition, Buyer supplier relationship, Fixed Cost, Variable Cost. For integration of data management on Localhost Server media on e-SCM using http://whyphi: 8080 address, as prototype which will soon be adopted by farmer fish farmer.

Programme costing of a physical activity programme in primary prevention: should the costs of health asset assessment and participatory programme development count?

PubMed

Wolfenstetter, Silke B; Schweikert, Bernd; John, Jürgen

2012-01-01

This analysis aims to discuss the implications of the "health asset concept", introduced by the WHO, and the "investment for health model" requiring a "participatory approach" of cooperative programme development applied on a physical activity programme for socially disadvantaged women and to demonstrate the related costing issues as well as the relevant decision context. The costs of programme implementation amounted to €48,700. Adding the costs for developing the programme design of €48,800 results in total costs of €97,500; adding on top of that the costs of asset assessment running to €35,600 would total €133,100. These four different cost figures match four different types of potentially relevant decisions contexts. Depending on the decision context the total costs, and hence the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of a health promotion intervention, could differ considerably. Therefore, a detailed cost assessment and the identification of the decision context are of crucial importance.

Functional Flow and Event-Driven Methods for Predicting System Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

The thesis process was difficult and at times painful , but the modeling applications were something that I thoroughly enjoyed working through and...21. 2. SAR Mission initiates; SAR Assets conduct search but no objects of interest are found; SAR assets continue to scan but OSC aborts mission...be related to the SAR, so the OSC aborts mission and all Assets RTB. 45 4. SAR Mission initiates; SAR Assets conduct search and find an object of

Static and dynamic factors in an information-based multi-asset artificial stock market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponta, Linda; Pastore, Stefano; Cincotti, Silvano

2018-02-01

An information-based multi-asset artificial stock market characterized by different types of stocks and populated by heterogeneous agents is presented. In the market, agents trade risky assets in exchange for cash. Beside the amount of cash and of stocks owned, each agent is characterized by sentiments and agents share their sentiments by means of interactions that are determined by sparsely connected networks. A central market maker (clearing house mechanism) determines the price processes for each stock at the intersection of the demand and the supply curves. Single stock price processes exhibit volatility clustering and fat-tailed distribution of returns whereas multivariate price process exhibits both static and dynamic stylized facts, i.e., the presence of static factors and common trends. Static factors are studied making reference to the cross-correlation of returns of different stocks. The common trends are investigated considering the variance-covariance matrix of prices. Results point out that the probability distribution of eigenvalues of the cross-correlation matrix of returns shows the presence of sectors, similar to those observed on real empirical data. As regarding the dynamic factors, the variance-covariance matrix of prices point out a limited number of assets prices series that are independent integrated processes, in close agreement with the empirical evidence of asset price time series of real stock markets. These results remarks the crucial dependence of statistical properties of multi-assets stock market on the agents' interaction structure.

Defining Ecosystem Assets for Natural Capital Accounting

PubMed Central

Hein, Lars; Bagstad, Ken; Edens, Bram; Obst, Carl; de Jong, Rixt; Lesschen, Jan Peter

2016-01-01

In natural capital accounting, ecosystems are assets that provide ecosystem services to people. Assets can be measured using both physical and monetary units. In the international System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, ecosystem assets are generally valued on the basis of the net present value of the expected flow of ecosystem services. In this paper we argue that several additional conceptualisations of ecosystem assets are needed to understand ecosystems as assets, in support of ecosystem assessments, ecosystem accounting and ecosystem management. In particular, we define ecosystems’ capacity and capability to supply ecosystem services, as well as the potential supply of ecosystem services. Capacity relates to sustainable use levels of multiple ecosystem services, capability involves prioritising the use of one ecosystem service over a basket of services, and potential supply considers the ability of ecosystems to generate services regardless of demand for these services. We ground our definitions in the ecosystem services and accounting literature, and illustrate and compare the concepts of flow, capacity, capability, and potential supply with a range of conceptual and real-world examples drawn from case studies in Europe and North America. Our paper contributes to the development of measurement frameworks for natural capital to support environmental accounting and other assessment frameworks. PMID:27828969

Defining ecosystem assets for natural capital accounting

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hein, Lars; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Edens, Bram; Obst, Carl; de Jong, Rixt; Lesschen, Jan Peter

2016-01-01

In natural capital accounting, ecosystems are assets that provide ecosystem services to people. Assets can be measured using both physical and monetary units. In the international System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, ecosystem assets are generally valued on the basis of the net present value of the expected flow of ecosystem services. In this paper we argue that several additional conceptualisations of ecosystem assets are needed to understand ecosystems as assets, in support of ecosystem assessments, ecosystem accounting and ecosystem management. In particular, we define ecosystems’ capacity and capability to supply ecosystem services, as well as the potential supply of ecosystem services. Capacity relates to sustainable use levels of multiple ecosystem services, capability involves prioritising the use of one ecosystem service over a basket of services, and potential supply considers the ability of ecosystems to generate services regardless of demand for these services. We ground our definitions in the ecosystem services and accounting literature, and illustrate and compare the concepts of flow, capacity, capability, and potential supply with a range of conceptual and real-world examples drawn from case studies in Europe and North America. Our paper contributes to the development of measurement frameworks for natural capital to support environmental accounting and other assessment frameworks.

Defining Ecosystem Assets for Natural Capital Accounting.

PubMed

Hein, Lars; Bagstad, Ken; Edens, Bram; Obst, Carl; de Jong, Rixt; Lesschen, Jan Peter

2016-01-01

In natural capital accounting, ecosystems are assets that provide ecosystem services to people. Assets can be measured using both physical and monetary units. In the international System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, ecosystem assets are generally valued on the basis of the net present value of the expected flow of ecosystem services. In this paper we argue that several additional conceptualisations of ecosystem assets are needed to understand ecosystems as assets, in support of ecosystem assessments, ecosystem accounting and ecosystem management. In particular, we define ecosystems' capacity and capability to supply ecosystem services, as well as the potential supply of ecosystem services. Capacity relates to sustainable use levels of multiple ecosystem services, capability involves prioritising the use of one ecosystem service over a basket of services, and potential supply considers the ability of ecosystems to generate services regardless of demand for these services. We ground our definitions in the ecosystem services and accounting literature, and illustrate and compare the concepts of flow, capacity, capability, and potential supply with a range of conceptual and real-world examples drawn from case studies in Europe and North America. Our paper contributes to the development of measurement frameworks for natural capital to support environmental accounting and other assessment frameworks.

Asset Literacy Following Stroke: Implications for Disaster Resilience.

PubMed

O'Sullivan, Tracey L; Fahim, Christine; Gagnon, Elizabeth

2017-10-17

The World Stroke Organization "1 in 6" campaign aims to raise awareness that 1 in 6 persons will experience a stroke during their lifetime. With aging populations and improved survival rates, an increased number of survivors live with functional limitations and require supportive care. This has important implications for implementing an all-of-society approach to disaster risk reduction. In this study, we explore the assets that stroke survivors and caregivers consider useful in supporting their capacity to manage routine activities and independent living and to respond to a disaster. Transcripts from interviews with stroke survivors and caregivers were analyzed by use of content analysis. Assets were categorized into 4 classes: social, physical, energy, and personal characteristics and are presented as a household map. Emergent themes suggested that understanding how to mobilize assets is complicated yet essential for building resilience. Household resilience requires people have self-efficacy and motivation to move from awareness to action. The findings informed development of a conceptual model of asset literacy and household resilience following stroke. Interventions to enhance asset literacy can support an all-of-society approach to disaster risk reduction through awareness, empowerment, participation, innovation, and engagement. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;page 1 of 9).

Cyber-Physical Test Platform for Microgrids: Combining Hardware, Hardware-in-the-Loop, and Network-Simulator-in-the-Loop

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

Nelson, Austin; Chakraborty, Sudipta; Wang, Dexin

This paper presents a cyber-physical testbed, developed to investigate the complex interactions between emerging microgrid technologies such as grid-interactive power sources, control systems, and a wide variety of communication platforms and bandwidths. The cyber-physical testbed consists of three major components for testing and validation: real time models of a distribution feeder model with microgrid assets that are integrated into the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) platform; real-time capable network-simulator-in-the-loop (NSIL) models; and physical hardware including inverters and a simple system controller. Several load profiles and microgrid configurations were tested to examine the effect on system performance withmore » increasing channel delays and router processing delays in the network simulator. Testing demonstrated that the controller's ability to maintain a target grid import power band was severely diminished with increasing network delays and laid the foundation for future testing of more complex cyber-physical systems.« less

Continuous-time safety-first portfolio selection with jump-diffusion processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Wei

2012-04-01

This article is concerned with continuous-time portfolio selection based on a safety-first criterion under discontinuous price processes (jump-diffusion processes). The solution of the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation of the problem is demonstrated. The analytical solutions are presented when there does not exist any riskless asset. Moreover, the problem is also discussed while there exists one riskless asset.

The impact of natural hazard on critical infrastructure systems: definition of an ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimauro, Carmelo; Bouchon, Sara; Frattini, Paolo; Giusto, Claudia

2013-04-01

According to the Council of the European Union Directive (2008), 'critical infrastructure' means an asset, system or part thereof which is essential for the maintenance of vital societal functions, health, safety, security, economic or social well-being of people, and the disruption or destruction of which would have a significant impact as a result of the failure to maintain those functions. Critical infrastructure networks are exposed to natural events, such as floods, storms, landslides, earthquakes, etc. Recent natural disasters show that socio-economic consequences can be very much aggravated by the impact on these infrastructures. Though, there is still a lack of a recognized approach or methodology to assess the vulnerability of critical infrastructure assets against natural threats. The difficulty to define such an approach is increased by the need to consider a very high number of natural events, which differ in nature, magnitude and probability, as well as the need to assess the vulnerability of a high variety of infrastructure assets (e.g. bridges, roads, tunnels, pipelines, etc.) To meet this challenge, the objective of the THREVI2 EU-CIPS project is to create a database linking the relationships between natural hazards and critical infrastructure assets. The query of the database will allow the end-users (critical infrastructure protection authorities and operators) to identify the relevant scenarios according to the own priorities and criteria. The database builds on an ontology optimized for the assessment of the impact of threats on critical infrastructures. The ontology aims at capturing the existing knowledge on natural hazards, critical infrastructures assets and their related vulnerabilities. Natural phenomena that can threaten critical infrastructures are classified as "events", and organized in a genetic-oriented hierarchy. The main attributes associated to each event are the probability, the magnitude and the "modus". The modus refers to the physical-chemical process by means the event (e.g., a pyroclastic flow) can interact and damage a critical infrastructure asset (e.g., a pipe). Each event can be characterized by several modi (e.g., impact load, heating, burying) that can cause damages to the asset. Hence, the damage is linked to the modus and not directly to the event. The advantage of using the "modus" approach is to allow reducing the number of interactions (natural hazard/Critical infrastructure assets) to be addressed. All different events exert their impact on infrastructures by means of a limited number of different modus. This allows adapting existing vulnerability or fragility laws to events that have not been studied yet, and for which these laws are not available.

Adding intelligence to mobile asset management in hospitals: the true value of RFID.

PubMed

Castro, Linda; Lefebvre, Elisabeth; Lefebvre, Louis A

2013-10-01

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology is expected to play a vital role in the healthcare arena, especially in times when cost containments are at the top of the priorities of healthcare management authorities. Medical equipment represents a significant share of yearly healthcare operational costs; hence, ensuring an effective and efficient management of such key assets is critical to promptly and reliably deliver a diversity of clinical services at the patient bedside. Empirical evidence from a phased-out RFID implementation in one European hospital demonstrates that RFID has the potential to transform asset management by improving inventory management, enhancing asset utilization, increasing staff productivity, improving care services, enhancing maintenance compliance, and increasing information visibility. Most importantly, RFID allows the emergence of intelligent asset management processes, which is, undoubtedly, the most important benefit that could be derived from the RFID system. Results show that the added intelligence can be rather basic (auto-status change) or a bit more advanced (personalized automatic triggers). More importantly, adding intelligence improves planning and decision-making processes.

Assessing public policies and assets that affect obesity risk while building new public health partnerships, New Hampshire, 2011.

PubMed

Anderson, Ludmila; Foster, Scot; Flynn, Regina; Fitterman, Mindy

2013-08-08

The New Hampshire Obesity Prevention Program and the 9 New Hampshire regional planning commissions assessed the state's obesity-related policies and assets by using community measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A self-administered questionnaire that focused on policies and assets that promote healthful eating, physical activity, and breast-feeding was sent to 234 municipalities; 59% responded (representing 73% of the state's population). Of the municipalities that responded, 52% had sidewalks, 22% had bicycle lanes, none had nutrition standards, and 4% had a policy supporting breastfeeding. Through collaboration, we gathered baseline information that can be used to set priorities and assess progress over time.

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a tool in asset allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zainol Abidin, Siti Nazifah; Mohd Jaffar, Maheran

2013-04-01

Allocation capital investment into different assets is the best way to balance the risk and reward. This can prevent from losing big amount of money. Thus, the aim of this paper is to help investors in making wise investment decision in asset allocation. This paper proposes modifying and adapting Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. The AHP model is widely used in various fields of study that are related in decision making. The results of the case studies show that the proposed model can categorize stocks and determine the portion of capital investment. Hence, it can assist investors in decision making process and reduce the risk of loss in stock market investment.

Enhancing the Quality of Financial Advice with Web 2.0 - An Approach Considering Social Capital in the Private Asset Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kundisch, Dennis; Zorzi, Robin

Although theoretically necessary, social capital is not considered within the process of asset allocation for private investors. Both the lack of appropriate practical valuation concepts and the effort of providing and processing the required information as input for a valuation were obstacles to include social capital in this process. However, first theoretical financial models for the evaluation of social capital recently have become available. Moreover, the fast growth of business community websites and the technological progress in Web 2.0 tools that allow and acquire the active involvement of users, facilitate the provision and processing of valuation relevant information. In this paper we focus on the second aspect and propose a social software-based concept that allows for an integration of social capital in the asset allocation process.

A Mixed-Method Study of Princeville's Rebuilding from the Flood of 1999: Lessons on the Importance of Invisible Community Assets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoon, Intae

2009-01-01

Guided by previous studies and the community assets perspective, a concurrent mixed-method case study was conducted five years after a devastating flood to investigate how invisible community assets played a role in Princeville's rebuilding process from the flood of 1999. The independent variables in this study included retrospectively assessed…

Valuation of Capabilities and System Architecture Options to Meet Affordability Requirement

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-30

is an extension of the historic volatility and trend of the stock using Brownian motion . In finance , the Black-Scholes equation is used to value...the underlying asset whose value is modeled as a stochastic process. In finance , the underlying asset is a tradeable stock and the stochastic process

Social Connection and Psychological Outcomes in a Physical Activity-Based Youth Development Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ullrich-French, Sarah; McDonough, Meghan H.; Smith, Alan L.

2012-01-01

It is believed that the social connections formed by participating in physical activity-based positive youth development (PYD) programs contributes to building personal and social assets. In this study, we examined how changes in social connection over a physical activity-based PYD program for low-income youth were associated with changes in…

Portuguese version of a stress and well-being evaluation tool (ASSET)at the workplace: validation of the psychometric properties

PubMed Central

Moreira, Sérgio; Carreiras, Joana; Cooper, Cary; Smeed, Matthew; Reis, Maria de Fátima; Pereira Miguel, José

2018-01-01

Objective The main objective of this work was to translate the English version of ASSET (A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool) into the Portuguese version and to validate its psychometric properties. Additionally, this work tested the convergent validity of the instrument. Methods The translation and retroversion were conducted by experts and submitted to the authors for approval. Within an observational, cross-sectional study, regarding mental health at the workplace, ASSET together with other scales was applied to a sample of 405 participants. The psychometric validity of the subscales was studied using confirmatory factorial analysis. Results The factorial structure of ASSET is globally supported by the results, with the Perceptions of Your Job and Attitudes Towards your Organisation subscales requiring slight adjustments in the item structure and the Your Health subscales replicating the original structure. The convergent validity also supports the ASSET, showing that all subscales are significantly correlated with variables used to test convergence. Conclusions Globally, the results constitute an important contribution to ASSET and open the possibility of its usage among Portuguese-speaking countries. The results provide an evidence on the validity of the instrument and, in particular, of the mental and physical health subscales. PMID:29440211

Surveillance system and method having an adaptive sequential probability fault detection test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herzog, James P. (Inventor); Bickford, Randall L. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

System and method providing surveillance of an asset such as a process and/or apparatus by providing training and surveillance procedures that numerically fit a probability density function to an observed residual error signal distribution that is correlative to normal asset operation and then utilizes the fitted probability density function in a dynamic statistical hypothesis test for providing improved asset surveillance.

Surveillance system and method having an adaptive sequential probability fault detection test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bickford, Randall L. (Inventor); Herzog, James P. (Inventor)

2006-01-01

System and method providing surveillance of an asset such as a process and/or apparatus by providing training and surveillance procedures that numerically fit a probability density function to an observed residual error signal distribution that is correlative to normal asset operation and then utilizes the fitted probability density function in a dynamic statistical hypothesis test for providing improved asset surveillance.

Surveillance System and Method having an Adaptive Sequential Probability Fault Detection Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bickford, Randall L. (Inventor); Herzog, James P. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

System and method providing surveillance of an asset such as a process and/or apparatus by providing training and surveillance procedures that numerically fit a probability density function to an observed residual error signal distribution that is correlative to normal asset operation and then utilizes the fitted probability density function in a dynamic statistical hypothesis test for providing improved asset surveillance.

Programme Costing of a Physical Activity Programme in Primary Prevention: Should the Costs of Health Asset Assessment and Participatory Programme Development Count?

PubMed Central

Wolfenstetter, Silke B.; Schweikert, Bernd; John, Jürgen

2012-01-01

This analysis aims to discuss the implications of the “health asset concept”, introduced by the WHO, and the “investment for health model” requiring a “participatory approach” of cooperative programme development applied on a physical activity programme for socially disadvantaged women and to demonstrate the related costing issues as well as the relevant decision context. The costs of programme implementation amounted to €48,700. Adding the costs for developing the programme design of €48,800 results in total costs of €97,500; adding on top of that the costs of asset assessment running to €35,600 would total €133,100. These four different cost figures match four different types of potentially relevant decisions contexts. Depending on the decision context the total costs, and hence the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of a health promotion intervention, could differ considerably. Therefore, a detailed cost assessment and the identification of the decision context are of crucial importance. PMID:22536517

Spurring enrollment in Medicare savings programs through a substitute for the asset test focused on investment income.

PubMed

Dorn, Stan; Shang, Baoping

2012-02-01

Fewer than one-third of eligible Medicare beneficiaries enroll in Medicare savings programs, which pay premiums and, in some cases, eliminate out-of-pocket cost sharing for poor and near-poor enrollees. Many beneficiaries don't participate in savings programs because they must complete a cumbersome application process, including a burdensome asset test. We demonstrate that a streamlined alternative to the asset test-allowing seniors to qualify for Medicare savings programs by providing evidence of limited assets or showing a lack of investment income-would permit 78 percent of currently eligible seniors to bypass the asset test entirely. This simplified approach would increase the number of beneficiaries who qualify for Medicare savings programs from the current 3.6 million seniors to 4.6 million. Such an alternative would keep benefits targeted to people with low assets, eliminate costly administrative expenses and obstacles to enrollment associated with the asset test, and avoid the much larger influx of seniors that would occur if the asset test were eliminated entirely.

Assessing Public Policies and Assets That Affect Obesity Risk While Building New Public Health Partnerships, New Hampshire, 2011

PubMed Central

Foster, Scot; Flynn, Regina; Fitterman, Mindy

2013-01-01

The New Hampshire Obesity Prevention Program and the 9 New Hampshire regional planning commissions assessed the state’s obesity-related policies and assets by using community measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A self-administered questionnaire that focused on policies and assets that promote healthful eating, physical activity, and breast-feeding was sent to 234 municipalities; 59% responded (representing 73% of the state’s population). Of the municipalities that responded, 52% had sidewalks, 22% had bicycle lanes, none had nutrition standards, and 4% had a policy supporting breastfeeding. Through collaboration, we gathered baseline information that can be used to set priorities and assess progress over time. PMID:23928459

Prolong Your Roof's Performance: Roof Asset Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teitsma, Jerry

2001-01-01

Discusses the roof asset management process for maintaining a roof system's integrity and value in a cost-effective manner. Included is a breakdown of roofing surface characteristics for multiply and single ply roofing systems. (GR)

Guitars, Keyboards, Strobes, and Motors -- From Vibrational Motion to Active Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tagg, Randall; Carlson, John; Asadi-Zeydabadi, Masoud; Busley, Brad; Law-Balding, Katie; Juengel, Mattea

2013-01-01

Physics First is offered to ninth graders at high schools in Aurora, CO. A unique new asset of this school system is an embedded research lab called the "Innovation Hyperlab." The goal of the lab is to connect secondary school teaching to ongoing university scientific research, supporting the school district's aim to create opportunities to integrate P-20 (preschool to graduate school) learning. This paper is an example of how we create research connections in the context of introductory physics lessons on vibrations and waves. Key to the process is the use of several different types of technical resources, hence the name "hyperlab." Students learn many practical experimental techniques, reinforcing their knowledge of fundamentals and preparing them to work effectively on open-ended research or engineering projects.

Buildings and Grounds Committee. AGB Standing Committee Series [No. 1].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaiser, Harvey H.

1983-01-01

The responsibilities and functioning of a college trustee committee on buildings and grounds (i.e., physical plant/campus development) are described. Specific tasks of the committee include: ensuring the adequacy and condition of capital assets; developing and keeping current physical planning policies for land, buildings, and equipment; providing…

An Ecosystem Perspective On Asset Management Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metso, Lasse; Kans, Mirka

2017-09-01

Big Data and Internet of Things will increase the amount of data on asset management exceedingly. Data sharing with an increased number of partners in the area of asset management is important when developing business opportunities and new ecosystems. An asset management ecosystem is a complex set of relationships between parties taking part in asset management actions. In this paper, the current barriers and benefits of data sharing are identified based on the results of an interview study. The main benefits are transparency, access to data and reuse of data. New services can be created by taking advantage of data sharing. The main barriers to sharing data are an unclear view of the data sharing process and difficulties to recognize the benefits of data sharing. For overcoming the barriers in data sharing, this paper applies the ecosystem perspective on asset management information. The approach is explained by using the Swedish railway industry as an example.

Transportation asset management : a vehicle for mainstreaming ITS?

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-06-01

This paper examines the use of transportation asset management (TAM) as a mechanism for mainstreaming" intelligent transportation systems (ITS) into the transportation decision-making process. TAM is an emerging set of tools and techniques that compr...

Centralized Alert-Processing and Asset Planning for Sensorwebs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Castano, Rebecca; Chien, Steve A.; Rabideau, Gregg R.; Tang, Benyang

2010-01-01

A software program provides a Sensorweb architecture for alert-processing, event detection, asset allocation and planning, and visualization. It automatically tasks and re-tasks various types of assets such as satellites and robotic vehicles in response to alerts (fire, weather) extracted from various data sources, including low-level Webcam data. JPL has adapted cons iderable Sensorweb infrastructure that had been previously applied to NASA Earth Science applications. This NASA Earth Science Sensorweb has been in operational use since 2003, and has proven reliability of the Sensorweb technologies for robust event detection and autonomous response using space and ground assets. Unique features of the software include flexibility to a range of detection and tasking methods including those that require aggregation of data over spatial and temporal ranges, generality of the response structure to represent and implement a range of response campaigns, and the ability to respond rapidly.

Knowledge Management Capabilities and Organizational Performance: An Investigation into the Effects of Knowledge Infrastructure and Processes on Organizational Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Taejun

2011-01-01

Knowledge is one of the most important assets for surviving in the modern business environment. The effective management of that asset mandates continuous adaptation by organizations, and requires employees to strive to improve the company's work processes. Organizations attempt to coordinate their unique knowledge with traditional means as well…

Sensor Webs: Autonomous Rapid Response to Monitor Transient Science Events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandl, Dan; Grosvenor, Sandra; Frye, Stu; Sherwood, Robert; Chien, Steve; Davies, Ashley; Cichy, Ben; Ingram, Mary Ann; Langley, John; Miranda, Felix

2005-01-01

To better understand how physical phenomena, such as volcanic eruptions, evolve over time, multiple sensor observations over the duration of the event are required. Using sensor web approaches that integrate original detections by in-situ sensors and global-coverage, lower-resolution, on-orbit assets with automated rapid response observations from high resolution sensors, more observations of significant events can be made with increased temporal, spatial, and spectral resolution. This paper describes experiments using Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) along with other space and ground assets to implement progressive mission autonomy to identify, locate and image with high resolution instruments phenomena such as wildfires, volcanoes, floods and ice breakup. The software that plans, schedules and controls the various satellite assets are used to form ad hoc constellations which enable collaborative autonomous image collections triggered by transient phenomena. This software is both flight and ground based and works in concert to run all of the required assets cohesively and includes software that is model-based, artificial intelligence software.

Calibration of a system to collect visible-light polarization data for classification of geosynchronous satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Speicher, Andy; Matin, Mohammad; Tippets, Roger; Chun, Francis

2014-09-01

In order to protect critical military and commercial space assets, the United States Space Surveillance Network must have the ability to positively identify and characterize all space objects. Unfortunately, positive identification and characterization of space objects is a manual and labor intensive process today since even large telescopes cannot provide resolved images of most space objects. The objective of this study was to calibrate a system to exploit the optical signature of unresolved geosynchronous satellite images by collecting polarization data in the visible wavelengths for the purpose of revealing discriminating features. These features may lead to positive identification or classification of each satellite. The system was calibrated with an algorithm and process that takes raw observation data from a two-channel polarimeter and converts it to Stokes parameters S0 and S1. This instrumentation is a new asset for the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Department of Physics and consists of one 20-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope and a dual focal plane system fed with a polarizing beam splitter. This study calibrated the system and collected preliminary polarization data on five geosynchronous satellites to validate performance. Preliminary data revealed that each of the five satellites had a different polarization signature that could potentially lead to identification in future studies.

Is strategic asset management applicable to small and medium utilities?

PubMed

Alegre, Helena

2010-01-01

Urban water infrastructures provide essential services to modern societies and represent a major portion of the value of municipal physical assets. Managing these assets rationally is therefore fundamental for the sustainability of the services and to the economy of societies. "Asset Management" (AM) is a modern term for an old practice--assets have always been managed. In recent years, significant evolution occurred in terms of the AM formal approaches, of the monitoring and decision support tools and of the implementation success cases. However, most tools developed are too sophisticated and data seek for small utilities. The European R&D network COST Action C18 ( E-mail: www.costc18.org) identified key research problems related to the management of urban water infrastructures, currently not covered by on-going projects of the European Framework Program. The top 1 topic is "Efficient management of small community". This paper addresses challenges and opportunities for small and medium utilities with regard to infrastructure AM (IAM). To put this into context, the first sections discuss the need for IAM, highlight key recent developments, and present IAM drivers, as well as research and development gaps, priorities and products needed.

Mutually catalyzed birth of population and assets in exchange-driven growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Zhenquan; Ke, Jianhong; Ye, Gaoxiang

2006-10-01

We propose an exchange-driven aggregation growth model of population and assets with mutually catalyzed birth to study the interaction between the population and assets in their exchange-driven processes. In this model, monomer (or equivalently, individual) exchange occurs between any pair of aggregates of the same species (population or assets). The rate kernels of the exchanges of population and assets are K(k,l)=Kkl and L(k,l)=Lkl , respectively, at which one monomer migrates from an aggregate of size k to another of size l . Meanwhile, an aggregate of one species can yield a new monomer by the catalysis of an arbitrary aggregate of the other species. The rate kernel of asset-catalyzed population birth is I(k,l)=Iklμ [and that of population-catalyzed asset birth is J(k,l)=Jklν ], at which an aggregate of size k gains a monomer birth when it meets a catalyst aggregate of size l . The kinetic behaviors of the population and asset aggregates are solved based on the rate equations. The evolution of the aggregate size distributions of population and assets is found to fall into one of three categories for different parameters μ and ν : (i) population (asset) aggregates evolve according to the conventional scaling form in the case of μ⩽0 (ν⩽0) , (ii) population (asset) aggregates evolve according to a modified scaling form in the case of ν=0 and μ>0 ( μ=0 and ν>0 ), and (iii) both population and asset aggregates undergo gelation transitions at a finite time in the case of μ=ν>0 .

Asset Management of Roadway Signs Through Advanced Technology

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-06-01

This research project aims to ease the process of Roadway Sign asset management. The project utilized handheld computer and global positioning system (GPS) technology to capture sign location data along with a timestamp. This data collection effort w...

Portuguese version of a stress and well-being evaluation tool (ASSET)at the workplace: validation of the psychometric properties.

PubMed

Heitor Dos Santos, Maria João; Moreira, Sérgio; Carreiras, Joana; Cooper, Cary; Smeed, Matthew; Reis, Maria de Fátima; Pereira Miguel, José

2018-02-12

The main objective of this work was to translate the English version of ASSET (A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool) into the Portuguese version and to validate its psychometric properties. Additionally, this work tested the convergent validity of the instrument. The translation and retroversion were conducted by experts and submitted to the authors for approval. Within an observational, cross-sectional study, regarding mental health at the workplace, ASSET together with other scales was applied to a sample of 405 participants. The psychometric validity of the subscales was studied using confirmatory factorial analysis. The factorial structure of ASSET is globally supported by the results, with the Perceptions of Your Job and Attitudes Towards your Organisation subscales requiring slight adjustments in the item structure and the Your Health subscales replicating the original structure. The convergent validity also supports the ASSET, showing that all subscales are significantly correlated with variables used to test convergence. Globally, the results constitute an important contribution to ASSET and open the possibility of its usage among Portuguese-speaking countries. The results provide an evidence on the validity of the instrument and, in particular, of the mental and physical health subscales. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

NASA Conjunction Assessment Organizational Approach and the Associated Determination of Screening Volume Sizes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, Lauri K.; Hejduk, Matthew D.

2015-01-01

NASA is committed to safety of flight for all of its operational assets Performed by CARA at NASA GSFC for robotic satellites Focus of this briefing Performed by TOPO at NASA JSC for human spaceflight he Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis (CARA) was stood up to offer this service to all NASA robotic satellites Currently provides service to 70 operational satellites NASA unmanned operational assets Other USG assets (USGS, USAF, NOAA) International partner assets Conjunction Assessment (CA) is the process of identifying close approaches between two orbiting objects; sometimes called conjunction screening The Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) a USAF unit at Vandenberg AFB, maintains the high accuracy catalog of space objects, screens CARA-supported assets against the catalog, performs OD tasking, and generates close approach data.

A framework for considering externalities in urban water asset management.

PubMed

Marlow, David; Pearson, Leonie; Macdonald, Darla Hatton; Whitten, Stuart; Burn, Stewart

2011-01-01

Urban communities rely on a complex network of infrastructure assets to connect them to water resources. There is considerable capital investment required to maintain, upgrade and extend this infrastructure. As the remit of a water utility is broader than just financial considerations, infrastructure investment decisions must be made in light of environmental and societal issues. One way of facilitating this is to integrate consideration of externalities into decision making processes. This paper considers the concept of externalities from an asset management perspective. A case study is provided to show the practical implications to a water utility and asset managers. A framework for the inclusion of externalities in asset management decision making is also presented. The potential for application of the framework is highlighted through a brief consideration of its key elements.

EDs find physical therapists are an underused asset for musculoskeletal injuries, patient education.

PubMed

2011-04-01

Some EDs are finding that the unique skill sets offered by physical therapists (PT) can be an asset to emergency care while also improving the patient experience. Experts say PTs are particularly valuable in the management of musculoskeletal pain and injuries, but they are also being used for wound care, gait training, and balance assessment. ED administrators say consistent, daily coverage is essential to making a PT program successful; otherwise, ED clinicians will neglect to use their services. PTs need to be comfortable with proactively marketing their skills to other ED clinicians who may not be used to having access to this resource. Experts say PT services in the ED can be reimbursed at a level that is consistent with reimbursement in other inpatient and outpatient settings.

Who wins? Study of long-run trader survival in an artificial stock market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cincotti, Silvano; M. Focardi, Sergio; Marchesi, Michele; Raberto, Marco

2003-06-01

We introduce a multi-asset artificial financial market with finite amount of cash and number of stocks. The background trading is characterized by a random trading strategy constrained by the finiteness of resources and by market volatility. Stock price processes exhibit volatility clustering, fat-tailed distribution of returns and reversion to the mean. Three active trading strategies have been introduced and studied in two different market conditions: steady market and growing market with asset inflation. We show that the profitability of each strategy depends both on the periodicity of portfolio reallocation and on the market condition. The best performing strategy is the one that exploits the mean reversion characteristic of asset price processes.

Using Photovoice and Asset Mapping to Inform a Community-Based Diabetes Intervention, Boston, Massachusetts, 2015.

PubMed

Florian, Jana; Roy, Nicole M St Omer; Quintiliani, Lisa M; Truong, Ve; Feng, Yi; Bloch, Philippe P; Russinova, Zlatka L; Lasser, Karen E

2016-08-11

Diabetes self-management takes place within a complex social and environmental context.  This study's objective was to examine the perceived and actual presence of community assets that may aid in diabetes control. We conducted one 6-hour photovoice session with 11 adults with poorly controlled diabetes in Boston, Massachusetts.  Participants were recruited from census tracts with high numbers of people with poorly controlled diabetes (diabetes "hot spots").  We coded the discussions and identified relevant themes.  We further explored themes related to the built environment through community asset mapping.  Through walking surveys, we evaluated 5 diabetes hot spots related to physical activity resources, walking environment, and availability of food choices in restaurants and food stores. Community themes from the photovoice session were access to healthy food, restaurants, and prepared foods; food assistance programs; exercise facilities; and church.  Asset mapping identified 114 community assets including 22 food stores, 22 restaurants, and 5 exercise facilities.  Each diabetes hot spot contained at least 1 food store with 5 to 9 varieties of fruits and vegetables.  Only 1 of the exercise facilities had signage regarding hours or services.  Memberships ranged from free to $9.95 per month.  Overall, these findings were inconsistent with participants' reports in the photovoice group. We identified a mismatch between perceptions of community assets and built environment and the objective reality of that environment. Incorporating photovoice and community asset mapping into a community-based diabetes intervention may bring awareness to underused neighborhood resources that can help people control their diabetes.

24 CFR 248.201 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... cash or assets for subsequent withdrawal, and excluding repayment of advances made for reasonable and... long-range planning by the board of directors to ensure the physical, financial and social viability of...

Multi-level Operational C2 Holonic Reference Architecture Modeling for MHQ with MOC

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

x), x(k), uj(k)) is defined as the task success probability, based on the asset allocation and task execution activities at the tactical level...on outcomes of asset- task allocation at the tactical level. We employ semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) approach to decide on missions to be...AGA) graph for addressing the mission monitoring/ planning issues related to task sequencing and asset allocation at the OLC-TLC layer (coordination

Enhanced intelligence through optimized TCPED concepts for airborne ISR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spitzer, M.; Kappes, E.; Böker, D.

2012-06-01

Current multinational operations show an increased demand for high quality actionable intelligence for different operational levels and users. In order to achieve sufficient availability, quality and reliability of information, various ISR assets are orchestrated within operational theatres. Especially airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets provide - due to their endurance, non-intrusiveness, robustness, wide spectrum of sensors and flexibility to mission changes - significant intelligence coverage of areas of interest. An efficient and balanced utilization of airborne ISR assets calls for advanced concepts for the entire ISR process framework including the Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (TCPED). Beyond this, the employment of current visualization concepts, shared information bases and information customer profiles, as well as an adequate combination of ISR sensors with different information age and dynamic (online) retasking process elements provides the optimization of interlinked TCPED processes towards higher process robustness, shorter process duration, more flexibility between ISR missions and, finally, adequate "entry points" for information requirements by operational users and commands. In addition, relevant Trade-offs of distributed and dynamic TCPED processes are examined and future trends are depicted.

The need for spatially explicit quantification of benefits in invasive-species management.

PubMed

Januchowski-Hartley, Stephanie R; Adams, Vanessa M; Hermoso, Virgilio

2018-04-01

Worldwide, invasive species are a leading driver of environmental change across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments and cost billions of dollars annually in ecological damages and economic losses. Resources limit invasive-species control, and planning processes are needed to identify cost-effective solutions. Thus, studies are increasingly considering spatially variable natural and socioeconomic assets (e.g., species persistence, recreational fishing) when planning the allocation of actions for invasive-species management. There is a need to improve understanding of how such assets are considered in invasive-species management. We reviewed over 1600 studies focused on management of invasive species, including flora and fauna. Eighty-four of these studies were included in our final analysis because they focused on the prioritization of actions for invasive species management. Forty-five percent (n = 38) of these studies were based on spatial optimization methods, and 35% (n = 13) accounted for spatially variable assets. Across all 84 optimization studies considered, 27% (n = 23) explicitly accounted for spatially variable assets. Based on our findings, we further explored the potential costs and benefits to invasive species management when spatially variable assets are explicitly considered or not. To include spatially variable assets in decision-making processes that guide invasive-species management there is a need to quantify environmental responses to invasive species and to enhance understanding of potential impacts of invasive species on different natural or socioeconomic assets. We suggest these gaps could be filled by systematic reviews, quantifying invasive species impacts on native species at different periods, and broadening sources and enhancing sharing of knowledge. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Beyond the short term : transportation asset management for long-term sustainability, accountability and performance

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-01-01

Transportation Asset Management (TAM) has long been recognized as a sound, long-term approach to managing infrastructure. It provides decision makers with a rational, long-term systematic process for making difficult and complex decisions about how t...

MaROS: Information Management Service

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allard, Daniel A.; Gladden, Roy E.; Wright, Jesse J.; Hy, Franklin H.; Rabideau, Gregg R.; Wallick, Michael N.

2011-01-01

This software is provided by the Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS) task to a variety of Mars projects for the purpose of coordinating communications sessions between landed spacecraft assets and orbiting spacecraft assets at Mars. The Information Management Service centralizes a set of functions previously distributed across multiple spacecraft operations teams, and as such, greatly improves visibility into the end-to-end strategic coordination process. Most of the process revolves around the scheduling of communications sessions between the spacecraft during periods of time when a landed asset on Mars is geometrically visible by an orbiting spacecraft. These relay sessions are used to transfer data both to and from the landed asset via the orbiting asset on behalf of Earth-based spacecraft operators. This software component is an application process running as a Java virtual machine. The component provides all service interfaces via a Representational State Transfer (REST) protocol over https to external clients. There are two general interaction modes with the service: upload and download of data. For data upload, the service must execute logic specific to the upload data type and trigger any applicable calculations including pass delivery latencies and overflight conflicts. For data download, the software must retrieve and correlate requested information and deliver to the requesting client. The provision of this service enables several key advancements over legacy processes and systems. For one, this service represents the first time that end-to-end relay information is correlated into a single shared repository. The software also provides the first multimission latency calculator; previous latency calculations had been performed on a mission-by-mission basis.

24 CFR 242.69 - Transfer fee.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... FOR HOSPITALS Miscellaneous Requirements § 242.69 Transfer fee. Upon application for review of a transfer of physical assets or the substitution of mortgagors, a transfer fee of 50 cents per thousand...

25 CFR 1000.360 - Is the trust evaluation standard or process different when the trust asset is held in trust for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Is the trust evaluation standard or process different when the trust asset is held in trust for an individual Indian or Indian allottee? 1000.360 Section 1000.360 Indians OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY, INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ANNUAL FUNDING AGREEMENTS UNDER THE TRIBAL SELF-GOVERNMEN...

A real-time path rating calculation tool powered by HPC

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

If transmission path ratings are determined in real time and optimized control methods can be implemented, congestion problems can be more effectively managed using the existing transmission assets, reducing congestion costs, avoiding capital expenditures for new physical assets, increasing revenues from the existing system, and maintaining reliability. In just one illustrative case, a BPA study has shown that a 1000-MW rating increase for a transmission path generates $15M in annual revenue, even if only 25% of the increased margin can be tapped for just 25% of the year.

Forecasting financial asset processes: stochastic dynamics via learning neural networks.

PubMed

Giebel, S; Rainer, M

2010-01-01

Models for financial asset dynamics usually take into account their inherent unpredictable nature by including a suitable stochastic component into their process. Unknown (forward) values of financial assets (at a given time in the future) are usually estimated as expectations of the stochastic asset under a suitable risk-neutral measure. This estimation requires the stochastic model to be calibrated to some history of sufficient length in the past. Apart from inherent limitations, due to the stochastic nature of the process, the predictive power is also limited by the simplifying assumptions of the common calibration methods, such as maximum likelihood estimation and regression methods, performed often without weights on the historic time series, or with static weights only. Here we propose a novel method of "intelligent" calibration, using learning neural networks in order to dynamically adapt the parameters of the stochastic model. Hence we have a stochastic process with time dependent parameters, the dynamics of the parameters being themselves learned continuously by a neural network. The back propagation in training the previous weights is limited to a certain memory length (in the examples we consider 10 previous business days), which is similar to the maximal time lag of autoregressive processes. We demonstrate the learning efficiency of the new algorithm by tracking the next-day forecasts for the EURTRY and EUR-HUF exchange rates each.

Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2017

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-24

facilities and equipment; does not include physical assets for R&D such as R&D equipment and facilities or routine product testing, quality control...multiagency R&D initiative to advance understanding and control of matter at the nanoscale, where the physical , chemical, and biological properties of...nuclear programs that dated back to the Manhattan Project. Today, DOE conducts basic scientific research in areas ranging from nuclear physics to the

Understanding Building Infrastructure and Building Operation through DOE Asset Score Model: Lessons Learned from a Pilot Project

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

Wang, Na; Goel, Supriya; Gorrissen, Willy J.

2013-06-24

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is developing a national voluntary energy asset score system to help building owners to evaluate the as-built physical characteristics (including building envelope, the mechanical and electrical systems) and overall building energy efficiency, independent of occupancy and operational choices. The energy asset score breaks down building energy use information by simulating building performance under typical operating and occupancy conditions for a given use type. A web-based modeling tool, the energy asset score tool facilitates the implementation of the asset score system. The tool consists of a simplified user interface built on a centralized simulation enginemore » (EnergyPlus). It is intended to reduce both the implementation cost for the users and increase modeling standardization compared with an approach that requires users to build their own energy models. A pilot project with forty-two buildings (consisting mostly offices and schools) was conducted in 2012. This paper reports the findings. Participants were asked to collect a minimum set of building data and enter it into the asset score tool. Participants also provided their utility bills, existing ENERGY STAR scores, and previous energy audit/modeling results if available. The results from the asset score tool were compared with the building energy use data provided by the pilot participants. Three comparisons were performed. First, the actual building energy use, either from the utility bills or via ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, was compared with the modeled energy use. It was intended to examine how well the energy asset score represents a building’s system efficiencies, and how well it is correlated to a building’s actual energy consumption. Second, calibrated building energy models (where they exist) were used to examine any discrepancies between the asset score model and the pilot participant buildings’ [known] energy use pattern. This comparison examined the end use breakdowns and more detailed time series data. Third, ASHRAE 90.1 prototype buildings were also used as an industry standard modeling approach to test the accuracy level of the asset score tool. Our analysis showed that the asset score tool, which uses simplified building simulation, could provide results comparable to a more detailed energy model. The buildings’ as-built efficiency can be reflected in the energy asset score. An analysis between the modeled energy use through the asset score tool and the actual energy use from the utility bills can further inform building owners about the effectiveness of their building’s operation and maintenance.« less

Modeling asset price processes based on mean-field framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ieda, Masashi; Shiino, Masatoshi

2011-12-01

We propose a model of the dynamics of financial assets based on the mean-field framework. This framework allows us to construct a model which includes the interaction among the financial assets reflecting the market structure. Our study is on the cutting edge in the sense of a microscopic approach to modeling the financial market. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our model concretely, we provide a case study, which is the pricing problem of the European call option with short-time memory noise.

Strategic plan to optimize the management of right-of-way parcel and utility information at FDOT.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-05-01

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) manages a huge right-of-way asset. Examples of core : processes related to this asset include determining right-of-way boundaries; inventorying roadside features; : preparing right-of-way maps; acquirin...

New Trends in Facility Asset Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Matt

2000-01-01

Explains new, positive trends in facility asset management that encompasses greater acceptance and involvement of facility managers in the financial planning process, greater awareness of the need for maintenance, and facility administrators taking a greater role with business officers. The new climate for alternative renewal financing proposals…

Final report on the maintenance asset management project : phase I.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-07-01

This project resulted in the development of a proof of concept for a features inventory process to be used by field staff. The resulting concept is adaptable for different asset classes (e.g. culverts, guardrail) and able to leverage existing DOT res...

25 CFR 224.141 - What must the Secretary do if the tribe responds to the Director's order?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.141 What must the Secretary do if the tribe responds to... Secretary will determine whether the noncompliance caused imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset. (b) If the Secretary determines that the tribe's noncompliance has caused imminent jeopardy to a physical...

Autonomous Closed-Loop Tasking, Acquisition, Processing, and Evaluation for Situational Awareness Feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frye, Stuart; Mandl, Dan; Cappelaere, Pat

2016-01-01

This presentation describes the closed loop satellite autonomy methods used to connect users and the assets on Earth Orbiter- 1 (EO-1) and similar satellites. The base layer is a distributed architecture based on Goddard Mission Services Evolution Concept (GMSEC) thus each asset still under independent control. Situational awareness is provided by a middleware layer through common Application Programmer Interface (API) to GMSEC components developed at GSFC. Users setup their own tasking requests, receive views into immediate past acquisitions in their area of interest, and into future feasibilities for acquisition across all assets. Automated notifications via pubsub feeds are returned to users containing published links to image footprints, algorithm results, and full data sets. Theme-based algorithms are available on-demand for processing.

31 CFR 540.316 - Uranium enrichment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Uranium enrichment. 540.316 Section... FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) AGREEMENT ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS General Definitions § 540.316 Uranium enrichment. The term uranium enrichment means the process of...

31 CFR 540.316 - Uranium enrichment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Uranium enrichment. 540.316 Section... FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) AGREEMENT ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS General Definitions § 540.316 Uranium enrichment. The term uranium enrichment means the process of...

31 CFR 540.316 - Uranium enrichment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Uranium enrichment. 540.316 Section... FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) AGREEMENT ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS General Definitions § 540.316 Uranium enrichment. The term uranium enrichment means the process of...

31 CFR 540.316 - Uranium enrichment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Uranium enrichment. 540.316 Section... FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) AGREEMENT ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS General Definitions § 540.316 Uranium enrichment. The term uranium enrichment means the process of...

The impact of socioeconomic inequalities and lack of health insurance on physical functioning among middle-aged and older adults in the United States.

PubMed

Kim, Jinhyun; Richardson, Virginia

2012-01-01

Socioeconomic inequalities and lack of private health insurance have been viewed as significant contributors to health disparities in the United States. However, few studies have examined their impact on physical functioning over time, especially in later life. The current study investigated the impact of socioeconomic inequalities and lack of private health insurance on individuals' growth trajectories in physical functioning, as measured by activities of daily living. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (1994-2006) were used for this study, 6519 black and white adults who provided in-depth information about health, socioeconomic, financial and health insurance information were analysed. Latent growth curve modelling was used to estimate the initial level of physical functioning and its rate of change over time. Results showed that higher level of income and assets and having private health insurance significantly predicted better physical functioning. In particular, decline in physical functioning was slower among those who had private health insurance. Interestingly, changes in economic status, such as decreases in income and assets, had a greater impact on women's physical functioning than on men's. Black adults did not suffer more rapid declines in physical functioning than white adults after controlling for socioeconomic status. The current longitudinal study suggested that anti-poverty and health insurance policies should be enhanced to reduce the negative impact of socioeconomic inequalities on physical functioning throughout an individual's life course. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Using Photovoice and Asset Mapping to Inform a Community-Based Diabetes Intervention, Boston, Massachusetts, 2015

PubMed Central

Roy, Nicole M. St. Omer; Quintiliani, Lisa M.; Truong, Ve; Feng, Yi; Bloch, Philippe P.; Russinova, Zlatka L.; Lasser, Karen E.

2016-01-01

Introduction Diabetes self-management takes place within a complex social and environmental context.  This study’s objective was to examine the perceived and actual presence of community assets that may aid in diabetes control. Methods We conducted one 6-hour photovoice session with 11 adults with poorly controlled diabetes in Boston, Massachusetts.  Participants were recruited from census tracts with high numbers of people with poorly controlled diabetes (diabetes “hot spots”).  We coded the discussions and identified relevant themes.  We further explored themes related to the built environment through community asset mapping.  Through walking surveys, we evaluated 5 diabetes hot spots related to physical activity resources, walking environment, and availability of food choices in restaurants and food stores. Results Community themes from the photovoice session were access to healthy food, restaurants, and prepared foods; food assistance programs; exercise facilities; and church.  Asset mapping identified 114 community assets including 22 food stores, 22 restaurants, and 5 exercise facilities.  Each diabetes hot spot contained at least 1 food store with 5 to 9 varieties of fruits and vegetables.  Only 1 of the exercise facilities had signage regarding hours or services.  Memberships ranged from free to $9.95 per month.  Overall, these findings were inconsistent with participants’ reports in the photovoice group. Conclusion We identified a mismatch between perceptions of community assets and built environment and the objective reality of that environment. Incorporating photovoice and community asset mapping into a community-based diabetes intervention may bring awareness to underused neighborhood resources that can help people control their diabetes. PMID:27513998

Bankruptcy risk model and empirical tests

PubMed Central

Podobnik, Boris; Horvatic, Davor; Petersen, Alexander M.; Urošević, Branko; Stanley, H. Eugene

2010-01-01

We analyze the size dependence and temporal stability of firm bankruptcy risk in the US economy by applying Zipf scaling techniques. We focus on a single risk factor—the debt-to-asset ratio R—in order to study the stability of the Zipf distribution of R over time. We find that the Zipf exponent increases during market crashes, implying that firms go bankrupt with larger values of R. Based on the Zipf analysis, we employ Bayes’s theorem and relate the conditional probability that a bankrupt firm has a ratio R with the conditional probability of bankruptcy for a firm with a given R value. For 2,737 bankrupt firms, we demonstrate size dependence in assets change during the bankruptcy proceedings. Prepetition firm assets and petition firm assets follow Zipf distributions but with different exponents, meaning that firms with smaller assets adjust their assets more than firms with larger assets during the bankruptcy process. We compare bankrupt firms with nonbankrupt firms by analyzing the assets and liabilities of two large subsets of the US economy: 2,545 Nasdaq members and 1,680 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) members. We find that both assets and liabilities follow a Pareto distribution. The finding is not a trivial consequence of the Zipf scaling relationship of firm size quantified by employees—although the market capitalization of Nasdaq stocks follows a Pareto distribution, the same distribution does not describe NYSE stocks. We propose a coupled Simon model that simultaneously evolves both assets and debt with the possibility of bankruptcy, and we also consider the possibility of firm mergers. PMID:20937903

Web Audio/Video Streaming Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guruvadoo, Eranna K.

2003-01-01

In order to promote NASA-wide educational outreach program to educate and inform the public of space exploration, NASA, at Kennedy Space Center, is seeking efficient ways to add more contents to the web by streaming audio/video files. This project proposes a high level overview of a framework for the creation, management, and scheduling of audio/video assets over the web. To support short-term goals, the prototype of a web-based tool is designed and demonstrated to automate the process of streaming audio/video files. The tool provides web-enabled users interfaces to manage video assets, create publishable schedules of video assets for streaming, and schedule the streaming events. These operations are performed on user-defined and system-derived metadata of audio/video assets stored in a relational database while the assets reside on separate repository. The prototype tool is designed using ColdFusion 5.0.

Reconstruction of 3d Objects of Assets and Facilities by Using Benchmark Points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baig, S. U.; Rahman, A. A.

2013-08-01

Acquiring and modeling 3D geo-data of building assets and facility objects is one of the challenges. A number of methods and technologies are being utilized for this purpose. Total station, GPS, photogrammetric and terrestrial laser scanning are few of these technologies. In this paper, points commonly shared by potential facades of assets and facilities modeled from point clouds are identified. These points are useful for modeling process to reconstruct 3D models of assets and facilities stored to be used for management purposes. These models are segmented through different planes to produce accurate 2D plans. This novel method improves the efficiency and quality of construction of models of assets and facilities with the aim utilize in 3D management projects such as maintenance of buildings or group of items that need to be replaced, or renovated for new services.

The Business Value Web: Resourcing Business Processes and Solutions in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norris, Donald M.; Olson, Mark A.

2003-01-01

Value is the benefit derived from an enterprise's assets by its stakeholders. For colleges and universities, value is derived by students, faculty, staff, other knowledge seekers, alumni, donors, suppliers, and stakeholders. They derive value through experiencing the institution's programs, services, knowledge assets, and other resources. This…

75 FR 41572 - Office of Financial Stability; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-16

...: 1505-0209. Title: Troubled Asset Relief Program--Conflicts of Interest. Abstract: Authorized under the... Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) by codifying section 108 of EESA. Title 31 CFR part 31, TARP Conflict of Interest, sets forth the process for reviewing and addressing actual or potential conflicts of...

Impacts of public policy on rail development in Missouri.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-09-01

Identifying the State policies that most directly affect or advance railroad development begins with an : understanding of how railroads make investment decisions. Railroads are a capital-intensive business, : owning all physical assets, locomotives,...

Preliminary Study of the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET).

PubMed

Ruble, Lisa A; Toland, Michael D; Birdwhistell, Jessica L; McGrew, John H; Usher, Ellen L

2013-09-01

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a new measure, the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET) for its dimensionality, internal consistency, and construct validity derived in a sample of special education teachers ( N = 44) of students with autism. Results indicate that all items reflect one dominant factor, teachers' responses to items were internally consistent within the sample, and compared to a 100-point scale, a 6-point response scale is adequate. ASSET scores were found to be negatively correlated with scores on two subscale measures of teacher stress (i.e., self-doubt/need for support and disruption of the teaching process) but uncorrelated with teacher burnout scores. The ASSET is a promising tool that requires replication with larger samples.

Lights Out Operations of a Space, Ground, Sensorweb

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, Steve; Tran, Daniel; Johnston, Mark; Davies, Ashley Gerard; Castano, Rebecca; Rabideau, Gregg; Cichy, Benjamin; Doubleday, Joshua; Pieri, David; Scharenbroich, Lucas;

Amplifying Health Through Community Gardens: A Framework for Advancing Multicomponent, Behaviorally Based Neighborhood Interventions.

PubMed

Alaimo, Katherine; Beavers, Alyssa W; Crawford, Caroline; Snyder, Elizabeth Hodges; Litt, Jill S

2016-09-01

The article presents a framework for understanding the relationship between community garden participation, and the myriad ways gardens and participation lead to emotional, social, and health impacts. Existing empirical research relating community gardens to health behaviors, such as physical activity and diet, and longer-term chronic disease-related outcomes is summarized. The research areas discussed include the effects of community garden participation on individual, social, emotional, and environmental processes; health behaviors including diet and physical activity; and health outcomes such as self-rated health, obesity, and mental health. Other mechanisms through which community gardens may affect population health are described. Applying a multitheoretical lens to explore associations between community garden participation and health enables us to delineate key aspects of gardening that elicit positive health behaviors and multifactorial health assets that could be applied to designing other types of health interventions.

The Strategy of Voluntary Certification in Italian Olive Oil Industry: Who and Why?

PubMed

Riganelli, Chiara; Marchini, Andrea

2016-01-01

The phenomenon of asymmetric information is central in the agri-food sector, in which often there is not full information transparency about product quality. This condition is particularly complex considering the high-end products. In particular, there are specific attributes (credence attributes) that are not assessable by consumers. For these reasons, a clear information about certification can give to consumers the possibility to make a rational choice. A company can choose voluntarily to participate in certification programs that can be viewed also as a simplification of some organization issues. Often the incentives to participate in voluntary programs arise from the need to have a positive economic performance of the firm. On the one hand, the firm may have benefits from the technical assistance of the certification, which allows it to reduce costs of controlling particular sensible steps of the process. On the other hand, the firm may provide a new certification label, in order to ensure a greater transparency of its processes. The research aims to understand the characteristics of firms oriented to use voluntary certifications as a tool to reduce information asymmetries between producers and final consumers. In particular, we want to consider two contexts of analysis: a structural one, considering some specific internal aspects and investment choices of the firms (typology, size, extraction system, storage system, material investments, immaterial investments); a second one that takes into account some decisions related to market relationships (sale to consumers, sale to HoReCa, sale to wholesalers, sale to purchasing groups, sale to GDO, export activity). The study concerns small and medium olive oil company of Southern Italy. We apply two logit models in order to show the determinants in the choice to introduce a voluntary certification. The results show significant values in both the two dimensions considered. Among the first one, there are significances in immaterial company investments but also in physical assets related to the olive oil process. There are several scientific developments relevant to the olive oil process and some of these patents have been reviewed in this paper. Regarding the physical assets, the storage system is a clear representation of the asset importance in the decision to participate in the certification program. Furthermore, the presence of considerable immaterial investments is important in the certification decision, which confirms the idea that voluntary certification can be viewed as a strategic tool. In the second part of analysis there are significances in some distribution channels (direct sale to final consumer, to wholesalers and to purchasing groups) as well as in the export activity. This work aims to contribute to the debate about the addressing of quality policy for a reduction of asymmetric information in the high-end products. Because of small dimensions of firms in Southern Italy, not always we can find conditions about the presence of specific assets. Indeed, the small dimensions of the companies make quality investments complicated. The incentive to invest, both in terms of control of product and in terms of immaterial investment, can help in a participation in voluntary certification programs. Further, it is important to investigate the three distribution channels resulting from the research because of their importance in terms of information asymmetry.

Security Science as an Applied Science?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Clifton

2001-01-01

Describes the development of a security science degree as the emerging applied science of the protection of individuals and assets. Proposes the themes of physical, electronic, information security and facility management as scientific applications for the course. (Author/MM)

Bridging the Gap: Developing a Tool to Support Local Civilian and Military Disaster Preparedness

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

HSC, 2005), the National Strategy for Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets (DHS, 2003b), the National Strategy for Mari- time...10-2501 (p. 46), The installation CEMP 10-2 provides comprehensive guidance for emergency response to physical threats resulting from major accidents...installations must develop a CEMP 10-2 using the AF [Air Force] template to address the physical threats to their base. . . . The CEMP 10-2 should be

Stochastic differential game formulation on the reinsurance and investment problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Danping; Rong, Ximin; Zhao, Hui

2015-09-01

This paper focuses on a stochastic differential game between two insurance companies, a big one and a small one. The big company has sufficient asset to invest in a risk-free asset and a risky asset and is allowed to purchase proportional reinsurance or acquire new business, and the small company can transfer part of the risk to a reinsurer via proportional reinsurance. The game studied here is zero-sum, where the big company is trying to maximise the expected exponential utility of the difference between two insurance companies' surpluses at the terminal time to keep its advantage on surplus, while simultaneously the small company is trying to minimise the same quantity to reduce its disadvantage. Particularly, the relationships between the surplus processes and the price process of the risky asset are considered. By applying stochastic control theory, we provide and prove the verification theorem and obtain the Nash equilibrium strategy of the game, explicitly. Furthermore, numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the effects of parameters on the equilibrium strategy as well as the economic meanings behind.

Impact detection and analysis/health monitoring system for composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Child, James E.; Kumar, Amrita; Beard, Shawn; Qing, Peter; Paslay, Don G.

2006-05-01

This manuscript includes information from test evaluations and development of a smart event detection system for use in monitoring composite rocket motor cases for damaging impacts. The primary purpose of the system as a sentry for case impact event logging is accomplished through; implementation of a passive network of miniaturized piezoelectric sensors, logger with pre-determined force threshold levels, and analysis software. Empirical approaches to structural characterizations and network calibrations along with implementation techniques were successfully evaluated, testing was performed on both unloaded (less propellants) as well as loaded rocket motors with the cylindrical areas being of primary focus. The logged test impact data with known physical network parameters provided for impact location as well as force determination, typically within 3 inches of actual impact location using a 4 foot network grid and force accuracy within 25%of an actual impact force. The simplistic empirical characterization approach along with the robust / flexible sensor grids and battery operated portable logger show promise of a system that can increase confidence in composite integrity for both new assets progressing through manufacturing processes as well as existing assets that may be in storage or transportation.

Natural Capital Management: An Evolutionary Paradigm for Sustainable Restoration Investment - 13455

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

Koetz, Maureen T.

2013-07-01

Unlike other forms of capital assets (built infrastructure, labor, financial capital), the supply of usable or accessible air, land, and water elements (termed Natural Capital Assets or NCA) available to enterprise processes is structurally shrinking due to increased demand and regulatory restriction. This supply/demand imbalance is affecting all forms of public and private enterprise (including Federal Facilities) in the form of encroachment, production limits, cost increases, and reduced competitiveness. Department of Energy (DOE) sites are comprised of significant stocks of NCA that function as both conserved capital (providing ecosystem services and other reserve capacity), and as natural infrastructure (supporting majormore » Federal enterprise programs). The current rubric of 'Environmental Stewardship' provides an unduly constrained management paradigm that is focused largely on compliance process metrics, and lacks a value platform for quantifying, documenting, and sustainably re-deploying re-capitalized natural asset capacity and capability. By adopting value-based system concepts similar to built infrastructure accounting and information management, 'stewarded' natural assets relegated to liability- or compliance-focused outcomes become 're-capitalized' operational assets able to support new or expanded mission. This growing need for new accounting and management paradigms to capture natural capital value is achieving global recognition, most recently by the United Nations, world leaders, and international corporations at the Rio+20 Summit in June of 2012. Natural Capital Asset Management (NCAM){sup TM} is such an accounting framework tool. Using a quantification-based design, NCAM{sup TM} provides inventory, capacity and value data to owners or managers of natural assets such as the DOE that parallel comparable information systems currently used for facility assets. Applied to Environmental Management (EM) and other DOE program activities, the natural asset capacity and value generated by EM projects and other investment and operational programming can be recorded and then allocated to mission and/or ecosystem needs as part of overall site, complex, and Federal decision-making. NCAM{sup TM} can also document post-restoration asset capability and value for use in weighing loss mitigation and ecosystem damage claims arising from past operational activities. A prototype NCAM{sup TM} evaluation developed at the Savannah River Site (SRS) demonstrates use of this framework as an advanced paradigm for NCA accounting and decision-making for the larger DOE complex and other enterprise using natural capital in operations. Applying a quantified value paradigm, the framework catalogues the results of activities that sustain, restore, and modernize natural assets for enterprise-wide value beyond that of compliance milestones. Capturing and assigning recapitalization value using NCAM{sup TM} concepts and tools improves effective reuse of taxpayer-sustained assets, records ecosystem service value, enables mission and enterprise optimization, and assures the sustainability of shared natural capital assets in regional pools vital to both complex sites and local and regional economies. (authors)« less

Preliminary Study of the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET)

PubMed Central

Ruble, Lisa A.; Toland, Michael D.; Birdwhistell, Jessica L.; McGrew, John H.; Usher, Ellen L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a new measure, the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET) for its dimensionality, internal consistency, and construct validity derived in a sample of special education teachers (N = 44) of students with autism. Results indicate that all items reflect one dominant factor, teachers’ responses to items were internally consistent within the sample, and compared to a 100-point scale, a 6-point response scale is adequate. ASSET scores were found to be negatively correlated with scores on two subscale measures of teacher stress (i.e., self-doubt/need for support and disruption of the teaching process) but uncorrelated with teacher burnout scores. The ASSET is a promising tool that requires replication with larger samples. PMID:23976899

Laplace transform analysis of a multiplicative asset transfer model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolov, Andrey; Melatos, Andrew; Kieu, Tien

2010-07-01

We analyze a simple asset transfer model in which the transfer amount is a fixed fraction f of the giver’s wealth. The model is analyzed in a new way by Laplace transforming the master equation, solving it analytically and numerically for the steady-state distribution, and exploring the solutions for various values of f∈(0,1). The Laplace transform analysis is superior to agent-based simulations as it does not depend on the number of agents, enabling us to study entropy and inequality in regimes that are costly to address with simulations. We demonstrate that Boltzmann entropy is not a suitable (e.g. non-monotonic) measure of disorder in a multiplicative asset transfer system and suggest an asymmetric stochastic process that is equivalent to the asset transfer model.

Strategic national stockpile: overview and ventilator assets.

PubMed

Malatino, Eileen M

2008-01-01

Acquiring a resupply of critical medical assets following a national emergency will be crucial to saving lives. The Strategic National Stockpile is a national repository of various medications, vaccines, antidotes, and medical/surgical equipment that would be used to augment federal, state, and local public health agencies in the event of a terrorist attack or other public health emergency. Portable ventilators are included in the stockpile Managed Inventory. These ventilators and the ancillary equipment needed for one adult or one pediatric patient are kitted in a durable case that is staged and ready for deployment. A state that requires these assets initiates a request for federal assistance through established guidelines. This paper provides an overview of the Strategic National Stockpile, the types of ventilators and ancillary equipment currently available, and the process for requesting these assets.

The SAFRR tsunami scenario-physical damage in California: Chapter E in The SAFRR (Science Application for Risk Reduction) Tsunami Scenario

USGS Publications Warehouse

Porter, Keith; Byers, William; Dykstra, David; Lim, Amy; Lynett, Patrick; Ratliff, Jaime; Scawthorn, Charles; Wein, Anne; Wilson, Rick

2013-01-01

his chapter attempts to depict a single realistic outcome of the SAFRR (Science Application for Risk Reduction) tsunami scenario in terms of physical damage to and recovery of various aspects of the built environment in California. As described elsewhere in this report, the tsunami is generated by a hypothetical magnitude 9.1 earthquake seaward of the Alaska Peninsula on the Semidi Sector of the Alaska–Aleutian Subduction Zone, 495 miles southwest of Anchorage, at 11:50 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on Thursday March 27, 2014, and arriving at the California coast between 4:00 and 5:40 p.m. (depending on location) the same day. Although other tsunamis could have locally greater impact, this source represents a substantial threat to the state as a whole. One purpose of this chapter is to help operators and users of coastal assets throughout California to develop emergency plans to respond to a real tsunami. Another is to identify ways that operators or owners of these assets can think through options for reducing damage before a future tsunami. A third is to inform the economic analyses for the SAFRR tsunami scenario. And a fourth is to identify research needs to better understand the possible consequences of a tsunami on these assets. The asset classes considered here include the following: Piers, cargo, buildings, and other assets at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Large vessels in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Marinas and small craft Coastal buildings Roads and roadway bridges Rail, railway bridges, and rolling stock Agriculture Fire following tsunami Each asset class is examined in a subsection of this chapter. In each subsection, we generally attempt to offer a historical review of damage. We characterize and quantify the assets exposed to loss and describe the modes of damage that have been observed in past tsunamis or are otherwise deemed likely to occur in the SAFRR tsunami scenario. Where practical, we offer a mathematical model of the damageability of assets exposed to loss. Then, applying the damageability model and the velocity, wave amplitude, and inundation models discussed in other SAFRR chapters we offer a single realistic depiction of damage. Other outcomes are of course possible for this hypothetical event. Where practical we estimate repair costs and estimate the duration required to restore the assets to their pre-tsunami condition. We identify opportunities to enhance the resiliency of the assets, either through making them less vulnerable to damage or able to recover more quickly in spite of the damage. Finally, we identify uncertainties in the modeling where research would improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of damage and loss or otherwise improve our ability to estimate the future impacts of tsunamis and inform risk-management decisions for tsunamis. However, it is certain that the kinds of damages discussed here have occurred in past tsunamis, even in developed nations, and in a sufficiently large event, will occur in California. Our uncertainties can operate in either direction, either leading to an overestimate of damage or an underestimate. Therefore, losses in an actual future tsunami could be greater than depicted here. Furthermore this evaluation is not intended to be an exhaustive depiction of what could happen in this or similar tsunamis. Other impacts could occur that are not presented here.

Financing Higher Education after Tax Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Richard E.; Meyerson, Joel W.

1987-01-01

Capital finance, once limited to financing physical plant, today includes all assets and aspects of institutional life. It now encompasses a wide range of approaches and techniques including pooled debt, capital leases, futures contracts, equity investments, and research partnerships. (MLW)

Tank waste remediation system systems engineering management plan

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

Peck, L.G.

1998-01-08

This Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) describes the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) implementation of the US Department of Energy (DOE) systems engineering policy provided in 97-IMSD-193. The SEMP defines the products, process, organization, and procedures used by the TWRS Project to implement the policy. The SEMP will be used as the basis for tailoring the systems engineering applications to the development of the physical systems and processes necessary to achieve the desired end states of the program. It is a living document that will be revised as necessary to reflect changes in systems engineering guidance as the program evolves.more » The US Department of Energy-Headquarters has issued program management guidance, DOE Order 430. 1, Life Cycle Asset Management, and associated Good Practice Guides that include substantial systems engineering guidance.« less

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

Okhravi, Hamed; Sheldon, Frederick T.; Haines, Joshua

Data diodes provide protection of critical cyber assets by the means of physically enforcing traffic direction on the network. In order to deploy data diodes effectively, it is imperative to understand the protection they provide, the protection they do not provide, their limitations, and their place in the larger security infrastructure. In this work, we study data diodes, their functionalities and limitations. We then propose two critical infrastructure systems that can benefit from the additional protection offered by data diodes: process control networks and net-centric cyber decision support systems. We review the security requirements of these systems, describe the architectures,more » and study the trade-offs. Finally, the architectures are evaluated against different attack patterns.« less

Implementation of a Relay Coordination System for the Mars Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allard, Daniel A.

2010-01-01

Mars network relay operations involve the coordination of lander and orbiter teams through long-term and short-term planning, tactical changes and post-pass analysis. Much of this coordination is managed through email traffic and point-to-point file data exchanges. It is often difficult to construct a complete and accurate picture of the relay situation at any given moment, as there is no centralized store of correlated relay data. The Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS) is being implemented to address the problem of relay coordination for current and next-generation relay missions. The service is provided for the purpose of coordinating communications sessions between landed spacecraft assets and orbiting spacecraft assets at Mars. The service centralizes a set of functions previously distributed across multiple spacecraft operations teams, and as such greatly improves visibility into the end-to-end strategic coordination process. Most of the process revolves around the scheduling of communications sessions between the spacecraft during periods of time when a landed asset on Mars is geometrically visible by an orbiting spacecraft. These "relay" sessions are used to transfer data both to and from the landed asset via the orbiting asset on behalf of Earth-based spacecraft operators. This paper will discuss the relay coordination problem space, overview the architecture and design selected to meet system requirements, and describe the first phase of system implementation

Information-based models for finance and insurance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoyle, Edward

2010-10-01

In financial markets, the information that traders have about an asset is reflected in its price. The arrival of new information then leads to price changes. The `information-based framework' of Brody, Hughston and Macrina (BHM) isolates the emergence of information, and examines its role as a driver of price dynamics. This approach has led to the development of new models that capture a broad range of price behaviour. This thesis extends the work of BHM by introducing a wider class of processes for the generation of the market filtration. In the BHM framework, each asset is associated with a collection of random cash flows. The asset price is the sum of the discounted expectations of the cash flows. Expectations are taken with respect (i) an appropriate measure, and (ii) the filtration generated by a set of so-called information processes that carry noisy or imperfect market information about the cash flows. To model the flow of information, we introduce a class of processes termed Lévy random bridges (LRBs), generalising the Brownian and gamma information processes of BHM. Conditioned on its terminal value, an LRB is identical in law to a Lévy bridge. We consider in detail the case where the asset generates a single cash flow X_T at a fixed date T. The flow of information about X_T is modelled by an LRB with random terminal value X_T. An explicit expression for the price process is found by working out the discounted conditional expectation of X_T with respect to the natural filtration of the LRB. New models are constructed using information processes related to the Poisson process, the Cauchy process, the stable-1/2 subordinator, the variance-gamma process, and the normal inverse-Gaussian process. These are applied to the valuation of credit-risky bonds, vanilla and exotic options, and non-life insurance liabilities.

Reuse of Software Assets for the NASA Earth Science Decadal Survey Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mattmann, Chris A.; Downs, Robert R.; Marshall, James J.; Most, Neal F.; Samadi, Shahin

2010-01-01

Software assets from existing Earth science missions can be reused for the new decadal survey missions that are being planned by NASA in response to the 2007 Earth Science National Research Council (NRC) Study. The new missions will require the development of software to curate, process, and disseminate the data to science users of interest and to the broader NASA mission community. In this paper, we discuss new tools and a blossoming community that are being developed by the Earth Science Data System (ESDS) Software Reuse Working Group (SRWG) to improve capabilities for reusing NASA software assets.

The fundamental theorem of asset pricing under default and collateral in finite discrete time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez-Samaniego, Borys; Orrillo, Jaime

2006-08-01

We consider a financial market where time and uncertainty are modeled by a finite event-tree. The event-tree has a length of N, a unique initial node at the initial date, and a continuum of branches at each node of the tree. Prices and returns of J assets are modeled, respectively, by a R2JxR2J-valued stochastic process . In this framework we prove a version of the Fundamental Theorem of Asset Pricing which applies to defaultable securities backed by exogenous collateral suffering a contingent linear depreciation.

Joint Intelligence Operations Center (JIOC) Baseline Business Process Model & Capabilities Evaluation Methodology

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

Targeting Review Board OPLAN Operations Plan OPORD Operations Order OPSIT Operational Situation OSINT Open Source Intelligence OV...Analysis Evaluate FLTREPs MISREPs Unit Assign Assets Feedback Asset Shortfalls Multi-Int Collection Political & Embasy Law Enforcement HUMINT OSINT ...Embassy Information OSINT Manage Theater HUMINT Law Enforcement Collection Sort Requests Platform Information Agency Information M-I Collect

Analysis System for Self-Efficacy Training (ASSET). Assessing treatment fidelity of self-management interventions.

PubMed

Zinken, Katarzyna M; Cradock, Sue; Skinner, T Chas

2008-08-01

The paper presents the development of a coding tool for self-efficacy orientated interventions in diabetes self-management programmes (Analysis System for Self-Efficacy Training, ASSET) and explores its construct validity and clinical utility. Based on four sources of self-efficacy (i.e., mastery experience, role modelling, verbal persuasion and physiological and affective states), published self-efficacy based interventions for diabetes care were analysed in order to identify specific verbal behavioural techniques. Video-recorded facilitating behaviours were evaluated using ASSET. The reliability between four coders was high (K=0.71). ASSET enabled assessment of both self-efficacy based techniques and participants' response to those techniques. Individual patterns of delivery and shifts over time across facilitators were found. In the presented intervention we observed that self-efficacy utterances were followed by longer patient verbal responses than non-self-efficacy utterances. These detailed analyses with ASSET provide rich data and give the researcher an insight into the underlying mechanism of the intervention process. By providing a detailed description of self-efficacy strategies ASSET can be used by health care professionals to guide reflective practice and support training programmes.

The Arthroscopic Surgical Skill Evaluation Tool (ASSET)

PubMed Central

Koehler, Ryan J.; Amsdell, Simon; Arendt, Elizabeth A; Bisson, Leslie J; Braman, Jonathan P; Butler, Aaron; Cosgarea, Andrew J; Harner, Christopher D; Garrett, William E; Olson, Tyson; Warme, Winston J.; Nicandri, Gregg T.

2014-01-01

Background Surgeries employing arthroscopic techniques are among the most commonly performed in orthopaedic clinical practice however, valid and reliable methods of assessing the arthroscopic skill of orthopaedic surgeons are lacking. Hypothesis The Arthroscopic Surgery Skill Evaluation Tool (ASSET) will demonstrate content validity, concurrent criterion-oriented validity, and reliability, when used to assess the technical ability of surgeons performing diagnostic knee arthroscopy on cadaveric specimens. Study Design Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3 Methods Content validity was determined by a group of seven experts using a Delphi process. Intra-articular performance of a right and left diagnostic knee arthroscopy was recorded for twenty-eight residents and two sports medicine fellowship trained attending surgeons. Subject performance was assessed by two blinded raters using the ASSET. Concurrent criterion-oriented validity, inter-rater reliability, and test-retest reliability were evaluated. Results Content validity: The content development group identified 8 arthroscopic skill domains to evaluate using the ASSET. Concurrent criterion-oriented validity: Significant differences in total ASSET score (p<0.05) between novice, intermediate, and advanced experience groups were identified. Inter-rater reliability: The ASSET scores assigned by each rater were strongly correlated (r=0.91, p <0.01) and the intra-class correlation coefficient between raters for the total ASSET score was 0.90. Test-retest reliability: there was a significant correlation between ASSET scores for both procedures attempted by each individual (r = 0.79, p<0.01). Conclusion The ASSET appears to be a useful, valid, and reliable method for assessing surgeon performance of diagnostic knee arthroscopy in cadaveric specimens. Studies are ongoing to determine its generalizability to other procedures as well as to the live OR and other simulated environments. PMID:23548808

Advancements in Risk-Informed Performance-Based Asset Management for Commercial Nuclear Power Plants

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

Liming, James K.; Ravindra, Mayasandra K.

2006-07-01

Over the past several years, ABSG Consulting Inc. (ABS Consulting) and the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) have developed a decision support process and associated software for risk-informed, performance-based asset management (RIPBAM) of nuclear power plant facilities. RIPBAM applies probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) tools and techniques in the realm of plant physical and financial asset management. The RIPBAM process applies a tiered set of models and supporting performance measures (or metrics) that can ultimately be applied to support decisions affecting the allocation and management of plant resources (e.g., funding, staffing, scheduling, etc.). In general, the ultimate goal ofmore » the RIPBAM process is to continually support decision-making to maximize a facility's net present value (NPV) and long-term profitability for its owners. While the initial applications of RIPBAM have been for nuclear power stations, the methodology can easily be adapted to other types of power station or complex facility decision-making support. RIPBAM can also be designed to focus on performance metrics other than NPV and profitability (e.g., mission reliability, operational availability, probability of mission success per dollar invested, etc.). Recent advancements in the RIPBAM process focus on expanding the scope of previous RIPBAM applications to include not only operations, maintenance, and safety issues, but also broader risk perception components affecting plant owner (stockholder), operator, and regulator biases. Conceptually, RIPBAM is a comprehensive risk-informed cash flow model for decision support. It originated as a tool to help manage plant refueling outage scheduling, and was later expanded to include the full spectrum of operations and maintenance decision support. However, it differs from conventional business modeling tools in that it employs a systems engineering approach with broadly based probabilistic analysis of organizational 'value streams'. The scope of value stream inclusion in the process can be established by the user, but in its broadest applications, RIPBAM can be used to address how risk perceptions of plant owners and regulators are impacted by plant performance. Plant staffs can expand and refine RIPBAM models scope via a phased program of activities over time. This paper shows how the multi-metric uncertainty analysis feature of RIPBAM can apply a wide spectrum of decision-influencing factors to support decisions designed to maximize the probability of achieving, maintaining, and improving upon plant goals and objectives. In this paper, the authors show how this approach can be extremely valuable to plant owners and operators in supporting plant value-impacting decision-making processes. (authors)« less

Whither Space Power? Forging a Strategy for the New Century

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-09-01

cyber dimension. The physical assets that comprise communications networks— Courtesy of NASA Advanced Communication Technology Satellite 90...location to the energy produc­ tion and use site. As long-distance energy transmission be- comes feasible, this physical transport will undoubtedly mi­ grate...to space-based transmission systems much as communications systems have done and are continuing to do. 96 WORDEN Once this happens, we will have

An adaptive ARX model to estimate the RUL of aluminum plates based on its crack growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barraza-Barraza, Diana; Tercero-Gómez, Víctor G.; Beruvides, Mario G.; Limón-Robles, Jorge

2017-01-01

A wide variety of Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) techniques deal with the problem of predicting the time for an asset fault. Most statistical approaches rely on historical failure data that might not be available in several practical situations. To address this issue, practitioners might require the use of self-starting approaches that consider only the available knowledge about the current degradation process and the asset operating context to update the prognostic model. Some authors use Autoregressive (AR) models for this purpose that are adequate when the asset operating context is constant, however, if it is variable, the accuracy of the models can be affected. In this paper, three autoregressive models with exogenous variables (ARX) were constructed, and their capability to estimate the remaining useful life (RUL) of a process was evaluated following the case of the aluminum crack growth problem. An existing stochastic model of aluminum crack growth was implemented and used to assess RUL estimation performance of the proposed ARX models through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Point and interval estimations were made based only on individual history, behavior, operating conditions and failure thresholds. Both analytic and bootstrapping techniques were used in the estimation process. Finally, by including recursive parameter estimation and a forgetting factor, the ARX methodology adapts to changing operating conditions and maintain the focus on the current degradation level of an asset.

Local professionals' perceptions of health assets in a low-SES Dutch neighbourhood: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Den Broeder, Lea; Uiters, Ellen; Hofland, Aafke; Wagemakers, Annemarie; Schuit, Albertine Jantine

2017-07-12

Asset-based approaches have become popular in public health. As yet it is not known to what extent health and welfare professionals are able to identify and mobilise individual and community health assets. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand professional's perceptions of health and health assets. In a low-SES neighbourhood, 21 health and welfare professionals were interviewed about their definition of health and their perceptions of the residents' health status, assets available in the neighbourhood's environment, and the way residents use these assets. A Nominal Group Technique (NGT) session was conducted for member check. Verbatim transcripts of the semi-structured interviews were coded and analysed using Atlas.ti. The professionals used a broad health concept, emphasizing the social dimension of health as most important. They discussed the poor health of residents, mentioning multiple health problems and unmet health needs. They provided many examples of behaviour that they considered unhealthy, in particular unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. Professionals considered the green physical environment, as well as health and social services, including their own services, as important health enhancing factors, whereas social and economic factors were considered as major barriers for good health. Poor housing and litter in public space were considered as barriers as well. According to the professionals, residents underutilized neighbourhood health assets. They emphasised the impact of poverty on the residents and their health. Moreover, they felt that residents were lacking individual capabilities to lead a healthy life. Although committed to the wellbeing of the residents, some professionals seemed almost discouraged by the (perceived) situation. They looked for practical solutions by developing group-based approaches and supporting residents' self-organisation. Our study shows, firstly, that professionals in the priority district Slotermeer rated the health of the residents as poor and their health behaviour as inadequate. They considered poverty and lack of education as important causes of this situation. Secondly, the professionals tended to talk about barriers in the neighbourhood rather than about neighbourhood health assets. As such, it seems challenging to implement asset-based approaches. However, the professionals, based on their own experiences, did perceive the development of collective approaches as a promising direction for future community health development.

Optimizing Utilization of Detectors

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

provide a quantifiable process to determine how much time should be allocated to each task sharing the same asset . This optimized expected time... allocation is calculated by numerical analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. Numerical analysis determines the expectation by involving an integral and...determines the optimum time allocation of the asset by repeatedly running experiments to approximate the expectation of the random variables. This

Controls Over Army Real Property Financial Reporting

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-28

Property Accountability System DUSD(I&E) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations and Environment) GAO Government Accountability Office GAAP ... depreciate real property, and pass financial data to the financial statements. The process should employ the same system functionality and monthly cutoff...acquisition cost of assets less accumulated depreciation on those assets. Real Property Responsibilities The U.S. Army Assistant Chief of Staff for

Automated Monitoring with a BSP Fault-Detection Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bickford, Randall L.; Herzog, James P.

2003-01-01

The figure schematically illustrates a method and procedure for automated monitoring of an asset, as well as a hardware- and-software system that implements the method and procedure. As used here, asset could signify an industrial process, power plant, medical instrument, aircraft, or any of a variety of other systems that generate electronic signals (e.g., sensor outputs). In automated monitoring, the signals are digitized and then processed in order to detect faults and otherwise monitor operational status and integrity of the monitored asset. The major distinguishing feature of the present method is that the fault-detection function is implemented by use of a Bayesian sequential probability (BSP) technique. This technique is superior to other techniques for automated monitoring because it affords sensitivity, not only to disturbances in the mean values, but also to very subtle changes in the statistical characteristics (variance, skewness, and bias) of the monitored signals.

Entropy measure of credit risk in highly correlated markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gottschalk, Sylvia

2017-07-01

We compare the single and multi-factor structural models of corporate default by calculating the Jeffreys-Kullback-Leibler divergence between their predicted default probabilities when asset correlations are either high or low. Single-factor structural models assume that the stochastic process driving the value of a firm is independent of that of other companies. A multi-factor structural model, on the contrary, is built on the assumption that a single firm's value follows a stochastic process correlated with that of other companies. Our main results show that the divergence between the two models increases in highly correlated, volatile, and large markets, but that it is closer to zero in small markets, when asset correlations are low and firms are highly leveraged. These findings suggest that during periods of financial instability, when asset volatility and correlations increase, one of the models misreports actual default risk.

7 CFR 3565.402 - Servicing responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...) Asset management. The lender must ensure that the property securing the guaranteed loan remains in good physical and financial condition, in accordance with project management requirements contained in subpart H... its agents and representatives. (a) Funds management. The lender must have a funds management system...

Equity Financing: Real Estate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Richard; Davies, Jonathan

1987-01-01

Many small, private colleges are examining aggressive ways of economically developing their land and other physical assets by strategies ranging from direct ownership of tangible property to joint and participating ownership arrangements consisting of leases, financing, and partnerships. In all cases, however, potential tax consequences should be…

7 CFR 3565.402 - Servicing responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...) Asset management. The lender must ensure that the property securing the guaranteed loan remains in good physical and financial condition, in accordance with project management requirements contained in subpart H... its agents and representatives. (a) Funds management. The lender must have a funds management system...

7 CFR 3565.402 - Servicing responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...) Asset management. The lender must ensure that the property securing the guaranteed loan remains in good physical and financial condition, in accordance with project management requirements contained in subpart H... its agents and representatives. (a) Funds management. The lender must have a funds management system...

7 CFR 3565.402 - Servicing responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...) Asset management. The lender must ensure that the property securing the guaranteed loan remains in good physical and financial condition, in accordance with project management requirements contained in subpart H... its agents and representatives. (a) Funds management. The lender must have a funds management system...

7 CFR 3565.402 - Servicing responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

...) Asset management. The lender must ensure that the property securing the guaranteed loan remains in good physical and financial condition, in accordance with project management requirements contained in subpart H... its agents and representatives. (a) Funds management. The lender must have a funds management system...

Financial methods in competitive electricity markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Shijie

The restructuring of electric power industry has become a global trend. As reforms to the electricity supply industry spread rapidly across countries and states, many political and economical issues arise as a result of people debating over which approach to adopt in restructuring the vertically integrated electricity industry. This dissertation addresses issues of transmission pricing, electricity spot price modeling, as well as risk management and asset valuation in a competitive electricity industry. A major concern in the restructuring of the electricity industries is the design of a transmission pricing scheme that will ensure open-access to the transmission networks. I propose a priority-pricing scheme for zonal access to the electric power grid that is uniform across all buses in each zone. The Independent System Operator (ISO) charges bulk power traders a per unit ex ante transmission access fee based on the expected option value of the generated power with respect to the random zonal spot prices. The zonal access fee depends on the injection zone and a self-selected strike price determining the scheduling priority of the transaction. Inter zonal transactions are charged (or credited) with an additional ex post congestion fee that equals the zonal spot price difference. The unit access fee entitles a bulk power trader to either physical injection of one unit of energy or a compensation payment that equals to the difference between the realized zonal spot price and the selected strike price. The ISO manages congestion so as to minimize net compensation payments and thus, curtailment probabilities corresponding to a particular strike price may vary by bus. The rest of the dissertation deals with the issues of modeling electricity spot prices, pricing electricity financial instruments and the corresponding risk management applications. Modeling the spot prices of electricity is important for the market participants who need to understand the risk factors in pricing electricity financial instruments such as electricity forwards, options and cross-commodity derivatives. It is also essential for the analysis of financial risk management, asset valuation, and project financing. In the setting of diffusion processes with multiple types of jumps, I examine three mean-reversion models for modeling the electricity spot prices. I impose some structure on the coefficients of the diffusion processes, which allows me to easily compute the prices of contingent claims (or, financial instruments) on electricity by Fourier methods. I derive the pricing formulas for various electricity derivatives and examine how the prices vary with different modeling assumptions. I demonstrate a couple of risk management applications of the electricity financial instruments. I also construct a real options approach to value electric power generation and transmission assets both with and without accounting for the operating characteristics of the assets. The implications of the mean-reversion jump-diffusion models on financial risk management and real asset valuation in competitive electricity markets are illustrated. With a discrete trinomial lattice modeling the underlying commodity prices, I estimate the effects of operational characteristics on the asset valuation by means of numerical examples that incorporate these aspects using stochastic dynamic programming. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Procuring load curtailment from local customers under uncertainty.

PubMed

Mijatović, Aleksandar; Moriarty, John; Vogrinc, Jure

2017-08-13

Demand side response (DSR) provides a flexible approach to managing constrained power network assets. This is valuable if future asset utilization is uncertain. However there may be uncertainty over the process of procurement of DSR from customers. In this context we combine probabilistic modelling, simulation and optimization to identify economically optimal procurement policies from heterogeneous customers local to the asset, under chance constraints on the adequacy of the procured DSR. Mathematically this gives rise to a search over permutations, and we provide an illustrative example implementation and case study.This article is part of the themed issue 'Energy management: flexibility, risk and optimization'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Impact of protective factors on resilience of grandparent carers fostering orphans and non-orphans in Zimbabwe.

PubMed

Mhaka-Mutepfa, Magen; Mpofu, Elias; Cumming, Robert

2015-04-01

This study sought to explore the impact of protective factors, health, and well-being on resilience of grandparents fostering orphans. Data were collected from grandparents (N = 327; M age = 62.4; SD = 11.2) in Zimbabwe using a survey instrument comprising the Resilience Scale and World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression, predicting resilience from demographics, personal and social assets, health, and well-being. Protective factors associated with resilience were personal assets (high self-esteem, problem-solving skills, and mastery) and social assets (social networks and spirituality). Grandparents with higher coping skills, younger age, and high socioeconomic status (SES) had superior personal competences for resilience than peers with lower self-rated personal attributes. Grandparents with good physical and mental health had higher resilience profiles. Positive emotions and good health experienced by resilient grandparent carers function as protective factors to reduce the magnitude of adversity to individuals and assist them to cope well with caregiving. © The Author(s) 2014.

2D and 3D virtual interactive laboratories of physics on Unity platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González, J. D.; Escobar, J. H.; Sánchez, H.; De la Hoz, J.; Beltrán, J. R.

2017-12-01

Using the cross-platform game engine Unity, we develop virtual laboratories for PC, consoles, mobile devices and website as an innovative tool to study physics. There is extensive uptake of ICT in the teaching of science and its impact on the learning, and considering the limited availability of laboratories for physics teaching and the difficulties this causes in the learning of school students, we design the virtual laboratories to enhance studentâĂŹs knowledge of concepts in physics. To achieve this goal, we use Unity due to provide support bump mapping, reflection mapping, parallax mapping, dynamics shadows using shadows maps, full-screen post-processing effects and render-to-texture. Unity can use the best variant for the current video hardware and, if none are compatible, to use an alternative shader that may sacrifice features for performance. The control over delivery to mobile devices, web browsers, consoles and desktops is the main reason Unity is the best option among the same kind cross-platform. Supported platforms include Android, Apple TV, Linux, iOS, Nintendo 3DS line, macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows Phone 8, Wii but also an asset server and Nvidia’s PhysX physics engine which is the most relevant tool on Unity for our PhysLab.

Sustaining Research Networks: the Twenty-Year Experience of the HMO Research Network

PubMed Central

Steiner, John F.; Paolino, Andrea R.; Thompson, Ella E.; Larson, Eric B.

2014-01-01

Purpose: As multi-institutional research networks assume a central role in clinical research, they must address the challenge of sustainability. Despite its importance, the concept of network sustainability has received little attention in the literature, and the sustainability strategies of durable scientific networks have not been described. Innovation: The Health Maintenance Organization Research Network (HMORN) is a consortium of 18 research departments in integrated health care delivery systems with over 15 million members in the United States and Israel. The HMORN has coordinated federally funded scientific networks and studies since 1994. This case study describes the HMORN approach to sustainability, proposes an operational definition of network sustainability, and identifies 10 essential elements that can enhance sustainability. Credibility: The sustainability framework proposed here is drawn from prior publications on organizational issues by HMORN investigators and from the experience of recent HMORN leaders and senior staff. Conclusion and Discussion: Network sustainability can be defined as (1) the development and enhancement of shared research assets to facilitate a sequence of research studies in a specific content area or multiple areas, and (2) a community of researchers and other stakeholders who reuse and develop those assets. Essential elements needed to develop the shared assets of a network include: network governance; trustworthy data and processes for sharing data; shared knowledge about research tools; administrative efficiency; physical infrastructure; and infrastructure funding. The community of researchers within a network is enhanced by: a clearly defined mission, vision and values; protection of human subjects; a culture of collaboration; and strong relationships with host organizations. While the importance of these elements varies based on the membership and goals of a network, this framework for sustainability can enhance strategic planning within the network and can guide relationships with external stakeholders. PMID:25848605

25 CFR 224.139 - What must a tribe do after receiving a notice of imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS TRIBAL ENERGY RESOURCE AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.139 What must a tribe do after...

24 CFR 891.530 - Prepayment privileges.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... (Continued) OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HOUSING-FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING... the assignment or transfer of physical and financial assets of any Section 202 project is prohibited, unless the Secretary gives prior written approval. (b) The Secretary may not grant approval unless he or...

24 CFR 891.530 - Prepayment privileges.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... (CONTINUED) OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HOUSING-FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING... the assignment or transfer of physical and financial assets of any Section 202 project is prohibited, unless the Secretary gives prior written approval. (b) The Secretary may not grant approval unless he or...

24 CFR 891.530 - Prepayment privileges.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... (CONTINUED) OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HOUSING-FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING... the assignment or transfer of physical and financial assets of any Section 202 project is prohibited, unless the Secretary gives prior written approval. (b) The Secretary may not grant approval unless he or...

Considerations When Upgrading and Renovating Window Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gille, Steve

2010-01-01

Today's educational facilities managers face many challenges. As stewards of their campus' physical assets, these professionals are charged with improving students' learning environments, saving money, and maintaining the historical and aesthetic integrity of their buildings. For schools and universities that have not replaced their windows in…

Artificial Intelligent Platform as Decision Tool for Asset Management, Operations and Maintenance.

PubMed

2018-01-04

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) system has been developed and implemented for water, wastewater and reuse plants to improve management of sensors, short and long term maintenance plans, asset and investment management plans. It is based on an integrated approach to capture data from different computer systems and files. It adds a layer of intelligence to the data. It serves as a repository of key current and future operations and maintenance conditions that a plant needs have knowledge of. With this information, it is able to simulate the configuration of processes and assets for those conditions to improve or optimize operations, maintenance and asset management, using the IViewOps (Intelligent View of Operations) model. Based on the optimization through model runs, it is able to create output files that can feed data to other systems and inform the staff regarding optimal solutions to the conditions experienced or anticipated in the future.

Sex, Attractiveness, and Third-Party Punishment in Fairness Consideration

PubMed Central

Li, Jia; Zhou, Xiaolin

2014-01-01

Social evaluation of others is often influenced by the physical attractiveness of the person being judged, leading to either a beauty premium or penalty depending on the circumstances. Here we asked Chinese participants to act as an interest-free third party in a dictator game and to evaluate the fairness level of monetary allocation by attractive and less attractive proposers of the same or opposite sex. We also instructed participants to express their willingness to punish the proposers by using a visual analogue scale. Results confirmed that the reasonableness evaluation was mainly affected by the reasonableness of offers. However, participants' intention to punish the proposers was affected by the level of reasonableness in the asset distribution and by both the sex and attractiveness of the proposers. Overall, male proposers were punished more severely than female proposers. Moreover, the same-sex proposers were punished more severely than opposite-sex proposers when they were physically attractive; this pattern was reversed when the proposers were less physically attractive. These results demonstrate social responses following an individual's unfair asset distribution can be affected by both social norms and the personal characteristics of the individual. PMID:24709987

Defense Logistics: DOD Has Addressed Most Reporting Requirements and Continues to Refine Its Asset Visibility Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

Development, Test, and Evaluation RFID Radio Frequency Identification SEP Supporting Execution Plan Strategy Strategy to Improve Asset...migration of active Radio Frequency Identification ( RFID )19 from a proprietary communication standard protocol to an international standard to...technologies enabling hands-off processing of materiel deploying through the Defense Transportation System. Materiel marked with RFID tags may be remotely

Intellectual assets management and transfer in food science sector in Indian research and development organizations.

PubMed

Singh, Vikram; Chakraborty, Kajal

2016-05-01

In recent years, the food science sector has gained importance since the society is focusing on high-quality and safety foods. With a specific end goal to meet this societal need, the research and development organizations in India have adopted innovative technical and research processes, which gave more accentuation on intellectual assessment in food processing industry. The global Intellectual Property regime in food science sector had witnessed an increment in the number of patents filed and granted during 2006-2010. Ever since there has been a gradual increase in the number of patents applied mainly in food processing industries by research organizations related to food sciences, for example, those working under the aegis of ICAR and CSIR in India. In this study, a review has been done on the intellectual assets generated by ICAR and other national research organizations in India, in the food science sector. Emphasis has been given on the global relevance of these assets, modes of IP protection and technology transfer mechanisms followed by different public and private organizations.

Yielding physically-interpretable emulators - A Sparse PCA approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galelli, S.; Alsahaf, A.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.

2015-12-01

Projection-based techniques, such as Principal Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), are a common approach to surrogate high-fidelity process-based models by lower order dynamic emulators. With POD, the dimensionality reduction is achieved by using observations, or 'snapshots' - generated with the high-fidelity model -, to project the entire set of input and state variables of this model onto a smaller set of basis functions that account for most of the variability in the data. While reduction efficiency and variance control of POD techniques are usually very high, the resulting emulators are structurally highly complex and can hardly be given a physically meaningful interpretation as each basis is a projection of the entire set of inputs and states. In this work, we propose a novel approach based on Sparse Principal Component Analysis (SPCA) that combines the several assets of POD methods with the potential for ex-post interpretation of the emulator structure. SPCA reduces the number of non-zero coefficients in the basis functions by identifying a sparse matrix of coefficients. While the resulting set of basis functions may retain less variance of the snapshots, the presence of a few non-zero coefficients assists in the interpretation of the underlying physical processes. The SPCA approach is tested on the reduction of a 1D hydro-ecological model (DYRESM-CAEDYM) used to describe the main ecological and hydrodynamic processes in Tono Dam, Japan. An experimental comparison against a standard POD approach shows that SPCA achieves the same accuracy in emulating a given output variable - for the same level of dimensionality reduction - while yielding better insights of the main process dynamics.

Development of Asset Fault Signatures for Prognostic and Health Management in the Nuclear Industry

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

Vivek Agarwal; Nancy J. Lybeck; Randall Bickford

2014-06-01

Proactive online monitoring in the nuclear industry is being explored using the Electric Power Research Institute’s Fleet-Wide Prognostic and Health Management (FW-PHM) Suite software. The FW-PHM Suite is a set of web-based diagnostic and prognostic tools and databases that serves as an integrated health monitoring architecture. The FW-PHM Suite has four main modules: Diagnostic Advisor, Asset Fault Signature (AFS) Database, Remaining Useful Life Advisor, and Remaining Useful Life Database. This paper focuses on development of asset fault signatures to assess the health status of generator step-up generators and emergency diesel generators in nuclear power plants. Asset fault signatures describe themore » distinctive features based on technical examinations that can be used to detect a specific fault type. At the most basic level, fault signatures are comprised of an asset type, a fault type, and a set of one or more fault features (symptoms) that are indicative of the specified fault. The AFS Database is populated with asset fault signatures via a content development exercise that is based on the results of intensive technical research and on the knowledge and experience of technical experts. The developed fault signatures capture this knowledge and implement it in a standardized approach, thereby streamlining the diagnostic and prognostic process. This will support the automation of proactive online monitoring techniques in nuclear power plants to diagnose incipient faults, perform proactive maintenance, and estimate the remaining useful life of assets.« less

Cognitive Benefits of Exercise Intervention.

PubMed

Archer, T; Ricci, S; Massoni, F; Ricci, L; Rapp-Ricciardi, M

2016-01-01

Exercise, as a potent epigenetic regulator, implies the potential to counteract pathophysiological processes and alterations in most cardiovascular/respiratory cells and tissues not withstanding a paucity of understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms and doseresponse relationships. In the present account, the assets accruing from physical exercise and its influence upon executive functioning are examined. Under conditions of neuropsychiatric and neurologic ill-health, age-related deterioration of functional and biomarker indicators during healthy and disordered trajectories, neuroimmune and affective unbalance, and epigenetic pressures, exercise offers a large harvest of augmentations in health and well-being. Both animal models and human studies support the premise of manifest gains from regular exercise within several domains, besides cognitive function and mood, notably as the agency of a noninvasive, readily available therapeutic intervention.

Physical activity prescription by primary care nurses using health assets: Study design of a randomized controlled trial in patients with cardiovascular risk factors.

PubMed

Riera-Sampol, Aina; Tauler, Pedro; Bennasar-Veny, Miquel; Leiva, Alfonso; Artigues-Vives, Guillem; De Pedro-Gómez, Joan; Pericàs, Jordi; Moreno, Carlos; Arbos, Maite; Aguilo, Antoni

2017-09-01

To analyse the efficacy of a 12-month multifactorial intervention by primary care nurses in increasing adherence to physical activity prescription (150 min/week) in patients with two or more cardiovascular risk factors and with cardiovascular risk up to 15% determined by the REGICOR equation. In Spain, cardiovascular diseases are responsible for 30.5% of deaths. Regular physical activity decreases mortality risk due to cardiovascular diseases but the effectiveness of physical activity prescription in routine in primary care settings has been shown to be low. Multicentre, single-blind, parallel randomized (in two different branches) clinical trial. At least 368 participants will be recruited (184 control and 184 intervention), to show an 8% increase in adherence to the physical activity prescription (1.2% control group and 9.2% intervention group). Participants will be patients aged 35-75 years with at least two cardiovascular risk factors and with a cardiovascular risk of up to 15% measured using the Framingham-REGICOR equation. Intervention will be performed throughout baseline and three follow-up visits. A motivational interview, the trans-theoretical stages of changes of Prochaska and DiClemente and an individualized prescription of physical exercise using physical activity assets will be used in the intervention. Data will be collected at baseline and after the 1-year intervention. The present study will allow us to find out whether this brief multifactorial intervention induces greater adherence to physical activity prescription than usual practice, improving the quality of patient care. International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): ISRCTN76069254. Protocol version 1.1, 6 July 2015. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Force level EW in the Australian Defence Force

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finn, Anthony; Chalmers, Greg; Pincombe, Adrian

2001-08-01

The Australian Defence Force is a small force, dependent upon a few high value assets that act as force multipliers. Consequently, it cannot afford to sustain high attrition. The current Concept of Operations for these platforms is to operate them outside the threat envelope. Organic sensors and data links are used to maintain Situational Awareness, Combat Air Patrol is used to intercept hostile missile launch platforms, and Electronic Warfare self-protection is used as a last resort. Unfortunately, it is common for such high value assets to be slowly, non-stealthy, low agility, physically large platforms that follow predictable trajectories. Consequently, they are easy to target and track from a long range and have a high `sitting duck' factor.

31 CFR 800.208 - Critical infrastructure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Critical infrastructure. 800.208..., AND TAKEOVERS BY FOREIGN PERSONS Definitions § 800.208 Critical infrastructure. The term critical infrastructure means, in the context of a particular covered transaction, a system or asset, whether physical or...

31 CFR 800.208 - Critical infrastructure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Critical infrastructure. 800.208..., AND TAKEOVERS BY FOREIGN PERSONS Definitions § 800.208 Critical infrastructure. The term critical infrastructure means, in the context of a particular covered transaction, a system or asset, whether physical or...

31 CFR 800.208 - Critical infrastructure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Critical infrastructure. 800.208..., AND TAKEOVERS BY FOREIGN PERSONS Definitions § 800.208 Critical infrastructure. The term critical infrastructure means, in the context of a particular covered transaction, a system or asset, whether physical or...

31 CFR 800.208 - Critical infrastructure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Critical infrastructure. 800.208..., AND TAKEOVERS BY FOREIGN PERSONS Definitions § 800.208 Critical infrastructure. The term critical infrastructure means, in the context of a particular covered transaction, a system or asset, whether physical or...

25 CFR 224.140 - What must the Secretary do if the tribe fails to respond to or does not comply with the Director...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.140 What must... Secretary may take any actions the Secretary deems appropriate to protect the physical trust asset, which...

Building for a Thousand Years.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaw, Walter A.

1990-01-01

An inadequate (although constant) share of funding, a serious accumulation of deferred maintenance, and the decline in constant dollars directed toward physical plants all suggest that the overall higher education enterprise is underfunded. At the expense of future generations, we are spending down the capital asset represented by facilities. (MLW)

Conceptualizing Poverty: A Look Inside the Indonesian Household

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-10-01

physical assets, including: one television, one refrigerator, two radios, two bicycles, and the eggs from seven chickens. Despite the independent...Code River. Ibu Marsono worked as an assistant selling bakso — a meatball soup sold from a pushcart. Her husband owned his own pushcart and sold

24 CFR 891.700 - Prepayment of loans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... (Continued) OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HOUSING-FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING... and Individuals-Section 162 Assistance § 891.700 Prepayment of loans. (a) Prepayment prohibition. The prepayment (whether in whole or in part) or the assignment or transfer of physical and financial assets of...

Maintaining High-Performance Schools after Construction or Renovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luepke, Gary; Ronsivalli, Louis J., Jr.

2009-01-01

With taxpayers' considerable investment in schools, it is critical for school districts to preserve their community's assets with new construction or renovation and effective facility maintenance programs. "High-performance" school buildings are designed to link the physical environment to positive student achievement while providing such benefits…

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

MacDonald, Douglas G.; Clements, Samuel L.; Patrick, Scott W.

Securing high value and critical assets is one of the biggest challenges facing this nation and others around the world. In modern integrated systems, there are four potential modes of attack available to an adversary: • physical only attack, • cyber only attack, • physical-enabled cyber attack, • cyber-enabled physical attack. Blended attacks involve an adversary working in one domain to reduce system effectiveness in another domain. This enables the attacker to penetrate further into the overall layered defenses. Existing vulnerability assessment (VA) processes and software tools which predict facility vulnerabilities typically evaluate the physical and cyber domains separately. Vulnerabilitiesmore » which result from the integration of cyber-physical control systems are not well characterized and are often overlooked by existing assessment approaches. In this paper, we modified modification of the timely detection methodology, used for decades in physical security VAs, to include cyber components. The Physical and Cyber Risk Analysis Tool (PACRAT) prototype illustrates an integrated vulnerability assessment that includes cyber-physical interdependencies. Information about facility layout, network topology, and emplaced safeguards is used to evaluate how well suited a facility is to detect, delay, and respond to attacks, to identify the pathways most vulnerable to attack, and to evaluate how often safeguards are compromised for a given threat or adversary type. We have tested the PACRAT prototype on critical infrastructure facilities and the results are promising. Future work includes extending the model to prescribe the recommended security improvements via an automated cost-benefit analysis.« less

Detecting Multifractal Properties in Asset Returns:

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lux, Thomas

It has become popular recently to apply the multifractal formalism of statistical physics (scaling analysis of structure functions and f(α) singularity spectrum analysis) to financial data. The outcome of such studies is a nonlinear shape of the structure function and a nontrivial behavior of the spectrum. Eventually, this literature has moved from basic data analysis to estimation of particular variants of multifractal models for asset returns via fitting of the empirical τ(q) and f(α) functions. Here, we reinvestigate earlier claims of multifractality using four long time series of important financial markets. Taking the recently proposed multifractal models of asset returns as our starting point, we show that the typical "scaling estimators" used in the physics literature are unable to distinguish between spurious and "true" multiscaling of financial data. Designing explicit tests for multiscaling, we can in no case reject the null hypothesis that the apparent curvature of both the scaling function and the Hölder spectrum are spuriously generated by the particular fat-tailed distribution of financial data. Given the well-known overwhelming evidence in favor of different degrees of long-term dependence in the powers of returns, we interpret this inability to reject the null hypothesis of multiscaling as a lack of discriminatory power of the standard approach rather than as a true rejection of multiscaling. However, the complete "failure" of the multifractal apparatus in this setting also raises the question whether results in other areas (like geophysics) suffer from similar shortcomings of the traditional methodology.

Rural livelihoods and access to natural capital: Differences between migrants and non-migrants in Madagascar

PubMed Central

Nawrotzki, Raphael J.; Hunter, Lori M.; Dickinson, Thomas W.

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND Although natural resources play a central role in rural livelihoods across the globe, little research has explored the relationship between migration and natural capital use, particularly in combination with other livelihood capitals (i.e., human, social, financial and physical). OBJECTIVE Grounded in the rural livelihood framework, this paper explores the association between the livelihood capital availability, especially natural capital, for migrants and non-migrants in rural Madagascar. METHODS Data from the 2008/2009 Demographic and Health Survey are used in combination with satellite imagery of vegetation coverage (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) to proxy natural resources. Hierarchical multilevel models allow for inclusion of cross-level interactions between migrant status and proximate natural resources as determinants of the status of livelihood assets. RESULTS Three key findings emerge. First, higher levels of proximate natural resources are associated with greater financial, human, and social capital for both migrants and non-migrants. Second, migrants have, on average, greater financial, physical, human, and social capital than non-migrants, and urban-to-rural migrants do exceptionally well on all capital asset categories. Third, migrants residing in areas with higher levels of natural capital tend to have significantly higher levels of human capital (education). CONCLUSION Although we cannot examine livelihood strategies per se, the results suggest variation in livelihood potential among migrants and non-migrants in rural Madagascar, with migrants tending to have greater capital assets. In addition, access to natural resources is a central livelihood strategy. PMID:25364297

48 CFR 1542.1203 - Processing agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... CONTRACT MANAGEMENT CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION Novation and Change of Name Agreements 1542.1203 Processing... assets or change of name. A supplemental agreement number need not be obtained for contracts other than...

Beam and Plasma Physics Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

La di~raDy in high power microwave computations and thi-ory and high energy plasma computations and theory. The HPM computations concentrated on...2.1 REPORT INDEX 7 2.2 TASK AREA 2: HIGH-POWER RF EMISSION AND CHARGED- PARTICLE BEAM PHYSICS COMPUTATION , MODELING AND THEORY 10 2.2.1 Subtask 02-01...Vulnerability of Space Assets 22 2.2.6 Subtask 02-06, Microwave Computer Program Enhancements 22 2.2.7 Subtask 02-07, High-Power Microwave Transvertron Design 23

Escape and evade control policies for ensuring the physical security of nonholonomic, ground-based, unattended mobile sensor nodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mascarenas, David; Stull, Christopher; Farrar, Charles

2011-06-01

In order to realize the wide-scale deployment of high-endurance, unattended mobile sensing technologies, it is vital to ensure the self-preservation of the sensing assets. Deployed mobile sensor nodes face a variety of physical security threats including theft, vandalism and physical damage. Unattended mobile sensor nodes must be able to respond to these threats with control policies that facilitate escape and evasion to a low-risk state. In this work the Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) problem has been considered. The PIT maneuver is a technique that a pursuing, car-like vehicle can use to force a fleeing vehicle to abruptly turn ninety degrees to the direction of travel. The abrupt change in direction generally causes the fleeing driver to lose control and stop. The PIT maneuver was originally developed by law enforcement to end vehicular pursuits in a manner that minimizes damage to the persons and property involved. It is easy to imagine that unattended autonomous convoys could be targets of this type of action by adversarial agents. This effort focused on developing control policies unattended mobile sensor nodes could employ to escape, evade and recover from PIT-maneuver-like attacks. The development of these control policies involved both simulation as well as small-scale experimental testing. The goal of this work is to be a step toward ensuring the physical security of unattended sensor node assets.

Financial Statistics of Institutions of Higher Education: Property. Fiscal Year 1975. State Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mertins, Paul F.; Brandt, Norman J.

Data are provided on the physical plant assets, indebtedness, and endowments of United States colleges and universities as of the end of the 1975 fiscal year. National, regional, and state totals are presented, derived from the 10th annual Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS). (MSE)

School Roofing Asset Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeil, Dennis

2011-01-01

Maintenance of physical structures always has been a significant challenge for education institutions, but today's economic climate, which has cut budgets to the bone, has raised the stakes. Funding, staffing and resources for proper maintenance are becoming harder to find, and the need for upkeep and maintenance remains constant. Nowhere is this…

Understanding soil erosion impacts in temperate agroecosystems: bridging the gap between geomorphology and soil ecology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baxter, C.; Rowan, J. S.; McKenzie, B. M.; Neilson, R.

2013-04-01

Soil is a key asset of natural capital, providing a myriad of goods and ecosystem services that sustain life through regulating, supporting and provisioning roles, delivered by chemical, physical and biological processes. One of the greatest threats to soil is accelerated erosion, which raises a natural process to unsustainable levels, and has downstream consequences (e.g. economic, environmental and social). Global intensification of agroecosystems is a major cause of soil erosion which, in light of predicted population growth and increased demand for food security, will continue or increase. Elevated erosion and transport is common in agroecosystems and presents a multi-disciplinary problem with direct physical impacts (e.g. soil loss), other less tangible impacts (e.g. loss of ecosystem productivity), and indirect downstream effects that necessitate an integrated approach to effectively address the problem. Climate is also likely to increase susceptibility of soil to erosion. Beyond physical response, the consequences of erosion on soil biota have hitherto been ignored, yet biota play a fundamental role in ecosystem service provision. To our knowledge few studies have addressed the gap between erosion and consequent impacts on soil biota. Transport and redistribution of soil biota by erosion is poorly understood, as is the concomitant impact on biodiversity and ability of soil to deliver the necessary range of ecosystem services to maintain function. To investigate impacts of erosion on soil biota a two-fold research approach is suggested. Physical processes involved in redistribution should be characterised and rates of transport and redistribution quantified. Similarly, cumulative and long-term impacts of biota erosion should be considered. Understanding these fundamental aspects will provide a basis upon which mitigation strategies can be considered.

Subduction and Restratification Along an Eddy Edge: The Role of Ekman Dynamics and Submesoscale Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucas, A.; Sengupta, D.; D'Asaro, E. A.; Nash, J. D.; Shroyer, E.; Mahadevan, A.; Tandon, A.; MacKinnon, J. A.; Pinkel, R.

2016-02-01

The exchange of heat between the atmosphere and ocean depends sensitively on the structure and extent of the oceanic boundary layer. Heat fluxes into and out of the ocean in turn influence atmospheric processes, and, in the northern Indian Ocean, impact the dominant regional weather pattern (the southwest Monsoon). In late 2015, measurements of the physical structure of the oceanic boundary layer were collected from a pair of research vessels and an array of autonomous assets in the Bay of Bengal as part of an India-U.S. scientific collaboration. Repeated CTD casts by a specialized shipboard system to 200m with a repeat rate of <3 min and a lateral spacing of < 200m, as well as near-surface sampling acoustic current profilers, showed how on the edge of an oceanic mesoscale eddy, the interaction of the mesoscale strain field, Ekman dynamics, and nonlinear submesoscale processes acted to subduct relative saline water under a very thin layer of fresher water derived from riverine sources. Our detailed surveys of the front between the overriding thin, fresh layer, and subducting adjacent more saline water demonstrated the important of small-scale physical dynamics to frontal slumping and the resulting re-stratification processes. These processes were strongly 3-dimensional and time-dependent. Such dynamics ultimately influence air-sea interactions by creating strongly stratified and very thin oceanic boundary layers in the Bay of Bengal, and allow the development of strong, persistent subsurface temperature maxima.

Earth Sciences data access and preservation with gLibrary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guidetti, Veronica; Calanducci, Antonio

2010-05-01

ESA-ESRIN, the European Space Agency Centre for Earth Observation (EO), is the largest European EO data provider and operates as the reference European centre for EO payload data exploitation. EO data acquired from space have become powerful scientific tools to enable better understanding and management of the Earth and its resources. Large international initiatives such as GMES and GEO, supported by the European Commission, focus on coordinating international efforts to environmental monitoring, i.e. to provide political and technical solutions to global issues, such as climate change, global environment monitoring, management of natural resources and humanitarian response. Since the time-span of EO data archives extends from a few years to decades, their value as scientific time-series increases considerably, especially for the topic of global change. It will be soon necessary to re-analyse on global scale the information currently locked inside large thematic archives. Future research in the field of Earth Sciences is of invaluable importance: to carry it on researchers worldwide must be enabled to find and access data of interest in a quick and easy way. At present, several thousands of scientists, principal investigators and operators, access EO missions' metadata, data and derived information on a daily basis. Main objectives may be to study the global climate change, to check the status of the instrument on-board and the quality of EO data. There is a huge worldwide scientific community calling for the need to keep EO data accessible without time constrains, easily and quickly. In collaboration with ESA-ESRIN, INFN, the National Institute for Nuclear Physics, is implementing a demonstrative use case where satellite remote sensing data, including in-situ data and other kind of digital assets, are made available to the scientific community via gLibrary (https://glibrary.ct.infn.it), the INFN digital library platform. gLibrary can be used to store, organise, browse, retrieve, annotate and replicate any kind of digital asset on data grids or distributed storage environments. It provides digital assets preservation capabilities, making use of distributed replication of assets, decoupling from the underlying storage technology, and adoption of standard interfaces and metadata descriptions. In its future development gLibrary will investigate and possibly provide integration with grid and HPC processing services, including the ESA G-POD facility (http://eogrid.esrin.esa.int). Currently, gLibrary features encompass fast data access, quick retrieval of digital assets, metadata handling and sharing (including text annotation), high availability and scalability (due to its distributed architecture), (meta)data replication and, last but not least, authentication and authorisation. Much of the experimentation is on-going at EC and international level to provide coordinated and interoperable access to EO data and satellite imagery including any kind of related digital assets (metadata, documents, product guidelines, auxiliary data, mission/sensor specifications, environmental reports). The work with gLibrary comes as a best effort initiative and targets a full interoperability with ESA EO data dissemination, recovering and processing services and intends to demonstrate the benefit the scientific community can gain from this kind of integrated data access. It contributes to respond to the Earth Sciences data users' needs, moving forward the technology development to facilitate a very interactive EO information sharing, analysis and interoperability on the Web.

Business Planning for Cultural Heritage Institutions. A Framework and Resource Guide to Assist Cultural Heritage Institutions with Business Planning for Sustainability of Digital Asset Management Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bishoff, Liz; Allen, Nancy

2004-01-01

The purpose of this document is to present a framework and resource guide to help cultural heritage institutions plan sustainable access to their digital cultural assets and to do so by means that link their missions to planning modes and models. To aid cultural heritage organizations in the business-planning process, this resource will do the…

Asset securitization and rate of return: A study on letters of guarantee

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Binghui

2018-01-01

Using the theory of asset securitization, we analyze the feasibility of the securitization of letters of guarantee in theory. In the process of constructing the model of rate of return of securities backed by letters of guarantee, we propose two indices: the risk probability of asset-backed securities and the loss rate of asset-backed securities to analyze the cash flow of securities. On the basis of no arbitrage principle, the expression of rate of return of securities backed by letters of guarantee is put forward. In order to study the relationship between the rate of return of securities and other influential factor in the model, a simulation experiment is designed. The experiment results show that (i) an increasing risk probability of cash flow or a short maturity date also make the return rate of securities increase and (ii) the return rate of securities is higher in economic boom than that in economic recession when other parameters remain unchanged.

Lunar far side surface navigation using Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation (LiAISON)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hesar, Siamak G.; Parker, Jeffrey S.; Leonard, Jason M.; McGranaghan, Ryan M.; Born, George H.

2015-12-01

We study the application of Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation (LiAISON) to track vehicles on the far side of the lunar surface. The LiAISON architecture is demonstrated to achieve accurate orbit determination solutions for various mission scenarios in the Earth-Moon system. Given the proper description of the force field, LiAISON is capable of producing absolute orbit determination solutions using relative satellite-to-satellite tracking observations alone. The lack of direct communication between Earth-based tracking stations and the far side of the Moon provides an ideal opportunity for implementing LiAISON. This paper presents a novel approach to use the LiAISON architecture to perform autonomous navigation of assets on the lunar far side surface. Relative measurements between a spacecraft placed in an EML-2 halo orbit and lunar surface asset(s) are simulated and processed. Comprehensive simulation results show that absolute states of the surface assets are observable with an achieved accuracy of the position estimate on the order of tens of meters.

The JPL Resource Allocation Planning and Scheduling Office (RAPSO) process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morris, D. G.; Burke, E. S.

2002-01-01

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Resource Allocation Planning and Scheduling Office is chartered to divide the limited amount of tracking hours of the Deep Space Network amongst the various missions in as equitable allotment as can be achieved. To best deal with this division of assets and time, an interactive process has evolved that promotes discussion with agreement by consensus between all of the customers that use the Deep Space Network (DSN). Aided by a suite of tools, the task of division of asset time is then performed in three stages of granularity. Using this approach, DSN loads are either forecasted or scheduled throughout a moving 10-year window.

Financial management and dental school strength, Part I: Strategy.

PubMed

Chambers, David W; Bergstrom, Roy

2004-04-01

The ultimate goal of financial management in a dental school is to accumulate assets that are available for strategic growth, which is a parallel objective to the profit motive in business. Budget development is often grounded in an income statement framework where the goal is to match revenues and expenses. Only when a balance sheet perspective (assets = liabilities + equity) is adopted can strategic growth be fully addressed. Four views of budgeting are presented in this article: 1) covering expenses, 2) shopping, 3) strategic support, and 4) budgeting as strategy. These perceptions of the budgeting process form a continuum, moving from a weak strategic position (covering expenses) to a strong one (budgeting as strategy) that encourages the accumulation of assets that build equity in the organization.

Measuring the wealth of nations.

PubMed

Hamilton, Kirk; Dixon, John A

2003-01-01

The sustainability of development is closely linked to changes in total per capita wealth. This paper presents estimates of the wealth of nations for nearly 100 countries, broken down into produced assets, natural resources and human resources. While the latter is the dominant form of wealth in virtually all countries, in low income natural resource exporters the share of natural resources in total wealth is equal to the share of produced assets. For low income countries in general, cropland forms the vast majority of natural wealth. The analysis suggests the process of development can be viewed as one of portfolio management: sustainable development entails saving the rents from exhaustible resources, managing renewable resources sustainably, and investing savings in both produced assets and human resources.

Using Physical Models for Anomaly Detection in Control Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svendsen, Nils; Wolthusen, Stephen

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are increasingly used to operate critical infrastructure assets. However, the inclusion of advanced information technology and communications components and elaborate control strategies in SCADA systems increase the threat surface for external and subversion-type attacks. The problems are exacerbated by site-specific properties of SCADA environments that make subversion detection impractical; and by sensor noise and feedback characteristics that degrade conventional anomaly detection systems. Moreover, potential attack mechanisms are ill-defined and may include both physical and logical aspects.

30 CFR 206.159 - Determination of processing allowances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... processing contract includes more than one gas plant product and the processing costs attributable to each... the initial depreciable investment in the processing plant multiplied by a rate of return in... for depreciable fixed assets (including costs of delivery and installation of capital equipment) which...

Software Process Improvement: Supporting the Linking of the Software and the Business Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albuquerque, Adriano Bessa; Rocha, Ana Regina; Lima, Andreia Cavalcanti

The market is becoming more and more competitive, a lot of products and services depend of the software product and the software is one of the most important assets, which influence the organizations’ businesses. Considering this context, we can observe that the companies must to deal with the software, developing or acquiring, carefully. One of the perspectives that can help to take advantage of the software, supporting effectively the business, is to invest on the organization’s software processes. This paper presents an approach to evaluate and improve the processes assets of the software organizations, based on internationally well-known standards and process models. This approach is supported by automated tools from the TABA Workstation and is part of a wider improvement strategy constituted of three layers (organizational layer, process execution layer and external entity layer). Moreover, this paper presents the experience of use and their results.

Racial/ethnic identity and subjective physical and mental health of Latino Americans: an asset within?

PubMed

Ai, Amy L; Aisenberg, Eugene; Weiss, Saskia I; Salazar, Dulny

2014-03-01

Social Identity Theory indicates that ethnic identity could benefit minority members in a society because of its promotion of a sense of belonging, or of its buffering of the damage of discrimination. Despite growing investigation about Latinos' overall health, few studies have simultaneously examined the influence of multiple cultural strength factors, especially racial/ethnic identity, social support, and religious attendance, on these outcomes. Using the National Latino and Asian American Study, we examine the potential predictive value of these cultural strength factors on Latinos' Self-Rated Mental and Physical Health (SRMH and SRPH). Two separate two-step regression models revealed significant positive effects of racial/ethnic identity on both mental and physical health of Latinos, above and beyond the effect of known demographic and acculturation factors, such as discrimination. Religious attendance had a positive effect on SRMH but not on SRPH. The deteriorating roles of discrimination, in mental health only, and that of Length in the US in both outcomes, however, was primarily not altered by entry of these cultural strength factors. The independent direct effect of racial/ethnic identity among Latinos nationwide may suggest that this cultural strength is an internalized protective asset. Longitudinal data is needed to explore its underlying mechanism and long-term impact.

Key Differences in Operating a Rover on the Moon vs. Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay

2017-01-01

The command and control model for spacecraft operations, as well as the distribution of tasks between ground assets and in space assets, whether with a crew or solely robotic, is fundamentally constrained by the round trip light time between the space asset and the control facility (presumably on Earth, though not required). For an asset on Mars, the round trip light time varies, from roughly fourteen minutes to up to forty minutes. For a Lunar asset the round-trip light time is measured in only a few seconds, but current communications systems may more than double the latency with system overhead. For a Lunar Asset the total command latency may range from six seconds to more than forty, depending on communications overhead and data rates. Further, these variables are not always predictable, thus complicating operations. There are several differentiating factors for Lunar vs. Mars operations, Round trip light time/Atmosphere/Lighting and ShadowsTerrain type and knowledge/Round trip light time has implications for the distribution of tasks between ground and in space assets. Even at Lunar Distances, the combination of round trip light time plus communications systems overhead does not enable joy stick driving of a rover. The best that can be done, if driving from Earth, is near real time command and control. By 2030, driving from in space may be possible. Productivity on Mars requires either long operational sequences of commands, as is done for current rovers such as Curiosity, significant autonomous capability or, as may be possible by 2030, command and control support from space. Another implication of the long round trip light time from Earth to Mars, is that flight software functions must be resident on the in space asset. On the Moon, there is considerably more flexibility, enabling processing functions, to be resident on Earth or in space. This provides the opportunity to take advantage of the considerable processing power available on the ground, but may be constrained by data rates. On the Moon, for practical operational purposes, there is no atmosphere. Hence there is no scattering of light in the shadows. This has implications for image interpretation and driving near the poles. The Moon has permanently shadowed regions (PSR), unique terrain with unknown surface properties. With no scattering of light in shadows, driving on the Moon, particularly at the poles, where we have strong evidence of water, may prove to be hazardous and complex, requiring non-optical sensors, such as LIDAR.

77 FR 33206 - Combined Notice of Filings #1

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-05

... Reliability Standard CIP- 006--Cyber Security--Physical Security of Critical Cyber Assets. Filed Date: 5/23/12... Company, LLC. Description: Certificate of Concurrence to be effective 7/12/2012. Filed Date: 5/24/12.... Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 6/14/12. Docket Numbers: ER12-1845-000. Applicants: AEP Texas North Company...

The Comprehensive Health Education Workers Project and Caring Professionals as Asset-Builders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lévesque, Michel

2017-01-01

The Comprehensive Health Education Workers (CHEW) Project is a community-based initiative that educates sexual and gender minority (SGM or LGBTQ) young people about comprehensive--mental, physical, sexual, and social--health and that supports their comprehensive health needs with other services. Since October 2014, CHEW Project staff have served…

An Integrated Decision Support System for Planning and Measuring Institutional Efficiency. AIR 1992 Annual Forum Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minnaar, Phil C.

This paper presents a model for obtaining and organizing managment information for decision making in university planning, developed by the Bureau for Management Information of the University of South Africa. The model identifies the fundamental entities of the university as environment, finance, physical facilities, assets, personnel, and…

25 CFR 224.151 - When may the Secretary reassume activities?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Reassumption § 224.151 When may the Secretary reassume activities? Upon issuing a written finding of imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset, the Secretary may reassume activities under a TERA in accordance with... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false When may the Secretary reassume activities? 224.151...

76 FR 35872 - Commission Information Collection Activities (Ferc-603); Comment Request; Submitted for OMB Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-20

.... Critical infrastructure means existing and proposed systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, the....ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp . To file the document electronically, access the Commission's Web... using the ``eLibrary'' link. For user assistance, contact [email protected] or toll-free at...

19 CFR 351.524 - Allocation of benefit to a particular time period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... the benefits are received if the total amount approved under the subsidy program is less than 0.5... renewable physical assets for the industry concerned as listed in the Internal Revenue Service's (“IRS... industry under investigation, subject to the requirement, in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, that the...

19 CFR 351.524 - Allocation of benefit to a particular time period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... the benefits are received if the total amount approved under the subsidy program is less than 0.5... renewable physical assets for the industry concerned as listed in the Internal Revenue Service's (“IRS... industry under investigation, subject to the requirement, in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, that the...

FPI Cohort Reports: California State University System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quirk, Robert J.

2013-01-01

The California State University (CSU) system is the largest higher educational system in the United States. The system has physical assets valued at more than $20 billion (current replacement value) on the "State" side of the house alone. With over 1,200 buildings, and 50 million square foot of mixed-use space, the CSU facility managers…

25 CFR 224.135 - Under what circumstances may the Director conduct additional reviews and evaluations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... harm to a physical trust asset, previously identified in a periodic review and evaluation, exists; or... additional reviews and evaluations? 224.135 Section 224.135 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF... DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews § 224.135 Under what circumstances may the Director...

25 CFR 224.136 - How will the Director's report address a tribe's noncompliance?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... MINERALS TRIBAL ENERGY RESOURCE AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF... determination of whether the tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset. (b) If the Director determines that the tribe's noncompliance may cause harm or has caused...

25 CFR 224.136 - How will the Director's report address a tribe's noncompliance?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... MINERALS TRIBAL ENERGY RESOURCE AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF... determination of whether the tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset. (b) If the Director determines that the tribe's noncompliance may cause harm or has caused...

25 CFR 224.136 - How will the Director's report address a tribe's noncompliance?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... MINERALS TRIBAL ENERGY RESOURCE AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF... determination of whether the tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset. (b) If the Director determines that the tribe's noncompliance may cause harm or has caused...

25 CFR 224.136 - How will the Director's report address a tribe's noncompliance?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... MINERALS TRIBAL ENERGY RESOURCE AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF... determination of whether the tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset. (b) If the Director determines that the tribe's noncompliance may cause harm or has caused...

Teacher Character Strengths and Talent Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Majid, Rosadah Abd; Ali, Manisah Mohd; Alias, Aliza

2014-01-01

Students are the nation's asset or natural resources who need to be educated to achieve their optimal level of development. They need to be properly nurtured to allow holistic development in all domains namely: physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual. This is crucial for the building of a strong and respectful nation and its…

The Training, Retraining and Consulting Needs of Small Manufacturing Companies in the State of Ohio.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, J. Stephen

A study ascertained training, retraining, consulting, and technical support needs of small manufacturing companies in Ohio. Data were obtained from nine service areas of Ohio's two-year educational institutions to determine what human, technical, and physical assets campuses should make available. A survey instrument was designed to provide…

Development of Security Measures: Implementation Instructions for MIL-STD on Physical Security for DCS Facilities.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-01

security measures to in- crease the survivability of these assets. However, sabotage, terrorism and vandalism continue to be serious threats to DCS and its...Closed circuit television. e. Comunication cables. f. Fuel storage. g. Fuel lines. h. Air conditioning. The primary benefits of security measures

Who cares about physics today? A marketing strategy for the survival of fundamental science and the benefit of society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannella, Umberto

2013-04-01

It is often said that the major stumbling block for doing scientific outreach is money because of funding issues. Ignoring that the true issue is the lack of time and/or inclination on the part of practicing scientists, this statement is too generic to be quantitative or even complete: in fact, as for every project or investment, the discussion should be based on context and impact. Initiatives are at hand to do outreach that cost nothing more than the budget already in place for a University, its Departments and its scientific research groups: it is more a matter of capitalizing existing assets at a University in a concerted way and taking full advantage of these assets by means of synergetic collaborations. I will describe one such collaboration among the School of Dance and the Astronomy and Physics Departments at the University of Maryland: the dance performance ``Gravity,'' inspired by gravitational-wave astronomy. Similar types of partnerships represent new promising ways of doing science communications according to what can be rightly called a marketing strategy (http://arxiv.org.abs/1210.0082).

Engineering noble metal nanomaterials for environmental applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jingguo; Zhao, Tingting; Chen, Tiankai; Liu, Yanbiao; Ong, Choon Nam; Xie, Jianping

2015-04-01

Besides being valuable assets in our daily lives, noble metals (namely, gold, silver, and platinum) also feature many intriguing physical and chemical properties when their sizes are reduced to the nano- or even subnano-scale; such assets may significantly increase the values of the noble metals as functional materials for tackling important societal issues related to human health and the environment. Among which, designing/engineering of noble metal nanomaterials (NMNs) to address challenging issues in the environment has attracted recent interest in the community. In general, the use of NMNs for environmental applications is highly dependent on the physical and chemical properties of NMNs. Such properties can be readily controlled by tailoring the attributes of NMNs, including their size, shape, composition, and surface. In this feature article, we discuss recent progress in the rational design and engineering of NMNs with particular focus on their applications in the field of environmental sensing and catalysis. The development of functional NMNs for environmental applications is highly interdisciplinary, which requires concerted efforts from the communities of materials science, chemistry, engineering, and environmental science.

Engineering noble metal nanomaterials for environmental applications.

PubMed

Li, Jingguo; Zhao, Tingting; Chen, Tiankai; Liu, Yanbiao; Ong, Choon Nam; Xie, Jianping

2015-05-07

Besides being valuable assets in our daily lives, noble metals (namely, gold, silver, and platinum) also feature many intriguing physical and chemical properties when their sizes are reduced to the nano- or even subnano-scale; such assets may significantly increase the values of the noble metals as functional materials for tackling important societal issues related to human health and the environment. Among which, designing/engineering of noble metal nanomaterials (NMNs) to address challenging issues in the environment has attracted recent interest in the community. In general, the use of NMNs for environmental applications is highly dependent on the physical and chemical properties of NMNs. Such properties can be readily controlled by tailoring the attributes of NMNs, including their size, shape, composition, and surface. In this feature article, we discuss recent progress in the rational design and engineering of NMNs with particular focus on their applications in the field of environmental sensing and catalysis. The development of functional NMNs for environmental applications is highly interdisciplinary, which requires concerted efforts from the communities of materials science, chemistry, engineering, and environmental science.

The Surge Capacity for People in Emergencies (SCOPE) study in Australasian hospitals.

PubMed

Traub, Matthias; Bradt, David A; Joseph, Anthony P

2007-04-16

To measure physical assets in Australasian hospitals required for the management of mass casualties as a result of terrorism or natural disasters. A cross-sectional survey of Australian and New Zealand hospitals. All emergency department directors of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM)-accredited hospitals, as well as private and non-ACEM accredited emergency departments staffed by ACEM Fellows in metropolitan Sydney. Numbers of operating theatres, intensive care unit (ICU) beds and x-ray machines; state of preparedness using benchmarks defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. We found that 61%-82% of critically injured patients would not have immediate access to operative care, 34%-70% would have delayed access to an ICU bed, and 42% of the less critically injured would have delayed access to x-ray facilities. Our study demonstrates that physical assets in Australasian public hospitals do not meet US hospital preparedness benchmarks for mass casualty incidents. We recommend national agreement on disaster preparedness benchmarks and periodic publication of hospital performance indicators to enhance disaster preparedness.

Integrated tracking of components by engineering and logistics utilizing logistics asset tracking system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Renfroe, Michael B.; Mcdonald, Edward J.; Bradshaw, Kimberly

1988-01-01

The Logistics Asset Tracking System (LATS) devised by NASA contains data on Space Shuttle LRUs that are daily updated to reflect such LRU status changes as repair due to failure or modification due to changing engineering requirements. The implementation of LATS has substantially increased personnel responsiveness, preventing costly delays in Space Shuttle processing and obviating hardware cannibalization. An evaluation is presented of LATS achievements in the direction of an integrated logistical support posture.

National Aerospace Planning Process Enhancements: Analysis and Innovation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

and backward in time). Asset availability awareness is described based on “Dashboard” and “Magnet’s Grid” visualizations. A “Hockey Card ” metaphor...Magnets Grid” strategy for detailed visualization of air assets (i.e. aircraft). Sections 4.3.4 through 4.3.4.1 propose “Mission Hockey Cards ” to...missions). These three options are presented to the users as three rows of Mission Hockey Cards , with one Card for each new mission and for each

Valuing goodwill: not-for-profits prepare for annual impairment testing.

PubMed

Heuer, Christian; Travers, Mary Ann K

2011-02-01

Accounting standards for valuing goodwill and intangible assets are becoming more rigorous for not-for-profit organizations: Not-for-profit healthcare organizations need to test for goodwill impairment at least annually. Impairment testing is a two-stage process: initial analysis to determine whether impairment exists and subsequent calculation of the magnitude of impairment. Certain "triggering" events compel all organizations--whether for-profit or not-for-profit--to perform an impairment test for goodwill or intangible assets.

Visual Decision Support Tool for Supporting Asset ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Abstract:Managing urban water infrastructures faces the challenge of jointly dealing with assets of diverse types, useful life, cost, ages and condition. Service quality and sustainability require sound long-term planning, well aligned with tactical and operational planning and management. In summary, the objective of an integrated approach to infrastructure asset management is to assist utilities answer the following questions:•Who are we at present?•What service do we deliver?•What do we own?•Where do we want to be in the long-term?•How do we get there?The AWARE-P approach (www.aware-p.org) offers a coherent methodological framework and a valuable portfolio of software tools. It is designed to assist water supply and wastewater utility decision-makers in their analyses and planning processes. It is based on a Plan-Do-Check-Act process and is in accordance with the key principles of the International Standards Organization (ISO) 55000 standards on asset management. It is compatible with, and complementary to WERF’s SIMPLE framework. The software assists in strategic, tactical, and operational planning, through a non-intrusive, web-based, collaborative environment where objectives and metrics drive IAM planning. It is aimed at industry professionals and managers, as well as at the consultants and technical experts that support them. It is easy to use and maximizes the value of information from multiple existing data sources, both in da

The capital-asset-pricing model and arbitrage pricing theory: a unification.

PubMed

Ali Khan, M; Sun, Y

1997-04-15

We present a model of a financial market in which naive diversification, based simply on portfolio size and obtained as a consequence of the law of large numbers, is distinguished from efficient diversification, based on mean-variance analysis. This distinction yields a valuation formula involving only the essential risk embodied in an asset's return, where the overall risk can be decomposed into a systematic and an unsystematic part, as in the arbitrage pricing theory; and the systematic component further decomposed into an essential and an inessential part, as in the capital-asset-pricing model. The two theories are thus unified, and their individual asset-pricing formulas shown to be equivalent to the pervasive economic principle of no arbitrage. The factors in the model are endogenously chosen by a procedure analogous to the Karhunen-Loéve expansion of continuous time stochastic processes; it has an optimality property justifying the use of a relatively small number of them to describe the underlying correlational structures. Our idealized limit model is based on a continuum of assets indexed by a hyperfinite Loeb measure space, and it is asymptotically implementable in a setting with a large but finite number of assets. Because the difficulties in the formulation of the law of large numbers with a standard continuum of random variables are well known, the model uncovers some basic phenomena not amenable to classical methods, and whose approximate counterparts are not already, or even readily, apparent in the asymptotic setting.

Evolving the Reuse Process at the Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Condon, S.; Seaman, C.; Basili, Victor; Kraft, S.; Kontio, J.; Kim, Y.

1996-01-01

This paper presents the interim results from the Software Engineering Laboratory's (SEL) Reuse Study. The team conducting this study has, over the past few months, been studying the Generalized Support Software (GSS) domain asset library and architecture, and the various processes associated with it. In particular, we have characterized the process used to configure GSS-based attitude ground support systems (AGSS) to support satellite missions at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. To do this, we built detailed models of the tasks involved, the people who perform these tasks, and the interdependencies and information flows among these people. These models were based on information gleaned from numerous interviews with people involved in this process at various levels. We also analyzed effort data in order to determine the cost savings in moving from actual development of AGSSs to support each mission (which was necessary before GSS was available) to configuring AGSS software from the domain asset library. While characterizing the GSS process, we became aware of several interesting factors which affect the successful continued use of GSS. Many of these issues fall under the subject of evolving technologies, which were not available at the inception of GSS, but are now. Some of these technologies could be incorporated into the GSS process, thus making the whole asset library more usable. Other technologies are being considered as an alternative to the GSS process altogether. In this paper, we outline some of issues we will be considering in our continued study of GSS and the impact of evolving technologies.

Optimal investment horizons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simonsen, I.; Jensen, M. H.; Johansen, A.

2002-06-01

In stochastic finance, one traditionally considers the return as a competitive measure of an asset, i.e., the profit generated by that asset after some fixed time span Δt, say one week or one year. This measures how well (or how bad) the asset performs over that given period of time. It has been established that the distribution of returns exhibits ``fat tails'' indicating that large returns occur more frequently than what is expected from standard Gaussian stochastic processes [1-3]. Instead of estimating this ``fat tail'' distribution of returns, we propose here an alternative approach, which is outlined by addressing the following question: What is the smallest time interval needed for an asset to cross a fixed return level of say 10%? For a particular asset, we refer to this time as the investment horizon and the corresponding distribution as the investment horizon distribution. This latter distribution complements that of returns and provides new and possibly crucial information for portfolio design and risk-management, as well as for pricing of more exotic options. By considering historical financial data, exemplified by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, we obtain a novel set of probability distributions for the investment horizons which can be used to estimate the optimal investment horizon for a stock or a future contract.

Prognostic modelling options for remaining useful life estimation by industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sikorska, J. Z.; Hodkiewicz, M.; Ma, L.

2011-07-01

Over recent years a significant amount of research has been undertaken to develop prognostic models that can be used to predict the remaining useful life of engineering assets. Implementations by industry have only had limited success. By design, models are subject to specific assumptions and approximations, some of which are mathematical, while others relate to practical implementation issues such as the amount of data required to validate and verify a proposed model. Therefore, appropriate model selection for successful practical implementation requires not only a mathematical understanding of each model type, but also an appreciation of how a particular business intends to utilise a model and its outputs. This paper discusses business issues that need to be considered when selecting an appropriate modelling approach for trial. It also presents classification tables and process flow diagrams to assist industry and research personnel select appropriate prognostic models for predicting the remaining useful life of engineering assets within their specific business environment. The paper then explores the strengths and weaknesses of the main prognostics model classes to establish what makes them better suited to certain applications than to others and summarises how each have been applied to engineering prognostics. Consequently, this paper should provide a starting point for young researchers first considering options for remaining useful life prediction. The models described in this paper are Knowledge-based (expert and fuzzy), Life expectancy (stochastic and statistical), Artificial Neural Networks, and Physical models.

Measuring the Level and Inequality of Wealth: An Application to China

PubMed Central

Ward, Patrick

2013-01-01

We construct and compare three distinct measures of household asset wealth that complement traditional income- or expenditure-based measures of socioeconomic status. We apply these measures to longitudinal household survey data from China and demonstrate that household asset wealth has been increasing over time, a theme consistent with many previous studies on the process of development in China. Unlike other studies that have shown rising income inequality over time, however, we show that asset wealth inequality has actually been declining in recent years, indicating widespread participation in the benefits of economic reforms. Furthermore, the evolution in the cumulative distribution of household welfare is such that social welfare has been increasing with the passage of time, despite rising inequality in the early years of the survey. PMID:25641989

Quantum-like Viewpoint on the Complexity and Randomness of the Financial Market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choustova, Olga

In economics and financial theory, analysts use random walk and more general martingale techniques to model behavior of asset prices, in particular share prices on stock markets, currency exchange rates and commodity prices. This practice has its basis in the presumption that investors act rationally and without bias, and that at any moment they estimate the value of an asset based on future expectations. Under these conditions, all existing information affects the price, which changes only when new information comes out. By definition, new information appears randomly and influences the asset price randomly. Corresponding continuous time models are based on stochastic processes (this approach was initiated in the thesis of [4]), see, e.g., the books of [33] and [37] for historical and mathematical details.

Life-cycle models of saving and the effect of the timing of divorce on retirement economic well-being.

PubMed

Fethke, C C

1989-05-01

The long-term effect of the current high rate of divorce upon the future economic status of individuals has not been thoroughly analyzed. This study reviews the retirement, precautionary, and bequest motives for saving, then evaluates how marriage dissolution may (a) decrease the family's savings rate, (b) cause shifts in the family's portfolio to assets with lower rates of return, and (c) destroy or deplete existing family assets. Whether divorce interrupts the savings process or destroys assets, it is unlikely that most individuals will be able to save enough in later life to overcome the loss. The long-term effect may well be that, in future years, we will recognize a new category of elderly poor, those who have experienced the dissolution of their marriage.

Data modeling and processing in deregulated power system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Lin

The introduction of open electricity markets and the fast pace of changes brought by modern information technology bring both opportunities and challenges to the power industry. Vast quantities of data are generated by the underlying physical system and the business operations. Fast and low cost communications allow the data to be more widely accessed. For electric utilities, it is becoming clear that data and information are vital assets. Proper management and modeling of these assets is as essential to the engineering of the power system as is the underlying physical system. This dissertation introduces several new methods to address information modeling and data processing concerns in the new utility environment. Presently, legacy information systems in the industry do not make adequate use of the data produced. Hence, a new information infrastructure using data warehousing---a data integration technology used for decision support---is proposed for novel management and utilization of data. Detailed examples and discussion are given on the schema building, extract transform and load (ETL) strategies for power system specific data. The benefits of this approach are shown through a new viewpoint of state estimation. Inaccurate grid information, especially topology information, can be a major detriment to energy market traders' ability to make appropriate bids. A two-stage DC state estimation algorithm is presented to provide them with a simpler data viewpoint to make knowledgeable trading decisions. Numerical results show how the results of a DC state estimator can be accurately made available to all concerned. Additionally, the proposed communication and information infrastructure allow for new formulations and solutions to traditional power problems. In this vein, a new distributed communication model of the power system using publisher/subscriber paradigm is presented and simulated. The simulation results prove its feasibility and show it has adequate performance under today's communication technology. Based on this model, a new state estimation algorithm, which can decentralizes computations and minimizes communication overhead, is derived using a set of overlapping areas to cover the entire network. Numerical experiments show that it is efficient, robust, and has comparable accuracy as the conventional full network state estimation.

Optimal portfolio selection in a Lévy market with uncontrolled cash flow and only risky assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Yan; Li, Zhongfei; Wu, Huiling

2013-03-01

This article considers an investor who has an exogenous cash flow evolving according to a Lévy process and invests in a financial market consisting of only risky assets, whose prices are governed by exponential Lévy processes. Two continuous-time portfolio selection problems are studied for the investor. One is a benchmark problem, and the other is a mean-variance problem. The first problem is solved by adopting the stochastic dynamic programming approach, and the obtained results are extended to the second problem by employing the duality theory. Closed-form solutions of these two problems are derived. Some existing results are found to be special cases of our results.

Reverse Logistics at the Commander, Naval Surface Forces Real-time & Reutilization Asset Management (R-RAM) San Diego Warehouse

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

Asset Management) in December 2000 when the system was converted from UADPS to a Commercial-of-the-Shelf (COTS) product from a company called Lawson...materials and disposal (Stock, 1992, p. 25). In 1998, Carter and Ellram stated that Reverse Logistics is a process whereby companies can become...35 billion (p. 275). In the white paper authored by Dr. James Stock in 1998, he highlighted the benefits achieved by companies practicing reverse

Portfolio selection and asset pricing under a benchmark approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Platen, Eckhard

2006-10-01

The paper presents classical and new results on portfolio optimization, as well as the fair pricing concept for derivative pricing under the benchmark approach. The growth optimal portfolio is shown to be a central object in a market model. It links asset pricing and portfolio optimization. The paper argues that the market portfolio is a proxy of the growth optimal portfolio. By choosing the drift of the discounted growth optimal portfolio as parameter process, one obtains a realistic theoretical market dynamics.

Social Ontology Documentation for Knowledge Externalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aranda-Corral, Gonzalo A.; Borrego-Díaz, Joaquín; Jiménez-Mavillard, Antonio

Knowledge externalization and organization is a major challenge that companies must face. Also, they have to ask whether is possible to enhance its management. Mechanical processing of information represents a chance to carry out these tasks, as well as to turn intangible knowledge assets into real assets. Machine-readable knowledge provides a basis to enhance knowledge management. A promising approach is the empowering of Knowledge Externalization by the community (users, employees). In this paper, a social semantic tool (called OntoxicWiki) for enhancing the quality of knowledge is presented.

Integrating High-Resolution Taskable Imagery into a Sensorweb for Automatic Space-Based Monitoring of Flooding in Thailand

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, Steve; Mclaren, David; Doubleday, Joshua; Tran, Daniel; Tanpipat, Veerachai; Chitradon, Royol; Boonya-aroonnet, Surajate; Thanapakpawin, Porranee; Mandl, Daniel

2012-01-01

Several space-based assets (Terra, Aqua, Earth Observing One) have been integrated into a sensorweb to monitor flooding in Thailand. In this approach, the Moderate Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) data from Terra and Aqua is used to perform broad-scale monitoring to track flooding at the regional level (250m/pixel) and EO-1 is autonomously tasked in response to alerts to acquire higher resolution (30m/pixel) Advanced Land Imager (ALI) data. This data is then automatically processed to derive products such as surface water extent and volumetric water estimates. These products are then automatically pushed to organizations in Thailand for use in damage estimation, relief efforts, and damage mitigation. More recently, this sensorweb structure has been used to request imagery, access imagery, and process high-resolution (several m to 30m), targetable asset imagery from commercial assets including Worldview-2, Ikonos, Radarsat-2, Landsat-7, and Geo-Eye-1. We describe the overall sensorweb framework as well as new workflows and products made possible via these extensions.

Psychosocial Risks Generated By Assets Specific Design Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remus, Furtună; Angela, Domnariu; Petru, Lazăr

2015-07-01

The human activity concerning an occupation is resultant from the interaction between the psycho-biological, socio-cultural and organizational-occupational factors. Tehnological development, automation and computerization that are to be found in all the branches of activity, the level of speed in which things develop, as well as reaching their complexity, require less and less physical aptitudes and more cognitive qualifications. The person included in the work process is bound in most of the cases to come in line with the organizational-occupational situations that are specific to the demands of the job. The role of the programmer is essencial in the process of execution of ordered softwares, thus the truly brilliant ideas can only come from well-rested minds, concentrated on their tasks. The actual requirements of the jobs, besides the high number of benefits and opportunities, also create a series of psycho-social risks, which can increase the level of stress during work activity, especially for those who work under pressure.

Energy Transfer in the Earth-Sun System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lui, A. T. Y.; Kamide, Y.

2007-02-01

Conference on Earth-Sun System Exploration: Energy Transfer; Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA, 16-20 January 2006; The goal of this conference, which was supported by several agencies and organizations, was to provide a forum for physicists engaged in the Earth-Sun system as well as in laboratory experiments to discuss and exchange knowledge and ideas on physical processes involving energy transfer. The motivation of the conference stemmed from the following realization: Space assets form an important fabric of our society, performing functions such as television broadcasting, cell- phone communication, navigation, and remote monitoring of tropospheric weather. There is increasing awareness of how much our daily activities can be adversely affected by space disturbances stretching all the way back to the Sun. In some of these energetic phenomena, energy in various forms can propagate long distances from the solar surface to the interplanetary medium and eventually to the Earth's immediate space environment, namely, its magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere. In addition, transformation of energy can take place in these space disturbances, allowing charged-particle energy to be transformed to electromagnetic energy or vice versa. In- depth understanding of energy transformation and transmission in the Earth-Sun system will foster the identification of physical processes responsible for space disturbances and the prediction of their occurrences and effects. Participants came from 15 countries.

Effects of correlations and fees in random multiplicative environments: Implications for portfolio management.

PubMed

Alper, Ofer; Somekh-Baruch, Anelia; Pirvandy, Oz; Schaps, Malka; Yaari, Gur

2017-08-01

Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) is frequently used to model price dynamics of financial assets, and a weighted average of multiple GBMs is commonly used to model a financial portfolio. Diversified portfolios can lead to an increased exponential growth compared to a single asset by effectively reducing the effective noise. The sum of GBM processes is no longer a log-normal process and has a complex statistical properties. The nonergodicity of the weighted average process results in constant degradation of the exponential growth from the ensemble average toward the time average. One way to stay closer to the ensemble average is to maintain a balanced portfolio: keep the relative weights of the different assets constant over time. To keep these proportions constant, whenever assets values change, it is necessary to rebalance their relative weights, exposing this strategy to fees (transaction costs). Two strategies that were suggested in the past for cases that involve fees are rebalance the portfolio periodically and rebalance it in a partial way. In this paper, we study these two strategies in the presence of correlations and fees. We show that using periodic and partial rebalance strategies, it is possible to maintain a steady exponential growth while minimizing the losses due to fees. We also demonstrate how these redistribution strategies perform in a phenomenal way on real-world market data, despite the fact that not all assumptions of the model hold in these real-world systems. Our results have important implications for stochastic dynamics in general and to portfolio management in particular, as we show that there is a superior alternative to the common buy-and-hold strategy, even in the presence of correlations and fees.

Effects of correlations and fees in random multiplicative environments: Implications for portfolio management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alper, Ofer; Somekh-Baruch, Anelia; Pirvandy, Oz; Schaps, Malka; Yaari, Gur

2017-08-01

Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) is frequently used to model price dynamics of financial assets, and a weighted average of multiple GBMs is commonly used to model a financial portfolio. Diversified portfolios can lead to an increased exponential growth compared to a single asset by effectively reducing the effective noise. The sum of GBM processes is no longer a log-normal process and has a complex statistical properties. The nonergodicity of the weighted average process results in constant degradation of the exponential growth from the ensemble average toward the time average. One way to stay closer to the ensemble average is to maintain a balanced portfolio: keep the relative weights of the different assets constant over time. To keep these proportions constant, whenever assets values change, it is necessary to rebalance their relative weights, exposing this strategy to fees (transaction costs). Two strategies that were suggested in the past for cases that involve fees are rebalance the portfolio periodically and rebalance it in a partial way. In this paper, we study these two strategies in the presence of correlations and fees. We show that using periodic and partial rebalance strategies, it is possible to maintain a steady exponential growth while minimizing the losses due to fees. We also demonstrate how these redistribution strategies perform in a phenomenal way on real-world market data, despite the fact that not all assumptions of the model hold in these real-world systems. Our results have important implications for stochastic dynamics in general and to portfolio management in particular, as we show that there is a superior alternative to the common buy-and-hold strategy, even in the presence of correlations and fees.

Age group differences in positive and negative affect among oldest-old adults: findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study.

PubMed

Cho, Jinmyoung; Martin, Peter; Poon, Leonard W; MacDonald, M; Jazwinski, S M; Green, R C; Gearing, M; Johnson, M A; Markesbery, W R; Woodard, J L; Tenover, J S; Siegler, L C; Rott, C; Rodgers, W L; Hausman, D; Arnold, J; Davey, A

2013-01-01

The developmental adaptation model (Martin & Martin, 2002) provides insights into how current experiences and resources (proximal variables) and past experiences (distal variables) are correlated with outcomes (e.g., well-being) in later life. Applying this model, the current study examined proximal and distal variables associated with positive and negative affect in oldest-old adults, investigating age differences. Data from 306 octogenarians and centenarians who participated in Phase III of the Georgia Centenarian Study were used. Proximal variables included physical functioning, cognitive functioning, self-rated health, number of chronic conditions, social resources, and perceived economic status; distal variables included education, social productive activities, management of personal assets, and other learning experiences. Analysis of variance and block-wise regression analyses were conducted. Octogenarians showed significantly higher levels of positive emotion than centenarians. Cognitive functioning was significantly associated with positive affect, and number of health problems was significantly associated with negative affect after controlling for gender, ethnicity, residence, and marital status. Furthermore, four significant interaction effects suggested that positive affect significantly depended on the levels of cognitive and physical functioning among centenarians, whereas positive affect was dependent on the levels of physical health problems and learning experiences among octogenarians. Findings of this study addressed the importance of current and past experiences and resources in subjective well-being among oldest-old adults as a life-long process. Mechanisms connecting aging processes at the end of a long life to subjective well-being should be explored in future studies.

An overview to networks and its applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huerta-Quintanilla, Rodrigo; Sanabria M., Christian H.

2010-07-01

We present an introduction to the basics on networks and their application to econo-physics. In particular we study a model in which agents interact through a network chosen in a very specific way and the exchange they make of a given asset. We study different types of exchange interactions and also the effect of the network on the dynamics.

25 CFR 1000.303 - What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? 1000.303...-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION ACT Reassumption § 1000.303 What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? The standard for natural resources is the same as for a physical trust asset, except that a review for...

25 CFR 1000.303 - What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? 1000.303...-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION ACT Reassumption § 1000.303 What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? The standard for natural resources is the same as for a physical trust asset, except that a review for...

25 CFR 1000.303 - What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? 1000.303...-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION ACT Reassumption § 1000.303 What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? The standard for natural resources is the same as for a physical trust asset, except that a review for...

25 CFR 224.135 - Under what circumstances may the Director conduct additional reviews and evaluations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews § 224.135 Under what circumstances may the Director... submitted under subpart E of this part; (d) As follow-up to a determination that harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset, previously identified in a periodic review and evaluation, exists; or...

25 CFR 224.135 - Under what circumstances may the Director conduct additional reviews and evaluations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews § 224.135 Under what circumstances may the Director... submitted under subpart E of this part; (d) As follow-up to a determination that harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset, previously identified in a periodic review and evaluation, exists; or...

25 CFR 224.135 - Under what circumstances may the Director conduct additional reviews and evaluations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews § 224.135 Under what circumstances may the Director... submitted under subpart E of this part; (d) As follow-up to a determination that harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset, previously identified in a periodic review and evaluation, exists; or...

25 CFR 224.135 - Under what circumstances may the Director conduct additional reviews and evaluations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews § 224.135 Under what circumstances may the Director... submitted under subpart E of this part; (d) As follow-up to a determination that harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset, previously identified in a periodic review and evaluation, exists; or...

29 CFR 2580.412-14 - Determining the amount of funds “handled” during the preceding reporting year.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., safekeeping, physical handling and investment of a plan's assets and the basic function of the executive... fiscal controls and practical realities of the situation are such that these persons cannot gain access...”, regardless of what functions are performed by a bank or corporate trustee, since the “administrator” by...

29 CFR 2580.412-14 - Determining the amount of funds “handled” during the preceding reporting year.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

..., safekeeping, physical handling and investment of a plan's assets and the basic function of the executive... fiscal controls and practical realities of the situation are such that these persons cannot gain access...”, regardless of what functions are performed by a bank or corporate trustee, since the “administrator” by...

29 CFR 2580.412-14 - Determining the amount of funds “handled” during the preceding reporting year.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., safekeeping, physical handling and investment of a plan's assets and the basic function of the executive... fiscal controls and practical realities of the situation are such that these persons cannot gain access...”, regardless of what functions are performed by a bank or corporate trustee, since the “administrator” by...

29 CFR 2580.412-14 - Determining the amount of funds “handled” during the preceding reporting year.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., safekeeping, physical handling and investment of a plan's assets and the basic function of the executive... fiscal controls and practical realities of the situation are such that these persons cannot gain access...”, regardless of what functions are performed by a bank or corporate trustee, since the “administrator” by...

Mars Comet Encounter Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-10-09

Carey Lisse, senior astrophysicist, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland gives remarks during a media briefing where he and other panelists outlined how space and Earth-based assets will be used to image and study comet Siding Spring during its Sunday, Oct. 19 flyby of Mars, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Guitars, Keyboards, Strobes, and Motors--From Vibrational Motion to Active Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tagg, Randall; Carlson, John; Asadi-Zeydabadi, Masoud; Busley, Brad; Law-Balding, Katie; Juengel, Mattea

2013-01-01

Physics First is offered to ninth graders at high schools in Aurora, CO. A unique new asset of this school system is an embedded research lab called the "Innovation Hyperlab." The goal of the lab is to connect secondary school teaching to ongoing university scientific research, supporting the school district's aim to create opportunities to…

25 CFR 1000.303 - What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? 1000.303...-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION ACT Reassumption § 1000.303 What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? The standard for natural resources is the same as for a physical trust asset, except that a review for...

25 CFR 1000.303 - What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? 1000.303...-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION ACT Reassumption § 1000.303 What is imminent jeopardy to natural resources? The standard for natural resources is the same as for a physical trust asset, except that a review for...

Cost approach of health care entity intangible asset valuation.

PubMed

Reilly, Robert F

2012-01-01

In the valuation synthesis and conclusion process, the analyst should consider the following question: Does the selected valuation approach(es) and method(s) accomplish the analyst's assignment? Also, does the selected valuation approach and method actually quantify the desired objective of the intangible asset analysis? The analyst should also consider if the selected valuation approach and method analyzes the appropriate bundle of legal rights. The analyst should consider if there were sufficient empirical data available to perform the selected valuation approach and method. The valuation synthesis should consider if there were sufficient data available to make the analyst comfortable with the value conclusion. The valuation analyst should consider if the selected approach and method will be understandable to the intended audience. In the valuation synthesis and conclusion, the analyst should also consider which approaches and methods deserve the greatest consideration with respect to the intangible asset's RUL. The intangible asset RUL is a consideration of each valuation approach. In the income approach, the RUL may affect the projection period for the intangible asset income subject to either yield capitalization or direct capitalization. In the cost approach, the RUL may affect the total amount of obsolescence, if any, from the estimate cost measure (that is, the intangible reproduction cost new or replacement cost new). In the market approach, the RUL may effect the selection, rejection, and/or adjustment of the comparable or guideline intangible asset sale and license transactional data. The experienced valuation analyst will use professional judgment to weight the various value indications to conclude a final intangible asset value, based on: The analyst's confidence in the quantity and quality of available data; The analyst's level of due diligence performed on that data; The relevance of the valuation method to the intangible asset life cycle stage and degree of marketability; and The degree of variation in the range of value indications. Valuation analysts value health care intangible assets for a number of reasons. In addition to regulatory compliance reasons, these reasons include various transaction, taxation, financing, litigation, accounting, bankruptcy, and planning purposes. The valuation analyst should consider all generally accepted intangible asset valuation approaches, methods, and procedures. Many valuation analysts are more familiar with market approach and income approach valuation methods. However, there are numerous instances when cost approach valuation methods are also applicable to the health care intangible asset valuation. This discussion summarized the analyst's procedures and considerations with regard to the cost approach. The cost approach is often applicable to the valuation of intangible assets in the health care industry. However, the cost approach is only applicable if the valuation analyst (1) appropriately considers all of the cost components and (2) appropriately identifies and quantifies all obsolescence allowances. Regardless of the health care intangible asset or the reason for the valuation, the analyst should be familiar with all generally accepted valuation approaches and methods. And, the valuation analyst should have a clear, convincing, and cogent rationale for (1) accepting each approach and method applied and (2) rejecting each approach and method not applied. That way, the valuation analyst will best achieve the purpose and objective of the health care intangible asset valuation.

Measuring the value of groundwater and other forms of natural capital

PubMed Central

Fenichel, Eli P.; Abbott, Joshua K.; Bayham, Jude; Boone, Whitney; Haacker, Erin M. K.; Pfeiffer, Lisa

2016-01-01

Valuing natural capital is fundamental to measuring sustainability. The United Nations Environment Programme, World Bank, and other agencies have called for inclusion of the value of natural capital in sustainability metrics, such as inclusive wealth. Much has been written about the importance of natural capital, but consistent, rigorous valuation approaches compatible with the pricing of traditional forms of capital have remained elusive. We present a guiding quantitative framework enabling natural capital valuation that is fully consistent with capital theory, accounts for biophysical and economic feedbacks, and can guide interdisciplinary efforts to measure sustainability. We illustrate this framework with an application to groundwater in the Kansas High Plains Aquifer, a rapidly depleting asset supporting significant food production. We develop a 10-y time series (1996−2005) of natural capital asset prices that accounts for technological, institutional, and physical changes. Kansas lost approximately $110 million per year (2005 US dollars) of capital value through groundwater withdrawal and changes in aquifer management during the decade spanning 1996–2005. This annual loss in wealth is approximately equal to the state’s 2005 budget surplus, and is substantially more than investments in schools over this period. Furthermore, real investment in agricultural capital also declined over this period. Although Kansas’ depletion of water wealth is substantial, it may be tractably managed through careful groundwater management and compensating investments in other natural and traditional assets. Measurement of natural capital value is required to inform management and ongoing investments in natural assets. PMID:26858431

Measuring the value of groundwater and other forms of natural capital.

PubMed

Fenichel, Eli P; Abbott, Joshua K; Bayham, Jude; Boone, Whitney; Haacker, Erin M K; Pfeiffer, Lisa

2016-03-01

Valuing natural capital is fundamental to measuring sustainability. The United Nations Environment Programme, World Bank, and other agencies have called for inclusion of the value of natural capital in sustainability metrics, such as inclusive wealth. Much has been written about the importance of natural capital, but consistent, rigorous valuation approaches compatible with the pricing of traditional forms of capital have remained elusive. We present a guiding quantitative framework enabling natural capital valuation that is fully consistent with capital theory, accounts for biophysical and economic feedbacks, and can guide interdisciplinary efforts to measure sustainability. We illustrate this framework with an application to groundwater in the Kansas High Plains Aquifer, a rapidly depleting asset supporting significant food production. We develop a 10-y time series (1996-2005) of natural capital asset prices that accounts for technological, institutional, and physical changes. Kansas lost approximately $110 million per year (2005 US dollars) of capital value through groundwater withdrawal and changes in aquifer management during the decade spanning 1996-2005. This annual loss in wealth is approximately equal to the state's 2005 budget surplus, and is substantially more than investments in schools over this period. Furthermore, real investment in agricultural capital also declined over this period. Although Kansas' depletion of water wealth is substantial, it may be tractably managed through careful groundwater management and compensating investments in other natural and traditional assets. Measurement of natural capital value is required to inform management and ongoing investments in natural assets.

Expanding Access to NCAR's Digital Assets: Towards a Unified Scientific Data Management System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stott, D.

2016-12-01

In 2014 the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Directorate created the Data Stewardship Engineering Team (DSET) to plan and implement the strategic vision of an integrated front door for data discovery and access across the organization, including all laboratories, the library, and UCAR Community Programs. The DSET is focused on improving the quality of users' experiences in finding and using NCAR's digital assets. This effort also supports new policies included in federal mandates, NSF requirements, and journal publication rules. An initial survey with 97 respondents identified 68 persons responsible for more than 3 petabytes of data. An inventory, using the Data Asset Framework produced by the UK Digital Curation Centre as a starting point, identified asset types that included files and metadata, publications, images, and software (visualization, analysis, model codes). User story sessions with representatives from each lab identified and ranked desired features for a unified Scientific Data Management System (SDMS). A process beginning with an organization-wide assessment of metadata by the HDF Group and followed by meetings with labs to identify key documentation concepts, culminated in the development of an NCAR metadata dialect that leverages the DataCite and ISO 19115 standards. The tasks ahead are to build out an SDMS and populate it with rich standardized metadata. Software packages have been prototyped and currently are being tested and reviewed by DSET members. Key challenges for the DSET include technical and non-technical issues. First, the status quo with regard to how assets are managed varies widely across the organization. There are differences in file format standards, technologies, and discipline-specific vocabularies. Metadata diversity is another real challenge. The types of metadata, the standards used, and the capacity to create new metadata varies across the organization. Significant effort is required to develop tools to create new standard metadata across the organization, adapt and integrate current digital assets, and establish consistent data management practices going forward. To be successful, best practices must be infused into daily activities. This poster will highlight the processes, lessons learned, and current status of the DSET effort at NCAR.

Comparative Coastal Risk Index (CCRI): A multidisciplinary risk index for Latin America and the Caribbean

PubMed Central

Reguero, Borja G.; Zamora, Ana R.; Losada, Iñigo J.; Méndez, Fernando J.

2017-01-01

As the world’s population grows to a projected 11.2 billion by 2100, the number of people living in low-lying areas exposed to coastal hazards is projected to increase. Critical infrastructure and valuable assets continue to be placed in vulnerable areas, and in recent years, millions of people have been displaced by natural hazards. Impacts from coastal hazards depend on the number of people, value of assets, and presence of critical resources in harm’s way. Risks related to natural hazards are determined by a complex interaction between physical hazards, the vulnerability of a society or social-ecological system and its exposure to such hazards. Moreover, these risks are amplified by challenging socioeconomic dynamics, including poorly planned urban development, income inequality, and poverty. This study employs a combination of machine learning clustering techniques (Self Organizing Maps and K-Means) and a spatial index, to assess coastal risks in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on a comparative scale. The proposed method meets multiple objectives, including the identification of hotspots and key drivers of coastal risk, and the ability to process large-volume multidimensional and multivariate datasets, effectively reducing sixteen variables related to coastal hazards, geographic exposure, and socioeconomic vulnerability, into a single index. Our results demonstrate that in LAC, more than 500,000 people live in areas where coastal hazards, exposure (of people, assets and ecosystems) and poverty converge, creating the ideal conditions for a perfect storm. Hotspot locations of coastal risk, identified by the proposed Comparative Coastal Risk Index (CCRI), contain more than 300,00 people and include: El Oro, Ecuador; Sinaloa, Mexico; Usulutan, El Salvador; and Chiapas, Mexico. Our results provide important insights into potential adaptation alternatives that could reduce the impacts of future hazards. Effective adaptation options must not only focus on developing coastal defenses, but also on improving practices and policies related to urban development, agricultural land use, and conservation, as well as ameliorating socioeconomic conditions. PMID:29095841

Comparative Coastal Risk Index (CCRI): A multidisciplinary risk index for Latin America and the Caribbean.

PubMed

Calil, Juliano; Reguero, Borja G; Zamora, Ana R; Losada, Iñigo J; Méndez, Fernando J

2017-01-01

As the world's population grows to a projected 11.2 billion by 2100, the number of people living in low-lying areas exposed to coastal hazards is projected to increase. Critical infrastructure and valuable assets continue to be placed in vulnerable areas, and in recent years, millions of people have been displaced by natural hazards. Impacts from coastal hazards depend on the number of people, value of assets, and presence of critical resources in harm's way. Risks related to natural hazards are determined by a complex interaction between physical hazards, the vulnerability of a society or social-ecological system and its exposure to such hazards. Moreover, these risks are amplified by challenging socioeconomic dynamics, including poorly planned urban development, income inequality, and poverty. This study employs a combination of machine learning clustering techniques (Self Organizing Maps and K-Means) and a spatial index, to assess coastal risks in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on a comparative scale. The proposed method meets multiple objectives, including the identification of hotspots and key drivers of coastal risk, and the ability to process large-volume multidimensional and multivariate datasets, effectively reducing sixteen variables related to coastal hazards, geographic exposure, and socioeconomic vulnerability, into a single index. Our results demonstrate that in LAC, more than 500,000 people live in areas where coastal hazards, exposure (of people, assets and ecosystems) and poverty converge, creating the ideal conditions for a perfect storm. Hotspot locations of coastal risk, identified by the proposed Comparative Coastal Risk Index (CCRI), contain more than 300,00 people and include: El Oro, Ecuador; Sinaloa, Mexico; Usulutan, El Salvador; and Chiapas, Mexico. Our results provide important insights into potential adaptation alternatives that could reduce the impacts of future hazards. Effective adaptation options must not only focus on developing coastal defenses, but also on improving practices and policies related to urban development, agricultural land use, and conservation, as well as ameliorating socioeconomic conditions.

Office of Inspector General report on special audit of pension plans for Department of Energy contract employees of the University of California

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

NONE

1996-08-01

On May 15, 1996, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced its decision to extend and renegotiate its contracts with the University of California for the management and operation of the Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Current contracts for the operation of these laboratories expire in 1997. The renegotiation process provides an opportunity for the Department to: (1) recover at least $620 million in excess assets from the pension plans it has funded for University of California employees who work at DOE`s laboratories; and (2) improve the Department`s ability to exercise prudent management of its interest inmore » those pension funds. According to Department records, as of July 1, 1995, the University of California Retirement Plan had between $620 million and $2.0 billion in excess assets that were attributable to the Department of Energy (emphasis supplied). The wide variation in excess assets is a function of the assumptions used in making these calculations. These are described in Appendix 1 to this report. It was concluded as a result of the audit that, as part of the contract renegotiation process, the Department should obtain the cooperation and assistance of the University of California in recovering excess pension plan assets in a manner that does not affect the defined retirement benefits of the contract employees. This could include jointly sponsoring legislation to modify any existing legal restrictions.« less

Evaluation of the Effect of Non-Current Fixed Assets on Profitability and Asset Management Efficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lubyanaya, Alexandra V.; Izmailov, Airat M.; Nikulina, Ekaterina Y.; Shaposhnikov, Vladislav A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article is to investigate the problem, which stems from non-current fixed assets affecting profitability and asset management efficiency. Tangible assets, intangible assets and financial assets are all included in non-current fixed assets. The aim of the research is to identify the impact of estimates and valuation in…

Cortisol and testosterone increase financial risk taking and may destabilize markets.

PubMed

Cueva, Carlos; Roberts, R Edward; Spencer, Tom; Rani, Nisha; Tempest, Michelle; Tobler, Philippe N; Herbert, Joe; Rustichini, Aldo

2015-07-02

It is widely known that financial markets can become dangerously unstable, yet it is unclear why. Recent research has highlighted the possibility that endogenous hormones, in particular testosterone and cortisol, may critically influence traders' financial decision making. Here we show that cortisol, a hormone that modulates the response to physical or psychological stress, predicts instability in financial markets. Specifically, we recorded salivary levels of cortisol and testosterone in people participating in an experimental asset market (N = 142) and found that individual and aggregate levels of endogenous cortisol predict subsequent risk-taking and price instability. We then administered either cortisol (single oral dose of 100 mg hydrocortisone, N = 34) or testosterone (three doses of 10 g transdermal 1% testosterone gel over 48 hours, N = 41) to young males before they played an asset trading game. We found that both cortisol and testosterone shifted investment towards riskier assets. Cortisol appears to affect risk preferences directly, whereas testosterone operates by inducing increased optimism about future price changes. Our results suggest that changes in both cortisol and testosterone could play a destabilizing role in financial markets through increased risk taking behaviour, acting via different behavioural pathways.

Cortisol and testosterone increase financial risk taking and may destabilize markets

PubMed Central

Cueva, Carlos; Roberts, R. Edward; Spencer, Tom; Rani, Nisha; Tempest, Michelle; Tobler, Philippe N.; Herbert, Joe; Rustichini, Aldo

2015-01-01

It is widely known that financial markets can become dangerously unstable, yet it is unclear why. Recent research has highlighted the possibility that endogenous hormones, in particular testosterone and cortisol, may critically influence traders’ financial decision making. Here we show that cortisol, a hormone that modulates the response to physical or psychological stress, predicts instability in financial markets. Specifically, we recorded salivary levels of cortisol and testosterone in people participating in an experimental asset market (N = 142) and found that individual and aggregate levels of endogenous cortisol predict subsequent risk-taking and price instability. We then administered either cortisol (single oral dose of 100 mg hydrocortisone, N = 34) or testosterone (three doses of 10 g transdermal 1% testosterone gel over 48 hours, N = 41) to young males before they played an asset trading game. We found that both cortisol and testosterone shifted investment towards riskier assets. Cortisol appears to affect risk preferences directly, whereas testosterone operates by inducing increased optimism about future price changes. Our results suggest that changes in both cortisol and testosterone could play a destabilizing role in financial markets through increased risk taking behaviour, acting via different behavioural pathways. PMID:26135946

Effects of introduction of new resources and fragmentation of existing resources on limiting wealth distribution in asset exchange models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali Saif, M.; Gade, Prashant M.

2009-03-01

Pareto law, which states that wealth distribution in societies has a power-law tail, has been the subject of intensive investigations in the statistical physics community. Several models have been employed to explain this behavior. However, most of the agent based models assume the conservation of number of agents and wealth. Both these assumptions are unrealistic. In this paper, we study the limiting wealth distribution when one or both of these assumptions are not valid. Given the universality of the law, we have tried to study the wealth distribution from the asset exchange models point of view. We consider models in which (a) new agents enter the market at a constant rate (b) richer agents fragment with higher probability introducing newer agents in the system (c) both fragmentation and entry of new agents is taking place. While models (a) and (c) do not conserve total wealth or number of agents, model (b) conserves total wealth. All these models lead to a power-law tail in the wealth distribution pointing to the possibility that more generalized asset exchange models could help us to explain the emergence of a power-law tail in wealth distribution.

FASB Statement No. 136 clarifies transfers of assets.

PubMed

Luecke, R W; Meeting, D T

2000-03-01

FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 136, Transfers of Assets to a Not-for-Profit Organization or Charitable Trust That Raises or Holds Contributions for Others, provides guidance and establishes accounting standards for the transfer of assets from donors to not-for-profit organizations that may then transfer those same assets to a beneficiary organization. Recipient organizations that accept financial assets from a donor and agree to use those assets on behalf of a specified unaffiliated beneficiary or transfer those assets, the return on investment of those assets, or both to that beneficiary must recognize the assets received from the donor and recognize the assets' fair value as a liability to the beneficiary. The statement describes circumstances in which a transfer of assets to a recipient organization is accounted for as an asset and corresponding liability of the recipient organization, and as an asset and donation revenue by the beneficiary organization because the transfer is irrevocable.

Physical partner violence, women’s economic status and help-seeking behaviour in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, Tanzania

PubMed Central

Vyas, Seema; Mbwambo, Jessie

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Women’s responses to partner violence are influenced by a complex constellation of factors including: psychological attachment to the partner; context of the abuse; and structural factors, all of which shape available options for women outside of the relationship. Objective: To describe women’s responses to physical partner violence; and to understand the role of women’s economic resources on their responses. Methods: Cross-sectional data from Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, Tanzania. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between women’s economic resources and their responses to violence. Results: In both sites, among physically abused women, over one-half experienced severe violence; approximately two-thirds had disclosed the violence; and approximately 40% had sought help. Abused women were more likely to have sought help from health services, the police and religious leaders in Dar es Salaam, and from local leaders in Mbeya. Economic resources did not facilitate women’s ability to leave violent partners in Dar es Salaam. In Mbeya, women who jointly owned capital assets were less likely to have left. In both sites, women’s sole ownership of capital assets facilitated help-seeking. Conclusion: Although support services are being scaled-up in Tanzania, efforts are needed to increase the acceptability of accessing such services. PMID:28485667

φq-field theory for portfolio optimization: “fat tails” and nonlinear correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sornette, D.; Simonetti, P.; Andersen, J. V.

2000-08-01

Physics and finance are both fundamentally based on the theory of random walks (and their generalizations to higher dimensions) and on the collective behavior of large numbers of correlated variables. The archetype examplifying this situation in finance is the portfolio optimization problem in which one desires to diversify on a set of possibly dependent assets to optimize the return and minimize the risks. The standard mean-variance solution introduced by Markovitz and its subsequent developments is basically a mean-field Gaussian solution. It has severe limitations for practical applications due to the strongly non-Gaussian structure of distributions and the nonlinear dependence between assets. Here, we present in details a general analytical characterization of the distribution of returns for a portfolio constituted of assets whose returns are described by an arbitrary joint multivariate distribution. In this goal, we introduce a non-linear transformation that maps the returns onto Gaussian variables whose covariance matrix provides a new measure of dependence between the non-normal returns, generalizing the covariance matrix into a nonlinear covariance matrix. This nonlinear covariance matrix is chiseled to the specific fat tail structure of the underlying marginal distributions, thus ensuring stability and good conditioning. The portfolio distribution is then obtained as the solution of a mapping to a so-called φq field theory in particle physics, of which we offer an extensive treatment using Feynman diagrammatic techniques and large deviation theory, that we illustrate in details for multivariate Weibull distributions. The interaction (non-mean field) structure in this field theory is a direct consequence of the non-Gaussian nature of the distribution of asset price returns. We find that minimizing the portfolio variance (i.e. the relatively “small” risks) may often increase the large risks, as measured by higher normalized cumulants. Extensive empirical tests are presented on the foreign exchange market that validate satisfactorily the theory. For “fat tail” distributions, we show that an adequate prediction of the risks of a portfolio relies much more on the correct description of the tail structure rather than on their correlations. For the case of asymmetric return distributions, our theory allows us to generalize the return-risk efficient frontier concept to incorporate the dimensions of large risks embedded in the tail of the asset distributions. We demonstrate that it is often possible to increase the portfolio return while decreasing the large risks as quantified by the fourth and higher-order cumulants. Exact theoretical formulas are validated by empirical tests.

Methanogenic degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in subsurface environments remediation, heavy oil formation, and energy recovery.

PubMed

Gray, N D; Sherry, A; Hubert, C; Dolfing, J; Head, I M

2010-01-01

Hydrocarbons are common constituents of surface, shallow, and deep-subsurface environments. Under anaerobic conditions, hydrocarbons can be degraded to methane by methanogenic microbial consortia. This degradation process is widespread in the geosphere. In comparison with other anaerobic processes, methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation is more sustainable over geological time scales because replenishment of an exogenous electron acceptor is not required. As a consequence, this process has been responsible for the formation of the world's vast deposits of heavy oil, which far exceed conventional oil assets such as those found in the Middle East. Methanogenic degradation is also a potentially important component of attenuation in hydrocarbon contamination plumes. Studies of the organisms, syntrophic partnerships, mechanisms, and geochemical signatures associated with methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation have identified common themes and diagnostic markers for this process in the subsurface. These studies have also identified the potential to engineer methanogenic processes to enhance the recovery of energy assets as biogenic methane from residual oils stranded in petroleum systems. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 167.12 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card...

12 CFR 167.12 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card...

12 CFR 567.12 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2013-01-01 2012-01-01 true Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card...

12 CFR 167.12 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card...

12 CFR 567.12 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card...

12 CFR 567.12 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2014-01-01 2012-01-01 true Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card...

78 FR 44981 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Plan Asset...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-25

... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset Managers Under...) titled, ``Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset Managers under Prohibited Transaction... Transaction Class Exemption for Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset Managers (PTE 96-23...

Rethinking Value in the Bio-economy: Finance, Assetization, and the Management of Value.

PubMed

Birch, Kean

2017-05-01

Current debates in science and technology studies emphasize that the bio-economy-or, the articulation of capitalism and biotechnology-is built on notions of commodity production, commodification, and materiality, emphasizing that it is possible to derive value from body parts, molecular and cellular tissues, biological processes, and so on. What is missing from these perspectives, however, is consideration of the political-economic actors, knowledges, and practices involved in the creation and management of value. As part of a rethinking of value in the bio-economy, this article analyzes three key political-economic processes: financialization, capitalization, and assetization. In doing so, it argues that value is managed as part of a series of valuation practices, it is not inherent in biological materialities.

Orbital Debris Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, J. C.

2012-01-01

Presentation outlne: (1) The NASA Orbital Debris (OD) Engineering Model -- A mathematical model capable of predicting OD impact risks for the ISS and other critical space assets (2) The NASA OD Evolutionary Model -- A physical model capable of predicting future debris environment based on user-specified scenarios (3) The NASA Standard Satellite Breakup Model -- A model describing the outcome of a satellite breakup (explosion or collision)

Designing and Implementing a Science, Technology and Innovation Policy in a Developing Country: Recent Experience from Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siyanbola, W. O.; Olaopa, O. R.; Hassan, O. M.

2013-01-01

The authors examine how a realistic science, technology and innovation policy can be formulated to enhance the development and management of a nation's physical and human assets and to accelerate socio-economic development through focused S&T engagement. The paper traces the evolution of S&T policies in Nigeria, particularly between 1986…

A Model for settlement of health insurance organizations’ debt to health service delivery institutions

PubMed Central

Abolhallaj, Masood; Hosseini, Seyed Mohammadreza; Jafari, Mehdi; Alaei, Fatemeh

2017-01-01

Background: Sukuk is a type of financial instrument backed by balance sheet and physical assets. This applied and descriptive study aimed at providing solutions to the problems faced by insurance companies in the health sector. Methods: In this study, we achieved operational models by reviewing the release nature and mechanism of any of the securities and combining them. Results: According to the model presented in this study, 2 problems could be solved: settling the past debts and avoiding future debts. This model was deigned based on asset backed securities. Conclusion: Utilizing financing instruments (such as Sukuk), creating investment funds, and finding a solution to this problem, this study was conducted in 2 aspects: (1) models that are settling old debts of the organization, and (2) models that prevent debts in the future.

An Analysis of Automated Solutions for the Certification and Accreditation of Navy Medicine Information Assets

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

discovery of network security threats and vulnerabilities will be done by doing penetration testing during the C&A process. This can be done on a...2.1.1; Appendix E, J COBR -1 Protection of Backup and Restoration Assets Availability 1.3.1; 2.1.3; 2.1.7; 3.1; 4.3; Appendix J, M CODB-2 Data... discovery , inventory, scanning and loading of C&A information in its central database, (2) automatic generation of the SRTM , (3) automatic generation

Approximation methods of European option pricing in multiscale stochastic volatility model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, Ying; Canhanga, Betuel; Malyarenko, Anatoliy; Silvestrov, Sergei

2017-01-01

In the classical Black-Scholes model for financial option pricing, the asset price follows a geometric Brownian motion with constant volatility. Empirical findings such as volatility smile/skew, fat-tailed asset return distributions have suggested that the constant volatility assumption might not be realistic. A general stochastic volatility model, e.g. Heston model, GARCH model and SABR volatility model, in which the variance/volatility itself follows typically a mean-reverting stochastic process, has shown to be superior in terms of capturing the empirical facts. However in order to capture more features of the volatility smile a two-factor, of double Heston type, stochastic volatility model is more useful as shown in Christoffersen, Heston and Jacobs [12]. We consider one modified form of such two-factor volatility models in which the volatility has multiscale mean-reversion rates. Our model contains two mean-reverting volatility processes with a fast and a slow reverting rate respectively. We consider the European option pricing problem under one type of the multiscale stochastic volatility model where the two volatility processes act as independent factors in the asset price process. The novelty in this paper is an approximating analytical solution using asymptotic expansion method which extends the authors earlier research in Canhanga et al. [5, 6]. In addition we propose a numerical approximating solution using Monte-Carlo simulation. For completeness and for comparison we also implement the semi-analytical solution by Chiarella and Ziveyi [11] using method of characteristics, Fourier and bivariate Laplace transforms.

Tasking and sharing sensing assets using controlled natural language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preece, Alun; Pizzocaro, Diego; Braines, David; Mott, David

2012-06-01

We introduce an approach to representing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks at a relatively high level in controlled natural language. We demonstrate that this facilitates both human interpretation and machine processing of tasks. More specically, it allows the automatic assignment of sensing assets to tasks, and the informed sharing of tasks between collaborating users in a coalition environment. To enable automatic matching of sensor types to tasks, we created a machine-processable knowledge representation based on the Military Missions and Means Framework (MMF), and implemented a semantic reasoner to match task types to sensor types. We combined this mechanism with a sensor-task assignment procedure based on a well-known distributed protocol for resource allocation. In this paper, we re-formulate the MMF ontology in Controlled English (CE), a type of controlled natural language designed to be readable by a native English speaker whilst representing information in a structured, unambiguous form to facilitate machine processing. We show how CE can be used to describe both ISR tasks (for example, detection, localization, or identication of particular kinds of object) and sensing assets (for example, acoustic, visual, or seismic sensors, mounted on motes or unmanned vehicles). We show how these representations enable an automatic sensor-task assignment process. Where a group of users are cooperating in a coalition, we show how CE task summaries give users in the eld a high-level picture of ISR coverage of an area of interest. This allows them to make ecient use of sensing resources by sharing tasks.

17 CFR 202.190 - Public Company Accounting Oversight Board budget approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... information technology projects; and (viii) A statement that the PCAOB has considered relative costs and..., processes, staff skills, information and other technologies, human resources, capital assets, and other... include, among others: personnel, training, recruiting and relocation expenses, information technology...

17 CFR 202.190 - Public Company Accounting Oversight Board budget approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... information technology projects; and (viii) A statement that the PCAOB has considered relative costs and..., processes, staff skills, information and other technologies, human resources, capital assets, and other... include, among others: personnel, training, recruiting and relocation expenses, information technology...

Three-dimensional GIS approach for management of assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S. Y.; Yee, S. X.; Majid, Z.; Setan, H.

2014-02-01

Assets play an important role in human life, especially to an organization. Organizations strive and put more effort to improve its operation and assets management. The development of GIS technology has become a powerful tool in management as it is able to provide a complete inventory for managing assets with location-based information. Spatial information is one of the requirements in decision making in various areas, including asset management in the buildings. This paper describes a 3D GIS approach for management of assets. An asset management system was developed by integrating GIS concept and 3D model assets. The purposes of 3D visualization to manage assets are to facilitate the analysis and understanding in the complex environment. Behind the 3D model of assets is a database to store the asset information. A user-friendly interface was also designed for more easier to operate the application. In the application developed, location of each individual asset can be easily tracked according to the referring spatial information and 3D viewing. The 3D GIS approach described in this paper is certainly would be useful in asset management. Systematic management of assets can be carried out and this will lead to less-time consuming and cost-effective. The results in this paper will show a new approach to improve asset management.

Logistics Control Facility: A Normative Model for Total Asset Visibility in the Air Force Logistics System

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-09-01

IIssue Computers, information systems, and communication systems are being increasingly used in transportation, warehousing, order processing , materials...inventory levels, reduced order processing times, reduced order processing costs, and increased customer satisfaction. While purchasing and transportation...process, the speed in which crders are processed would increase significantly. Lowering the order processing time in turn lowers the lead time, which in

The Role of Model Fidelity in Understanding the Food-Energy-Water Nexus at the Asset Level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tidwell, V. C.; Lowry, T. S.; Behery, S.; Macknick, J.; Yang, Y. C. E.

2017-12-01

An improved understanding of the food-energy-water nexus at the asset level (e.g., power plant, irrigation ditch, water utility) is necessary for the efficient management and operations of connected infrastructure systems. Interdependencies potentially influencing the operations of a particular asset can be numerous. For example, operations of energy and agricultural assets depend on the delivery of water, which in turn depend on the physical hydrology, river/reservoir operations, water rights, the networked water infrastructure and other factors. A critical challenge becomes identification of those linkages central to the analysis of the system. Toward this need, a case study was conducted centered on the San Juan River basin, a major tributary to the Colorado River. A unique opportunity was afforded by the availability of two sets of coupled models built on the same simulation platform but formulated at distinctly different fidelities. Comparative analysis was driven by statistically downscaled climate data from three global climate models (emission scenario RCP 8.5) and planned growth in regional water demand. Precipitation was partitioned between evaporation, runoff and recharge using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model. Priority administration of small-scale water use of upland tributary flows was simulated using Colorado's StateMod model. Mainstem operations of the San Juan River, including releases from Navajo Reservoir, were subsequently modeled using RiverWare to estimate impacts on water deliveries, environmental flows and interbasin transfers out to the year 2100. Models differ in the spatial resolution, disaggregation of water use, infrastructure operations and representation of system dynamics. Comparisons drawn between this suite of coupled models provides insight into the value of model fidelity relative to assessing asset vulnerability to a range of uncertain growth and climate futures. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525.

Enhancing Student Learning of Enterprise Integration and Business Process Orientation through an ERP Business Simulation Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seethamraju, Ravi

2011-01-01

The sophistication of the integrated world of work and increased recognition of business processes as critical corporate assets require graduates to develop "process orientation" and an "integrated view" of business. Responding to these dynamic changes in business organizations, business schools are also continuing to modify…

76 FR 78594 - Reporting of Specified Foreign Financial Assets

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-19

... Reporting of Specified Foreign Financial Assets AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION... foreign financial assets and the value of those assets is more than the applicable reporting threshold... hold specified foreign financial assets generally will be excepted from reporting such assets under...

76 FR 5072 - Cuban Assets Control Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-28

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Foreign Assets Control 31 CFR Part 515 Cuban Assets Control Regulations AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending the Cuban Assets Control...

77 FR 71530 - Cuban Assets Control Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-03

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Foreign Assets Control 31 CFR Part 515 Cuban Assets Control Regulations AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending the Cuban Assets Control...

75 FR 10996 - Cuban Assets Control Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-10

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Foreign Assets Control 31 CFR Part 515 Cuban Assets Control Regulations AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending the Cuban Assets Control...

Statistical mechanics of a time-homogeneous system of money and antimoney

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitt, Matthias; Schacker, Andreas; Braun, Dieter

2014-03-01

Financial crises appear throughout human history. While there are many schools of thought on what the actual causes of such crises are, it has been suggested that the creation of credit money might be a source of financial instability. We discuss how the credit mechanism in a system of fractional reserve banking leads to non-local transfers of purchasing power that also affect non-involved agents. To overcome this issue, we impose the local symmetry of time homogeneity on the monetary system. A bi-currency system of non-bank assets (money) and bank assets (antimoney) is considered. A payment is either made by passing on money or by receiving antimoney. As a result, a free floating exchange rate between non-bank assets and bank assets is established. Credit creation is replaced by the simultaneous transfer of money and antimoney at a negotiated exchange rate. This is in contrast to traditional discussions of full reserve banking, which stalls creditary lending. With money and antimoney, the problem of credit crunches is mitigated while a full time symmetry of the monetary system is maintained. As a test environment for such a monetary system, we discuss an economy of random transfers. Random transfers are a strong criterion to probe the stability of monetary systems. The analysis using statistical physics provides analytical solutions and confirms that a money-antimoney system could be functional. Equally important to the probing of the stability of such a monetary system is the question of how to implement the credit default dynamics. This issue remains open.

Development and validation of the AFIT scene and sensor emulator for testing (ASSET)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Shannon R.; Steward, Bryan J.; Gross, Kevin C.

2017-05-01

ASSET is a physics-based model used to generate synthetic data sets of wide field of view (WFOV) electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors with realistic radiometric properties, noise characteristics, and sensor artifacts. It was developed to meet the need for applications where precise knowledge of the underlying truth is required but is impractical to obtain for real sensors. For example, due to accelerating advances in imaging technology, the volume of data available from WFOV EO/IR sensors has drastically increased over the past several decades, and as a result, there is a need for fast, robust, automatic detection and tracking algorithms. Evaluation of these algorithms is difficult for objects that traverse a wide area (100-10,000 km) because obtaining accurate truth for the full object trajectory often requires costly instrumentation. Additionally, tracking and detection algorithms perform differently depending on factors such as the object kinematics, environment, and sensor configuration. A variety of truth data sets spanning these parameters are needed for thorough testing, which is often cost prohibitive. The use of synthetic data sets for algorithm development allows for full control of scene parameters with full knowledge of truth. However, in order for analysis using synthetic data to be meaningful, the data must be truly representative of real sensor collections. ASSET aims to provide a means of generating such representative data sets for WFOV sensors operating in the visible through thermal infrared. The work reported here describes the ASSET model, as well as provides validation results from comparisons to laboratory imagers and satellite data (e.g. Landsat-8).

Fleet-Wide Prognostic and Health Management Suite: Asset Fault Signature Database

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

Vivek Agarwal; Nancy J. Lybeck; Randall Bickford

Proactive online monitoring in the nuclear industry is being explored using the Electric Power Research Institute’s Fleet-Wide Prognostic and Health Management (FW-PHM) Suite software. The FW-PHM Suite is a set of web-based diagnostic and prognostic tools and databases that serves as an integrated health monitoring architecture. The FW-PHM Suite has four main modules: (1) Diagnostic Advisor, (2) Asset Fault Signature (AFS) Database, (3) Remaining Useful Life Advisor, and (4) Remaining Useful Life Database. The paper focuses on the AFS Database of the FW-PHM Suite, which is used to catalog asset fault signatures. A fault signature is a structured representation ofmore » the information that an expert would use to first detect and then verify the occurrence of a specific type of fault. The fault signatures developed to assess the health status of generator step-up transformers are described in the paper. The developed fault signatures capture this knowledge and implement it in a standardized approach, thereby streamlining the diagnostic and prognostic process. This will support the automation of proactive online monitoring techniques in nuclear power plants to diagnose incipient faults, perform proactive maintenance, and estimate the remaining useful life of assets.« less

Optimal Investment Under Transaction Costs: A Threshold Rebalanced Portfolio Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tunc, Sait; Donmez, Mehmet Ali; Kozat, Suleyman Serdar

2013-06-01

We study optimal investment in a financial market having a finite number of assets from a signal processing perspective. We investigate how an investor should distribute capital over these assets and when he should reallocate the distribution of the funds over these assets to maximize the cumulative wealth over any investment period. In particular, we introduce a portfolio selection algorithm that maximizes the expected cumulative wealth in i.i.d. two-asset discrete-time markets where the market levies proportional transaction costs in buying and selling stocks. We achieve this using "threshold rebalanced portfolios", where trading occurs only if the portfolio breaches certain thresholds. Under the assumption that the relative price sequences have log-normal distribution from the Black-Scholes model, we evaluate the expected wealth under proportional transaction costs and find the threshold rebalanced portfolio that achieves the maximal expected cumulative wealth over any investment period. Our derivations can be readily extended to markets having more than two stocks, where these extensions are pointed out in the paper. As predicted from our derivations, we significantly improve the achieved wealth over portfolio selection algorithms from the literature on historical data sets.

BIM: Enabling Sustainability and Asset Management through Knowledge Management

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry. PMID:24324392

BIM: enabling sustainability and asset management through knowledge management.

PubMed

Kivits, Robbert Anton; Furneaux, Craig

2013-11-10

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry.

Multi-method automated diagnostics of rotating machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostyukov, A. V.; Boychenko, S. N.; Shchelkanov, A. V.; Burda, E. A.

2017-08-01

The automated machinery diagnostics and monitoring systems utilized within the petrochemical plants are an integral part of the measures taken to ensure safety and, as a consequence, the efficiency of these industrial facilities. Such systems are often limited in their functionality due to the specifics of the diagnostic techniques adopted. As the diagnostic techniques applied in each system are limited, and machinery defects can have different physical nature, it becomes necessary to combine several diagnostics and monitoring systems to control various machinery components. Such an approach is inconvenient, since it requires additional measures to bring the diagnostic results in a single view of the technical condition of production assets. In this case, we mean by a production facility a bonded complex of a process unit, a drive, a power source and lines. A failure of any of these components will cause an outage of the production asset, which is unacceptable. The purpose of the study is to test a combined use of vibration diagnostics and partial discharge techniques within the diagnostic systems of enterprises for automated control of the technical condition of rotating machinery during maintenance and at production facilities. The described solutions allow you to control the condition of mechanical and electrical components of rotating machines. It is shown that the functionality of the diagnostics systems can be expanded with minimal changes in technological chains of repair and operation of rotating machinery. Automation of such systems reduces the influence of the human factor on the quality of repair and diagnostics of the machinery.

From the American Academy of Pediatrics: Policy statements--Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for children and youth with disabilities.

PubMed

2009-12-01

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program remains an important source of financial support for low-income families of children with special health care needs and disabling conditions. In most states, SSI eligibility also qualifies children for the state Medicaid program, providing access to health care services. The Social Security Administration (SSA), which administers the SSI program, considers a child disabled under SSI if there is a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or combination of impairments that results in marked and severe functional limitations. The impairment(s) must be expected to result in death or have lasted or be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months. The income and assets of families of children with disabilities are also considered when determining financial eligibility. When an individual with a disability becomes an adult at 18 years of age, the SSA considers only the individual's income and assets. The SSA considers an adult to be disabled if there is a medically determinable impairment (or combination of impairments) that prevents substantial gainful activity for at least 12 continuous months. SSI benefits are important for youth with chronic conditions who are transitioning to adulthood. The purpose of this statement is to provide updated information about the SSI medical and financial eligibility criteria and the disability-determination process. This statement also discusses how pediatricians can help children and youth when they apply for SSI benefits.

The use of nonhuman primates in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simmonds, R. C. (Editor); Bourne, G. H. (Editor)

1977-01-01

Space related biomedical research involving nonhuman primates is reviewed. The scientific assets of various species and the instruments used for monitoring physiological processes during long duration experimentations are described.

76 FR 18255 - Amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 96-23 for Plan Asset Transactions Determined...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-01

... Determined by In-House Asset Managers Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Labor. Action... various transactions involving employee benefit plans whose assets are managed by in-house asset managers... Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset Managers to OMB for review and clearance at the time the...

12 CFR 955.6 - Risk-based capital requirement for acquired member assets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... ASSETS AND OFF-BALANCE SHEET ITEMS ACQUIRED MEMBER ASSETS § 955.6 Risk-based capital requirement for acquired member assets. (a) General. Each Bank shall hold retained earnings plus general allowance for... NRSRO in an amount equal to or greater than the outstanding balance of the assets or pools of assets...

The capital-asset-pricing model and arbitrage pricing theory: A unification

PubMed Central

Khan, M. Ali; Sun, Yeneng

1997-01-01

We present a model of a financial market in which naive diversification, based simply on portfolio size and obtained as a consequence of the law of large numbers, is distinguished from efficient diversification, based on mean-variance analysis. This distinction yields a valuation formula involving only the essential risk embodied in an asset’s return, where the overall risk can be decomposed into a systematic and an unsystematic part, as in the arbitrage pricing theory; and the systematic component further decomposed into an essential and an inessential part, as in the capital-asset-pricing model. The two theories are thus unified, and their individual asset-pricing formulas shown to be equivalent to the pervasive economic principle of no arbitrage. The factors in the model are endogenously chosen by a procedure analogous to the Karhunen–Loéve expansion of continuous time stochastic processes; it has an optimality property justifying the use of a relatively small number of them to describe the underlying correlational structures. Our idealized limit model is based on a continuum of assets indexed by a hyperfinite Loeb measure space, and it is asymptotically implementable in a setting with a large but finite number of assets. Because the difficulties in the formulation of the law of large numbers with a standard continuum of random variables are well known, the model uncovers some basic phenomena not amenable to classical methods, and whose approximate counterparts are not already, or even readily, apparent in the asymptotic setting. PMID:11038614

New Rulers in the Ghetto: The Community Development Corporation and Urban Poverty. Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies, Number 28.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berndt, Harry Edward

The activities of the Community Development Corporation (CDC), founded in 1967 to alleviate urban poverty in the United States, are analyzed in this book. The overall strategies used by the CDC, including the acquisition of existing businesses, development of new businesses, investments in physical assets of the community, assistance through loans…

25 CFR 224.137 - What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset? 224.137 Section 224.137 Indians... AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.137 What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the...

25 CFR 224.137 - What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset? 224.137 Section 224.137 Indians... AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.137 What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the...

25 CFR 224.137 - What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset? 224.137 Section 224.137 Indians... AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.137 What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the...

25 CFR 224.137 - What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the potential for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... resulted in harm or the potential for harm to a physical trust asset? 224.137 Section 224.137 Indians... AGREEMENTS UNDER THE INDIAN TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND SELF DETERMINATION ACT Periodic Reviews Noncompliance § 224.137 What must the Director do if a tribe's noncompliance has resulted in harm or the...

Among Demons and Wizards: The Nuclear Energy Discourse in Sweden and the Re-Enchantment of the World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anshelm, Jonas

2010-01-01

In 1956, the Swedish Parliament decided to invest in a national nuclear energy program. The decision rested on the conviction that it would be in the interest of the nation to use the assets of natural uranium, the advanced reactor technology, and the expertise on nuclear physics that the country had at its disposal. Since the decision concerned…

Thermoelectric clathrates of type I.

PubMed

Christensen, Mogens; Johnsen, Simon; Iversen, Bo Brummerstedt

2010-01-28

Thermoelectric clathrates hold significant promise for high temperature applications with zT values exceeding 1.3. The inorganic clathrates have been shown to be both chemically and thermally stable at high temperatures, and high performance can be obtained from both single crystals and processed powders. The clathrates also show excellent compatibility factors in segmented module applications. For a materials chemist it is furthermore of great importance that the clathrates exhibit a very rich chemistry with the ability for substitution of many different elements. This allows delicate tuning of both the crystal structure as well as the physical properties. With all these assets, it is not surprising that clathrates have been intensely investigated in the thermoelectric community during the past decade. The present perspective provides a review of the many studies concerned with the synthesis, crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of clathrates with emphasis on the type I clathrate.

7 CFR 3565.304 - Lender loan processing responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., management and disposition. Unless otherwise permitted by the Agency, the originating lender must perform all loan functions during the period of the guarantee. These functions include servicing, asset management...

On the management and operation of enterprises intangible asset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Yu; Wang, Hong

2011-10-01

Since entering the knowledge economy, the management of intangible assets becomes an important part of manage, this article discusses the problem of management on intangible assets, the properties of intangible assets, and the channels of management and operation on intangible assets, and stressed the important role of intangible assets in the development and innovation of the enterprise.

Update of the ISTP Solar Maximum Mission: ISTP Project Scientist for Theory and Ground-Based Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curtis, Steve

1999-01-01

Building upon the numerous successes of the pre-solar maximum International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) mission, the ISTP Solar Maximum Mission is expected to produce new insights into global flow of energy, momentum, and mass, from the Sun, through the heliosphere, into the magnetosphere and to their final deposition in the terrestrial upper atmosphere/ionosphere system. Of particular interest is the determination of the geo-effectiveness of solar events, principally Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). Given the expected increased frequency and strength of CMEs during the Solar Maximum period, a major advance in our understanding of nature of the coupling of CMEs to the magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere system is expected. The roles during this time of the various ISTP assets will be discussed. These assets will include the SOHO, Wind, Polar, and Geotail spacecraft, the ground-based observing networks and the theory tools.

Modular Open System Architecture for Reducing Contamination Risk in the Space and Missile Defense Supply Chain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seasly, Elaine

2015-01-01

To combat contamination of physical assets and provide reliable data to decision makers in the space and missile defense community, a modular open system architecture for creation of contamination models and standards is proposed. Predictive tools for quantifying the effects of contamination can be calibrated from NASA data of long-term orbiting assets. This data can then be extrapolated to missile defense predictive models. By utilizing a modular open system architecture, sensitive data can be de-coupled and protected while benefitting from open source data of calibrated models. This system architecture will include modules that will allow the designer to trade the effects of baseline performance against the lifecycle degradation due to contamination while modeling the lifecycle costs of alternative designs. In this way, each member of the supply chain becomes an informed and active participant in managing contamination risk early in the system lifecycle.

Cultivating Positive Youth Development, Critical Consciousness, and Authentic Care in Urban Environmental Education.

PubMed

Delia, Jesse; Krasny, Marianne E

2017-01-01

This paper addresses the issue of how to provide affordances for youth development in the context of environmental stewardship in cities. Urban environmental education encompasses place-based and action-oriented stewardship practices, including community gardening and vegetable production, often with the dual goals of developing youth and community assets. Yet in-depth understanding of how these goals are achieved is lacking. Using narrative inquiry, we explored participant experiences in a multi-year agriculture internship program conducted by the food justice organization East New York Farms! (ENYF) in Brooklyn, NY. Emerging from our conversations with youth were five themes defining their intern experience: ENYF as somewhere to belong, to be pushed, to grapple with complexity, to practice leadership, and to become yourself. We propose a theory of change that emphasizes politicized notions of caring as a foundation for cultivating developmental assets, including competence, contribution, and critical consciousness, among youth who participate in ENYF programs multiple years. This paper extends the literature on socio-environmental affordances to encompass urban environmental education programs, which incorporate physical and social features that act as affordances. Further, this paper describes a feedback loop in which youth afforded opportunities to develop assets through contributing to their community in turn create affordances for additional youth and adults.

Cultivating Positive Youth Development, Critical Consciousness, and Authentic Care in Urban Environmental Education

PubMed Central

Delia, Jesse; Krasny, Marianne E.

2018-01-01

This paper addresses the issue of how to provide affordances for youth development in the context of environmental stewardship in cities. Urban environmental education encompasses place-based and action-oriented stewardship practices, including community gardening and vegetable production, often with the dual goals of developing youth and community assets. Yet in-depth understanding of how these goals are achieved is lacking. Using narrative inquiry, we explored participant experiences in a multi-year agriculture internship program conducted by the food justice organization East New York Farms! (ENYF) in Brooklyn, NY. Emerging from our conversations with youth were five themes defining their intern experience: ENYF as somewhere to belong, to be pushed, to grapple with complexity, to practice leadership, and to become yourself. We propose a theory of change that emphasizes politicized notions of caring as a foundation for cultivating developmental assets, including competence, contribution, and critical consciousness, among youth who participate in ENYF programs multiple years. This paper extends the literature on socio-environmental affordances to encompass urban environmental education programs, which incorporate physical and social features that act as affordances. Further, this paper describes a feedback loop in which youth afforded opportunities to develop assets through contributing to their community in turn create affordances for additional youth and adults. PMID:29379456

COMPASS Final Report: Lunar Relay Satellite (LRS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oleson, Steven R.; McGuire, Melissa L.

2012-01-01

The Lunar Relay Satellite (LRS) COllaborative Modeling and Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) session was tasked to design a satellite to orbit in an elliptical lunar polar orbit to provide relay communications between lunar South Pole assets and the Earth. The design included a complete master equipment list, power requirement list, configuration design, and brief risk assessment and cost analysis. The LRS is a half-TDRSS sized box spacecraft, which provides communications and navigation relay between lunar outposts (via Lunar Communications Terminals (LCT)) or Sortie parties (with user radios) and large ground antennas on Earth. The LRS consists of a spacecraft containing all the communications and avionics equipment designed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory s (JPL) Team X to perform the relay between lunar-based assets and the Earth. The satellite design is a standard box truss spacecraft design with a thermal control system, 1.7 m solar arrays for 1 kWe power, a 1 m diameter Ka/S band dish which provides relay communications with the LCT, and a Q-band dish for communications to/from the Earth based assets. While JPL's Team X and Goddard Space Flight Center s (GSFC) I M Design Center (IMDC) have completed two other LRS designs, this NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) COMPASS LRS design sits between them in terms of physical size and capabilities.

An Operationally Responsive Space Architecture for 2025

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-22

Organizational Relationships, Asset Loss Mitigation, Availability, Flexibility, and Streamlined Acquisition Processes . These pillars allowed the solutions...were considered. Analysis was further supported by a performance versus cost process which provided a final test of solution feasibility. Relative cost...Availability, Flexibility, and Streamlined Acquisition Processes . These pillars allowed the solutions, material and non-material, to be organized for

Solar Access Public Capital (SAPC) Working Group: Best Practices in PV Operations and Maintenance; Version 1.0, March 2015; Period of Performance, January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2015

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

Keating, T. J.; Walker, A.; Ardani, K.

2015-03-01

This PV O&M Best Practices Guide is designed to improve solar asset transparency for investors and rating agencies, provide an industry framework for quality management, and reduce transaction costs in the solar asset securitization process. The PV O&M Best Practices Guide is intended to outline the minimum requirements for third-party ownership providers (“Providers”). Adherence to the guide is voluntary. Providers that adhere to the guide are responsible for selfcertifying that they have fulfilled the guide requirements.

Constraining Aggregate-Scale Solar Energy Partitioning in Arctic Sea Ice Through Synthesis of Remote Sensing and Autonomous In-Situ Observations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, N.; Polashenski, C. M.; Deeb, E. J.; Morriss, B. F.; Song, A.; Chen, J.

2015-12-01

One of the key processes controlling sea ice mass balance in the Arctic is the partitioning of solar energy between reflection back to the atmosphere and absorption into the ice and upper ocean. We investigate the solar energy balance in the ice-ocean system using in-situ data collected from Arctic Observing Network (AON) sea ice sites and imagery from high resolution optical satellites. AON assets, including ice mass balance buoys and ice tethered profilers, monitor the storage and fluxes of heat in the ice-ocean system. High resolution satellite imagery, processed using object-based image classification techniques, allows us to quantify the evolution of surrounding ice conditions, including melt pond coverage and floe size distribution, at aggregate scale. We present results from regionally representative sites that constrain the partitioning of absorbed solar energy between ice melt and ocean storage, and quantify the strength of the ice-albedo feedback. We further demonstrate how the results can be used to validate model representations of the physical processes controlling ice-albedo feedbacks. The techniques can be extended to understand solar partitioning across the Arctic basin using additional sites and model based data integration.

The Treatment of Assets and Income From Assets in Income-Conditioned Government Benefit Programs; Technical Papers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Inst. for Research on Poverty.

These technical papers were presented at the Conference on Treatment of Assets and Income from Assets in Income Conditioned Programs. Six papers dealing with current and alternative treatments of assets and income from assets in programs that offer both cash and noncash benefits were presented. The first three authors reviewed the network of rules…

Assessing Your Assets: Systems for Tracking and Managing IT Assets Can Save Time and Dollars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holub, Patricia A.

2007-01-01

The average school district loses more than $80,000 per year because of lost or damaged IT assets, according to a QED survey cosponsored by Follett Software Company. And many districts--59 percent--still use manual systems to track assets. Enter asset management systems. Software for managing assets, when implemented properly, can save time,…

A mobile asset sharing policy for hospitals with real time locating systems.

PubMed

Demircan-Yıldız, Ece Arzu; Fescioglu-Unver, Nilgun

2016-01-01

Each year, hospitals lose a considerable amount of time and money due to misplaced mobile assets. In addition the assets which remain in departments that frequently use them depreciate early, while other assets of the same type in different departments are rarely used. A real time locating system can prevent these losses when used with appropriate asset sharing policies. This research quantifies the amount of time a medium size hospital saves by using real time locating system and proposes an asset selection rule to eliminate the asset usage imbalance problem. The asset selection rule proposed is based on multi objective optimization techniques. The effectiveness of this rule on asset to patient time and asset utilization rate variance performance measures were tested using discrete event simulation method. Results show that the proposed asset selection rule improved the usage balance significantly. Sensitivity analysis showed that the proposed rule is robust to changes in demand rates and user preferences. Real time locating systems enable saving considerable amount of time in hospitals, and they can still be improved by integrating decision support mechanisms. Combining tracking technology and asset selection rules helps improve healthcare services.

23 CFR 450.208 - Coordination of planning process activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... planning carried out under this subpart with statewide trade and economic development planning activities... CFR part 500. (e) States may apply asset management principles and techniques in establishing planning...

Bank stability as a risk factor for pipeline infrastructure: a Scottish example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maniatis, Georgios; Williams, Richard; Hoey, Trevor

2017-04-01

Bank erosion is a spatially variable process controlled by a number of factors that are interrelated (e.g. grain size, moisture content, organic content, vegetation, bank gradient). As a risk factor, bank erosion has been strongly connected to the failure of infrastructure that crosses or is adjacent to morphologically dynamic rivers. To manage this risk, comprehensive infrastructure asset management programs should include risk assessment of all structures that cross or are near a river. In Scotland, a significant proportion of cross-river infrastructure is pipe bridges, for both clean and waste water. These river crossings are maintained and managed by Scottish Water, a supplier responsible for a 48,000 km long drinking water pipe network and a 52,000 km long wastewater pipe network. Recently, Scottish Water began a comprehensive pipe bridge asset inspection program, which incorporates the acquisition of data to assess riverbank stability. The first step in the development of this database is the use of a prototype software application (a tablet app) which simplifies the surveying process by framing specific geomorphological questions and surveying tasks. As a result, the surveys can be conducted by inspectors with no specialist training in bank stability assessment and then reviewed by those with more expertise. Here, results are presented of a review of survey data, enabling the identification of the assets that are most at risk from bank erosion. The assessment focuses on assets from catchments in two contrasting areas of Scotland; the Hebrides and Glasgow. The uncertainty analysis focuses on input data quality and the variability of information available for desk based risk assessments using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In parallel, considerations regarding the extension of this framework towards a unified strategy for assessing bank erosion are discussed such as the selection of a statistical framework and the catchment classification process. Finally, we discuss the process of knowledge exchange, where an industrial organization benefits from the scientific input and the academic organization benefits from the access to rapid surveying input at a country scale.

Constructing vulnerabilty and protective measures indices for the enhanced critical infrastructure protection program.

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

Fisher, R. E.; Buehring, W. A.; Whitfield, R. G.

2009-10-14

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has directed its Protective Security Advisors (PSAs) to form partnerships with the owners and operators of assets most essential to the Nation's well being - a subclass of critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) - and to conduct site visits for these and other high-risk assets as part of the Enhanced Critical Infrastructure Protection (ECIP) Program. During each such visit, the PSA documents information about the facility's current CIKR protection posture and overall security awareness. The primary goals for ECIP site visits (DHS 2009) are to: (1) inform facility owners and operators ofmore » the importance of their facilities as an identified high-priority CIKR and the need to be vigilant in light of the ever-present threat of terrorism; (2) identify protective measures currently in place at these facilities, provide comparisons of CIKR protection postures across like assets, and track the implementation of new protective measures; and (3) enhance existing relationships among facility owners and operators; DHS; and various Federal, State, local tribal, and territorial partners. PSAs conduct ECIP visits to assess overall site security; educate facility owners and operators about security; help owners and operators identify gaps and potential improvements; and promote communication and information sharing among facility owners and operators, DHS, State governments, and other security partners. Information collected during ECIP visits is used to develop metrics; conduct sector-by-sector and cross-sector vulnerability comparisons; identify security gaps and trends across CIKR sectors and subsectors; establish sector baseline security survey results; and track progress toward improving CIKR security through activities, programs, outreach, and training (Snyder 2009). The data being collected are used in a framework consistent with the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) risk criteria (DHS 2009). The NIPP framework incorporates consequence, threat, and vulnerability components and addresses all hazards. The analysis of the vulnerability data needs to be reproducible, support risk analysis, and go beyond protection. It also needs to address important security/vulnerability topics, such as physical security, cyber security, systems analysis, and dependencies and interdependencies. This report provides an overview of the approach being developed to estimate vulnerability and provide vulnerability comparisons for sectors and subsectors. the information will be used to assist DHS in analyzing existing protective measures and vulnerability at facilities, to identify potential ways to reduce vulnerabilities, and to assist in preparing sector risk estimates. The owner/operator receives an analysis of the data collected for a specific asset, showing a comparison between the facility's protection posture/vulnerability index and those of DHS sector/subsector sites visited. This comparison gives the owner/operator an indication of the asset's security strengths and weaknesses that may be contributing factors to its vulnerability and protection posture. The information provided to the owner/operator shows how the asset compares to other similar assets within the asset's sector or subsector. A 'dashboard' display is used to illustrate the results in a convenient format. The dashboard allows the owner/operator to analyze the implementation of additional protective measures and to illustrate how such actions would impact the asset's Protective Measures Index (PMI) or Vulnerability Index (VI).« less

Real options and asset valuation in competitive energy markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oduntan, Adekunle Richard

The focus of this work is to develop a robust valuation framework for physical power assets operating in competitive markets such as peaking or mid-merit thermal power plants and baseload power plants. The goal is to develop a modeling framework that can be adapted to different energy assets with different types of operating flexibilities and technical constraints and which can be employed for various purposes such as capital budgeting, business planning, risk management and strategic bidding planning among others. The valuation framework must also be able to capture the reality of power market rules and opportunities, as well as technical constraints of different assets. The modeling framework developed conceptualizes operating flexibilities of power assets as "switching options' whereby the asset operator decides at every decision point whether to switch from one operating mode to another mutually exclusive mode, within the limits of the equipment constraints of the asset. As a current decision to switch operating modes may affect future operating flexibilities of the asset and hence cash flows, a dynamic optimization framework is employed. The developed framework accounts for the uncertain nature of key value drivers by representing them with appropriate stochastic processes. Specifically, the framework developed conceptualizes the operation of a power asset as a multi-stage decision making problem where the operator has to make a decision at every stage to alter operating mode given currently available information about key value drivers. The problem is then solved dynamically by decomposing it into a series of two-stage sub-problems according to Bellman's optimality principle. The solution algorithm employed is the Least Squares Monte Carlo (LSM) method. The developed valuation framework was adapted for a gas-fired thermal power plant, a peaking hydroelectric power plant and a baseload power plant. This work built on previously published real options valuation methodologies for gas-fired thermal power plants by factoring in uncertainty from gas supply/consumption imbalance which is usually faced by gas-fired power generators. This source of uncertainty arises because of mismatch between natural gas and electricity wholesale markets. Natural gas markets in North America operate on a day-ahead basis while power plants are dispatched in real time. Inability of a power generator to match its gas supply and consumption in real time, leading to unauthorized gas over-run or under-run, attracts penalty charges from the gas supplier to the extent that the generator can not manage the imbalance through other means. By considering an illustrative power plant operating in Ontario, we show effects of gas-imbalance on dispatch strategies on a daily cycling operation basis and the resulting impact on net revenue. Similarly, we employ the developed valuation framework to value a peaking hydroelectric power plant. This application also builds on previous real options valuation work for peaking hydroelectric power plants by considering their operations in a joint energy and ancillary services market. Specifically, the valuation model is developed to capture the value of a peaking power plant whose owner has the flexibility to participate in a joint operating reserve market and an energy market, which is currently the case in the Ontario wholesale power market. The model factors in water inflow uncertainty into the reservoir forebay of a hydroelectric facility and also considers uncertain energy and operating reserve prices. The switching options considered include (i) a joint energy and operating reserve bid (ii) an energy only bid and (iii) a do nothing (idle) strategy. Being an energy limited power plant, by doing nothing at a decision interval, the power asset operator is able to timeshift scarce water for use at a future period when market situations are expected to be better. Finally, the developed valuation framework was employed to optimize life-cycle management decisions of a baseload power plant, such as a nuclear power plant. Given uncertainty of long-term value drivers, including power prices, equipment performance and the relationship between current life cycle spending and future equipment degradation, optimization is carried out with the objective of minimizing overall life-cycle related costs. These life-cycle costs include (i) lost revenue during planned and unplanned outages, (ii) potential costs of future equipment degradation due to inadequate preventative maintenance, and (iii) the direct costs of implementing the life-cycle projects. The switching options in this context include the option to shutdown the power plant in order to execute a given preventative maintenance and inspection project and the option to keep the option "alive" by choosing to delay a planned life-cycle activity.

Asset management guide : focusing on the management of our transit investments.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-01

To advance transit asset management, this guide provides a transit-specific asset management framework for managing assets indi-vidually and as a portfolio of assets that comprise an integrated system. The guide provides flexible, yet targeted guidan...

Prospective Associations Among Assets and Successful Transition to Early Adulthood

PubMed Central

Vesely, Sara K.; Aspy, Cheryl B.; Tolma, Eleni L.

2015-01-01

Objectives. We investigated prospective associations among assets (e.g., family communication), which research has shown to protect youths from risk behavior, and successful transition to early adulthood (STEA). Methods. We included participants (n = 651) aged 18 years and older at study wave 5 (2007–2008) of the Youth Asset Study, in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, metro area, in the analyses. We categorized 14 assets into individual-, family-, or community-level groups. We included asset groups assessed at wave 1 (2003–2004) in linear regression analyses to predict STEA 4 years later at wave 5. Results. Individual- and community-level assets significantly (P < .05) predicted STEA 4 years later and the associations were generally linear, indicating that the more assets participants possessed the better the STEA outcome. There was a gender interaction for family-level assets suggesting that family-level assets were significant predictors of STEA for males but not for females. Conclusions. Public health programming should focus on community- and family-level youth assets as well as individual-level youth assets to promote positive health outcomes in early adulthood. PMID:25393188

Asset management guide : focusing on the management of our transit investments [updated November 2016].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-11-01

To advance transit asset management, this guide provides a transit-specific asset management framework for managing assets individually and as a portfolio of assets that comprise an integrated system. The guide provides flexible, yet targeted guidanc...

Ten rules for asset protection planning.

PubMed

Adkisson, Jay D; Keller, Lawrence B

2013-12-01

Asset protection planning is a highly technical area of legal planning. Because of the fraudulent transfer laws, asset protection planning must be done in advance of any claim, be technically sound, not rely upon secrecy, and avoid any number of critical mistakes including keeping personal and business assets separate. Physicians who engage in asset protection planning must avoid critical mistakes, and not count on bankruptcy to provide relief from creditors. General rules and cautions for those who are considering the creation of an asset protection plan for their personal assets.

Adaptive model training system and method

DOEpatents

Bickford, Randall L; Palnitkar, Rahul M; Lee, Vo

2014-04-15

An adaptive model training system and method for filtering asset operating data values acquired from a monitored asset for selectively choosing asset operating data values that meet at least one predefined criterion of good data quality while rejecting asset operating data values that fail to meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality; and recalibrating a previously trained or calibrated model having a learned scope of normal operation of the asset by utilizing the asset operating data values that meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality for adjusting the learned scope of normal operation of the asset for defining a recalibrated model having the adjusted learned scope of normal operation of the asset.

Adaptive model training system and method

DOEpatents

Bickford, Randall L; Palnitkar, Rahul M

2014-11-18

An adaptive model training system and method for filtering asset operating data values acquired from a monitored asset for selectively choosing asset operating data values that meet at least one predefined criterion of good data quality while rejecting asset operating data values that fail to meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality; and recalibrating a previously trained or calibrated model having a learned scope of normal operation of the asset by utilizing the asset operating data values that meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality for adjusting the learned scope of normal operation of the asset for defining a recalibrated model having the adjusted learned scope of normal operation of the asset.

Met The Press: What It's LIke to Talk to Reporters about Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Rebecca

2013-03-01

Someone from the Huffington Post just called you because they are doing a story about science and you are a physicist. The problem is that they need you to take time away from your grapheme experiments to talk about the physics of exploding anvils. It's been a long time since you've shot an anvil in the air so you think you might not be right for this. But, as long as you understand general physics and can explain things well, you can be a real asset. This talk will recount first-hand experiences talking to a range of news outlets from the PBS New Hour to Real Simple Magazine about everything from quick-freezing water to pumpkin boats. It will include helpful information about preparing for an interview, learning new physics fast, timelines and follow-up.

24 CFR 990.270 - Asset management.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Asset management. 990.270 Section... THE PUBLIC HOUSING OPERATING FUND PROGRAM Asset Management § 990.270 Asset management. As owners, PHAs have asset management responsibilities that are above and beyond property management activities. These...

24 CFR 990.270 - Asset management.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Asset management. 990.270 Section... THE PUBLIC HOUSING OPERATING FUND PROGRAM Asset Management § 990.270 Asset management. As owners, PHAs have asset management responsibilities that are above and beyond property management activities. These...

24 CFR 990.270 - Asset management.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Asset management. 990.270 Section... THE PUBLIC HOUSING OPERATING FUND PROGRAM Asset Management § 990.270 Asset management. As owners, PHAs have asset management responsibilities that are above and beyond property management activities. These...

24 CFR 990.270 - Asset management.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Asset management. 990.270 Section... THE PUBLIC HOUSING OPERATING FUND PROGRAM Asset Management § 990.270 Asset management. As owners, PHAs have asset management responsibilities that are above and beyond property management activities. These...

77 FR 24594 - Version 4 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-25

... framework for the identification and protection of ``Critical Cyber Assets'' to support the reliable... documentation of Critical Cyber Assets associated with ``Critical Assets'' that support the reliable operation... ``Critical Cyber Assets'' that are associated with ``Critical Assets'' to support the reliable operation of...

Perceived importance of church-based assets to HIV/AIDS prevention and control in a Nigerian city.

PubMed

Aja, Godwin N; Modeste, Naomi N; Lee, Jerry W; Montgomery, Susanne; Belliard, Juan C

This study explored the extent to which church members thought the assets they might have to engage in HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities were important. Eight hundred and thirty members from 83 Christian churches in Aba, Nigeria completed a multi-item survey questionnaire designed to obtain information on the importance they attached to church-based assets relevant to HIV/AIDS prevention and control. The rating of importance of assets was on a scale of 1 to 5. Rating on the importance of assets was highest in the spiritual asset category (mean = 4.20), followed by health education (4.02), capacity building (4.01), social (3.62), and financial assets (3.54). Among the denominational assets, free HIV/AIDS drug donation was rated higher (4.10) than other assets in the subcategories. This study demonstrates the usefulness of ascertaining members' perspectives on the importance of church-based assets and provides a basis for recommendation to health education administrators.

Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-10-07

Pakistan: Sabotage of a Spent Fuel Cask or a Commercial Irradiation Source in Transport ,” in Pakistan’s Nuclear Future, 2008; Martellini, 2008. 99...prevent unauthorized or accidental use of nuclear weapons, as well as contribute to physical security of storage facilities and personnel reliability... nuclear assets could be obtained by terrorists, or used by elements in the Pakistani government. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael

Interactive, process-oriented climate modeling with CLIMLAB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rose, B. E. J.

2016-12-01

Global climate is a complex emergent property of the rich interactions between simpler components of the climate system. We build scientific understanding of this system by breaking it down into component process models (e.g. radiation, large-scale dynamics, boundary layer turbulence), understanding each components, and putting them back together. Hands-on experience and freedom to tinker with climate models (whether simple or complex) is invaluable for building physical understanding. CLIMLAB is an open-ended software engine for interactive, process-oriented climate modeling. With CLIMLAB you can interactively mix and match model components, or combine simpler process models together into a more comprehensive model. It was created primarily to support classroom activities, using hands-on modeling to teach fundamentals of climate science at both undergraduate and graduate levels. CLIMLAB is written in Python and ties in with the rich ecosystem of open-source scientific Python tools for numerics and graphics. The Jupyter Notebook format provides an elegant medium for distributing interactive example code. I will give an overview of the current capabilities of CLIMLAB, the curriculum we have developed thus far, and plans for the future. Using CLIMLAB requires some basic Python coding skills. We consider this an educational asset, as we are targeting upper-level undergraduates and Python is an increasingly important language in STEM fields.

The Utility of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Systems-Oriented Obesity Intervention Projects: The Selection of Comparable Study Sites for a Quasi-Experimental Intervention Design—TX CORD

PubMed Central

Byars, Allison; Byrd-Williams, Courtney; Sharma, Shreela V.; Durand, Casey; Hoelscher, Deanna M.; Butte, Nancy F.; Kelder, Steven H.

2015-01-01

Abstract Background: The Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project (TX CORD) uses a systems-oriented approach to address obesity that includes individual and family interventions, community-level action, as well as environmental and policy initiatives. Given that randomization is seldom possible in community-level intervention studies, TX CORD uses a quasi-experimental design. Comparable intervention and comparison study sites are needed to address internal validity bias. Methods: TX CORD was designed to be implemented in low-income, ethnically diverse communities in Austin and Houston, Texas. A three-stage Geographical Information System (GIS) methodology was used to establish and ascertain the comparability of the intervention and comparison study sites. Census tract (stage 1) and school (stage 2) data were used to identify spatially exclusive geographic areas that were comparable. In stage 3, study sites were compared on demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status (SES), food assets, and physical activity (PA) assets. Student's t-test was used to examine significant differences between the selected sites. Results: The methodology that was used resulted in the selection of catchment areas with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that fit the target population: ethnically diverse population; lower-median household income; and lower home ownership rates. Additionally, the intervention and comparison sites were statistically comparable on demographic and SES variables, as well as food assets and PA assets. Conclusions: This GIS approach can provide researchers, program evaluators, and policy makers with useful tools for both research and practice. Area-level information that allows for robust understanding of communities can enhance analytical procedures in community health research and offer significant contributions in terms of community assessment and engagement. PMID:25587670

The utility of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in systems-oriented obesity intervention projects: the selection of comparable study sites for a quasi-experimental intervention design--TX CORD.

PubMed

Oluyomi, Abiodun O; Byars, Allison; Byrd-Williams, Courtney; Sharma, Shreela V; Durand, Casey; Hoelscher, Deanna M; Butte, Nancy F; Kelder, Steven H

2015-02-01

The Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project (TX CORD) uses a systems-oriented approach to address obesity that includes individual and family interventions, community-level action, as well as environmental and policy initiatives. Given that randomization is seldom possible in community-level intervention studies, TX CORD uses a quasi-experimental design. Comparable intervention and comparison study sites are needed to address internal validity bias. TX CORD was designed to be implemented in low-income, ethnically diverse communities in Austin and Houston, Texas. A three-stage Geographical Information System (GIS) methodology was used to establish and ascertain the comparability of the intervention and comparison study sites. Census tract (stage 1) and school (stage 2) data were used to identify spatially exclusive geographic areas that were comparable. In stage 3, study sites were compared on demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status (SES), food assets, and physical activity (PA) assets. Student's t-test was used to examine significant differences between the selected sites. The methodology that was used resulted in the selection of catchment areas with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that fit the target population: ethnically diverse population; lower-median household income; and lower home ownership rates. Additionally, the intervention and comparison sites were statistically comparable on demographic and SES variables, as well as food assets and PA assets. This GIS approach can provide researchers, program evaluators, and policy makers with useful tools for both research and practice. Area-level information that allows for robust understanding of communities can enhance analytical procedures in community health research and offer significant contributions in terms of community assessment and engagement.

A simple microstructure return model explaining microstructure noise and Epps effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saichev, A.; Sornette, D.

2014-01-01

We present a novel simple microstructure model of financial returns that combines (i) the well-known ARFIMA process applied to tick-by-tick returns, (ii) the bid-ask bounce effect, (iii) the fat tail structure of the distribution of returns and (iv) the non-Poissonian statistics of inter-trade intervals. This model allows us to explain both qualitatively and quantitatively important stylized facts observed in the statistics of both microstructure and macrostructure returns, including the short-ranged correlation of returns, the long-ranged correlations of absolute returns, the microstructure noise and Epps effects. According to the microstructure noise effect, volatility is a decreasing function of the time-scale used to estimate it. The Epps effect states that cross correlations between asset returns are increasing functions of the time-scale at which the returns are estimated. The microstructure noise is explained as the result of the negative return correlations inherent in the definition of the bid-ask bounce component (ii). In the presence of a genuine correlation between the returns of two assets, the Epps effect is due to an average statistical overlap of the momentum of the returns of the two assets defined over a finite time-scale in the presence of the long memory process (i).

Heterogeneous information-based artificial stock market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pastore, S.; Ponta, L.; Cincotti, S.

2010-05-01

In this paper, an information-based artificial stock market is considered. The market is populated by heterogeneous agents that are seen as nodes of a sparsely connected graph. Agents trade a risky asset in exchange for cash. Besides the amount of cash and assets owned, each agent is characterized by a sentiment. Moreover, agents share their sentiments by means of interactions that are identified by the graph. Interactions are unidirectional and are supplied with heterogeneous weights. The agent's trading decision is based on sentiment and, consequently, the stock price process depends on the propagation of information among the interacting agents, on budget constraints and on market feedback. A central market maker (clearing house mechanism) determines the price process at the intersection of the demand and supply curves. Both closed- and open-market conditions are considered. The results point out the validity of the proposed model of information exchange among agents and are helpful for understanding the role of information in real markets. Under closed market conditions, the interaction among agents' sentiments yields a price process that reproduces the main stylized facts of real markets, e.g. the fat tails of the returns distributions and the clustering of volatility. Within open-market conditions, i.e. with an external cash inflow that results in asset price inflation, also the unitary root stylized fact is reproduced by the artificial stock market. Finally, the effects of model parameters on the properties of the artificial stock market are also addressed.

Comprehensive transportation asset management : making a business case and prioritizing assets for inclusion in formal asset management programs.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-12-01

Several agencies are applying asset management principles as a business tool and paradigm to help them define goals and prioritize agency resources in decision making. Previously, transportation asset management (TAM) has focused more on big ticke...

Modeling of Mean-VaR portfolio optimization by risk tolerance when the utility function is quadratic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sukono, Sidi, Pramono; Bon, Abdul Talib bin; Supian, Sudradjat

2017-03-01

The problems of investing in financial assets are to choose a combination of weighting a portfolio can be maximized return expectations and minimizing the risk. This paper discusses the modeling of Mean-VaR portfolio optimization by risk tolerance, when square-shaped utility functions. It is assumed that the asset return has a certain distribution, and the risk of the portfolio is measured using the Value-at-Risk (VaR). So, the process of optimization of the portfolio is done based on the model of Mean-VaR portfolio optimization model for the Mean-VaR done using matrix algebra approach, and the Lagrange multiplier method, as well as Khun-Tucker. The results of the modeling portfolio optimization is in the form of a weighting vector equations depends on the vector mean return vector assets, identities, and matrix covariance between return of assets, as well as a factor in risk tolerance. As an illustration of numeric, analyzed five shares traded on the stock market in Indonesia. Based on analysis of five stocks return data gained the vector of weight composition and graphics of efficient surface of portfolio. Vector composition weighting weights and efficient surface charts can be used as a guide for investors in decisions to invest.

Status of the NASA Robotic Mission Conjunction Assessment Effort

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, Lauri Kraft

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation discusses NASA's processes and tools used to mitigate threats to NASA's robotic assets. The topics include: 1) Background; 2) Goddard Stakeholders and Mission Support; 3) ESC and TDRS Mission Descriptions; 4) TDRS Conjunction Assessment Process; 5) ESMO Conjunction Assessment Process; 6) Recent Operations Experiences; 7) Statistics Collected for ESC Regime; and 8) Current and Future Analysis Items.

Information Integration for Concurrent Engineering (IICE) IDEF3 Process Description Capture Method Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-09-01

vital processes of a business. process, IDEF, method, methodology, modeling, knowledge acquisition, requirements definition, information systems... knowledge resources. Like manpower, materials, and machines, information and knowledge assets are recognized as vital resources that can be leveraged to...integrated enterprise. These technologies are designed to leverage information and knowledge resources as the key enablers for high quality systems

12 CFR 160.160 - Asset classification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Asset classification. 160.160 Section 160.160....160 Asset classification. (a)(1) Each savings association must evaluate and classify its assets on a regular basis in a manner consistent with, or reconcilable to, the asset classification system used by the...

12 CFR 160.160 - Asset classification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Asset classification. 160.160 Section 160.160....160 Asset classification. (a)(1) Each savings association must evaluate and classify its assets on a regular basis in a manner consistent with, or reconcilable to, the asset classification system used by the...

12 CFR 160.160 - Asset classification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Asset classification. 160.160 Section 160.160....160 Asset classification. (a)(1) Each savings association must evaluate and classify its assets on a regular basis in a manner consistent with, or reconcilable to, the asset classification system used by the...

18 CFR 367.22 - Accounting for asset retirement obligations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Accounting for asset... GAS ACT General Instructions § 367.22 Accounting for asset retirement obligations. (a) An asset... measurement changes to the initial liability for the legal obligation recorded in account 230, Asset...

12 CFR 390.471 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... THE OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION Capital § 390.471 Purchased credit card relationships, servicing...

12 CFR 390.471 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... THE OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION Capital § 390.471 Purchased credit card relationships, servicing...

12 CFR 390.471 - Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Purchased credit card relationships, servicing assets, intangible assets (other than purchased credit card relationships and servicing assets), credit... THE OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION Capital § 390.471 Purchased credit card relationships, servicing...

41 CFR 102-74.105 - What are asset services?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false What are asset services? 102-74.105 Section 102-74.105 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management... Management Asset Services § 102-74.105 What are asset services? Asset services include repairs (other than...

41 CFR 102-74.105 - What are asset services?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What are asset services? 102-74.105 Section 102-74.105 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management... Management Asset Services § 102-74.105 What are asset services? Asset services include repairs (other than...

Intangible asset valuation, damages, and transfer price analyses in the health care industry.

PubMed

Reilly, Robert F

2010-01-01

Most health care industry participants own and operate intangible assets. These intangible assets can be industry-specific (e.g., patient charts and records, certificates of need, professional and other licenses), or they can be general commercial intangible assets (e.g., trademarks, systems and procedures, an assembled workforce). Many industry participants have valued their intangible assets for financial accounting or other purposes. This article summarizes the intangible assets that are common to health care industry participants. This article describes the different types of intangible asset analyses (including valuation, transfer price, damages estimates, etc.), and explains the many different transaction, accounting, taxation, regulatory, litigation, and other reasons why industry participants may wish to value (or otherwise analyze) health care intangible assets.

Assessment of the trophic status of four coastal lagoons and one estuarine delta, eastern Brazil.

PubMed

Cotovicz Junior, Luiz Carlos; Brandini, Nilva; Knoppers, Bastiaan Adriaan; Mizerkowski, Byanka Damian; Sterza, José Mauro; Ovalle, Alvaro Ramon Coelho; Medeiros, Paulo Ricardo Petter

2013-04-01

Anthropogenic eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems continues to be one of the major environmental issues worldwide and also of Brazil. Over the last five decades, several approaches have been proposed to discern the trophic state and the natural and cultural processes involved in eutrophication, including the multi-parameter Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS) index model. This study applies ASSETS to four Brazilian lagoons (Mundaú, Manguaba, Guarapina, and Piratininga) and one estuarine delta (Paraíba do Sul River), set along the eastern Brazilian coast. The model combines three indices based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) approach to rank the trophic status and forecast the potential eutrophication of a system, to which a final ASSETS grade is established. The lagoons were classified as being eutrophic and highly susceptible to eutrophication, due primarily to their longer residence times but also their high nutrient input index. ASSETS classified the estuary of the Paraíba do Sul river with a low to moderate trophic state (e.g., largely mesotrophic) and low susceptibility to eutrophication. Its nutrient input index was high, but the natural high dilution and flushing potential driven by river flow mitigated the susceptibility to eutrophication. Eutrophication forecasting provided more favorable trends for the Mundaú and Manguaba lagoons and the Paraíba do Sul estuary, in view of the larger investments in wastewater treatment and remediation plans. The final ASSETS ranking system established the lagoons of Mundaú as "moderate," Manguaba as "bad," Guarapina as "poor," and Piratininga as "bad," whereas the Paraíba do Sul River Estuary was "good."

Personalized Physical Activity Coaching: A Machine Learning Approach

PubMed Central

Dijkhuis, Talko B.; van Ittersum, Miriam W.; Velthuijsen, Hugo

2018-01-01

Living a sedentary lifestyle is one of the major causes of numerous health problems. To encourage employees to lead a less sedentary life, the Hanze University started a health promotion program. One of the interventions in the program was the use of an activity tracker to record participants' daily step count. The daily step count served as input for a fortnightly coaching session. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of automating part of the coaching procedure on physical activity by providing personalized feedback throughout the day on a participant’s progress in achieving a personal step goal. The gathered step count data was used to train eight different machine learning algorithms to make hourly estimations of the probability of achieving a personalized, daily steps threshold. In 80% of the individual cases, the Random Forest algorithm was the best performing algorithm (mean accuracy = 0.93, range = 0.88–0.99, and mean F1-score = 0.90, range = 0.87–0.94). To demonstrate the practical usefulness of these models, we developed a proof-of-concept Web application that provides personalized feedback about whether a participant is expected to reach his or her daily threshold. We argue that the use of machine learning could become an invaluable asset in the process of automated personalized coaching. The individualized algorithms allow for predicting physical activity during the day and provides the possibility to intervene in time. PMID:29463052

Modeling the coupled return-spread high frequency dynamics of large tick assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curato, Gianbiagio; Lillo, Fabrizio

2015-01-01

Large tick assets, i.e. assets where one tick movement is a significant fraction of the price and bid-ask spread is almost always equal to one tick, display a dynamics in which price changes and spread are strongly coupled. We present an approach based on the hidden Markov model, also known in econometrics as the Markov switching model, for the dynamics of price changes, where the latent Markov process is described by the transitions between spreads. We then use a finite Markov mixture of logit regressions on past squared price changes to describe temporal dependencies in the dynamics of price changes. The model can thus be seen as a double chain Markov model. We show that the model describes the shape of the price change distribution at different time scales, volatility clustering, and the anomalous decrease of kurtosis. We calibrate our models based on Nasdaq stocks and we show that this model reproduces remarkably well the statistical properties of real data.

Non-arbitrage in financial markets: A Bayesian approach for verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerezetti, F. V.; Stern, Julio Michael

2012-10-01

The concept of non-arbitrage plays an essential role in finance theory. Under certain regularity conditions, the Fundamental Theorem of Asset Pricing states that, in non-arbitrage markets, prices of financial instruments are martingale processes. In this theoretical framework, the analysis of the statistical distributions of financial assets can assist in understanding how participants behave in the markets, and may or may not engender arbitrage conditions. Assuming an underlying Variance Gamma statistical model, this study aims to test, using the FBST - Full Bayesian Significance Test, if there is a relevant price difference between essentially the same financial asset traded at two distinct locations. Specifically, we investigate and compare the behavior of call options on the BOVESPA Index traded at (a) the Equities Segment and (b) the Derivatives Segment of BM&FBovespa. Our results seem to point out significant statistical differences. To what extent this evidence is actually the expression of perennial arbitrage opportunities is still an open question.

12 CFR 550.250 - Must I keep fiduciary assets separate from other assets?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Must I keep fiduciary assets separate from other assets? 550.250 Section 550.250 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FIDUCIARY POWERS OF SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS Exercising Fiduciary Powers Custody and Control of Assets...

78 FR 41423 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Plan Asset...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-10

... Professional Asset Managers Under Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The... Professional Asset Managers under Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14,'' to the Office of Management... assets are managed by a qualified professional asset manager (QPAM) that is independent of the parties in...

12 CFR 615.5211 - Risk categories-balance sheet assets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Risk categories-balance sheet assets. 615.5211...—balance sheet assets. Section 615.5210(c) specifies certain balance sheet assets that are not assigned to the risk categories set forth below. All other balance sheet assets are assigned to the percentage...

12 CFR 615.5211 - Risk categories-balance sheet assets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Risk categories-balance sheet assets. 615.5211...—balance sheet assets. Section 615.5210(c) specifies certain balance sheet assets that are not assigned to the risk categories set forth below. All other balance sheet assets are assigned to the percentage...

12 CFR 550.250 - Must I keep fiduciary assets separate from other assets?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Must I keep fiduciary assets separate from other assets? 550.250 Section 550.250 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FIDUCIARY POWERS OF SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS Exercising Fiduciary Powers Custody and Control of Assets...

Systems Engineering Knowledge Asset (SEKA) Management for Higher Performing Engineering Teams: People, Process and Technology toward Effective Knowledge-Workers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shelby, Kenneth R., Jr.

2013-01-01

Systems engineering teams' value-creation for enterprises is slower than possible due to inefficiencies in communication, learning, common knowledge collaboration and leadership conduct. This dissertation outlines the surrounding people, process and technology dimensions for higher performing engineering teams. It describes a true experiment…

75 FR 22729 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Reporting of Government Property Lost, Stolen...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-30

....g., statistical process controls, as a means of managing such variation. (3) Reporting requirements...-based processes to greater use of automation. This proposed rule revises requirements for all DoD... single repository of all LTDD data to improve accountability and control of DoD assets and contractor...

75 FR 37707 - Administrative Process for Seizures and Forfeitures Under the Immigration and Nationality Act and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-30

... Dec. 10-24] RIN 1651-AA58 Administrative Process for Seizures and Forfeitures Under the Immigration... consolidated the asset seizure and forfeiture procedures for customs and immigration purposes. The interim..., Writer/Editor, Office of Policy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (202) 732-4245. SUPPLEMENTARY...

Development of dynamic Bayesian models for web application test management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azarnova, T. V.; Polukhin, P. V.; Bondarenko, Yu V.; Kashirina, I. L.

2018-03-01

The mathematical apparatus of dynamic Bayesian networks is an effective and technically proven tool that can be used to model complex stochastic dynamic processes. According to the results of the research, mathematical models and methods of dynamic Bayesian networks provide a high coverage of stochastic tasks associated with error testing in multiuser software products operated in a dynamically changing environment. Formalized representation of the discrete test process as a dynamic Bayesian model allows us to organize the logical connection between individual test assets for multiple time slices. This approach gives an opportunity to present testing as a discrete process with set structural components responsible for the generation of test assets. Dynamic Bayesian network-based models allow us to combine in one management area individual units and testing components with different functionalities and a direct influence on each other in the process of comprehensive testing of various groups of computer bugs. The application of the proposed models provides an opportunity to use a consistent approach to formalize test principles and procedures, methods used to treat situational error signs, and methods used to produce analytical conclusions based on test results.

12 CFR 616.6300 - Leasing policies, procedures, and underwriting standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... at the inception of the lease; (b) Process for estimating the leased asset's market value during the...) Classification of leases in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; and (k) Tax treatment of...

The Mission Accessible Near-Earth Object Survey (MANOS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moskovitz, N.; Manos Team

2014-07-01

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are essential to understanding the origin of the Solar System through their compositional links to meteorites. As tracers of various regions within the Solar System they can provide insight to more distant, less accessible populations. Their relatively small sizes and complex dynamical histories make them excellent laboratories for studying ongoing Solar System processes such as space weathering, planetary encounters, and non-gravitational dynamics. Knowledge of their physical properties is essential to impact hazard assessment. Finally, the proximity of NEOs to Earth make them favorable targets for robotic and human exploration. However, in spite of their scientific importance, only the largest (km-scale) NEOs have been well studied and a representative sample of physical characteristics for sub-km NEOs does not exist. To address these issues we are conducting the Mission Accessible Near-Earth Object Survey (MANOS), a fully allocated multi-year survey of sub-km NEOs that will provide a large, uniform catalog of physical properties including light curves, spectra, and astrometry. From this comprehensive catalog, we will derive global properties of the NEO population, as well as identify individual targets that are of potential interest for exploration. We will accomplish these goals for approximately 500 mission-accessible NEOs across the visible and near-infrared ranges using telescope assets in both the northern and southern hemispheres. MANOS has been awarded large survey status by NOAO to employ Gemini-N, Gemini-S, SOAR, the Kitt Peak 4 m, and the CTIO 1.3 m. Access to additional facilities at Lowell Observatory (DCT 4.3 m, Perkins 72'', Hall 42'', LONEOS), the University of Hawaii, and the Catalina Sky Survey provide essential complements to this suite of telescopes. Targets for MANOS are selected based on three primary criteria: mission accessibility (i.e. Δ v < 7 km/s), size (H > 20), and observability. Our telescope assets allow us to obtain rotational light curves for objects down to V˜22, visible spectra down to V˜21, and near-IR spectra down to V˜19. MANOS primarily focuses on targets that are recently discovered. We employ a regular cadence of remote and queue observations to enable follow-up characterization within days or weeks after a target of interest is discovered. We will present a MANOS status report with an emphasis on noteworthy observations and ongoing efforts to achieve fully transparency by making target lists and data products publicly available online.

Who will be denied Medicare prescription drug subsidies because of the asset test?

PubMed

Rice, Thomas; Desmond, Katherine

2006-01-01

To determine the number and characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries who will be excluded from low-income prescription drug subsidies because they do not qualify under an asset test. Cross-sectional, using the US Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP); results were based on interviews occurring between October 2002 and January 2003. The sample included 9278 Medicare beneficiaries, 2929 with incomes below 150% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Using SIPP, each sample member's income was compared to the FPL. Income was adjusted to include only liquid assets and primary residences. The number of individuals excluded by the asset test and their characteristics and types of assets responsible were calculated. Of 13.97 million noninstitutionalized Medicare beneficiaries, 2.37 million (17%) with low incomes would be excluded from subsidized drug coverage due to the asset test. Compared to higher-income beneficiaries, the excluded individuals tended to be older, female, widowed, and living alone. Almost half of their assets were checking and savings accounts. Half of the individuals failing the test had assets less than 35,000 dollars above the allowing thresholds. Widows are disproportionately affected by the asset test. When a husband dies, income plummets but accumulated assets often exceed those allowed under Medicare legislation. During their working years Americans are encouraged to save for retirement, but by accumulating modest amounts of assets, these same people often will then not qualify for low-income drug subsidies. Modifying or eliminating the asset test would help protect individuals disadvantaged by low incomes who have modest amounts of asset holdings.

Assessing market uncertainty by means of a time-varying intermittency parameter for asset price fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rypdal, Martin; Sirnes, Espen; Løvsletten, Ola; Rypdal, Kristoffer

2013-08-01

Maximum likelihood estimation techniques for multifractal processes are applied to high-frequency data in order to quantify intermittency in the fluctuations of asset prices. From time records as short as one month these methods permit extraction of a meaningful intermittency parameter λ characterising the degree of volatility clustering. We can therefore study the time evolution of volatility clustering and test the statistical significance of this variability. By analysing data from the Oslo Stock Exchange, and comparing the results with the investment grade spread, we find that the estimates of λ are lower at times of high market uncertainty.

Dynamic data filtering system and method

DOEpatents

Bickford, Randall L; Palnitkar, Rahul M

2014-04-29

A computer-implemented dynamic data filtering system and method for selectively choosing operating data of a monitored asset that modifies or expands a learned scope of an empirical model of normal operation of the monitored asset while simultaneously rejecting operating data of the monitored asset that is indicative of excessive degradation or impending failure of the monitored asset, and utilizing the selectively chosen data for adaptively recalibrating the empirical model to more accurately monitor asset aging changes or operating condition changes of the monitored asset.

12 CFR 390.466 - Risk-based capital credit risk-weight categories.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... ownership interests in pools of assets. Assets representing an indirect holding of a pool of assets, e.g... would be assigned to the assets in the portfolio of the pool. An investment in shares of a mutual fund... positions; (5) Use clear, explicit criteria to classify assets into each internal rating grade, including...

76 FR 5253 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Joint Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-28

... breakdown of life insurance assets into general and separate account assets will be modified to also include..., asset-backed commercial paper conduits, and other VIEs; A breakdown of the existing item for ``Life insurance assets'' in Schedule RC-F, Other Assets, into items for general account and separate account life...

A Case Study Investigation into Creating a Joint Physical Evaluation Board

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

technologies with the purpose of broadening the use of telecommuting for all PDBR members. Medical professionals are a critical asset to this work...Services to relinquish power and control , even with the promise of equal 24 contribution. This is especially true when it comes to making... control of the fit/unfit decision from the individual Service. There were a number of reasons voiced for this concern. Primarily, board members

A Case Study Investigation into Creating a Joint Physical Evaluation Board

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

shelf technologies with the purpose of broadening the use of telecommuting for all PDBR members. Medical professionals are a critical asset to this...for individual Services to relinquish power and control , even with the promise of equal 24 contribution. This is especially true when it comes to...Service PEB, was removing the control of the fit/unfit decision from the individual Service. There were a number of reasons voiced for this concern

Technical Qualifications for Treating Photovoltaic Assets as Real Property by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

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

Feldman, D.; Mendelsohn, M.; Coughlin, J.

2012-06-01

It has been proposed that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have the potential to lower the cost and increase the adoption of photovoltaic systems (PV) by offering a more attractive source of capital. The purpose of this paper is to explain the fundamental physical characteristics of PV and compare them to the characteristics of 'real' property, to help determine whether REITs can own PV systems.

Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-04

Terrorism in Pakistan: Sabotage of a Spent Fuel Cask or a Commercial Irradiation Source in Transport ,” in Pakistan’s Nuclear Future, 2008; Martellini, 2008...measures to prevent unauthorized or accidental use of nuclear weapons, as well as contribute to physical security of storage facilities and personnel...strategic nuclear assets could be obtained by terrorists, or used by elements in the Pakistani government. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral

The Proposed U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-13

growing traffic volume generated along the U.S. East Coast-to-Asia trade route (especially U.S.- China ). About one-third of all cargo passing...of the canal and its operations to Panama, the country also inherited a substantial amount of land and physical assets. The conversion of these...its prospects as a business venture, but because it is forward looking rather than relying on the “maquiladora” business model common in much of the

The Joint Milli-Arcsecond Pathfinder Survey (J-MAPS) Mission: Application for Space Situational Awareness

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

One implication of this is that the instrument can physically resolve satellites at smaller separations than current and existing optical SSA assets...with the potential for 24/7 taskability and near-real time capability. By optimizing an instrument to perform position measurement rather than...sensors. The J-MAPS baseline also includes a novel filter-grating wheel, of interest in the area of non- resolved object characterization. We discuss the

Methods and systems relating to an augmented virtuality environment

DOEpatents

Nielsen, Curtis W; Anderson, Matthew O; McKay, Mark D; Wadsworth, Derek C; Boyce, Jodie R; Hruska, Ryan C; Koudelka, John A; Whetten, Jonathan; Bruemmer, David J

2014-05-20

Systems and methods relating to an augmented virtuality system are disclosed. A method of operating an augmented virtuality system may comprise displaying imagery of a real-world environment in an operating picture. The method may further include displaying a plurality of virtual icons in the operating picture representing at least some assets of a plurality of assets positioned in the real-world environment. Additionally, the method may include displaying at least one virtual item in the operating picture representing data sensed by one or more of the assets of the plurality of assets and remotely controlling at least one asset of the plurality of assets by interacting with a virtual icon associated with the at least one asset.

Judging Risk and Return of Financial Assets.

PubMed

Ganzach

2000-11-01

This article examines the relationship between judgments of risk and judgments of expected return of financial assets. It suggests that for unfamiliar assets, both risk and return judgments are derived from global preference toward the asset, whereas for familiar assets, these judgments tend to be derived from the ecological values of the asset's risk and expected return-their values in the financial markets. In addition, the article examines the role of causal schemas and the role of risk attitudes in mediating the relationships between judgments of risk and return of familiar and unfamiliar assets. Conceptual and practical questions concerning the nature, the meaning, and the assessment of risk and expected return are discussed. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Welfare Reform, Saving, and Vehicle Ownership: Do Asset Limits and Vehicle Exemptions Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, James X.

2006-01-01

This paper examines whether AFDC/TANF asset tests affect the asset holdings of low-educated single mothers. Special emphasis is given to vehicle assets that make up a very significant share of total wealth for poor families. Consistent with other recent research, the author finds little evidence that asset limits have an effect on the amount of…

26 CFR 1.367(b)-4 - Acquisition of foreign corporate stock or assets by a foreign corporation in certain...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) and any regulations thereunder. If any of the assets transferred are intangible assets, see section... 26 Internal Revenue 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Acquisition of foreign corporate stock or assets...) INCOME TAXES Effects on Corporation § 1.367(b)-4 Acquisition of foreign corporate stock or assets by a...

Optimal allocation of trend following strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grebenkov, Denis S.; Serror, Jeremy

2015-09-01

We consider a portfolio allocation problem for trend following (TF) strategies on multiple correlated assets. Under simplifying assumptions of a Gaussian market and linear TF strategies, we derive analytical formulas for the mean and variance of the portfolio return. We construct then the optimal portfolio that maximizes risk-adjusted return by accounting for inter-asset correlations. The dynamic allocation problem for n assets is shown to be equivalent to the classical static allocation problem for n2 virtual assets that include lead-lag corrections in positions of TF strategies. The respective roles of asset auto-correlations and inter-asset correlations are investigated in depth for the two-asset case and a sector model. In contrast to the principle of diversification suggesting to treat uncorrelated assets, we show that inter-asset correlations allow one to estimate apparent trends more reliably and to adjust the TF positions more efficiently. If properly accounted for, inter-asset correlations are not deteriorative but beneficial for portfolio management that can open new profit opportunities for trend followers. These concepts are illustrated using daily returns of three highly correlated futures markets: the E-mini S&P 500, Euro Stoxx 50 index, and the US 10-year T-note futures.

Development of transportation asset management decision support tools : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-08-09

This study developed a web-based prototype decision support platform to demonstrate the benefits of transportation asset management in monitoring asset performance, supporting asset funding decisions, planning budget tradeoffs, and optimizing resourc...

12 CFR 616.6300 - Leasing policies, procedures, and underwriting standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... underwriting requirements in § 614.4150 of this chapter. An institution engaged in the making, buying, or... at the inception of the lease; (b) Process for estimating the leased asset's market value during the...

12 CFR 616.6300 - Leasing policies, procedures, and underwriting standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... underwriting requirements in § 614.4150 of this chapter. An institution engaged in the making, buying, or... at the inception of the lease; (b) Process for estimating the leased asset's market value during the...

12 CFR 616.6300 - Leasing policies, procedures, and underwriting standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... underwriting requirements in § 614.4150 of this chapter. An institution engaged in the making, buying, or... at the inception of the lease; (b) Process for estimating the leased asset's market value during the...

15 CFR 801.9 - Reports required.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...); industrial engineering services; industrial-type maintenance, installation, alteration, and training services... services; educational and training services; engineering, architectural, and surveying services; financial... assets covered by the BE-125 survey are rights related to: Industrial processes and products; books...

15 CFR 801.9 - Reports required.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...); industrial engineering services; industrial-type maintenance, installation, alteration, and training services... services; educational and training services; engineering, architectural, and surveying services; financial... assets covered by the BE-125 survey are rights related to: Industrial processes and products; books...

15 CFR 801.9 - Reports required.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...); industrial engineering services; industrial-type maintenance, installation, alteration, and training services... services; educational and training services; engineering, architectural, and surveying services; financial... assets covered by the BE-125 survey are rights related to: Industrial processes and products; books...

Rockfall Hazard Process Assessment : Implementation Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-10-01

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) commissioned a new research program to improve assessment and management of its rock slope assets. The Department implemented a Rockfall Hazard Rating System (RHRS) program in 2005 and wished to add valu...

Resource Allocation in a Repetitive Project Scheduling Using Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuel, Biju; Mathew, Jeeno

2018-03-01

Resource Allocation is procedure of doling out or allocating the accessible assets in a monetary way and productive way. Resource allocation is the scheduling of the accessible assets and accessible exercises or activities required while thinking about both the asset accessibility and the total project completion time. Asset provisioning and allocation takes care of that issue by permitting the specialist co-ops to deal with the assets for every individual demand of asset. A probabilistic selection procedure has been developed in order to ensure various selections of chromosomes

The behavioral implications of the bilateral gamma process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Haibin; Wang, Shouyang; Lu, Zudi

2018-06-01

Bilateral gamma process is widely used in risk management and asset pricing. However the behavioral implications of this process remain unknown. This paper investigates this problem for the first time within the framework of Tauchen and Pitts (1983). With the assumption that there are two types of traders in the market, the optimistic and the pessimistic, we find the bilateral gamma process can be derived from Walrasian equilibrium. This finding establishes the microstructure foundations for the bilateral gamma process.

Getting Digital Assets from Public-Private Partnership Research Projects through "The Valley of Death," and Making Them Sustainable.

PubMed

Aartsen, Wendy; Peeters, Paul; Wagers, Scott; Williams-Jones, Bryn

2018-01-01

Projects in public-private partnerships, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), produce data services and platforms (digital assets) to help support the use of medical research data and IT tools. Maintaining these assets beyond the funding period of a project can be a challenge. The reason for that is the need to develop a business model that integrates the perspectives of all different stakeholders involved in the project, and these digital assets might not necessarily be addressing a problem for which there is an addressable market of paying customers. In this manuscript, we review four IMI projects and the digital assets they produced as a means of illustrating the challenges in making digital assets sustainable and the lessons learned. To progress digital assets beyond proof-of-concept into widely adopted tools, there is a need for continuation of multi-stakeholder support tailored to these assets. This would be best done by implementing a structure similar to the accelerators that are in place to help transform startup businesses into growing and thriving businesses. The aim of this article is to highlight the risk of digital asset loss and to provoke discussion on the concept of developing an "accelerator" for digital assets from public-private partnership research projects to increase the chance that digital assets will be sustained and continue to add value long after a project has ended.

AASHTO transportation asset management guide : a focus on implementation executive summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-06-01

This AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Executive Summary serves as a companion to the AASHTO Transportation : Asset Management GuideA Focus on Implementation, which takes as a starting point the Transportation : Asset Management Guide publish...

Monitoring highway assets using remote sensing technology : research spotlight.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-04-01

Collecting inventory data about roadway assets is a critical part of : MDOTs asset management efforts, which help the department operate, : maintain and upgrade these assets cost-effectively. Federal law requires : that states develop a risk-based...

Web-based Electronic Sharing and RE-allocation of Assets

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

Leverett, Dave; Miller, Robert A.; Berlin, Gary J.

2002-09-09

The Electronic Asses Sharing Program is a web-based application that provides the capability for complex-wide sharing and reallocation of assets that are excess, under utilized, or un-utilized. through a web-based fron-end and supporting has database with a search engine, users can search for assets that they need, search for assets needed by others, enter assets they need, and enter assets they have available for reallocation. In addition, entire listings of available assets and needed assets can be viewed. The application is written in Java, the hash database and search engine are in Object-oriented Java Database Management (OJDBM). The application willmore » be hosted on an SRS-managed server outside the Firewall and access will be controlled via a protected realm. An example of the application can be viewed at the followinig (temporary) URL: http://idgdev.srs.gov/servlet/srs.weshare.WeShare« less

26 CFR 1.338-7 - Allocation of redetermined ADSP and AGUB among target assets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...: Asset class Asset Fair market value V Building $ 100 V Stock of X (not a target) 200 Total 300 (B) T has... target assets. 1.338-7 Section 1.338-7 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE... redetermined ADSP and AGUB among target assets. (a) Scope. ADSP and AGUB are redetermined at such time and in...

Digital enhancement of X-rays for NDT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butterfield, R. L.

1980-01-01

Report is "cookbook" for digital processing of industrial X-rays. Computer techniques, previously used primarily in laboratory and developmental research, have been outlined and codified into step by step procedures for enhancing X-ray images. Those involved in nondestructive testing should find report valuable asset, particularly is visual inspection is method currently used to process X-ray images.

Taking Control of Enrollment Management at Small Private Universities: Creating an Interactive Interface

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maltz, Elliot

2007-01-01

Enrollment management is a process critical to most small private universities that rely on tuition for a significant portion of their operating budgets. Often these universities rely on outside consultants to help them in performing this important process. This case study describes how university assets were used to create an interactive…

Multi-Stakeholder Process Strengthens Agricultural Innovations and Sustainable Livelihoods of Farmers in Southern Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bisseleua, D. H. B.; Idrissou, L.; Olurotimi, P.; Ogunniyi, A.; Mignouna, D.; Bamire, S. A.

2018-01-01

Purpose: In this paper, we explore the strategic role of Multi-stakeholder processes (MSP) in agricultural innovations and how it has impacted livelihood assets' (LAs) capital dynamics of stakeholders in platforms in West Africa. Design/Methodology/Approach: We demonstrate how LA capitals and socio-economic dynamics induced by MSP can enhance…

SMEs and Innovation in the Netherlands. Spinning the Wheel: Knowledge Circulation in (Hydraulic) Motion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Vliet , Harry; Horvath, Janika

2004-01-01

Although the increase of knowledge as an 'asset' in products and services offers new challenges and opportunities, it also throws up new barriers. One such barrier, the lack of access to knowledge, is analysed as consisting of several processes with different key factors that obstruct or stimulate those processes. Furthermore, different levels of…

A note on effects of rational bubble on portfolios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chan; Nie, Pu-yan

2018-02-01

In general, demand increases in wealth and decreases in price in microeconomics. We thereby propose a completely different perspective. By establishing expected utility function of investors, this article introduces one rational bubble asset and one bubble free asset in portfolios and focuses on the effects of bubble on investment portfolios from wealth and price perspectives. All conclusions are obtained by theoretical analysis with microeconomics theory. We argue that inferior goods and Giffen behavior can occur for the bubble free asset in microeconomic fields. The results can help investors to recognize bubble assets and bubble free assets more scientifically. Both bubble and bubble free assets can be inferior goods under some conditions, so we cannot to say which asset better than the other one absolutely.

Asset protection: why a preventive approach is the best insurance against liability.

PubMed

Rinaldi, Ellen; Shin, Alisa

2008-02-01

Asset-protection planning is critical for people in high-risk professions, such as dentistry. Planning requires a careful weighing of risks, such as the risk of a lawsuit versus that of relinquishing control of assets. The authors examine several lawful techniques that may protect a dentist's assets from claims of future creditors. Asset-protection planning, if done early and with the guidance of an attorney well-versed in the subject, can help deter creditors from claims resulting from malpractice suits, divorce, business partner disputes, bad investments, poor tax planning or a combination of these. Practice Implications. Careful planning can minimize the risk to a dentist's personal assets and the assets of the practice resulting from a lawsuit or other liabilities.

Finding your next core business.

PubMed

Zook, Chris

2007-04-01

How do you know when your core needs to change? And how do you determine what should replace it? From an in-depth study of 25 companies, the author, a strategy consultant, has discovered that it's possible to measure the vitality of a business's core. If it needs reinvention, he says, the best course is to mine hidden assets. Some of the 25 companies were in deep crisis when they began the process of redefining themselves. But, says Zook, management teams can learn to recognize early signs of erosion. He offers five diagnostic questions with which to evaluate the customers, key sources of differentiation, profit pools, capabilities, and organizational culture of your core business. The next step is strategic regeneration. In four-fifths of the companies Zook examined, a hidden asset was the centerpiece of the new strategy. He provides a map for identifying the hidden assets in your midst, which tend to fall into three categories: undervalued business platforms, untapped insights into customers, and underexploited capabilities. The Swedish company Dometic, for example, was manufacturing small absorption refrigerators for boats and RVs when it discovered a hidden asset: its understanding of, and access to, customers in the RV market. The company took advantage of a boom in that market to refocus on complete systems for live-in vehicles. The Danish company Novozymes, which produced relatively low-tech commodity enzymes such as those used in detergents, realized that its underutilized biochemical capability in genetic and protein engineering was a hidden asset and successfully refocused on creating bioengineered specialty enzymes. Your next core business is not likely to announce itself with fanfare. Use the author's tools to conduct an internal audit of possibilities and pinpoint your new focus.

77 FR 36228 - Financial Asset Securitization Investment Trusts

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-18

... Financial Asset Securitization Investment Trusts AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION... relating to financial asset securitization trusts (FASITs). The FASIT provisions (sections 860H through... Asset Securitization Investment Trust (FASIT). FASITs were meant to facilitate the securitization of...

Link Analysis in the Mission Planning Lab

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCarthy, Jessica A.; Cervantes, Benjamin W.; Daugherty, Sarah C.; Arroyo, Felipe; Mago, Divyang

2011-01-01

The legacy communications link analysis software currently used at Wallops Flight Facility involves processes that are different for command destruct, radar, and telemetry. There is a clear advantage to developing an easy-to-use tool that combines all the processes in one application. Link Analysis in the Mission Planning Lab (MPL) uses custom software and algorithms integrated with Analytical Graphics Inc. Satellite Toolkit (AGI STK). The MPL link analysis tool uses pre/post-mission data to conduct a dynamic link analysis between ground assets and the launch vehicle. Just as the legacy methods do, the MPL link analysis tool calculates signal strength and signal- to-noise according to the accepted processes for command destruct, radar, and telemetry assets. Graphs and other custom data are generated rapidly in formats for reports and presentations. STK is used for analysis as well as to depict plume angles and antenna gain patterns in 3D. The MPL has developed two interfaces with the STK software (see figure). The first interface is an HTML utility, which was developed in Visual Basic to enhance analysis for plume modeling and to offer a more user friendly, flexible tool. A graphical user interface (GUI) written in MATLAB (see figure upper right-hand corner) is also used to quickly depict link budget information for multiple ground assets. This new method yields a dramatic decrease in the time it takes to provide launch managers with the required link budgets to make critical pre-mission decisions. The software code used for these two custom utilities is a product of NASA's MPL.

The risk of misclassifying subjects within principal component based asset index

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The asset index is often used as a measure of socioeconomic status in empirical research as an explanatory variable or to control confounding. Principal component analysis (PCA) is frequently used to create the asset index. We conducted a simulation study to explore how accurately the principal component based asset index reflects the study subjects’ actual poverty level, when the actual poverty level is generated by a simple factor analytic model. In the simulation study using the PC-based asset index, only 1% to 4% of subjects preserved their real position in a quintile scale of assets; between 44% to 82% of subjects were misclassified into the wrong asset quintile. If the PC-based asset index explained less than 30% of the total variance in the component variables, then we consistently observed more than 50% misclassification across quintiles of the index. The frequency of misclassification suggests that the PC-based asset index may not provide a valid measure of poverty level and should be used cautiously as a measure of socioeconomic status. PMID:24987446

Women's Individual Asset Ownership and Experience of Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence From 28 International Surveys.

PubMed

Peterman, Amber; Pereira, Audrey; Bleck, Jennifer; Palermo, Tia M; Yount, Kathryn M

2017-05-01

To assess the oft-perceived protective relationship between women's asset ownership and experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the previous 12 months. We used international survey data from women aged 15 to 49 years from 28 Demographic and Health Surveys (2010-2014) to examine the association between owning assets and experience of recent IPV, matching on household wealth by using multivariate probit models. Matching methods helped to account for the higher probability that women in wealthier households also have a higher likelihood of owning assets. Asset ownership of any type was negatively associated with IPV in 3 countries, positively associated in 5 countries, and had no significant relationship in 20 countries (P < .10). Disaggregation by asset type, sole or joint ownership, women's age, and community level of women's asset ownership similarly showed no conclusive patterns. Results suggest that the relationship between women's asset ownership and IPV is highly context specific. Additional methodologies and data are needed to identify causality, and to understand how asset ownership differs from other types of women's economic empowerment.

Learning Agents for Autonomous Space Asset Management (LAASAM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scally, L.; Bonato, M.; Crowder, J.

2011-09-01

Current and future space systems will continue to grow in complexity and capabilities, creating a formidable challenge to monitor, maintain, and utilize these systems and manage their growing network of space and related ground-based assets. Integrated System Health Management (ISHM), and in particular, Condition-Based System Health Management (CBHM), is the ability to manage and maintain a system using dynamic real-time data to prioritize, optimize, maintain, and allocate resources. CBHM entails the maintenance of systems and equipment based on an assessment of current and projected conditions (situational and health related conditions). A complete, modern CBHM system comprises a number of functional capabilities: sensing and data acquisition; signal processing; conditioning and health assessment; diagnostics and prognostics; and decision reasoning. In addition, an intelligent Human System Interface (HSI) is required to provide the user/analyst with relevant context-sensitive information, the system condition, and its effect on overall situational awareness of space (and related) assets. Colorado Engineering, Inc. (CEI) and Raytheon are investigating and designing an Intelligent Information Agent Architecture that will provide a complete range of CBHM and HSI functionality from data collection through recommendations for specific actions. The research leverages CEI’s expertise with provisioning management network architectures and Raytheon’s extensive experience with learning agents to define a system to autonomously manage a complex network of current and future space-based assets to optimize their utilization.

A Cyber Security Self-Assessment Method for Nuclear Power Plants

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

Glantz, Clifford S.; Coles, Garill A.; Bass, Robert B.

2004-11-01

A cyber security self-assessment method (the Method) has been developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The development of the Method was sponsored and directed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Members of the Nuclear Energy Institute Cyber Security Task Force also played a substantial role in developing the Method. The Method's structured approach guides nuclear power plants in scrutinizing their digital systems, assessing the potential consequences to the plant of a cyber exploitation, identifying vulnerabilities, estimating cyber security risks, and adopting cost-effective protective measures. The focus of the Method is on critical digital assets. A critical digital asset is amore » digital device or system that plays a role in the operation, maintenance, or proper functioning of a critical system (i.e., a plant system that can impact safety, security, or emergency preparedness). A critical digital asset may have a direct or indirect connection to a critical system. Direct connections include both wired and wireless communication pathways. Indirect connections include sneaker-net pathways by which software or data are manually transferred from one digital device to another. An indirect connection also may involve the use of instructions or data stored on a critical digital asset to make adjustments to a critical system. The cyber security self-assessment begins with the formation of an assessment team, and is followed by a six-stage process.« less

Managing ISR sharing policies at the network edge using Controlled English

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parizas, Christos; Pizzocaro, Diego; Preece, Alun; Zerfos, Petros

2013-05-01

In domains such as emergency response and military operations the sharing of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets among different coalition partners is regulated through policies. Traditionally, poli­ cies are created at the center of a coalitions network by high-level decision makers and expressed in low-level policy languages (e.g. Common Information Model SPL) by technical personnel, which makes them difficult to be understood by non-technical users at the edge of the network. Moreover, policies must often be modified by negotiation among coalition partners, typically in rapid response to the changing operational situation. Com­ monly, the users who must cope first with situational changes are those on the edge, so it would be very effective if they were able to create and negotiate policies themselves. We investigate the use of Controlled English (CE) as a means to define a policy representation that is both human-friendly and machine processable. We show how a CE model can capture a variety of policy types, including those based on a traditional asset ownership model, and those defining team-based asset sharing across a coalition. The use of CE is intended to benefit coalition networks by bridging the gap between technical and non-technical users in terms of policy creation and negoti­ ation, while at the same time being directly processable by a policy-checking system without transformation to any other technical representation.

76 FR 63352 - Office of Foreign Assets Control

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-12

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Foreign Assets Control Unblocking of Three Specially Designated Nationals Pursuant to Executive Order 13224 AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is...

Review of the transportation planning process in the Chicago metropolitan area

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

The purpose of this guide is to help agencies: Become familiar with the Costing Asset Protection for Transportation Agencies (CAPTA) Methodology. Learn how to use CAPTool to implement the CAPTA Methodology. Understand CAPTool results, and...

48 CFR 208.7401 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION PLANNING REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Enterprise Software... a contract that is used to acquire designated commercial software or related services such as... Officer to develop processes for DoD-wide software asset management. Software maintenance means services...

12 CFR 1271.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

.... Assets includes furniture and equipment, leasehold improvements, and capitalized start-up costs. Data communication means transmitting and receiving of data to or from Banks, Federal Reserve offices, clearinghouse... for delivery of information; and telephone inquiry service. Data processing includes capture, storage...

Implementing SFAS No 121: Accounting for Impaired Assets.

PubMed

Luecke, R W; Meeting, D T; Stotzer, W G

1996-10-01

In March 1995, FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 121: "Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to be Disposed Of." It establishes accounting standards for assets whose carrying costs have been overstated due to a variety of circumstances that have reduced the value of the assets. Healthcare financial managers should fully understand the statement's implications for their organizations.

In/Out Status Monitoring in Mobile Asset Tracking with Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Kim, Kwangsoo; Chung, Chin-Wan

2010-01-01

A mobile asset with a sensor node in a mobile asset tracking system moves around a monitoring area, leaves it, and then returns to the region repeatedly. The system monitors the in/out status of the mobile asset. Due to the continuous movement of the mobile asset, the system may generate an error for the in/out status of the mobile asset. When the mobile asset is inside the region, the system might determine that it is outside, or vice versa. In this paper, we propose a method to detect and correct the incorrect in/out status of the mobile asset. To solve this problem, our approach uses data about the connection state transition and the battery lifetime of the mobile node attached to the mobile asset. The connection state transition is used to classify the mobile node as normal or abnormal. The battery lifetime is used to predict a valid working period for the mobile node. We evaluate our method using real data generated by a medical asset tracking system. The experimental results show that our method, by using the estimated battery life time or by using the invalid connection state, can detect and correct most cases of incorrect in/out statuses generated by the conventional approach. PMID:22319268

In/out status monitoring in mobile asset tracking with wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Kim, Kwangsoo; Chung, Chin-Wan

2010-01-01

A mobile asset with a sensor node in a mobile asset tracking system moves around a monitoring area, leaves it, and then returns to the region repeatedly. The system monitors the in/out status of the mobile asset. Due to the continuous movement of the mobile asset, the system may generate an error for the in/out status of the mobile asset. When the mobile asset is inside the region, the system might determine that it is outside, or vice versa. In this paper, we propose a method to detect and correct the incorrect in/out status of the mobile asset. To solve this problem, our approach uses data about the connection state transition and the battery lifetime of the mobile node attached to the mobile asset. The connection state transition is used to classify the mobile node as normal or abnormal. The battery lifetime is used to predict a valid working period for the mobile node. We evaluate our method using real data generated by a medical asset tracking system. The experimental results show that our method, by using the estimated battery life time or by using the invalid connection state, can detect and correct most cases of incorrect in/out statuses generated by the conventional approach.

User evaluation of a GUI for controlling an autonomous persistent surveillance team

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scerri, Paul; Owens, Sean; Sycara, Katia; Lewis, Michael

2010-04-01

In future military missions, there will be many sensor assets collecting much important information about the environment. User control over surveillance assets is important to ensure that the specific data collected is appropriate for the current mission. Unfortunately, previous work has shown that individual users cannot effectively control more than about four assets, even if the assets have significant autonomy. In the ACCAST project, we hypothesized that by including autonomous teamwork between the assets and allowing users to interact by describing what the team as a whole and specific sub-teams should do, we could dramatically scale up the number of assets an individual user could effectively control. In this paper, we present the results of an experiment where users controlled up to 30 autonomous assets performing a complex mission. The assets autonomously worked together using sophisticated teamwork and the user could tell sub-teams to execute team oriented plans which described the steps required to achieve a team objective without describing exactly which asset performed which role and without having to specify how the team should handle routine information sharing, communications and failure circumstances. The users, soldiers from Fort Benning, were surprisingly good at managing the assets and were all able to complete the complex mission with extremely low friendly and civilian casualties.

Promotion of Physical Activity Among Mexican-Origin Women in Texas and South Carolina: An Examination of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Environmental Factors

PubMed Central

Parra-Medina, Deborah; Hilfinger Messias, DeAnne K.

2011-01-01

Interventions to improve physical activity levels among Latinos must take into consideration the social, cultural, economic, and environmental contexts of Latino communities. We report findings of formative assessments related to Mexican-origin women’s levels of readiness, willingness, and ability to participate in regular leisure time physical activity in two diverse locations, the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley and the South Carolina Midlands. The ENLACE project employed a Community-Based Participatory Research approach. Formative assessment activities focused on identification of community assets and resources and exploration of community members’ experiences, opinions, values, preferences, and perceived needs related to physical activity. Data sources included windshield tours, walkability assessments of local neighborhoods; community inventory exercises, focus groups, and individual interviews. Barriers to regular physical activity included the dominance of work and family responsibilities, social norms, lack of social support, social isolation, environmental constraints, economics, and low levels of personal knowledge and motivation. PMID:21731409

Pricing real estate index options under stochastic interest rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Pu; Dai, Jun

2017-08-01

Real estate derivatives as new financial instruments are not merely risk management tools but also provide a novel way to gain exposure to real estate assets without buying or selling the physical assets. Although real estate derivatives market has exhibited a rapid development in recent years, the valuation challenge of real estate derivatives remains a great obstacle for further development in this market. In this paper, we derive a partial differential equation contingent on a real estate index in a stochastic interest rate environment and propose a modified finite difference method that adopts the non-uniform grids to solve this problem. Numerical results confirm the efficiency of the method and indicate that constant interest rate models lead to the mispricing of options and the effects of stochastic interest rates on option prices depend on whether the term structure of interest rates is rising or falling. Finally, we have investigated and compared the different effects of stochastic interest rates on European and American option prices.

Robotics for port security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smuda, William; Freiburger, Lonnie A.; Gerhart, Grant R.; Mallon, Lawrence

2004-09-01

The capacity through the use of robots with on board visual, NBC and HAZMAT sensors to rapidly and continuously screen convoys and staged exposed assets would be a force multiplier and measurably improve base and force protection at both inbound and outbound DOD and commercial facilities. This paper chronicles our experiment with the ODIS robot at the Ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Long Beach (POLB) in July of 2003. POLA & POLB are responsible for moving over 30% of the United States trade goods. Queues of 54" container trucks routinely exceed 100 trucks, extending for over a mile from the port entrances. Spotted equipment and convoys at staging areas are a high visibility and value assets to a terrorist incident. The POLA/POLB scenario is also representative of TRANSCOM operations at the port of Basra during current operation in Iraq. The California Highway Patrol is responsible for physically inspecting these vehicles for roadworthiness and contraband, a dangerous and dirty job. We will also discuss the use of ODIS robots for this task.

RAPID: Collaborative Commanding and Monitoring of Lunar Assets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torres, Recaredo J.; Mittman, David S.; Powell, Mark W.; Norris, Jeffrey S.; Joswig, Joseph C.; Crockett, Thomas M.; Abramyan, Lucy; Shams, Khawaja S.; Wallick, Michael; Allan, Mark;

Getting Digital Assets from Public–Private Partnership Research Projects through “The Valley of Death,” and Making Them Sustainable

PubMed Central

Aartsen, Wendy; Peeters, Paul; Wagers, Scott; Williams-Jones, Bryn

2018-01-01

Projects in public–private partnerships, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), produce data services and platforms (digital assets) to help support the use of medical research data and IT tools. Maintaining these assets beyond the funding period of a project can be a challenge. The reason for that is the need to develop a business model that integrates the perspectives of all different stakeholders involved in the project, and these digital assets might not necessarily be addressing a problem for which there is an addressable market of paying customers. In this manuscript, we review four IMI projects and the digital assets they produced as a means of illustrating the challenges in making digital assets sustainable and the lessons learned. To progress digital assets beyond proof-of-concept into widely adopted tools, there is a need for continuation of multi-stakeholder support tailored to these assets. This would be best done by implementing a structure similar to the accelerators that are in place to help transform startup businesses into growing and thriving businesses. The aim of this article is to highlight the risk of digital asset loss and to provoke discussion on the concept of developing an “accelerator” for digital assets from public–private partnership research projects to increase the chance that digital assets will be sustained and continue to add value long after a project has ended. PMID:29594123